Throwback Thursday {Daily 5}

Once again, I'm hooking up with my fave Cara from the First Grade Parade for Throwback Thursday.

 ******Original Post: Daily 5 Posted on December 3, 2012******

Hi all!  I hope this month is going fairly smooth for you so far!  My 2 year old is still exhausting me with not sleeping through the night...  Oh how I wish I drank coffee this year!  (and last year...)  I don't have anything NEW that you could use in the coming weeks, but thought I'd share a little about my classroom.

I know that there is a ton of things out there for the Daily 5.  I thought I'd take a moment to explain how it works in my classroom!  First, I need to say, since we switch our kiddos, I do not set it up as well as it's supposed to be---with building stamina and all that...  If I did, I'd still be working on that at this time of year---and lets face it.  I'd be redoing everything when we get back in January!  I just couldn't.

I found on a blog a few years ago (so I do not have a link to give proper credit...) that a teacher used bookmarks for students to know how to go from station to station.  I decided to do that last year, to save my sanity on moving kids' names, scheduling even more, etc.  I couldn't let them just have "free choice" off the bat either.  I created 25 completely different bookmarks.  Each bookmark has a different "rotation" schedule.  It's designed to have 5 at each at any given time.  {This year I redid them, and forgot about making them ALL different and had 5 bookmarks that I made 5 copies each of... and I realized.  When they travel together from station to station---my room gets louder and louder and they start to lose focus.  LAST year, when I had all different ones, they don't travel from station to station and things were smooth.  I loved it!}

Each student will pick a bookmark either at the beginning of class, or when they are done with work before small group time starts.  This year, I labelled the back of each bookmark a different letter from the alphabet.  This is so they can keep track of these darn bookmarks.  THIS group has such a difficult time organizing themselves and had lost at least 6 bookmarks that I had made in the beginning of the year-that we're not using anymore.  Now that there is a letter, they KNOW which is theirs, and if it's left behind, they can now easily find it---of course, that is, IF they didn't lose it in a book or somewhere else.... :/

 My bookmarks match the posters at each area, so that they have no trouble figuring out where to go!

Click {HERE} to grab yourself a copy of the posters and bookmarks.  

I'll be back later to explain how I work my Word Work area.  

Disclaimer---the above information is what I personally do.  The Daily 5 and CAFÉ are trademark and copy written content of Educational Design, LLC dba The 2 Sisters.  Educational Design, LLC dba The 2 Sisters does not authorize or endorse these materials.

Throwback Thursday----Book Groups!

 I'm joining the fabulous Cara from the First Grade Parade!  I went through my posts from the past year and am re-posting it again, for all the newbies that may have just stumbled upon my lil old blog!

 ******Original Post: Book Groups Posted on June 23, 2012******

I thought I would share how I ran my book groups this year.  Here's a few pictures to show you how I organized it.  I have the packet uploaded to my TPT store.  You can buy a complete set of Story and Informational books (I created an informational literature circle set to meet the Informational text standards---and well, they are much different than the roles that would occur in the usual book/literature circles!  Click on any picture to take you to my Literature Circle Packet on TPT.  (I do also have them listed separately)

 This is how I kept track of who was in each group.  (This is included in the packet)

 I made 5 sets (1 isn't shown because I didn't need it this year) of each job on a lanyard.  Each group is a color to help organize things.  I still haven't found the perfect home for these yet!

This is an example of a packet I put together for one of my groups.  Each group had a packet that was the same color as their lanyard.  It was then the name of their group.

This is an example of student work from one of the pages in their book journals (that's what we named them).  Each journal had a different rotation of jobs so that I didn't have to tell them what their next job was.  I wasn't always meeting with each group EVERY time.  I wanted them to have some responsibility to run their groups without having to rely on me all the time.  (Though, I did have an ear on the groups and could tell what was going on!!!)  

Here's one of my group of cuties discussing their book!  Wish I didn't have to blur out their faces so that you can see how intent they are on discussing their chapter!

Another group working together

I had been searching and differentiating so many different literature circle groups through the years to use with my kiddos.  I am a believer that these can be done at ANY level.  I modeled many times how they should be run and we also completed the worksheets that are their "jobs" in the groups many times in class as a whole group kind of work before setting them loose in their new "book groups."  I had ALL work done in class.  Nothing went home (we had strict homework policies this year and I have had bad luck with students remembering books in the past---and they NEEDED their books to run the groups!)  We met 2-3 times a week, depending on absences and making sure all had their work finished.  If needed, they could read/do their job during the Daily 5 time that I was running in class.

I don't really have a new freebie for you right now, but wanted to remind you of one that I have had in the past!  It is something that can be used throughout the year for book "reports." 

Click on the picture to grab yourself a copy!

Also---for those of you who have 4th and 5th grade teacher friends who would like a cute checklist like I have made for K-3, I am currently working on those!  I had a special request from a few people---so I wanted to let you know that it's in the works.  I'd actually like to try to finish it this week because next week.....  shhhh!  I'll be in Disney!!  (and my boys still have NO idea!!!)  We'll see if they catch on as I try to "sneak" pack this week!

If you missed out on seeing my checklists----here they are!  (I just realized that I don't have a cover page for 3rd.  Click here to see third grade!)  I was SUPER excited to see that my Kindergarten checklist had been pinned over 1,000 times off of TPT!!  I could not believe it!!!!!!!  {To see all of my checklists click HERE}

Throwback Thursday {Getting to Know You Through---Numbers!}

 I'm joining the fabulous Cara from the First Grade Parade!  I went through my posts from the past year and am re-posting it again, for all the newbies that may have just stumbled upon my lil old blog!

 ******Original Post: Getting to know you---through numbers! Posted on April 9, 2012******

First-I have to share that I had been working on a place value packet that I just finished and uploaded to Teachers Pay Teachers!  I had created 10 games and activities that align to the First Grade Common Core Math standards.   I have many variations of each of those games for differentiation in your classroom too!  All you would need to do is supply the base ten blocks (and possibly dice for a few of the games!).   Click on the picture to check it out!

I had to share an activity that I am sending home with my students for Math homework.  I used to have each kid do a poster for their "star of the week" that I did in the past, however with out new schedule and our switching kids for classes, I just couldn't find a way to fit it in or get into a routine to do so...  That gave me a little dilemma because I would have these posted for our Open House we have in early May.  I thought more, and I realized that I won't have that much for my Math students' parents to see, since most of what is displayed in my room is reading related, as well as most of what is in the desks!

I had an A-ha moment!  Each student is going to pick 6 numbers that describe themselves and we will turn this into a poster!  I asked that they also send in 1-2 pictures to illustrate 1-2 of the numbers that they could place on the posters.

They were soooooo adorable working on this project before break.  We have 1 hour for math.  The room was almost silent for that entire hour while they worked!  They all finished in that time too!  I asked them to illustrate each number, but also have some kind of math involving their number in the box too.  They came up with great ideas!

Here are some pics of what they did!!!!

Click on the worksheet to grab a copy for yourself to use in your classroom!

 Don't forget to follow me to keep up with more freebies and giveaways!  I'm nearing the 100th follower and am planning something special!  Also-follow me on facebook too!  https://www.facebook.com/RulinTheRoost

Throwback Thursday {Story Problems}

Before I get into this linky, I wanted to let you all know that I now have Grade 3 and will be posting Grade 4 of my 'Owl Be Organized' Teacher binders!  (Read about them HERE-along with a chance to win one!!!)

 I'm joining the fabulous Cara from the First Grade Parade!  I went through my posts from the past year and am re-posting it again, for all the newbies that may have just stumbled upon my lil old blog!

 ******Original Post: Story Problems Posted on February 7, 2012******

I had previously posted about how I made story problem books for my students to use each month.  We have just finished my penguin ones last week and have since started the February ones.  I am pleasantly surprised at how well my kids are doing with them!  I actually just praised them the other day for this.  When they first started with me (remember, we group for math...) they thought they could just answer anything they wanted-but had NO idea about HOW they knew the answers.  They would look at me like a deer in headlights.  To them, I was just plain crazy because they just KNEW the answer---my brain told me!

So....  I thought I would have a few word problems a day for the students to solve.  They would work independently, with partners, in groups, etc.... BUT... only a few were benefiting.  I still had some that would not take the risk to tell me HOW and WHY they were doing things!  Along came Grinch Day, and I found some great Grinch word problems.  I decided that I would turn them into a booklet where they would have to explain reasons, and after trying to figure out the easiest way to do that, I thought about our "First, Next, Then, Last" worksheets we would use all the time in Language Arts-and my light bulb went off!  I had them complete this with partners, since the day was more "fun" than actual instruction.  (However---little did they know-they WERE learning!)  Afterwards, the kids were smiling and I asked them if they liked that booklet-to which they actually replied that they WANTED more!

Here we are-1 full month into it, and they are actually doing well.  At first, it was a little difficult for them to actually think about 4 steps they took to solve things.  (And actually, I have had a few teachers have a difficult time breaking some down into 4 steps.)  What I tell them is that sometimes we may not have 4 steps, but our first step could always be what our brain is telling us to do (add, subtract, etc...) and WHY...  it may sound like this:  First, I knew I needed to add because it had the words "how many in all."  Of course, sometimes there may be 5 steps, so I tell them to combine on one or 2.  It isn't a perfect solution, but it has gotten them to break down their thinking and to REALLY understand why we do things in math!

I have created March story problems already, but have started to think ahead to April where I may rearrange the page a little---giving them less space to show work and more to write and possibly taking away the scaffold a little bit and NOT having the First, Next, Then and Last...  BUT, I may just wait till May for that (or I'll just make it both ways).  

I thought I would give you a small sample of the booklets I've made.  I included 2 from February and 2 from March.  You can access them here

Let me know how they have worked for you!  If you liked them you can find the full sets here for February and for March.   You can see my entire year's worth of story problems {HERE}.  I also have a bundled version {HERE} to save money!

Throwback Thursday!

 I'm joining the fabulous Cara from the First Grade Parade!  I went through my posts from the past year and am re-posting it again, for all the newbies that may have just stumbled upon my lil old blog!

 ******Original Post: Hello Out There?!?!  Posted on September 14, 2012******

Wow!  I totally have lost track of time.  Guess the beginning of the year does that to you.  We've been busy, busy, busy...  testing, testing, testing, no less, but it's OVER!  Now the fun begins for us as we start to switch our kiddos.

I have 22 lovely littles in my class this year that are just FULL of energy and personality!  Ha!  :)  Really, they are great, but by Friday, I'm spent!  whew!  I'm ready for the routines to kick in and have some "quiet" time in the room.  ;)

Here's some pics from our last 8 days of school!

Cut and paste activity for what a Good Learner looks like.  {It's part of my Back to School Bonanza packet on TPT}

Find someone who....  They LOVED this!  {also part of my Back to School Packet}

Finished page!  HOW adorable!  We completed 4 pages and I am putting it together as a book for them to have.

This week we did a fun activity getting to use Venn Diagrams.  We read Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes and talked about our  names.  We usually graph the letters in our names and talk about why we like our names.  Then we compared our names to each other and completed a Venn Diagram!

First, cut out the names.  I had them typed up in boxes so that all they needed to do was cut it out.

Then they spelled their names on their desks.

Then they found the letters they had in common and placed them in the middle of the diagram.  I had them pile the same letters on top of each other to keep them from having a million a's or i's in the middle.  It also helped them find those common letters.

 (I did allow them to have double or triple letters on the outside of the circle if they would like.)  

Click on the picture below to grab yourself a copy of this activity to use in your room!  You'll need powerpoint to change the letters in the boxes.  I used Hello Literacy's Hello Font, Hello Ali  (free and adorable!!!)  I enlarged the Venn Diagram part to 11X17 (I think that's the size on the copier)

Have a great weekend friends!  I'll be back soon with an adorOWLble Owl Glyph that we did today!  I need to get them up on a bulletin board and take a picture to share!

I'm also linking this up with Manic Monday over at Classroom Freebies!  Check out all the other goodies there!