Thursday, August 23, 2012

Where I teach . . . What I love about my room!!


I’m sorry I’m behind on Teacher Week but I wanted to share some pictures of my room.  . . . OR what I LOVE the most about my room!!
 Many of you may have read I'm working at a year-round school now so I posted my Where I teach pictures awhile back but if you missed it you can read and check it out HERE!!
 
Here are a few more picture I wanted to share! 
 
I call this my Sound Wall!! 
I LOVED this!  I put it up at the beginning of the year last year and each time a student asked me what says . . . I took them to the Sound Wall and showed them the sound.  (Decorating Tip. . . back them on scrapbook paper.  It makes them look much cuter! Thank Sarah Cooley for that tip.)  I still need to find a place for it in my new room!!  I found these pictures on Deanna Jump's site but she no longer has them there.  However you CAN find something similar on Mrs. Lemon's Step into Second Grade HERE


Here is a little room shot.   

I LOVE my chair pockets.  A parent made them for me YEARS AGO!! I love them. GREAT INVESTMENT!! I love the different colors and I also LOVE the carpet in my NEW classroom! It helps you teach at ANY spot!!
 

I LOVE this little plastic shelf for paper storage.

I filled the baskets (really good stuff) with all the different types of writing paper and it is perfect in my Work on Writing area!!

 

Listening to Reading area!
 
I'm loving my crate shelf center!! It's the perfect place to hang up all those headphones!!
My carpet!!
Since my room is carpeted the school won't purchase classroom carpets for us!! SO . . . I went in to the Dollar Tree bought these carpet squares for $1 EACH and duct taped them together!! I don't LOVE the colors but the $24 price I LOVE!! And it really helps each student have their own space.
Think Aloud - Anchor Chart

We have been using this chart each day this week when reading!! My students are REALLY learning from it!! I love when they shout out, "That's a connection!" Or, "You are making a prediction!" They also love the Personal Response and the Reflection. I think they are doing great for week 5 of school!!


My ABC sentence strip to teach ABC Order!!


This is a must!! It really helps my students put the cards in order!!

 

What do you love in your room?

Monday, August 20, 2012

Teacher Week - Must-Have Monday! And Back to School ABC ORDER


Today was my first day back after break!!  My little firsties are getting SO SMART!!  We worked on our first ABC Order activity this year!  We put the words in order together on a pocket chart and then I recorded the words under the Document Camera (see below) with skinny markers (see below) :)  The students worked at the same time at their seats.  After I helped them with the words they tried to use two words in sentences!  Later in the year I like them to try to use two words in ONE sentence but since this was our first try I didn't push that part! 

I love this one: 


. . . and she even spelled my name right!!

How cute is this one! 
I can't quite translate the second sentence but the first one says, "I have birds in a cage" and gotta give her credit because that's what I see in the picture!  Even though that actually has nothing to do with school . . . because WE DON'T have a bird in a cage in our room!! HA!! :)

I did included two seperate lists in this pact so you can practice it a few times before putting it in a center.  You can check it out here!






Its teacher week today is Must-Have Monday!!  There are so MANY!!!    


Here are a few:  



  

Markers – I have them in all colors!  Skinny for checking papers and regular for charts!!


 

Chart Paper – I have to have lined paper when I write!!  I use this paper to create charts or to practice correct letter formation!!

 

Books – I have spent a lot of money on books!!  And I love reading them aloud to my students.

 

Document Camera – I LOVE this --- I love that I can put any sheet under the camera and enlarge it for everyone to see.


 

Scrappin Doodles – Clipart!!  I use it to make all of my units!!  It really helps the students learn vocabulary through pictures!

Link up here!!

Sunday, August 19, 2012

Farm Adventures - A Literacy and Writing Unit


I’m so excited to teach this farm unit!  I wanted to start the year with a farm unit because I knew some of my students would already know these animals.  This is a great way for my studnets to be successful at the centers AND a great way for them to SEE the words they may already know!! 
I have included a fiction and nonfiction book list for farm themed books.  I’m sure there are MANY more out there!! This farm unit included 4 Phonics activities, 3 Vocabulary activities, and 9 writing activities!  

Here is a sneak peak at some of the activities!! 

Build-a-Sentence
Students choose a who card, a position card, and a where card and build a sentence.  Then they record the sentence on their paper.
Creative Writing
Students choose a picture and write 3 sentences about the picture.



ABC ORDER
Funny Farm Syllables
Vocabulary Cards


Short i Word Sort

Also included: Short e and a Short i or Short e

Writing Prompt Pages - Several More in the Unit

3 Tree Maps Students can complete these on their own or with a teacher.  Then students can you these tree maps to create sentences.

If you are interested in this unit you can purchase it here!!
It will be on sale until TUESDAY!!

I will give a FREE copy to the first TWO people that can guess my favorite farm animal!
Don't forget to include your email address!!


Congratulations to Heather from The Busy Busy Hive  and to Deb  you girls were FAST!!  My favorite farm animals is a PIG!!!  Leave a comment with your email address so I can send you a copy!!  Thanks for reading!!