Word Wall Activities Preview

Ugh! I have been sneezing like Crayzay the past two days! These sneezing fits and watery eyes seriously need to stop, like now! I keep telling myself it is just allergies, buuut I think I might have a cold :(. All I want to do is go to bed when I get home. It also doesn't help that it's dark by the time I get home anyways! Geez! the 50 min drive home is killer!

So I've tried to catch up on some of my activities. I'm currently in the process of creating a word wall activities packet. Here is a tiny preview of a couple of the activities that are included. :)

Hopefully I will jump back on the healthy wagon soon! .....let's hope TOMORROW!

Nighty Night, hopefully I'll sleep tight!

Captain Apostrophe Story

I have had many people say the link wasn't working. I've tried to re-upload it! Hopefully it works! 

{The Story of Captain Apostrophe}

Fancy Literature Circle Packet

 I'm back in action! I took a break during the Thanksgiving holiday to spend some much needed fun time with the hubby! Now, it's back to reality. I've been able to get back to my list of "to do's". So, I finally finished my literature circle packet. I had searched for some literature circle packets to use with one of my high reading groups, but I didn't like how boring they were. So, I formatted my own with a little more pizzazz. It has 8 jobs that include; 

Discussion leader

Summarizer

Real Life Connector

Story Connector

Character Charter

Feeler

Visualizer

Word Wizard

I am looking forward to implementing this with my high reading group this week!  :) I love being able to give them more independence over their reading and learning!

My "Fancy Literature Circle Packet" is now available on my TPT store for download. :)

I will be finishing up a Monster Mash Activities set soon! Stay Tuned!

13.5 school days until Christmas Break! {of course I'm counting :)}

Wahoo!

Weather Mini-Unit

We are about to begin a small weather unit after the Thanksgiving break. I was in charge of creating the science plans this six weeks for my team so I decided to create a weather mini-unit. I wanted to have some fun experiments for my students to take part in and fun recording printables for them to reflect upon.  I created a packet of weather printables and a couple activities that I will be doing. The students will be compiling these printables together to create either a weather poster board or a weather portfolio. I will give my students the option. As we go through the unit and complete each experiment, my students will add to their project. My students haven't done this kind of project yet this year and I'm excited to see what comes of it. There will of course be those students that go above and beyond, and there will be those students that do the minimum. I am just excited to see the compilation of all the aspects of weather as a whole for my students. :) I hope my students are excited as well! I will post pictures as we complete them in class. :)

I placed my weather printables up on my TPT account for free download. This will be my first project uploaded through TPT!

I am also working on some cute literacy activities and reading journal printables. Those should be finished and uploaded to TPT soon.

So- if you are interested check out my TPT store and download the printables. They are free.. why not?? :) Also, leave some feedback and let me know what you think.

Enjoy!

Crafty Personalized Journals :)

This year I used a cute idea for my students' reading journals. This is great for letting your students put a personal spin on their journals. Basically you use scrapbook paper to make a journal cover. My kids really enjoyed being able to pick out their own two pieces to create their cover. It really personalizes the journal for them and increases their desire to use it.

All you need is scrapbooking paper (the big square pieces are better so that they can wrap around the inside the cover of the journal), scissors, and clear packaging tape!

 I got the scrapbooking paper from my parents. I sent out an email and immediately I received replies with parents wanting to send in loads of it! The picture of the scrapbook paper is all the extras that I have left! I'm very lucky to have the parent help :)

I pulled my students into small groups and the students chose their two square pieces for the front and back cover and then I had cut several skinny pieces to fit for their binding.

The kids LOVE them and always have them tied to their hips during reading workshop! :)

Glogs Galore!!

Technology craze!!!

My campus has been pushing technology like CRAZY since last year!! We are actually a pilot school this year for our district. Students in the 2nd-5th grade are allowed and encouraged to bring smart phones, ipads, laptops to school! They are incorporating some serious technology into the everyday classrooom routines. You can even earn a "technology t-shirt" to wear with jeans once a week if you show that you are enhancing your curriculum with technology! 

Being that I am in first grade, I don't have to deal with first graders dragging in such technological devices. Thank GOSH! Seriously-- first grade is a little early to start the iphones, ipads, and laptops!

BUT.. one of our trainings from the beginning of the year really encouraged using glogster. So, I set up a glogster website for each of my students. This has been super super cool so far. We take trips to the computer lab so that the students can reflect on their learning and create a piece of technology to post on their glog. Now, I do have some students that are more capable of completing these tasks than others but they all love it and it really helps them think about their thinking (metacognition teehee)!

They also use:

*flip videos to record themselves during math stations and literacy stations to show their learning.

*Smart Notebook software to draw, video, and voice over their product! Those get posted on their glogs as well!

Some of them are SO stinkin' cute when they record themselves! They use their cute "teacher" voices. It just makes me giggle!

Here is a link to my class webpage. You can then click on the "Student Glogs" link. On that page, you can search through my students' glogs. There are a few that have more products uploaded than others. Some good ones to take a peek at are Alex, Brandon, Natalia, Victoria, and Charlotte.

I've been a little bit of a slacker of uploading the videos from my flip video recently but we are getting back into the swing of things! 

www.edu.glogster.com is awe-some and a great way to connect the classroom to home and other people and places around the world!! My parents LOVE being able to see what the kids are doing in the classroom.

We are taking a trip to the lab tomorrow! I have a feeling we will have some new and fun things added to their glogs by the end of tomorrow!

Just wanted to share! :)

HAPPY FRIDAY!!

Getting Creative with Reading Journals

I've become obsessed with trying to be more creative when using my reading journals lately!

My students have also been hooked on using them independently during Read to Self. I like to use them as a response to our reading groups. I have been trying to get creative with the way that my students respond in their journals. I know that if I feel the need for it to be different and creative, then my students are needing it!

So I have begun creating little reading journal flip books, spinning wheels, etc. that can easily be glued into their journals. I try to match our objectives for the grading period so that I can easily glance back into their journals and see how well they are comprehending their stories using those specific strategies. This helps with the reading comprehension rubric grade that our team gives at every progress report and report card. 

Here is an example of how one of my students used the "Important Ideas" spinning wheel. She recorded 4 important ideas and then illustrated around the wheel. This particular student did more coloring than illustrating, but did manage to get a character in the corner. :)

I have only made a couple so far. I'm on the verge of finishing some more which I will post when I finish them. Here is a link to the two that are finished. Use if you'd like! 

 Reading Journal Spinner

Reading Journal Connections Flip book

The flip book will need to be copied front to back. Make sure it is matched up with the illustration on the back of the Text to _____ flaps.

Captain Apostrophe to the Rescue!

So last week we had been talking about contractions in writing. We had discussed and read the Captian Apostrophe short story and how he is a super hero and super strong. He is so strong that he can punch out letters AND fly high above.

So I drew Captain Apostrophe to post on my wall. My kids LOVE finding their "Captain Apostrophes" in their books during independent reading! They have a "write your words" recording sheet available to them so that they can record words that they find in their books. My kids have filled up many of these recording sheets with contractions! It really engages them and it makes this usually boring topic into a fun and exciting one! They Love Love Love it!

Super Cute Ladybug Contraction Activity

For an activity towards the end of the week I wanted the students to applying the idea of contractions. One of my teammates found this super cute ladybug blackline. On each of the two wings the student writes the two words that come together to form the contraction.

On the inside of the wings, the student writes the contraction made from the two words.

You simply connect the wings to the body with a brad so that the wings can open and shut.
I decided that after they completed the lady bug contraction that they would glue it onto a white construction paper and use it in a sentence. Then they could decorate the background.

When they were finished, they could read their sentence with the wings closed and the two words separate OR they could open the wings and read the sentence with the contraction! They loved it and thought it was very cool! Here are a couple of my students' examples.

Here is the ladybug blackline if you'd like to use it!

Ladybug Contraction Blackline

Spelling Menus

Ok, so we've begun giving spelling pretests this year. We were trying to decide the best way to give homework for spelling because we wanted to differentiate. I immediately thought of a spelling menu, but that's not what our consensus came to at one of our meetings. SOO needless to say we chose an option that was time consuming and obviously not the best option. 

I figured that I could be spending my time more wisely, so I took it upon myself to create two spelling menus to put in sheet protectors to place into each child's daily folder. They use this menu for the entire 6 weeks. I will change the options a bit for each 6 weeks' menus for some variety. "Spelling menu a" is for those students that need to continue to practice spelling the words.

 "Spelling menu b" is for those students who already know how to spell the words. That menu has choices for the student to apply the words.

These menus will give the student more choice and will make my life MUCH simpler!

Yay for Menus!

Download Menus Here

And so it begins....

 It's Official!

I have decided to enter the world of blogging!

I had previously tried a personal blog years ago, but I felt that it was pointless. I didn't think anyone would care to know what was going on in my life, so I didn't keep up with it. Now, I have decided to create a teacher blog! I'm very excited and eager to share some of the things that I am doing in my class and some of the games and activities that I create. 

I am really hoping that this blog, First Grade Fabulosity, does NOT meet the same demise as my personal blog. So, thank you to anyone who visits my site and finds it interesting and helpful. I think it will take time to get used to sharing my thoughts on the blog, but I am going to try my best! 

Why First Grade Fabulosity?? ....

Because first grade is fabulous! :) I have taught kindergarten and first grade. Kindergarten is wonderful and fun, but first grade allows you to go into more depth with the content while still being able to do the fun stuff! It's fabulous! :)

Who am I??

Hi! I'm Carly. I have taught kindergarten for 2 years and this is my 2nd year teaching first grade. I currently teach in Katy ISD.  I was married this past summer to my love Jason. We built our first home in Pearland (Yes the drive to work is ridiculous!). We have 3 dogs! I LOVE dogs! We have a white lab named Wishes, a black lab mix named Lucy, and a yorkie mix named Cammy. We're just the typical newlyweds! I also love to play soccer and hang out with my family. Annnd that's enough about me. :)

So....here goes nothing.....

I look forward to sharing my ideas! Stay tuned for some first grade fabulosity! :)