Need help, please!! There's a freebie if you do!

So... I'm sure I don't have any readers anymore because I never post but one of my many resolutions is to get back to blogging. I think it's just been a crazy year. My teammate and I had 30 kiddos all semester and finally got word we were getting another teacher. We spent those last 5 crazy days with no prep because we had interviews for our new teammate. We found someone but now I'm just sad to lose some of my students.:( I know it will be better for all of us in the long run because I can't meet all the needs of that many students. The new teacher was supposed to start the Monday we go back but now they aren't sure when her paperwork will all clear. The students don't know and I'm not sure the best way to approach the issue with them. Does anyone have experience with this? What worked or didn't work well with your class? Here's a simple freebie I created today to practice comparing sentences. I need to practice this skill before we really dig into data analysis and comparison word problems. Just click here to grab a copy!

Also, does anyone know why I can't make blogposts in "compose" anymore and only html? Please help! :)

Squanto, the Pilgrim's Best Friend Freebies!

As we all gear up for the next few weeks of Thanksgiving activities, I wanted to share these freebies I made. My teammate and I always have a Pilgrim and Indian switch days where we each teach a different lesson about these historical groups. I always teach about Squanto and how he taught the pilgrims to plant corn. I read a story and then we make a tissue paper corn craft.

I wanted something more rigorous (buzz word!)so I created a paper for a how-to writing. The students can write the steps that Squanto taught to the Pilgrims. I also made a fill in the blank version for Kindergarten.

Then I ran across this blog called the Teacher's Chatterbox.
She had the cutest idea to make a Squanto Corn Planting snack out of Oreos, Swedish Fish and Candy Corn.

I just made a recipe for students to follow and a how to writing paper. If you want any of these freebies, just click the picture!

I also have a great unit about the Pilgrims and Wampanoag that is very rigorous. Students read a text (included) that compares and contrasts Pilgrims and the Wampanoag and then answer text dependent questions. After they compare and contrast the two groups, they write an opinion piece in which they choose if they would have rather been a Pilgrim or Wampanoag child in the 1600's and why based on evidence from the text. Click to check it out on TPT!

For a Turkey Measurement Freebie, click here!

Story Elements Reader's Theatre Freebie!

I have an awesome freebie for you today! I wrote a short Reader's Theater about story elements. This really helps my students with the vocabulary of story elements and serves as an anchor all year.

I seriously can ask my students in May, "class, what's a solution?" and everyone answers "how they fix the problem!" with some hammering to follow. :)

Click here to download the file from Google Drive.

This week,we will be working on diving deeper into the Story Elements to "describe" the characters, setting, problem and solution.

Check back soon (or follow me!) for a great close reading lesson that focuses on describing characters! 

Meanwhile, enjoy this short video of my kiddos performing their reader's theater. This performance was in our classroom 5 min before the bell on Friday; so, it's a little rougher than the performances we took on the road earlier that day. :)

First Month Recap

Hi, friends!

I am really not good at balancing teaching, a family and blogging but I have the best intentions... Really, I do!

This past month has been great with my new superstars! I wanted to share a few of the highlights in case you just started this past week.

 Here's my son and I on the 1st day.

 We started the school year by celebrating our uniqueness! We sang a super cute poem and drew a self portrait:

 (Tune of Frere Jacques) 

" I am special!

 I am special!

Yes, I am!

Yes, I am!

There is no one like me.

There is no one like me.

I am unique!

I am unique!

We read the Colors of Us and talked about skin color uniqueness. Then we mixed paints to find our skin color and paint our "faces". 

We also completed an awesome activity from Stephanie's Back to School Bash unit. First, we read a book called Everyone is Smart ( it's included in the unit!) and then thought about how we are all smart in different ways ( multiple intelligences). The students then wrote their names on post-it notes and chose the ways in which they are smart. 

We also made our All About Me books!

If you want more activities to celebrate uniqueness. Check out my back to school unit on TPT.

 We will be moving on to our 5 Senses and, of course, apples at the end of the month. 

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Apple-Activities-Common-Core-330785

Have a great week!!

Guided Math resources and Freebie!

Hi, Friends!
I have one more day before the kiddos get here! Not sure I'm completely ready yet but slowly getting there. I am holding steady at 29 kids and hoping I don't get any more. Pray for me, will you?

I wanted to share a few resources today I found to help me with guided math. My personal goal this school year is to improve my small group math instruction. I began researching and found some good assessments.

The first is an individual assessment from the Math Learning Center. It has prompts and activities to help you assess number sense, base ten, composing/decomposing numbers, and addition and subtraction. It seems to be clear enough that a helper could administer the assessments.

The next resource I found is awesome! Education Northwest has an assessment for each Common Core math standard. The assessments could be given as pre-tests or used as ready-to-go mini lessons for your guided groups. I printed them all off and made a binder so I could have all the assessments/ mini lessons quickly at hand.

When you go to the website, log-in for free to access their kinder and 1st grade resources. Here are two examples of the assessments:

The last resource I want to share is a checklist I made to record my teacher observations during guided math groups. This checklist is different from other Common Core math checklists because I task analyzed each standard or skills students need prior to mastering the end of year goals as well as included levels of mastery for each standard. For example,  the student can solve join word problems with manipulatives, counting on or using a known fact. This will help me know to what degree the students have mastered each math standard. Here are a few examples of the pages. It's actually 11 pages in all. Click here to download.

So... I'm not sure what this will look like in my room just yet but at least I'm ready to record my data!! I hope this post has helped you with small group math in some way. Leave me a comment if it does! Happy Monday!

Fall Math Mega Pack with freebie!

I just finished a pack I am so excited to use! I tend to like math centers that aren't extremely thematic so I can use them when I want. I needed some math centers for the fall that would build number sense as well as addition and subtraction concepts. I also wanted a few centers that would spiral the measurement and data domain. I set out to create a few and wound up with ten!!!! Whew! Took forever!

Here's my Fall Math Centers Mega Pack!

Included in this Pack:
Falling Leaves (5 and some more) 1.OA.6
Scarecrow Make Ten (Combinations of 10) 1.OA.6
Apple Picking (Subtract from 10) 1.OA.5,6
Harvest Time! (Time to the Hour) 1. MD.3
Odd/ Even Harvest Sort (Numbers to 20 in ten frames) 2.OA.3
Raking Leaves Place Value Compare (Numbers to 50) 1. NBT.2c
Race to 30 (Addition and Subtraction within 10--2 sets for differentiation) 1.OA.6
How Many Were Picked? Data Analysis 1.MD.4
Fall Measurement 1. MD.2
Collectin’ Acorns (Comparing numbers- 3 variations) 1.NBT.3

If you want to check out this pack on TPT, click here! If you made it to the bottom of this post, then you get a freebie from the pack. :)

Download my odd and even sort for free here.  Leave me a comment if you can use it!

 

Have a great weekend!!!

"Beary" Common Core Bear Unit with freebies!

Hi, Friends!
I wanted to share some freebies and ideas with you in case you teach about Bears during the year.

Last year, my teammate and I started the new year off with a bear theme. It was so fun! I posted a lot of freebies (click the pics) I had created and this year I made so much more because I wanted the unit to align more with the Common Core shifts.

Last year, I posted about a 4 corners activity to get the students discussing opinions. Hang the 4 bear signs in different corners of the room ( included in the freebie). The students will have to decide which bear ( Panda, Polar, Brown or Black) they like the best and discuss the reason for their choice with a partner. The student will then write why they like that type of bear. We will use the sentence frame I like ____________ because. ( Also, free!)
We will then graph these results as well during math.

 However, this year, I added a non-fiction text we can read as a class to build the students' background knowledge about each type of bear. Then I can guide them to justify their opinion using a reason from the text.

I created a graphic organizer for each type of bear so students could work on finding the key details in text about each type of bear. I also added more opinion writing papers so you can differentiate and use this pack at any time during the year.

Last year I created these math freebies which are still available just click any pic to take you to the Google Docs file.

1-20 cards to practice one more/one less
(Just copy on  Brown construction to use less ink!)                
Play Bear Hunt with these cards. Hand out these cards to each student. Call out a clue such as, "Who has one more than 5?". The students with 6 would stand up. You can increase difficulty by asking, "What's two more/two less or 10 more/10 less?".


                                          One more/ one less practice/assessment
                                                      

                                  Reviewing combinations to 5 with Teddy Grahams
                              
This year I created so many more math activities! For every activity I created a more advanced game. Instead of just Make 5, I created a Make Ten as well. Rather that just including one more/ one less, I also added 10 more/10 less.  I added gummy bear sorting and graphing recording sheets, a Teddy Bear measuring record sheet and a building teen number equations game.

Hopefully you can use these freebies! If you teach Bears at all during the year, this could be a great addition to your unit. If you want to take a look at the rest of the pack on TPT. Just click the pics or right here!