Hello, friends! Six weeks into the school year, we have hit the ground running and read-aloud has quickly become one of our favorite moments of the day. Today I wanted to share about one of my ...
Blog
Place Value: 1st Grade Centers
1st grade math is hands-on, game-based, and fun. But underneath all of that energy, it’s also where students first learn to trust structure. Place value is often the first time students are asked to ...
A PBIS Idea: Positive Notes Home
Happy Sunday, friends! Today I wanted to quickly stop by to share one of my favorite notepads and a simple, no frills way to keep track of which students have received a positive note. Since ...
Place Value Bootcamp
Place Value Bootcamp is a high-energy and challenging way to 'hook' your young mathematicians. This is my third year doing Bootcamp and every years it looks different! While doing calendar, I told ...
Earth Day Recycling Demonstration: From Pumpkin Science to Compost
Adopting the Next Generation Science Standards, our school is moving toward a 5E Model for Science Instruction . Although I am not all-in right now, I am trying to slowly transition my thinking and ...
Leaf Chromatography: Why do leaves change color?
Our school is adopting the Next Generation Science Standards for the first year, and it is definitely keeping me on my toes. I have been learning all kinds of fabulous science right along with my 1st ...
1st Grade Classroom Reveal
1st Grade Classroom Reveal This is it, my big classroom reveal! This is the first year where I have stayed in the same room in the same grade. As I approached my room, I really wanted to make it more ...
Narrative Writing: Zooming into Small Moments
Outside of "What do I write about?" (see that post here) teaching students to zoom into a small moment is one of the first skills I teach during narrative writing. Without this concept, we have ...
Launching Writer’s Workshop: Our 1st Day
Last week, mid-Week 4 - our 1st grade team launched Writer's Workshop. I am SO excited because all 5 of us are committed to using a Workshop model this year, saturated with lots and lots of mentor ...
Scholastic Reading Club: Tips & Tricks
A love of reading is the great gift we can give students. As a 1st grade teacher and a former 5th grade teacher, fostering a community of readers consumes/consumed much of my time and energy...and it ...
Making Phonics Fun: Phonics Name Tags
Phonics is a *huge* part of setting a foundation for reading and in 1st grade, we spent a significant chuck of our day working on identifying sounds and word parts. (Don't panic - it's in healthily ...
Classroom Jobs in 1st Grade
Today was a special day in Room 134 - Hiring Day! Today I hired employees of our 22 classroom jobs, and it was very exciting. Classroom jobs give every student their niche and offer a great and ...