Beginning of the Year Reading

I have been focused on planning for beginning of the year reading activities this week. I always start with Nursery Rhymes and Fairy Tales. I have discovered over the years that many children did not hear many of the rhymes and fairy tales that I heard growing up. They usually heard some in Kindergarten, but I like to start with them. They are a familiar review for some children and an enjoyable way to start the year for others.

I created some printable pages to go with Jack and the Beanstalk. I like to read multiple versions and have the children compare them. You can download my unit for free by clicking on the picture below. Enjoy!

Reading Area

I have been back up at school this week starting to organize. My school will be implementing the suggestions Max Thompson gave us when he visited our school in the Spring. (If you haven't heard of him yet, look him up.) He said we have too many things up in the classrooms for the
types of children we have in our school. (I work at a Kindergarten-2nd Grade school.)

So, we had to remove EVERYTHING from the walls in June. They set up some "Model classrooms" and we are to make our rooms look similar to those.

I don't mind reducing the visual noise, but I must say, it is not as much fun getting ready for the new school year for me. I always enjoy decorating and coming up with a theme and colors to use. I am keeping some of the last theme- "Jungle-theme" and I am using color where I can.

Yesterday, I worked some on the Reading Area and where to keep the Book Baskets. For the last 2 years, the children used tote bags and kept them in

their cubbies. But, I have decided they won't have cubbies this year (due to a lot of stealing the last couple of years) and I will use the cubbies for storage. The kids will put their backpacks in 2 large tubs I will put in my office and lock. (I am one of the lucky ones that has an office:)

Here is a picture of my Reading Area.

This will also be where we do our group Reading lessons. Before, I had 2 separate areas.

I think I have decided to keep the book baskets on the back side of the book shelves. They are the colorful baskets. I had these from when I used them a few years ago. I went yesterday to the Dollar Tree and they still sell the same kind so I got more so I would have 20.

I found these adorable (free) numbers on Teachers Pay Teachers done by Michelle McIlhinny.

Since the kids will all be assigned a number, I thought this would be the easiest way to mark the Book Baskets. Here is where I think we will keep the Reading Baskets.

I have used Book Baskets before and they worked very well. We'll see how this set-up works.

Common Core Math

I love Math! Of course, I enjoy Reading and teaching reading, but I love teaching Math. I think because it can be so hands on, especially in 1st Grade, and the children enjoy it. I love that my struggling readers usually understand Math Concepts well. Some of my lowest readers (due to learning disabilities) have been my highest Math students. It just involves a different part of the brain. My son Jake (22) had a wonderful grasp of Math Concepts almost from birth, but he really struggled with reading. He had such a hard time learning the letter sounds that I briefly considered trying to help by giving each letter a numbers and having him associate numbers with the letters. (And I read to him from birth). He finally caught up and excelled in Reading, but never Spelling. Thank goodness for Spell-Check.

Anyway, I was on my school's Math Committee which studied the Common Core Standards and correlated it with our resources. I created a Daily Math Journal for my school that we used last year and will use again this year. I like it because it starts as a review and continues to spiral review through the year. It follows the order of our Curriculum Map. I posted the Math Journal in 4 parts on Teachers Pay Teachers and Teachers Notebook. I removed the dates so you can change the order to follow your own Curriculum Map. You can click on each picture to see one of the parts of the Journal at Teachers Pay Teachers.

If you are looking for a Math Journal, these may work for you. I had time last Summer to go through the Standards and make sure they are covered in the Journals. Enjoy!

Getting Ready for Writing

Today I have been busy buying (& finding free things) and printing resources to get ready for the school year. This past school year, I had to follow the Common Core Standards as well as the Sunshine State Standards that were not covered by the new Standards. This year, we will only be focusing on the Common Core Standards. So, with one year's experience with the Common Core Standards, I know better what resources I want to find.

I am looking at Writing today. Writing has always been the hardest for me to teach. I have always enjoyed writing and found it easy so it is hard for me to help the struggling writers because I am not sure why they are having a hard time.

So, I am putting together a Writing Notebook that includes divider for all of the Common Core Standards. I found 2 great resources on Teachers Pay Teachers that I printed out. I divided the papers by which Common Core Standard they cover and put them in those sections. I am providing links to the 2 resources I bought. I am sure there are more great ones out there and I will continue looking for them. I'll post them as I find them. I would love to hear of other Writing resources you have found that relate to the Common Core Standards.

Class Organization

In between Wedding planning this Summer (for my daughter) I have been trying new crafts. I have always enjoyed being creative and with both of my kids grown, now I have time to find crafts I enjoy. I always helped my children with crafts, but they weren't necessarily things I would have chosen.

Anyway, these are pictures of 2 glass canister-type containers I decorated for my classroom.

I used my new Cricut machine to cut out the "H"s and "Mrs.Hogle" as well as some of the small dots. I used a 1" circle paper punch for the larger circles. I am having a blast with this Cricut machine. It is the mini one- since it was cheaper than the large one and I wasn't sure I would like it. For Becca's wedding, I made some personalized cups for people who helped in the wedding. Everyone loved them.

The large container holds 52 oz and I'm not sure about the little one since I already pulled the sticker off the bottom, but it was the smallest one of that type. I got them at Walmart in the kitchen section. It was about $5 for the large one and $3 for the little one. I plan to use them near my "Teacher Table" (for lessons) to help with organizing small items. I ordered the adhesive vinyl from Amazon. You could even do this without the Cricut machine and cutting out the shapes (or name) you want out of the adhesive vinyl.

Common Core Math Activities

Unknown Addend Center (above)

Subtraction: Unknown Number (above)

I have been looking through my Math Activities at home and organizing them by Common Core Standard. I love making my own class materials and I made some new Centers this week focusing on Common Core 1.OA8: Determine the unknown whole number in addition or subtraction equation...

I made a Center for Addition and one for Subtraction. I posted them on TeachersPayTeachers.com. I will probably also post them on Teachers Notebook.com when I get a chance. The words under the pictures above have links to the Teachers Pay Teacher page for each item. Each Center is $1.50. I have a lot of other sets that are based on the Math Common Core Standards for First Grade. I have really enjoyed making the lessons and activities. Most of them I used with my class this past year.

Welcome Letters to Students

I’m home recovering from my daughter’s wedding last Saturday. It went well and was beautiful, but it was A LOT of work! Thankfully, I have a great family who helped so much.

Anyway, as I am taking it easy this week, I have started looking through papers and files I have at home for the beginning of the school year. I always mail a Welcome letter to the students in my class. This year, I have decided to print a Welcome letter on cardstock and glue them to the left over magnets I have from my daughter’s “Save the Dates” she sent out several months ago. This way, the students can put them on their refrigerators and see the Important Dates for the beginning of the year. The above image is a draft of what I plan to send. (Still have to get the exact dates). On "Meet the Teacher" day, I give the students an Orientation Packet with detailed information about me and classroom polices and routines. My Welcome Letter is really just to say "hi".