Category Archives: Small Groups | Centers

Small group ( 6 or less) and independent centers for students to practice skills and strategies.

UPDATE! Math Practice for the WHOLE YEAR!

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Really?

Math practice…DONE?

For the WHOLE YEAR???

YEP! YEP!

Math Practice …Common Core Aligned

Daily skills for kiddos to practice!

My newest packet requires..

NO LAMINATING!!!

Really?

I mean REALLY? YES!

I Mean NO! NO LAMINATING!

HOW? Tell me HOW?

First…Print the cards on paper or cardstock.

I choose…FLUORESCENT!

Pink, green, blue, orange , & yellow!

BRIGHT BRIGHT BRIGHT

I have Black walls ( Wal Mart Twin Sheets!)

LOVE THEM!

Bright cards LOOK GREAT!

So how do I put them on the walls?

Sheet Protectors!

Cut them to size….

( I added tape to the bottom of some to make a “POCKET”)

and

VOILA!

To see the whole wall….

Close your eyes! READY??

Love Love Love it!

Here is a preview!

And here is the best!

The kiddos use this printable

doing 4 sets a day, for 5 days

AND THEN…

take the cards out of the pockets…place a new card in front…

AND DO IT AGAIN!

New card…same skill!

Here is the student printable:

YOU SEE?

LOTS of Practice…Little teacher WORK!

Work Smarter….NOT HARDER!

Now available at 1stgradefireworks

Eggs. The Little Plastic ONES!

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Plastic Easter Eggs. What do YOU do with THEM?

EGGS!

Huh?

I know..I am talking about those CUTE little plastic ones!

The plastic ones we put stuff into and hide at EASTER!

How to use them in the CLASSROOM?

A MILLION WAYS!

Plastic Easter Eggs in the classroom — Eggs with word family stickers

Word Families

Easter Egg Math

Number Matching

Or….

Multiple Other ways!

(Pinterest)

KIDDOS LOVE THEM!

They are CHEAP!

USE THEM.

Use them A LOT!

Sometimes…the best lessons are in the smallest packages.

Have fun. Smile a lot.

Giggle.

Hoppy Spring!

How To KEEP Growing a Rainbow in Your Classroom

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This is NOT a GARDENING BLOG POST!

Each of us is a flower… Growing in Life’s Garden (by Charlotte Diamond)

Can I really GROW A RAINBOW? YES!

This is the entry into a world where ALL students are flowers in the classroom garden. Each is unique, colorful, and needs it’s own nurturing to THRIVE! How to create a classroom environment where each student with different needs and abilities will blossom. When we create our classroom bouquet, we have grown a RAINBOW from the seeds we have planted.

How to KEEP Growing a Rainbow in YOUR classroom, from the seeds YOU have planted.

One time per week, I will post a TIP, a TRICK, and/or a HACK to help YOU, the teacher, nurture our students into thriving blossoms of learning! My hope is that through support, trials & tribulations, and time-saving tips, YOU may grow YOUR RAINBOW!

A rainbow of flowers. From: How to Keep Growing a Rainbow in YOUR classroom. Planting Seeds of Knowledge.

Today’s TOPIC:

Classroom Routines.

Do you have routines set up for each day? Each Transition? For the beginning & Ending of the day? Here is your HELP! Check out the FULL POST HERE!

Here are the first 10 minutes of my day. EVERY DAY!

ENTERING THE CLASSROOM ROUTINE:

I meet my kids on the playground.

Kids on the playground. Setting up classroom routines. 1stgradefireworks

Our “first” bell ( line up ) is at 8:20.

I go out to our line at 8:15 and remind ALL of my students to get out of their BACKPACKS their BLACK homework folder (provided by me at the beginning of the year..black because I don’t use black for any other folder in my room..and their READ AT HOME envelope with TAKE HOME BOOKS.

They have them “in their hands” before we walk to the door.

WHY?

NO ONE has to “dig through” their backpacks when we get in the door.

While we are at the door…I have a Home Depot shelving unit next to the door.

Gray Home Depot Garage shelving Unit. this helps with the beginning-of-the-day routines!

They put their backpacks and jackets ON THE SHELVES! Great beginning-of-the-day routine! NO backpacks or jackets on CHAIRS! No room!

After we enter..2 baskets on the table next to the door. One “homework”..the other RAH (Read AT Home) Envelopes.

Homework Basket for Entering the Classroom Routines.

Black folders in HW basket, Book envelopes in RAH basket.

DONE!

(Any notes or OTHER STUFF…in HW basket).

NOW, they get a chair

Stacked at the back of the room,

and WALK to their desk. They know the routines.

When the starting bell rings at 8:25

(5 minutes after we enter…)

I choose the HELPERS for the day.

You can only be a HELPER if you are sitting in your seat when the bell rings! I am prompt!

( No tardies, wanderers, “chatting”).

If you are TARDY…you won’t be a helper on that day if it’s your turn. You will have to wait until tomorrow if you are on time.

An incentive for getting to school ON TIME!

I choose my helpers.

2 of my 10 helpers for the day are

TECH TEACHERS.

I ask the TECH TEACHERS to choose a “quiet partner” to help them pass out Chromebooks ( We are a 1:1 school ) and earbuds ( they have their own in numbered baggies.

(We number EVERYTHING!)

They get their Chromebooks, long into our district reading/phonics practice program, and GO TO WORK!

ALL of this takes 10 minutes.

8:20-8:30

NO MUSS…NO FUSS! Routines help manage the classroom!

HI HO.. HI HO It’s OFF to High Frequency Work..WE GO!

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High Frequency Words…or Sight Words

(depending on your generation..) 🙂

Back in the “OLDEN DAYS” when I became a teacher…

( um…Let’s just say in the late 80’s..)

I was taught to work on HFW (High Frequency Words) DAILY!

These are the words my student’s would see in their daily reading.

Some can be “sounded out” and some JUST HAVE TO BE MEMORIZED!

In order to memorize a word…a student MUST work with it at least

30 times!

WHAT???!!!!

Each word??? YEP!

So we do…DAILY!

Now the list of grade level words is ever changing.

You can see FRY WORD LISTS, DOLCH word lists, CURRICULUM word lists…

BUT the main focus is NOT on the LIST,

BUT WHAT YOU DO WITH IT!

Again…to embed a word into a first grader’s BRAIN..

they must work with it at least 30 times!

(Some kids more..some kids less)

HOW??

READ…..WRITE….SPEAK

Say it with me, “READ..WRITE..SPEAK”

OK. Now the work begins.

These samples came from Pinterest..

MANY,MANY,MANY boards to help YOU

create a class list &

MANY, MANY, MANY

different activities to help your kids

WORK WITH HFW!

They need to practice DAILY!

I myself, am a KINESTHETIC learner…HANDS ON!

NOT a SUPER fan of worksheets.

( Yes..we do some..I AM ONLY HUMAN!)

Thank You PINTEREST!

And so you see…Practice..practice..practice..

This year my class is a One-to-one classroom with ipads!

(THANK YOU TO WHOMEVER DREAMED OF THIS!)

My newest LOVE is an app called

“SHOW ME!”

It’s an individual interactive whiteboard!

We play word games, I SPY, word ladders, etc. each on their own tablet..

and then SWISH!

CLEAR ALL…and we start again!

We do daily practice for about 10 minutes.

That’s about ALL they need in a “chunk” of time 10-15 minutes.

Later in the day…they each have individual word rings.

I have sets available in my store or you can search TPT for others.

Here’s a sampling…

High Frequency Words Tpt 1stgradefireworks

Available at:

1stgradefireworks

And so…

HI HO

It’s OFF to HFW

WE GO!

Enjoy! 🙂

625 VALENTINE CARDS? Where Do We PUT Them?

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VALENTINE CARDS

It’s that time of year…

Kindness cards, Friendship Celebrations, Valentine Parties

Whatever YOUR site chooses to call it.

IT’S HERE!

I have LOTS of

VALENTINE Centers,

Reading fluency, practice pages,

math, sorting games,

vocabulary banners for writing centers,

and MORE!

ALL available in my TPT Store

1stgradefireworks

Click on the video to see new and exciting

Valentine products!

*There is a preview of

President’s Day, too!

The time of year when we color, cut & glue

to show our FRIENDS that WE LOVE THEM!

Valentine crafts! Yippee!

Pinterest has LOTS ( I mean LOTS )

of Valentine, Friendship, and February

IDEAS!

These are a few from

Valentine Pinterest boards

Valentine’s Day

Flippy Flaps

Pinterest pin for Valentine's Day .https://www.pinterest.com/firstgradeflair/valentines-day-elementary-resources/

STEM

WE LOVE VALENTINE’S DAY!

But

WHAT TO DO

WITH ALL OF THOSE

VALENTINE CARDS???

How to MANAGE them ALL?

2 days before our “Friendship Celebration”

*we Celebrate FRIENDSHIP

we make our BAGS!

Now I have done LOTS & LOTS & LOTS

of different types of card holders…

(Again…THANK YOU PINTEREST!)

The Little Monster Valentine Goody Bags will hold the cards!

Pinterest Valentine Goody Boxes to hold cards

But I think the MOST important thing to remember is…

WHERE ARE YOU GOING TO PUT THEM?

If you have 25 students

…these take up a LOT of space!

So the choice is yours!

Just remember…

ALWAYS…ALWAYS…make 1 extra!

That student who was absent on CRAFTY day

…will want a bag on PARTY day!

ALSO….

Have your kiddos write

THEIR NAME ONLY

on their Valentine cards.

One in each bag…PLOP..PLOP…PLOP!

NO need to MATCH

their friend’s name on the card to the bag.

One for EVERYONE!

When we open our bags and

we say THANK YOU

to each person who gave us a card!

MANNERS COUNT!

I am lucky to have PARENTS who will send gift bags, cookies, & treats to share.

We pass these out after our cards are packed up.

Don’t want to SPILL on them!

So good luck. It’s time for DIY.

Check your CRAFTING SUPPLIES.

Find out where you want them to be

..they will be there for a couple of days.

AND enjoy!

Don’t forget to make one for yourself!

I am sure your kiddos will have “TREATS” for you too!

Here is a FREEBIE for YOU

to share with YOUR KIDDOS!

FREE Sight Word game from 1stgradefireworks

Happy Friendship DAY! 🙂

Games for Assessments?????

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Can I really play a FUN game to ASSESS?
Oh YEAH!
We have been playing ( YES…PLAYING)
fun games this month!
And guess what?
I can use them for assessments!
( Do I hear OH YEAH!)
Sorry …my WBT is going to my head!
My new SEPTEMBER game is both.
It’s a game & assessment.
I use the foldable game cards as a
September PREVIEW & REVIEW.

I start the month with the cards to see what my kiddos know…
DO I HEAR KWL???
Then I can plan for the month depending on what they DON’T KNOW!
At the end of the month..REASSESS!
Use DATA for review in small groups.
(WOW!!! I think I am getting this down…sarcasm)
It’s only taken me 23 years..sarcasm
( Some of us have been teaching this way for years!)
Shhhh…don’t tell anyone
Those “young PHDers in Education” may feel sad.
They think they have created something new..
The education pendulum has swung again!
Smile, nod your head,…and teach!
Do I hear an “OH YEAH!” 🙂

February’s Here and the We’ve got the CRUD!

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WINTER, FEBRUARY, THE CRUD, AND A FREEBIE! 🙂

Boy..How is it already FEBRUARY??

We’ve had the “crud”

..so when we started feeling better..

it was JANUARY!

Now…??? It’s FEBRUARY!

WOW!

So now that I am feeling better…

things are finally coming together!

I have made some new packets to share with YOU!

FREEBIE at the end…keep looking! 🙂

It is still WINTER!

Those of you on the East Coast…

you know this best of ALL!

Here is my newest packet

click HERE to see it in my TPT store

Here are some PREVIEWS…

WOW! LOTS of action for kiddos!
My class LOVES this packet!

Then as we move into FEBRUARY…YES FEBRUARY…
The “LOVE” blossoms in ALL of us!
So..to share the LOVE…
I have a BUNDLE of 6 packets…YES..I said 6 packets!

All of these are available in my store…individually…

BUT now available in a BUNDLE!
Click HERE to get the BUNDLE!
Here’s a preview…

AND an EXCLUSIVE Packet…

only AVAILABLE in this BUNDLE!

WOW! All that!

What a wonderful

FEBRUARY BUNDLE

FREEBIE???

Here you go…

Fluency Word Practice

for FEBRUARY!

How to Fit IT ALL IN? Balanced Literacy…

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BALANCED LITERACY

IN FIRST GRADE!

I can’t believe this is year 26!
MY own twins were in first grade

MY first year of teaching!
( NOT in my class…TG…)

Each year things CHANGE!
CHANGE is NOT a BAD thing!
It can make you rethink, reevaluate, redo,

remake, revitalize!

After 26 years…I can HONESTLY say..

I will NOT throw out the BABY with the BATHWATER!

WHAT????

OK…We have a new curriculum. AGAIN!
EVERY 7 YEARS..
Whether you want it …or NOT!

And so, here we go again.

It really doesn’t matter what

“program” you give me.

BALANCED Literacy
is
BALANCED Literacy

My “STRESS” level rises when I try to plan .

HOW TO FIT IT ALL IN?

Reality check…

Some days I can…some days I can’t.

It’s ok.

Life won’t end if you don’t do it ALL!

BUT..

TRY!

Let’s start with :

#1.. READ ALOUDS

I start with

READ ALOUDS!

I start my day with a READ ALOUD.

AND

I end my day with a READ ALOUD!

( I try to make ONE of those Read Alouds

a SCIENCE,SOCIAL STUDIES, or HOLIDAY story)

INTEGRATE whenever YOU can!

After EVERY story…WE Discuss.

Characters.

Setting.

Problem.

Solution.

EVERY Read Aloud.

Discuss for 10 minutes …MAX!

Highly Effective!

When students THINK about a story,

“turn & talk”about it,

use the “academic language”

from the story they are engaged!

They might NOT take it on for themselves

the first time…..

but…over time, they will!

This week I heard some “reading partners”

discussing our anthology

story.

I heard “MAIN CHARACTER”,

“Beginning, Middle, END”,

“How did they SOLVE that Problem?”

WOWZA!

Teacher Happy DANCE!

If you need suggestions

for Read Alouds…PINTEREST!

Next on my BALANCED LITERACY plan..

INTERACTIVE WRITING

So,how? Where? WHEN?

I LOVE interactive writing!

Interactive Writing is when

the KIDS do the writing.

We use chart paper.

We discuss a story PLAN.

We start with MAIN IDEA.

Then we add 3 detail ideas.

We add a conclusion.

VOILA!

A class story!

They help each other spell.

We sound out words together.

We discuss grammar.

And we write..and read..

and edit..and rewrite!

What a wonderful cycle!

I am using my interactive writing skills to

incorporate our

NEW long vowel phonics concepts.

We made a chart.

Together we thought up words

that use our long vowel

word families.

We made a vocabulary box on the chart

to remind us of words

we want to use in our story.

And..THEY WRITE!

Smelly markers are a must!

And we read..This happens during our

morning meeting time.

We spend about 5-10 minutes writing

each day for 5 days.

Mondays..we begin a new story.

THEY LOVE THIS!

We started with Kate.

Long a with silent e.

Then Irene.

Long e with silent e.

Next week…

Long o with silent e.

Check out ..

BALANCED LITERACY

Next we preview…

WRITER’S WORKSHOP

Write ON

Have YOU Heard? REALLY??? AM I the LAST to know???

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I feel left out!

HOW did I not know…???

via GIPHY

I just found out that

ORIENTAL TRADING

has a
WEB SITE

JUST FOR TEACHERS!

OMG!

LIFE CHANGING!

The “go to” website for class sets of

ANYTHING…

pencils, erasers, crafts, party supplies, etc

NOW…has

TEACHER SUPPLIES!

Bulletin board materials, pencils, book marks,STEM activities, etc..etc..etc…

Learn365 is AMAZING!

The WONDERFUL people at ORIENTAL TRADING
sent my students SOME GOODIES!

*disclaimer…I was compensated in classroom materials for this blogpost.
BUT…In my opinion,
I believe this is a wonderful site
for teachers when purchasing classroom materials.

My students have
3 new STEM tubs
for Problem Solving!