Dec 31, 2011

Open Court Imagine It! Unit 6 Materials

Since I have another week before I return to school, I am going to try my best to get ahead and complete the entire Unit 6 materials for the 1st grade Imagine It! program.
I just finished the Big Idea and Focus Questions posters and the other materials will be added below as soon as they are completed. So, check back often if you are using Imagine It too.

Click HERE to grab the Unit 6 Focus Question Posters.

Unit 6 Lessons 1-5
 
Unit 6 Lessons 6-10

Unit 6 Lessons 11-15


Dec 30, 2011

Ring in the New Year FREEBIE

I am thoroughly enjoying my winter vacation - but just can't seem to forget about school. It takes me forever to stop the frantic pace and relax. But that also means I will be more prepared when I return to school on the 9th of January! Right???
Anyway...as I began looking ahead and designing our next spelling list I thought... "While I have the time off - why not create a word work activity to go with the spelling rule [ Long O spelled oa and ow] for the week?" Well, that SNOWBALLED into a 26 page packet... a week's worth of activities or MORE. Long story short - that means more FREEBIES for my followers.

So, if you are around and have the chance to visit my blog between NOW and MIDNIGHT PST on December 31st, when we ring in the New Year... you can get the Entire Packet for FREE. All I ask is that you let me know you grabbed a copy!

Click HERE to download this limited time offer... At the stroke of midnight it will DISAPPEAR!

If you were too busy "relaxing and enjoying" your VACATION, like I should be right now, and missed the deadline - don't worry... you can still grab 2 of the pages HERE for free and the entire packet for just $1.50 in my TPT store.
Happy New Year!

Dec 26, 2011

Spelling Test Paper

If you give weekly spelling tests to students in the primary grades then you might want to grab one or both of my first FREEBIES for January. Click HERE to download the 10 spelling words and up to 8 word wall words form or click HERE to grab the 20 spelling words form.

I use the spelling and word wall words template every Friday in my classroom to assess whether or not my first graders have grasped the spelling pattern for the week and have learned to spell their list of 10 words as well as their high-frequency words for that week. I score the two seperately but like to have them on one form. I left space for up to 8 word wall words as the number varies from 2 to 8 depending on the week's lesson.

To make it more fun for the children, I recently took the template and added a different seasonal graphic for each week of the year. Can you believe they actually look forward to the test each Friday -  just to find out what picture will show up on their test paper?

If this form works as well for you as it does for me - you may want to check out my 52 week Spelling and Word Wall Word Test Paper packet or my 52 week 20-words Spelling Test Paper Pack in my TPT Store.

Happy Holidays! Enjoy your time off!

Dec 18, 2011

Reindeer Food

I am sure many of you already do this... but since this is my first time teaching the primary grades in over 12 years - I can't wait to make Magic Reindeer Food with the children. Once we create our oatmeal and read and green sugar sprinkles mix we will bag it up and finish off with these labels I created. Too cute!
Click HERE to grab your FREE copy of the label.

Dec 17, 2011

January Super Sentences

Wanting to get a head start on the new year and improve student writing and comprehension with a focus on who, what, when, where, why, and how? These super sentence templates just might do the trick!
Clicke HERE to grab your Super Sentence FREEBIE.
Interested in more like these? My complete 32-page January Super Sentence Pack is available in my TPT store for just $1.50.  Themes included: New Years, Dr. Martin Luther, King, Chinese New Year, Penguins, Snowmen, Fairy Tales, Robots, Woodland Animals, School, etc. (Sample shown below)

Happy New Year!

Dec 13, 2011

January Word Banks and Matching Writing Paper

A "little bird" told me that they were waiting for my January themed writng paper... so I got right to work on it.  I created five different word banks, with matching sorts and writing paper. The five themes included in my January writing pack are: New Year's, Penguins, Snowmen, Chinese New Year, and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (sample shown here) The entire 20-page pack is available for just $1.50 in my TPT store.

As usual, I am including a freebie as well.
Click HERE to grab yours!

Dec 11, 2011

Tis The Season Syllable Sort

Tis the Season to... practice multi-syllabic word reading and sorting by syllables.

My little first graders are having so much fun sounding out "big words" now that they have most of their sound spellings under their belts...  So, I thought it would be fun to create a Christmas-themed syllable-sort. I haven't yet decided whether I will use it as a whole class activity, as a word-work station, or maybe as a write the room... but whichever I choose, I think they will have fun with this one!

The activity includes 3 sorting mats: 1, 2, and 3 syllables, 30 Christmas-themed word cards (with picture cues and without - to allow for differentiation), a recording sheeting, and answer key... everything I need for one of my December literacy stations.

The complete syllable-sort activity is available for in my TPT store. You can also download the recording sheet HERE for free. Simply use your own word list or cards or have students locate 1, 2, and 3-syllable words from a book they are reading and sort on this form. Happy Holidays!

Dec 5, 2011

The Twelve Days of...

I just finished creating another story frame much like Teeny Tiny and Go Away, Big Green Monster that I will be testing out this week.  This one is perfect for December and is based on the traditional story and carol: The Twelve Days of Christmas. Check it out in my TPT store.

Students will use this "fill in the blank" story frame to create their own version of The Twelve Days of ... Christmas, Winter, School, etc.  A little difficult for your students? Then why not use it as a whole group activity or assign one page per child to create a class book or two. Of course, plenty of space is also provided for students to illustrate each of the 12 days. A pre-writing/planning sheet is also included in this 18 page file that targets work with nouns, adjectives, verbs, and ordinal numbers.

Do you like the idea, but are not interested in the entire story frame? Then why not grab the planning sheet here for FREE.

Dec 4, 2011

New Reading Logs

Now that we are heading into the second trimester, I decided it was time to revise our homework reading log. The first trimester, students were asked to simply color in a treasure chest for each night they read. Although I liked the form I created to fit our classroom theme, I am wanting a little bit more information from my firsties about what it is they are reading, and how many minutes they are actually spending.

So, I came up with a form that I think will be "just right" and then modified the graphics to fit each month. There is no parent signature required, but students are held accountable to write their book or story title. What a perfect way to practice using proper capitalization in titles and copying words correctly. 

It is available for $1.50 in my TPT store. The entire packet includes 14 different Weekly Reading Logs - one for each month of the year and two generic ones to use any time.
Click HERE to grab your FREE copy of the
December Reading Log.

Nov 29, 2011

December Spelling Freebie

Wondering what you will do to inspire your students to practice their spelling at home next month? Maybe my FREE December Spelling Tic-Tac-Toe will be just the thing. Download your copy from my TPT Store.

Nov 27, 2011

Open Court Imagine It Unit 5 Support Materials

As usual, I am completing the Open Court support materials "just in time" - as we approach each lesson from week to week.  I just can't seem to get ahead of schedule. In any case, if you are one of my followers that are using this program, I have finished the first grade Unit 5 Big Idea and Focus Questions posters and the other materials will be added below as soon as they are completed. So be on the look out!

Sample pages are shown here. Click on the link below to download your copy.


December Freebies

I can hardly believe we are already a third of the way through this school year. It has been a busy few weeks finishing up assessments and wrapping up our first trimester. Unfortunately, this has meant no posts to my blog... but to thank my followers for being so patient, I have a few seasonal freebies to share. Please click on the links below to grab some goodies for the month of December.


Find more like these in my TPT store

If you like these, you may want to check out my 34 page December-themed super sentence packet
 available in my TPT Store.

Nov 5, 2011

What's for Thanksgiving Dinner?

What is for Thanksgiving Dinner? Will it be Roasted Turkey or Egg Foo Yong?

Inspired by the song "Albuquerque Turkey", I created a cute Thanksgiving Place Value and Greater Than, Less Than, and Equal To math activity .  Students will use my thanksgiving-themed cards with tens and ones blocks to identify numbers and determine which is greater. If Albuquerque Turkey has a number that is greater than or equal to the pilgrims' number, he wins and egg foo yong will be served for dinner. If the Pilgrims have the greater number, Poor Albuquerque Turkey will BECOME Thanksgiving dinner.  
I plan to use this activity for whole group instruction using my elmo and projector and then througout the month as a math center.  Both the lyrics to Albuquerque Turkey and tens and ones blocks are included in this 30 page pdf file available at my TPT store.

Click here for your FREE copy of the Albuquerque Turkey lyrics.


Nov 4, 2011

Veteran's Day Freebie

Next Friday, November 11th, our nation honors all of the men and women who have bravely served our country over the years; those who have risked their lives to make the world a safer and better place for us all.  Although I don't have anything special planned for my students to help honor our veterans this year, we will be remembering them and discussing the important role our military plays as we continue our study on "The jobs people do".   After our discussion, students will be given the following word bank and story paper and will be asked to use it to produce either an informational, reflective, or fictional  piece that centers around our military- past or present. Click on the link below to grab your free copy. It is part of my November writing paper and word bank pack available in my TPT store for just $1.00
Click here to download your FREE copy.

Also... I would love to hear what if anything you have planned to remember and honor our veterans with your students.

Happy Friday!

Oct 31, 2011

Pumpkin Data

This morning we will be using the pumpkins we brought back from our farm field trip last week to collect, record, and analyze data.  We will weigh, and measure both the circumference and height of our pumpkins. Then we will record measurements and sort the class data. Students will compare their pumpkin to the class data and draw conclusions. We will also estimate the number of seeds we think will be in the teacher's pumpkin and count to find out how accurate we were. Then we will finish off our day of "data collection" by participating in a variety of "timed"  relay races using our pumpkins. 
Get your FREE copy here.

Oct 24, 2011

Fall FREEBIES

Time for some Fall FREEBIES!
In need of a word bank and story paper to inspire students to write a spooky tale? Download this file here for FREE.

Wondering what you will do to inspire your students to practice their spelling at home next month? Maybe my FREE November Spelling Tic-Tac-Toe will be just the thing. Download your FREE copy from my TPT Store.
Happy Fall!