Halloween Story Mat FREEBIE!

My favorite way to teach story problems is with a story mat. I wrote a post about it at Christmas time last year and shared with you some Christmas mats. You can read that post HERE. I also have some packets at my shops that my kiddos really like. You can check them out over on TpT or Teacher Notebook. Well, it's Halloween time and so here is the lesson I did with a Halloween mat. My firsties had a BLAST!

If you'd like a copy you can download a PDF by clicking HERE.

Don't forget to enter my 400 Follower Giveaway. You can check it out HERE I'm giving away some great prizes to 4 lucky winners!

I hope everyone has a GREAT week!
Thanks for stopping by. I'd love to read your comments if you download and use the mats.

400 Follower Giveaway!

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!! I just reached 400 followers! I am in awe by the blogging world. I am honored that 400 people follow my blog. So for a little fun, I thought I'd have a giveaway! I'll be giving away 4 prizes to 4 lucky winners.

#1: $10 Gift Card to Amazon.com

 #2: $10 gift certificate to TpT

#3: $10 gift certificate to Teacher Notebook

#4: $10 worth of packets from my teacher shop

 

All you have to do is follow the directions on Rafflecopter. GOOD LUCK! And THANK YOU for following me.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Main Idea and Details Freebie & Management

This summer in one of my workshops, I heard this great idea for teaching main idea and details. So I came home and wrote it up and found pictures for it. I would love to give credit to whomever came up with this idea but I don't know who you are. But thanks for sharing it at our workshop. Let me know if this is yours.

There are 5 pages in all. You can download it by clicking HERE

The graphics are from KPM Doodles and Scrappin Doodles.

On another topic, I read a great post HERE over on Nikki Sabiston's blog about management. She has a GREAT blog. You'll want to check it out. 

She talks about her views on behavior charts and why she'll never use them again. I know a lot of teachers use them but please read her post and ponder what she says. Nikki has some very valid statements which I agree with whole heartily. I have used several methods of management in my classrooms. Some were by my own choosing and others by administration's. Some worked and many failed. I've read research and found what works for me and a behavior chart is NOT one of them. Like Nikki, my own children have helped me see what works best for kids. My kids advised me along the way and I'm very grateful for them.

In my classroom, I have more success with rewarding the positive with a little ticket called a 'caught ya'. I give them whenever I see good behavior or want to reward a child for great work. Then we have a drawing every Monday for prizes out of the prize basket. Then once a month the school picks a 'caught ya' winner from each class, announces the names over the PA and gives a prize. On the flip side, I give 'Stop & Thinks' for students who can't follow the rules. It's simply a time out for 5 minutes to think about what they did and how they can improve. This allows me as a teacher to work with students who have a harder time with behavior like my ADHD or autistic kids. If the behavior is severe then they are given a 'Stop & Go' where the child is taken to another classroom or the office, a note and phone call to the parent is given. In first grade the 'Stop & Go' lasts for 15 minutes where the child does the work he/she is missing in class. If a child gets 3 'Stop & Go' then a conference is held with parents, teacher, student, and administrator to form a plan to change behavior. I have never had to have a conference yet and hope I never do. This is a great way to help kids change their behavior and reward them for being great kids.

Sorry for such a long post. What do you do for management? I'd LOVE to hear.

Counting On Freebie

A critical math skill for first graders to learn is the ability to count on. My sweet friend Deb over on Oh My Little Classity Class had a fun Scoot game this summer. You can check it out on her blog by clicking HERE. She has tons of cute games! Deb was my inspiration for my newest packet. It's called "Counting On with Finger FUN!"

There are 64 different counting on flashcards with 4 fun games/activities to do with the cards. There are 3 practice sheets as well. You can check it out over at my shops. Just click the word below for a link.

TpT or Teacher Notebook

And I'm giving you a sneak peek at one of the practice sheets. If you click the picture below you can download the sheet FREE.

Also, the first 3 to comment here on my blog will get it FREE! Be sure to leave your email so I can send it to you.
I hope everyone has a super day!

Washi Tape

Whoa! It's been over a week since my last post. So sorry but I've been on vacation. It's our fall break and we decided to go to beautiful Zion's National Park here in Utah. It was gorgeous!

We did some hiking and my kids did some canyoneering. I learned that is hiking, repelling, swimming through rivers in slot canyons etc. Nothing a mother needs to worry about. Yeah right! But everything went well and they had a blast!

 Even my little grandson Keagan had fun with his hiking stick.

I have today off too. So I need to do some catching up on my blog stalking, laundry, and school work. First though, I want to blog about a really cool tape I found. Back in the summer Lori over on Fun For First blogged about a new tape called Washi Tape. You'll want to check out her blog. She has great ideas!

Anyhow, I've been looking for Washi Tape everywhere. It's a Japanese decorative paper tape. It's not too sticky and you can take it off easily if you mess up. Only place I could find it was on-line and I wasn't sure what I would get and it was kind-of expensive. Finally, I found some on my favorite place- Amazon.com. There is some by Martha Stewart, Elmers, and other name brands I didn't know. So I went with Elmers and Martha. LOVE LOVE LOVE IT!

You can click on the pictures above to go to Amazon.com to check it out.

So I ordered some, found a cute bucket and made my Box Top bucket.

There are lots of ideas on Pinterest for washi tape uses so I'm probably the only one not familiar with it. I'm a card maker and I'm going to use it making cards. It comes in different widths and patterns. I'm sure teachers have found lots of cute ways to use it. I'd love to hear your comments.
Have a great week!
And thanks for stopping by.

Sentence Freebie, Digraphs, & Currently

What a C.R.A.Z.Y looooong week. I had a sub on Tuesday for district math assessments. Wednesday and Thursday were Parent Conferences after school for 3 1/2 hours. Lost my voice from so much talking on Wednesday night. Tried to teach and finish my conferences on Thursday. Absolutely NO VOICE on Friday so I got another sub. Stayed home and didn't talk for about 36 hours. I think my hubby was loving it. Feeling a little better today. Voice is back but shaky.
What will this next week bring- FALL BREAK! We only have to go 3 days and then we get Thursday, Friday, and Monday off. I'm excited!!!

Last week when I didn't have a sub and a voice, I taught asking and telling sentences. Here are some of the charts I used and a few practice sheet. You can download a copy by clicking on the picture.

I finished a new packet and uploaded it to my shops. It's Fishing for Digraphs. There are games, activities, charts, and practice sheets for all 5 digraphs. Here are a few pictures from the packet.

You can link over and check it out by clicking the words below.

TpT or Teacher Notebook.

It's hard to believe it's already October and time for Farley's Currently. Check out her site at Oh Boy 4th Grade.

Yes, my all time favorite Halloween book is Shake Dem Halloween Bones. Your favorite fairy tale characters are having a Halloween Party and dancing up a storm!

Once I've read it, that's all I hear. My kiddos LOVE it and sing it over and over and over again. If you've never read it, YOU NEED TOO!
Well, I hope everyone has a great rest of the weekend.
Thanks for stopping by. I hope you found something you can use in your classroom.

Tic Tac Toe

My kiddos LOVE the game of tic-tac-toe. So I decided to make it educational. I previously made a Tic-Tac-Toe math packet which has been a BIG hit with my kids.

Here are some pictures from the Number, Addition and Subtraction packet.

So I decided to make one for reading.

There are 21 pages of Tic-Tac-Toe game sheets practicing sight words, long and short word families, days of the week, months, ordinal numbers, blends, digraphs, contractions and more. I also included a blank game board so you can write in whatever words your little ones need to work on (like their spelling words for the week) Here are a few pictures for the reading packet.

Here is a sample for anyone who would like to download. This is the color word game board from the reading packet and the number word game board from the math packet. Just click on the pictures to download it FREE.

You can check out both packets at my shops by clicking on the words below.

TpT or Teacher Notebook

I don't know how many of you are still reading this long post but here's the fun part.

If you would like one for the packets for FREE, just be one of the first 3 to comment here on my blog and I will send you the entire packet of your choice for FREE. Just be sure to leave me your email address and which packet you'd like.

Now who doesn't like FREE?

Have a GREAT day!