Requests

I've had several requests for my recording sheets for the Grab, Count, Graph activities I do in Math Stations. I posted about it back in October when I first started doing Math Stations. You can read that post HERE. Back in October, I was still very new to the whole blogging thing and making stuff. I've since figured a few thing out. I made these to go along with the ideas from Debbie Dillers book "Math Work Stations". So here are the recording sheets. Click on the picture to download a PDF.

Another request I get all the time is for my Math Stations anchor chart. I am NOT an artist so I like to make my anchor charts on the computer. I generally discuss with my class and make notes on the board with them. Then I tell them I will take our notes and make a nice chart for us to remember what we've talked about. It works for me. I print this on the poster setting of my printer so it comes out big. You have to glue it together. Again, click on the picture to download.

I've also had a request for my number bracelet booklet from a post I did in September. This is an AWESOME activity from Reagan at Tunstall's Teaching Tidbits. You can read my post HERE. Click on the picture for a download of my version of the booklet.

Graphics are from Scrappin Doodles, Lettering Designs, DJ Inkers, and some really old ones I have had forever and I can't even find a name on them to give credit where credit it due. So sorry.
I have also had requested that my new Nifty Number Practice Book by done in D'Nealian lettering. And I am working on one for 11-20.
Thank you bloggy friends! I LOVE all the comments and requests. Please keep them coming!
Have a fantastic Friday!

Vowel or Consonant

Hey all! I hope everyone is having a fantastic summer. Mine is flying by. Why does the school year go soooo slow and the summer soooo fast? I have a bazillion things I want to get done before school starts but I also want to just sit back and do absolutely NOTHING!
I'm thinking about the beginning of the school year and made a little vowel consonant sort to share. The graphics are from KPM Doodles and Scrappin Doodles. Check out my side bar for a linky to their shops!

Get a FREE copy by clicking HERE.

It has a picture for each letter of the alphabet. You can do it a couple of different ways with your class. You could give each kiddo a picture card and sort the letters together into groups of vowels or consonants in a pocket chart. Or you could place the cards around the room and do a 'Hunt the Room' where the students record the letters on a recording sheet. You can also put the cards in a center for extra practice. I also made a paper worksheet sort to go along with it. I hope it is something you can use in your classroom.

Don't forget to head over to Beth Ann's blog to enter to win the BIG Giveaway. I'm giving away some of my packets!

Have an awesome day!

Giveaway and Shopping Linky Party

Kristen over on her blog, Ladybug's Teacher Files is having a fun Linky Party. You can head on over and check out what everyone else is buying up this summer.

Who doesn't like to shop? My hubby just said to me the other day that he'd rather I be IN school than OUT because I shop too much in the summer!
Here are some of my summer purchases:

My laminator which I can't believe I've taught this long without it. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE IT!

Laminator pouches which I found on Amazon. They are 3 mil which is PERFECT and cheaper than the 5 mil.

These are my clear spinners. I had a few but I use them A LOT. So I bought a few more.

These cool book shelves from Ikea. I'm turning them side ways and putting all my books in them.

There are really cute drawers, cupboards, and baskets that you can insert into the squares to hold all kinds of things besides books. Now I've just got to  get the hubby to put them together.

I'm waiting for my Lakeshore Vowel Tubs to come in the mail any day now. My team told me about these and I can't wait to use them!
And of course BOOKS, BOOKS, BOOKS! Here are a FEW of my favorites.

You'll want to check out the big Summertime GIVEAWAY on Beth Ann's blog.

There are LOTS of cool prizes! Whoa, is that my blog button I see on there? Yeah baby! I'm participating too. You could win 2 of my latest packets! But April, Sara, Lisa, Tanja, Tonya, Talbott, and Beth Ann have fantastic prizes to giveaway too! Be sure to check it out. You have until the 4th of July to enter. Good Luck!

Number Practice

At the first of the school year, we work really hard on numbers- recognizing, writing, counting, and exploring. Last year I found some SUPER activities from the blogging world that helped my kiddos with there numbers.  Ms. Arnold over on Oceans of Fun in First Grade has tons of FREE ideas. She is like the math wizard of first grade. You really should check out her blog. She has wonderful ideas! Last year I did her Total 5, Give Me 5, Spill and Record 5, and 10 Flashing Fireflies. I used them not just for 5 but the other numbers as well. I also found Diane & Kelly's blog Made For 1st Grade. They have a GREAT Shake the Beans activity for each number and it's FREE. I used this activity in my math stations. The kiddos loved it. I also found a great idea from Reagan on Tunstall's Teaching Tidbits last year with number bracelets. You can check out my post HERE. Reagan has awesome math ideas too. You'll want to check out her blog as well.
When I do my number work, I spend a week on each number doing different activities each day (except 1 & 2, I do them in the same week). I start off with a little number booklet. I didn't like the one I've been using so I just made a new one. And I got to say, I really LOVE, LOVE it! With CCCS and all I feel like I need to step it up. So here is what I came up with.

There are 2 pages for each number. There is practice writing the numeral and number word. They tally, count, decide if the number is even or odd and write the ordinal number. The kids get to create the number on the ten frame (with Do-a-Dot Paint, check that out HERE) and write some number sentences. Then they can trace the word and numeral. We do this with smelly markers. It's a favorite. Oh, and I found my favorite at Wal-Mart. Mr. Sketch! I have used these before and haven't been able to find them forever. They were only $7.95 for 12.

 Sometimes I let them use these marker too. They are the changeables. I haven't been able to find these in a while either. But there they were at good old Wal-Mart. You write with the colored tip then trace over it with the clear tip and it magically changes color. I use both of these for spelling and sight word practice.

Anyhow, back to the number practice. They draw, stamp and find the numbers. They keep the booklet so they can refer to it through out the year. I print it on cardstock so the paint and markers don't bleed through. You can get my Nifty Number Practice Book at my TpT or Teacher Notebook shop. Just click on the word for a direct link.

Hey, what do you all do to practice numbers at the beginning of the year. I'd love to hear. I just love new ideas!

OH, I just remembered. I'm teaming up with Beth Ann and some other fantastic bloggers for a BIG giveaway that starts tomorrow. Check out the preview at Taming my Flock of Firsties.
Thanks for stopping by!

More GREAT Songs!

Last week I stumbled across a great blog by Kelley at Teacher Idea Factory.

She has awesome ideas and lots of freebies. When you go to her blog the cutest music starts playing! After I dug a little deeper, I found out the music is from a company called Intelli-tunes.

So I buzzed over to their website and I couldn't believe my ears! Fantastic songs for math, reading, science, and so on! They are all done by a VERY talented man named Ron Brown. If you want some great songs to help you teach things like the sound of 'ar' you'll love the Pirate Song. Or 3 Kinds of a Sentence will be great when you teach sentences. There are songs for 'ED' and Nouns, Verbs, Adjectives, Counting, Plants, and the list goes on and on. Oh and I discovered Kelley's secret- Ron Brown is her father and is a retired teacher! No wonder the songs are so appropriate for kids.
I just LOVE music in my classroom. It really helps kids learn and remember things. This is one site you will differently want to check out.

On a personal note: Today is my mom's 80th birthday! Happy Birthday MOM! We had a big family party on Saturday for her. It was a blast!

 Doesn't she look great for 80 years old?

This is my mom and dad. She is 80 and he is 84! They've been married for 62 happy, blissful years!

Okay, sorry for the side track but I think that's quite a milestone. I hope I can make it to 80 or even 84 and at least 62 years with my wonderful hubby!

Have a great week!

Long and Short A FREEBIE

I've been working on some new vowel packets. I just uploaded my long and short A packet. It was a lot of fun to make. It takes about 2 weeks to teach. I start by introducing short A then long A and finally putting both sounds together. It goes along with the CCCS for Kindergarten, First, and Second Grades. It's 11 different activities of FUN!

You can check it out at my TpT shop or Teachers Notebook shop by clicking the words.
And of course you can get a sample FREEBIE from the packet by clicking the picture below to download a PDF copy.

I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend. I'm off to celebrate my mom's 80th birthday with ALL the family!
Thanks for stopping by. I hope you found something you can use in your classroom!

Vocabulary

I recently attended district training and was reintroduced to the best way to teach vocabulary words. Have you ever heard of Marzano's Six-Step Process for teaching vocabulary. HERE is a great article about it.

The steps are:
1. Explain- provide a description,explanation, or example of the new term.
2. Restate- ask students to restate the description, explanation, or example in their own words.
3. Show or Draw- Ask students to construct a picture, pictograph, or symbolic representation of the word.
4. Engage- Have students do activities that add to their knowledge of the term in a vocabulary notebook.
5. Discuss- Periodically have students discuss the term with one another.
6. Involve- Periodically have students involved in games that enable them to play with the terms.

I know with teaching the NEW Common Core I need to step up my vocabulary lessons and using Marzano's 6-Step Process will help. Our team decided to put together a vocabulary booklet for our kiddos to work in. We will print the cover on colored card stock (but I included a colored version too) and then bind about 30 of the new word pages together to create a book for each child. If you'd like a copy of our book just click on the picture below.

The faces are for the students to rate themselves on how well they think they know the word. They can cross one out and change to another face as they learn the words better. The revised square is where they can change or add to the picture as they become more familiar with the word.
We also learned some fun games to play with the words. One teacher suggested doing a 'Bug Swat' game with the words. So I found some cute graphics and put it together. You write the vocabulary words with a visa-visa pen so you can reuse them. Click on the picture if you'd like a copy.

You could also use this game with spelling words, word family words, or high frequency words.

I also found this book on Amazon.com by Marzano with more games in it.

I'd LOVE to hear YOUR ideas for teaching vocabulary words. What do you do?
Have a great day!