Banners & Peacemakers FREEBIE

It's B2S time!  I've spent the last few days setting up my classroom.  Once it's all finished, I'll be sure to give a full tour.  But in the meantime, I wanted to share a few freebies.

While I've always had a dedicated wall for math, I never officially labeled it.  I didn't want to spend time cutting out die cut letters and laminating, so I made a larger banner.  Less time cutting = happy teacher.

Here's a view of the reading bulletin board.

You can download the banners HERE.

If you're in the midst of lesson planning for the first few days of school, I encourage you to check out Cara Caroll's peacemaker post.  I cannot make posters as pretty as hers, so I made these instead.  Scroll to the bottom to download them for free!

You can download the posters HERE.

Alphabet Posters & FREE Schedule Cards

I've been teaching for 8 years and I've had two classroom themes - bees for five years and polka dots for the last 3 years.  This year I'm adding a few touches of chevron to switch things up a bit.

I found these lights on clearance at Target. First I was bummed because the polka dot lights were not on clearance, but a co-worker convinced me that polka dots and chevron can go together.
My number line is green and pink polka dots, so I thought it would be fitting to do a chevron print for the alphabet line since it's on the opposite site of the room.

It's hard for me to find D'Nealian items so if you need this in a different theme, let me know. 

I also made a polka version (lined and unlined).  

I've been using the same schedule cards for several years too.  I had mounted them on scrapbook paper, but them some of our enrichment classes changed and I didn't have something to match it.  Every Monday there was a blank hole.  The kids finally got used to the blank hole because they knew it was Cultural Studies.  

My Friday schedule was always a little different in the afternoon. Let's be honest and realize that you probably cannot teach a lesson the last hour of the day, especially if you have just come back from enrichment.  They are D.O.N.E.  (And maybe the teacher is too.) Usually class store happens at this time.  Some weeks I would show a movie related to whatever we were learning.  Other weeks I would do a directed drawing from Jennifer at First Grade Blue Skies.  The schedule cards include both of these options!

They include:

Lunch

Snack

Social Studies

Science

Math

Calendar

Reader's Workshop (alternates include Reading and Phonics)

Writer's Workshop (alternates include Writing and Grammar)

Music

Art

Library

Spanish

Computer

PE

Recess

Morning Work 

Dismissal

Field Trip

Class Store

Directed Drawings

Movie

Bible

Chapel

Praise & Worship

You can download the free schedule cards {HERE}.

Mary Mack: A Freebie

My goal for the summer is to make different reading packets for our basal reader.  I made one for The Billy Goats Gruff and saw a big improvement in comprehension (and test scores).  Plus my students thought the activities were fun and seemed genuinely excited to complete the activities.
There are several poems in the basal reader and I usually save those for our 4 day weeks.  One poem that generates lots of excitement is Mary Mack.  Even the boys get into it!

In the poem, the students highlight or circle pairs of rhyming words.

I created a cover page to the packet.  After we read the story, the students color the cover as they eat snack.

Students will cut and glue the sequence of the poem.

Students practice their visualization skills by drawing a picture of what they think Mary Mack looks like.  Then they have to prove why they pictured Mary Mack that way.
You can download the entire packet HERE for free.  I hope this will help you next school year, especially on those shorter weeks!
If you are looking for other reading packets, please be sure to follow my store this summer.  (Everything is 50% off for the 24 hours.) Here are a few that I've already made.

End of Year Activities

I only have 10 1/2 more days of school.  Crazy to think how fast the year flew by!  

If your class is anything like mine they are getting a little restless.  As far as behavior goes, I started using Class Dojo.

Once the kids here the chime that someone has earned a point, you could hear a pin drop.  At the end of the day, I give them Star Dollars for how many points they've earned.

I don't think I'd use Class Dojo all year long because I'm constantly turning on and off my TV.  I need something extra up my sleeve for that last month.

As far as activities go, I need something quick, easy and engaging.  I'm known for my crafts (Thanks TpT!).  I want to show you some of the things we've done in the last week and will do the last few days.  

S'Mores Craft & Writing 

We are making s'mores tomorrow to go along with our camping theme.

All About Skunks {Freebie}

Nouns for Sale: Lemonade Edition

Students write nouns on lemons and then make a pitcher of lemonade.

Watermelon Adjectives {Freebie}

Students write adjectives on seeds.

Antonyms: Go Together Like Peas and Carrots

Synonyms: Go Together Like Peas in a Pod

Gallon Guy/Girl

You can find all of these items in my TpT store on sale through tonight!  

Five for Friday: 4/24/15

This post is going to be full of random tidbits from the last two weeks and it's going to be short and sweet since I have to head back up to school for bingo night.  It's also going to contain a lot of freebies to save you time and money. ;)

We've been learning about plants.  My favorite new-to-me craft has been I Love Carrots.

It's also a freebie which makes it even better. ;)

You could also use this watermelon craft during your plant unit. I'm personally saving it until our watermelon day in a few weeks.  

How adorable are these directed drawings from First Grade Blue Skies?

One of my students said his mom never believes him that he drew it.  She thinks I drew it for him and just let him color it in. You can download the instructions HERE.

My students actually cheer when I pass out these printables from Hollie Griffith.  They are great because it's interactive - they color, the unscramble words, they roll dice.

We also played this game. (Not free, but it's only $2).

I planted my garden this week!  

I planted tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, and zucchini.  Fingers crossed that it grows.

Five for Friday: 2/13/15

I haven't linked up with anything in a long time and I thought this was the perfect week to get back into the swing of things! 

My favorite holiday to celebrate at school is Valentine's Day.  There's not an official party.  We just pass out our Valentine's and eat a special snack.  

All the girls flocked to this little boy's Valentine box.  The shiny, fake diamond lured them in! Haha.  It starts young!

The added benefit is sometimes you end up with really neat gifts!

Backing up to earlier in the week, we studied ending digraphs.  

This year, my students love the "I Have, Who Has?" game. I had to whip up one for middle/ending digraphs.

Go to my TPT store to download it for free!

Do you have a subscription to Brainpop, Jr?  They have the best videos to introduce a topic!  They are short and engaging.

We watched two videos for George Washington Carver and Harriet Tubman before making our crafts.

I let the students complete their Venn Diagrams on their own.  I read through them to make sure they understood the concept.

Um, he compared Harriet's head injury to his busted lip. Way to make Social Studies more entertaining!

It's that time of year when the students are comfortable and love to talk to their friends about anything and everything.  Rainbows, unicorns, marshmallows....anything except work related tasks.

It was getting a little out of hand, so I had to use one of my favorite tricks in the book.

The Blurt Chart.

Each student gets 3 blurts a day.  If they lose all of their blurts, they get a number written in their binder (which correspond to "I was talking too much.")

Student 2 has permanently lost her blurts because she moved.  I didn't want a chart that said 1, 3, 4, etc. 

If they keep all of their blurts, they earn a Star Dollar (part of my class reward).  They will do anything for a Star Dollar!

Well, most of them....Here's how my chart looked after Monday.  This wasn't the best day, but we had much better days the rest of the week.

It's a great visual reminder.  Once they lose all of their blurts, they have to move their clip down on the clip chart.  It also helps me track how many time they talk during the day.

{This is not my original idea.  I found it on Pinterest way back when in 2011.}

I've started posting a little more on Instagram and I'm looking to follow new people!  Leave me your Instagram name!

Click the Instagram photo above to follow me on Instagram or look me up via polkadotfirsties.

Be sure to checkout Doodlebug's linky party for more great ideas!