Swamp Frog First Graders

Early Bird Work Linky Party

2012-03-14T11:30:00.000-07:00

I'm experimenting with some ways to "spice up" the early bird work in my classroom.

I've tried journaling, but need a little more to push my firsties through this last quarter.

I've created some slides to project onto the board as they come in for early bird work.

These are specific to the words and grammar skills in Reading Street's Unit 4 Story 5

"Peter's Chair" and the Power Standards review for some of our math skills...

Download the pdf of the power point here and let me know what you think....

Any suggestions on how to change it .... add to it... take away from it...???

What do you do for Early Bird Work in your class?

Join the linky party....blog about your early bird work ideas and then

link back to share what you do with us !

Don't blog...consider leaving a comment to share what you do

for Early Bird Work in your class!

Can't wait to see what you have to share!

PS....don't forget to hop over and comment so you can join the give away for a free Premium Membership to Spelling City ....I love this web program!

Luck O the Swamp Give Away!

2012-03-13T06:19:00.000-07:00

Top O the Morning to you!

Thanks to VocabularySpellingCity.com,

I am able to offer one lucky follower a free Premium Membership Upgrade!

I really do love this program and all the benefits of the Premium Membership...

You can read about how I use the benefits of the Premium Membership HERE.

source

To join the giveaway for the Premium Membership Upgrade:

1. Become a follower of my blog...

Swamp Frog First Graders

and leave a comment with your email

to let me know you've joined The Swamp!

2. Already a Follower:

leave a comment to let tell me know that you follow with your email.

3. Become a new Follower on my Twitter... by clicking on the

Follow me on Twitter button in the side bar

Spelling City Premium Membership!

2012-03-10T17:28:00.003-08:00

I've been using spellingcity.com for several years as a free web resource to help my students work with their spelling words during computer time at school and for homework. About two weeks ago, I was given the opportunity to upgrade to the Premium Membership and

I AM IN LOVE !

Free Clipart Pictures

Spelling City has always been a part of my "Homework Activity Board" choices.

However, I have never had a way to track the games being played

or the tests the kids were taking using the free version. With the Premium Membership,

I can login and check on their progress without a hitch :)

I love the ability to give students assignments to complete each week t

hat are differentiated and suited to their individual needs.

Better still....being able to track their progress and see where they are showing success

helps me see which skills might need more reinforcement in small groups.

There are more games and activities available to the students with the Premium Membership.

Two student favorites right now are ...

I particularly like the speedy speller as it combines keyboarding skills with the spelling of the words.

I find the kiddos are more aware of where the letters are located on the keyboard after playing this activity just for a couple of weeks. They also get a little excited when they get to add their initials to the gameboard for having the fastest time of the day :)

Having the students take a "Pre-Test" using the Premium Membership allows me to access a gradebook and see which words they got correct on the first try, which they had to try more than once, and which they have yet to attempt.

We use spellingcity.com during our computer lab time

as well as a portion of our time with our laptop cart.

Parents are able to access their child's information and

reports for their assignments are easy to see at a glance.

Here's what a parent had to say about our new membership upgrade...

My child is "really enjoying the premium games, especially Letter Fall. She has been asking to play that game since we had access to Spelling City, but couldn't until now.

Pros- she seems more engaged in learning her spelling words because of the new game choices.

So far, I have no cons. It's very easy to access and navigate."

I tried to put together a screen recording of the things I like about

the Premium Membership in Spelling City...it may take a moment to load on your computer.

Enjoy,

Writing with the Angry Birds!

2012-03-06T16:00:00.000-08:00

We're studying adjectives and working with creative writing .... these little birds are everywhere around here and they seem to really have a hold of my firsties....they LOVE these characters!

Sooooo....today we did a directed draw of this cutie (well...if angry can be considered cute) ...

I saw him on a website and decided we could draw him using shapes and line curves.

We started with the hat and drew curves and rectangles....added some circles and triangles and voila! An angry bird that "stole, borrowed, took, plucked" a leprechaun's hat! Perfect set for the writing we'll be doing tomorrow about this story idea! We also talked about shape, size, and color words as we drew to get our adjective study incorporated!

After we drew, we started some prewriting discussions today about ...

why the angry bird would need the hat?

what kind of a hat could it be?

what could the hat help the bird do ?

I find that with the group I have this year, drawing and discussing possible scenarios as we draw helps them build a story idea in their mind....then we talk about what we might like to happen in our stories...

then we write "MY" story and predict what I might add to the story.

Today we focused on adjectives that would help me describe things in my story so that the reader would be able to "see" them better when they were reading it.

Here's a sneak peak at "MY" story from today...

How the Angry Bird _____ the Leprechauns Hat

(we left the blank in the title as I haven't decided if he stole, took, borrowed,

or just found the hat as of yet)

Once upon a time there was a round angry bird that lived in a large brown tree. He spied a small green leprechaun playing under the tree. The leprechaun was wearing a big green magic hat! The round angry bird thought the magic hat would help him defeat the green king pig. So the round angry bird flew down and plucked the magic hat off the leprechaun’s head.

Not bad for a start... now to see where they go with the story tomorrow as we Write on Wednesday!

If they come out well....we'll use "Sonic Pic" to take a picture of our work and record our stories to make a movie of them! Should be fun!

You can see some of the projects we've completed using Sonic Pic in the past at our classroom web pages on the "Technology Project Page".

Here's a sneak peak at one of my firsties work of art....

Can't wait to see how the story turns out for this cutie!

Check back to see what's up...I may try to create a writing paper to go with the bird....but then again, we may just write on our table paper and glue it to the back!

Enjoy,

Currently

2012-03-05T17:09:00.004-08:00

Check out the links....

http://ohboy3rdgrade.blogspot.com/2012/03/currently-meet-up-and-pet-pack.html

One Lovely Blog!

2012-03-03T15:39:00.000-08:00

Thanks to these two lovely ladies and their wonderful blogs for the blogger award!

Laura at Kinder Kraziness

http://kinderkraziness.blogspot.com/

Beth Ann at Taming My Flock of Firsties

http://familyrunningmyjourney.blogspot.com/

Here are ...

The Rules:

1. Link back to the blogger who gave it to you.

2. Pass the award onto 15 other lovely bloggers.

3. Follow the person who sent it to you :)

I linked back to both and I follow both of these lovely ladies.

Be sure to check out their wonderful blogs!

http://oceansoffirstgradefun.blogspot.com/

http://snippetsbysarah.blogspot.com/

Please take a moment to sneak a peak at these wonderful resources!

Enjoy,

Heidi

Use the Force!

2012-02-26T11:20:00.000-08:00

Hop over to my TpT store to pick up the latest game using some adorable Darth Vader Easter Eggs and the graphics from scrappingdoodle.com called "Galaxy Far Away"!

I'm working on getting the license that will allow me to share the items for free on the blog, but haven't figured out all the ins and outs just yet.

Got the Easter Eggs from Target...

Printed off the words and hid them in the mask. Now the kids will have to work together to unscramble the words and create some of our High Frequency Words for the week.

Have a lot of precious firsties who love the movie as much as I do! So how could I resist...

Wish I could upload it free here...but for now, it's 50 cents on the TpT store for Swamp Frogs :)

Enjoy,

Heidi

Permission to Pin Granted!!!

2012-02-25T17:37:00.000-08:00

I should really be better about reading the fine print! Had no idea this was something I had to worry about! I'll only be pinning from blogs and sites that give permission from now on...Guess I'll need to find another way to store all those ideas that aren't giving permission....
Be sure to check out Laura's information on Pinterest and set it up for your blog too!As for me....PIN AWAY on the Swamp and this blog!
Hate it when cool things come with a "fine print" :(
Enjoy,Heidi

TN Bloggers

2012-02-21T15:57:00.000-08:00

I'll be there....will you?

Math Fact Families

2012-02-19T18:03:00.000-08:00

Here's a power point I put together to help with Math Fact Families!

You can download the ppt from my 4shared.com account
math fact families board.ppt

I've also created some boards to put into plastic page protectors so that the kids can draw and write with the power point!

You can download them HERE.

Here's a scoot game we created to use as a Common Formative Assessment...

You can download it HERE

Feeling Pretty Special!

2012-02-11T17:50:00.000-08:00

Thanks so much to my Valentine Exchange Partner...Mrs. Miner from Mrs. Miner's Monkey Business

She made my weekend start off really special with a great package full of unique and cool things!

I LOVE....LOVE...LOVE...the picture frame with my Swamp Frog First Graders inside !

And I can't wait to try out the yummy smellys in the special package!

Thanks so much to Sarah and Caitlin for hosting this great time!

Roll A Mr. Potato Head Codes

2012-02-08T02:06:00.000-08:00

Hello Everyone!

I'm Heidi from "Swamp Frog First Graders" blog.

I'm so excited to be a guest blog posting for
Wishlist Wednesday on Cachey Mama's Classroom today!

I enjoy creating math games for adding, subtracting, and more with things my son used to love to play with as a young child....(and so we bought a ton of them)

and now he's grown and I NEED to find a use for them!

My kiddos LOVE putting together Mr. Potato Head

even when they have to do math to do it :)

I found patterns for Mr. Potato Head at "play2learnprintables.com"

It's a great pdf pattern for a simple game of rolling the die, counting the pips, and adding the body parts to the potato head :) I ran them in color on cardstock and laminated them before I cut them out.

I also have a box of Mr. Potato Head game pieces that some of my firstie friends get to play the Roll a Mr. Potato Head game with .... luck of the draw or best behavior...hmmm.

I've added a twist for my firsties by having them use two 10-sided dice. I had to manipulate the code sheet to include all the number combinations, but it seems to work. I added things like: roll a 14, loose a turn. Roll a 18, get an extra roll. Roll a 1 or a 6, choose an arm. Roll a 2 or a 17, choose a mouth.

I also have a code card for using two 6-sided dice.

Same idea....just adding two numbers for each body part from the Mr. Potato Head printable.

I don't remember who came up with the recording sheet that my firsties write out their number sentences on. I'm sure it was one of my wonderful team mates

or maybe...a crafty teachers from

the "First Grade Teachers in TN" blog....but it's not a necessity.

You could always have them record their rolls on a dry erase board.

If you want the sheet, you can download it HERE.

Hope you enjoy Mr. Potato Head!

Hop on over to the swamp if you get a chance!

I'd love to share some more ideas with you!

Cheers,

Heidi

All West TN Honor Bands

2012-02-05T07:18:00.000-08:00

So proud of our son and his band mates for their outstanding performances

in the All West TN Honor Bands yesterday!

Take a listen to what 12 hours and a visiting director can do

with these amazing musicians!

Have a great day!

Heidi

Get together in TN anyone?

2012-02-03T19:04:00.000-08:00

Tag....You're It!

2012-01-30T19:13:00.000-08:00

Dontcha just love a good game of tag? Thanks to these three fabulous bloggers for including me in the game....let the fun begin!

Now onto the rules of the game: follow the guidelines and pass it on to 12 other lucky bloggers!

Rules:

1. You must post the rules.

2. Post 12 fun facts about yourself on the blog post.

3. Answer the questions the tagger set for you in their post, and then create 12 new questions for the people you tagged.

4. Tag 12 people and link them on your post.

5. Let them know you've tagged them!

12 fun facts about me!

1. I LOVE Shih Tzus.

We're on our third little love in 23 years of marriage :)

2. Our first Shih Tzu was named Scooby Doo.

Our second was named Shaggy.

Our current princess is Daphne….see the theme here?

Yep…I'm a "Scooby Doo" fan!

3. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE reading mysteries!

My favorite authors: Kathy Reich, Lisa Jackson, Sandra Brown, and Brandilyn Collins!

4. I'm addicted to my Kindle Touch!

I don't miss holding a book a bit :)

5. My husband is an Ultra Running Addict and has recruited myself and son to crew his "Run Across America on Trails"….yep …80 days on the road/trails!

6. I'm now a co-owner of a 1997 Road Trek with a VERY blue velvet interior.

7. The reason we bought the Road Trek is for the …. toilet of course…who wants to run/crew across America and not have access to a toilet??!!

8. I LOVE the ocean! I don't swim, surf, or sail! I LOVE to watch the waves and listen to the surf!

9. I used to be a Creative Memories consultant ages ago….and I still have tons of photos to put into albums! Now, I use Smilebox and put my digital photos into albums ready to send and share right away!

10. I started teaching in the little town of Brunswick, MD….living over a garage in the middle of nowhere close to a laundry mat…

11. So….I used to wash my clothes in the bathtub and hang them to dry outside in the forrest that was the middle of nowhere!

12. What about winter you ask…..well…you hang the clothes over anything that stands in your very tiny apartment over the garage and turn up the heat as high as it will go :) Gotta love utilities included :)

Now to answer the questions:

First Grade Rocks:

Were you excited to be tagged? Absolutely!
What are you doing right now while trying to write this post??? Watching NCIS reruns.
What subject do you feel like you ROCK at teaching and why??? I love reading...it's great to see the minds click on and the world open up before them!
What grades have you taught? pre-K, 1,2,3,7
Who is the person that you go to for help when you need support at school? teammates
Do you have a lot of after school meetings? no
What do you do for reading interventions? iStation
What is your favorite blog post? any and all!
Do you like comments on your blog posts? absolutely!
Are you a coffee person? double absolutely with an addiction on the side!
What is your favorite show to watch on television? NCIS
What great book have your read lately? "Spider Bones"

Questions from Fun for First:
1. What is your favorite magazine? Mailbox Magazine
2. What is your favorite dinner that you cook? Spaghetti
3. What is your favorite dinner when you go out? Qdoba's Grilled Chicken Burrito!
4. What is your least favorite household cleaning chore? Cleaning the bathroom
5. What household cleaning chore do you find the most rewarding? Uhmmm....none!
6. What is one beauty item that you could not live without? lotion
7. What is your favorite song? right now?....."Good Feeling"
8. What is your favorite dessert? Cheesecake
9. Do you like to exercise? Nooooo!!!!
10. Do you like to shop in store or online? Online
11. Do you have any pets? yep...
12. Are you a neat freak or free spirit? definitely a free spirit!

Questions from First Grade at Klinger Cafe

How long have you been teaching? Since 1986 with three years off to be with my son!

What was your first teaching job? Second grade teacher in a little town of Brunswick, MD.

What made you decide to become a teacher? Mrs. Schneider!

Do you have a teaching “idol?” Many….Heidi Butkus, Donna Whyte, Mr. Smith, and…the best team ever!!!

What is your favorite thing to do in the summer? Go to the beach and read! walk! and listen!

Do you get a spring break if so when? Yes! March

Do you have extra duties besides teaching that are nonpaid? NOPE :)

Who is the “go to” person at your school? I think that means who do I go to when I need help….that would be my team members!

What is your greatest dream in the world of teaching? To be able to share and help others not just in my school, but all over!

What snack gets you through “those days?” Ghirardelli Dark Chocolate Mint Squares!

What would you be doing if you didn’t teach? a coffee barrista, a receptionist, or a secretary.

Would we be friends if we taught together, why or why not? Sure…we both love to create and share!

Now my questions for the 12 bloggers below:

1. Who's your favorite author?

2. What's your favorite TV show?
3. Do you watch real time TV or do you Tivo?
4. Do you exercise? Where? When? How long?
5. What's your favorite thing to do on vacation?
6. Are you a coffee a holic?
7. What's your favorite time of day?
8. Do you have a favorite Bible Verse that get's you through the rough spots? Share?
9. Are you a real book holder...or a Kindle holder?
10. Want to come join me in my adventures in crewing as my husband runs across america??
11. Do you have stability balls in your school?
12. Do you use guided reading groups, daily five, or something altogether different?

And the 12 lucky players are....
http://crayonbits.blogspot.com/

http://www.firstgradebrain.com/

http://firstgradefactory.blogspot.com/

http://frompond.blogspot.com/

http://froggyfriendsfun.blogspot.com/

http://frogsinfirst.blogspot.com/

http://independenceinlearning.blogspot.com/

http://mrsliretteslearningdetectives.blogspot.com/

http://queenofthefirstgradejungle.blogspot.com/

http://snippetsbysarah.blogspot.com/

http://teacherbitsandbobs.blogspot.com/

http://scrapbunnywbt.blogspot.com/

That's more exercise than I've done in a long time....now to go tag these friends in their blog posts....
Enjoy,
Heidi

Place Value Scoot Assessment

2012-01-27T17:37:00.000-08:00

Here's the latests Scoot for Place Value! The kids did a FABULOUS job on this activity and it's perfect for my assessment of this concept.

Each desk set up their "offices" with the card figure out the place value!

They had 1 minute to count and write the number for the model shown on their card.

They moved from seat to seat when the "timer" went off. I put the iPod with the timer under the flex cam so the kids could watch the minutes count down.

They were fabulous about keeping their answers in the right box!

Download the FILE HERE!

Enjoy,

Heidi

My Favorite Follower Award

2012-01-26T19:50:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Deb over at "Oh My Little Classity Class" was kind enough to pass along the "Favorite Follower Award"...If you haven't hopped over to her blog yet, take a peek and check it out.

She's got some great shares...

Rules of the award are to pass along to two of my followers...well...that's a tough one! I always enjoy the comments I receive and am happy to share...

Let me pass on some "love" to "Oceans of First Grade Fun"

Mrs. A's got some of the cutest snowmen going on right now! She's always so kind to share her ideas and leave a "happy note" when she downloads something from the swamp :) Glad to hear she made it through the tornado alley last week too! It was a fun time for all!

Kathy from "First Grade A La Carte" is another blog friend with a heart of gold...and a brain that creates some awesome games and shares! She's always so complimentary and thoughtful in her comments!

If you haven't had the pleasure of seeing her adorable penguin clip art, hop over now and check it out! Too cute! She's also in the running for "Most Fascinating Blog of 2011"...go vote for her! and good luck!

Enjoy your day, friends!Heidi

iPad/iPod AR Book App Cards

2012-01-23T19:43:00.000-08:00

What do you get when you combine two really awesome ideas...something I hope works really well!

Colleen Patton created some really cool I Can cards to use with her iTouches.

and Sue at "The Very Busy Kindergarten" posted information that "Little Critter" Apps are on sale for 99 cents right now...

So....I took the two ideas/information and came up with some cards to use with my iPods and iPad for reading apps and AR testing....gotta love the Recorded Voice option on some AR tests! It allows the kids to take higher level tests and stretch their wings a little! They love reading the books on the iPods and iPad...they're interactive and interesting.

The plan is to put the AR cards on a ring so that those that are on the iPods and iPad for the day can choose the app they need to do and take the tests independently (or close to independently :)

I was able to get some Arthur Books awhile back for 99 cents...

Last year, I snagged some Dr. Seuss...

So, I was super excited when Little Critter went on sale this week!

Check out all the book apps for Little Critter on your iTunes account! Or go to Sue's blog...she's got them posted there along with a lot of other great ideas!

Download the cards I created with the AR test numbers HERE!

Enjoy,

Heidi

New Blog in Blog World!

2012-01-16T11:45:00.000-08:00

Take a moment to hop over and check out the cool things at

"Oh, My Little Classity-Class"!

You'll be glad you stopped by!

Enjoy,

Heidi

Love to Joplin

2012-01-13T18:37:00.000-08:00

Join the Linky party at Mrs. Wills' Kindergarten Blog to send some love to Joplin, MO

Click on the link below to see how to help!

I bet even the first grade teachers would enjoy a smile :)

enjoy,Heidi

Numerical Order with a Twist

2012-01-08T10:46:00.000-08:00

I need my kiddos to work on counting on from any number to 120....and ordering a set of numbers.

My plan during station time in Math this week is to have the kids take a group of numbers and put them in numerical order...counting by 1s, 2s, 5s, or 10s.

After they've got them in the correct order, they'll record what they see...

How many even numbers?

How many odd numbers?

How many numbers are on a red apple, orange apple, yellow apple?

How many numerals are written in yellow? red?

How many apples do you have in all?

What is the greatest number? least?

Then comes the twist...on the back of each apple are some of the first 100 Fry's Phrases.

Students will turn over the apples and begin reading the phrases.

They can sort the phrases into know it without help and needed help to read.

You could have them sort them into phrases with more than 3 words and phrases with 3 words or less.

You could also sort into phrases that are complete sentences and phrases that are not complete sentences.

You could use any set of cards you have with numbers already on them, I just happened to have this set from a pack I bought at the beginning of the year.

You could even write the numbers on index cards and the phrases on the back.

I'll store the different groups in Altoid tins so that they are leveled...SI, OL, and ADV.

Hope it goes well....I just thought if I could integrate reading into the math stations, I might do some extra double duty for my friends that need some extra practice :)

Enjoy,

Heidi

Melt a Snowflake with Dice

2012-01-06T18:50:00.000-08:00

Here's a twist to the snowflake game for the high frequency words.

For the first board, you could have kids use 3 dice to add together and color the sum. You could also use 2 - 10 sided dice added together to color the sum.

For the second and third boards, you could use 2 six - sided dice to add together and color the sum.

Download your copies HERE

I linked up with Pitner's Potpourri post on Snow Related Ideas and Downloads...check it out HERE!

New Year's Resolution #1--Organization

2012-01-01T07:52:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year to one and all! One of my biggest goals this year is to get more organized!

So I've hopped over to this cool little blog and will try to use some of the suggestions each week to become a little more organized! Hope it works!

Want to try too...just click on the picture above and you can check it out!

Have a blessed day!

Heidi

HFW Snowflake Color

2011-12-26T18:14:00.000-08:00

HFW
Snowflake
Crystals

Here's a game I think the kids will enjoy to review the

High Frequency Words from Reading Street Units 2-6 and 3-1.

Print and cut apart the snowflake pages for each student in the group.

Each child should have ½ a sheet of paper with a snowflake.

Print the High Frequency Words on cardstock, laminate, cut out, and store in an Altoid tin or baggie. You may wish to have more than one card of each word.

Each student needs a crayon.

Shuffle the cards and place face down.

Reader(teacher) takes the top card, reads the HFW on the card and uses the word in a sentence without the other players being able to see the word.

Players search their snowflakes for the word, point to the word on their paper as they call out “Crystal”. They must be able to read the word they are pointing at before they can claim the snowflake crystal with this printed word.

If they are correct, they may color the snowflake space on their page.

Play continues with Reader calling out words and players calling out “Crystal” to color in their spaces. Winner is the person with the most snowflake crystals colored at the end of the time period.

Download the game HERE.

Let me know what you think...any suggestions for changing it up?

Enjoy,

Heidi

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to You and Yours!

2011-12-25T07:46:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas....may you have a beautiful and wonderful day with your family and friends!

Enjoy the Season

and remember the Reason :)

Heidi

comic by Chad Carpenter at Tundra Comics

There's a New Blogger in Town

2011-12-22T14:53:00.000-08:00

There's a new blogger in blog world and let me just say that she's fabulous!

She's holding a give away for a 15 dollar Amazon card right now.

Hop on over and check out her "digs"....you'll be glad you did!

Enjoy,

Heidi

From My Family to Yours...

2011-12-18T05:37:00.000-08:00

As we begin this Christmas Break time, I just wanted to say thanks for hopping by and reading! I hope you've gotten some useful ideas to use with your kids. It's time to renew and relax as we prepare for the second half of the school year. Please be sure to hop back by for some new movies and ideas to use with Jan Brett books in January!

Have a blessed holiday season!

Heidi

Crispin the Pig Who Had it ALL!

2011-12-12T07:50:00.000-08:00

Check out this great book for the holidays and getting down to what it's really all about!

You can buy it online at amazon.com

I used the unknown binding tab and got a beautifully used book that's a paperback with hardly any noticeable wear...there's about 8 copies on the unknown binding section today :)

After we read and discuss the story, we'll complete this worksheet to help us record our findings!

The thought is to have the kids use scrap paper to create the outside of the box so that it's very decorative. The draw the best present of all inside...hopefully that will be friends, family, etc...

Here's the download!

Enjoy,

Heidi

You can also view it on the youtube link HERE...

The Wild Christmas Reindeer by Jan Brett

2011-12-11T10:53:00.001-08:00

My firsties are really enjoying the book movies....especially the Christmas ones! My son and I were at a book fair for the school this past week and one of the kids yelled out..."hey...you're the guy that wrote that gingerbread baby story!"...we'll have to work on making sure they know who the author of the stories are and who the reader of the stories are :)

This one is set to the Scholastic Book cd...no words...sorry. You'll have to get the book for those :)

Enjoy,

Heidi

Here's the link to the Youtube video.

Arbol de Navidad Loteria

2011-12-10T18:40:00.000-08:00

We'll be spending some time this week practicing our math facts by playing Loteria....Christmas style.

I found a game on another web site, wish I could remember where, but lost the game from the site. So I decided to switch it up and add some cards to the original idea. Since we've been studying some of the Christmas traditions from around the world, and my kids are in love with the Spanish language, I decided to teach them the Spanish version of bingo....loteria....should be a lot of fun!

Since we've been working with doubles and doubles plus one, I made the cards to go with these skills. You could mix it up and make the cards to go with whatever skill you're working on at this time!

I've created enough cards for 19-20 different number combinations. You could use mini marshmallows for markers, M&Ms, or Skittles...yum!

Download the file HERE!

Enjoy,

Heidi

Gingerbread Baby by Jan Brett

2011-12-04T13:58:00.000-08:00

Here's the latest movie for the holiday spirit!....it's my favorite gingerbread story of all...
"Gingerbread Baby" by Jan Brett.

If you haven't been to Jan's website, hop over now and watch as she shows the kids how she draws the gingerbread baby for her story.

I had the kids watch last year and then they created stories about how they would capture the gingerbread baby if it got out of their houses. We took pictures of their gingerbread babies that they drew with the Jan Brett video and then read the stories to make a movie of our stories! They loved it and I thought it came out great! I was sad when I had to take it off the website to add more space for other things :( But I still have the movie they made in my iTunes account so the kids can enjoy watching and listening on our iPad.

If you can't get youtube at your school, you can zamzar the file at home and then watch it using quicktime at school. Unfortunately, the file is too big to be able to put it on 4shared.com or send through an email.

You can click the movie below or go to this LINK to view the movie on YouTube.

As you might be able to tell...it took the reader a page or two to get into the whole project...but he does so well and is so good about helping me! Had to include a pic or two or him just for fun!

Hope you enjoy,

Heidi

Blogversary!

2011-11-28T20:10:00.000-08:00

Happy Blogversary to "The Swamp"!

One year ago today, right about this time, I decided it would be a good idea to start blogging

about my teaching experiences and life in general in TN :)

I hope you've found some useful things over the past year!

I've enjoyed sharing with you and look forward to another year of fun and creativity :)

Thought I'd share one of my favorite comic strips...Tundra!

We met the artist and author while trekking through Alaska and have been fans ever since.

I was given permission to post one of my very favorite comics from Chad Carpenter above.

Since it decided to snow tonight...yep, that's right...SNOW on November 28, 2011!

I thought this would be an appropriate comic strip to share

and say ...

"Happy Blogversary Swampers"

Enjoy,

Heidi

The Legend of the Poinsettia

2011-11-27T19:31:00.000-08:00

I LOVE Christmas time and especially talking about traditions and legends from other countries with my firsties! Tomie dePaola has a wonderful story about the poinsettia that we listen to in class as I do a directed draw of a poinsettia with the kids. I took the scholastic version and turned it into a youtube movie to enjoy this year. Hope it goes well....You should be able to zamzar the video and download it to your computer.

I've also uploaded it to my 4shared.com account so you can download it from there too :)

Feliz Navidad!

Heidi

Scoot Task Cards for Number Sentences

2011-11-25T13:04:00.000-08:00

Scoot

Task Cards for

Number Sentences

I found this game described on First Grade and Fabulous.

You’ll need questions on cards to put on each child’s desk. You can download some “task cards” from Mrs. Davis’ site by clicking on “task cards” in the label section of her blog. She has some resources for both Math and Reading.

The number of response boxes on your record sheet depends on the number of kids you have. If you have 20 students, you’ll need to create a record sheet with 20 boxes. Each student needs a copy of the record sheet to play the game.

Place a numbered task or question card on each student’s desk. Students will move from desk to desk reading and recording the answer to the task question on their record sheet. If they are at number 1 desk, they answer in the number 1 box on the record sheet. When you say SCOOT, they move to the next desk. Mrs. Davis recommends practice moving from desk to desk so that students understand how and where to write their answers on the record sheet to correspond with the number of task card on the desk they are at each time.

Once students return to the desk they started the game at, you can go over the answers with the class. Mrs. Davis suggests checking their work starting with the student with the number 1 card. As they read it aloud and give their answer, you can collect the task cards. This suggestion from Mrs. Davis makes for a quick clean up.

I can't wait to try this game with the kids!

Here's a download for Number Sentences.

Enjoy,
Heidi

Blogging Awards! I'm Honored!

2011-11-24T05:11:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Jennifer at Rowdy in First Grade and Lori at Bee the Change for awarding "The Swamp" with the Versatile Blogger Award. It's always nice to know your efforts are appreciated. If you haven't had the chance to hop over to these cool blogs, now's a great opportunity!
For receiving the award, I would like to
1) Thank the people giving me the award and link back to them in the post....(If you click on their blog names....you'll get to their fine areas of expertise :)
2) Share 7 things about myself:
        1...I'm an internet junky!
2...I LOVE anything to do with frogs!
        3...I enjoy being a blogger and sharing ideas with others!
        4....I like to travel....especially to the beach! Hint, Hint...(for the hubby).
        5...I read "Girlfriends in God" devotionals to start each day.
        6...I LOVE my iPad and the new iPhone 4s :)....and I'm watching the "I'm Watch" carefully to see how it does!
        7....I think Gibbs is "da bomb" and often blog while watching reruns of NCIS!

3) Pass this award along to 15 other blogs...
Wow! Only 15....hmmm...
Can't do it....check my blog garden at the bottom of this post....each and every one deserves the Versatile Blogger award! Click on their name to link to their wonderful site. I have everyone of them in my google reader and LOVE....LOVE....LOVE to see what they're up to daily!

Deceptively Education began an award called the "I Heart Your Blog". You can read about the award at her wonderful site by clicking HERE. Thanks to this wonderful site and Mrs. Au at Second Grade Rocks for awarding "The Swamp" with this cool award!

Again...to only name 10 top blogs would be really hard for me and not very honest...since I truly do visit all my garden blogs through the use of google reader each day! Be sure to visit the garden below and check them out!

Thanks to everyone who works so hard to share so much! You're ideas and thoughtfulness help make me a better teacher and person!

Have a blesssed Thanksgiving Day!

Enjoy,
Heidi

The Grinch Wants to Sum It Up!

2011-11-22T16:54:00.000-08:00

Not my idea or creation, but a friend and team mate sure is creative and likes to share!

I like the idea of them rolling two die and writing out the addition sentence above the sum...boy do we need some work with sums!

I may switch it up and have them use a deck of cards...with just the Queens (for zero) to the sixes and add the two cards together...my kiddos aren't always the best with dice and cards seem so much more quiet :) We'll see how it goes!

Here's the worksheet...

Enjoy,

Heidi

Gingerbread Baby Exchange Booklet

2011-11-19T09:07:00.000-08:00

Getting ready to create our Gingerbread Friends to send to our exchange class this December.

We're going to read Jan Brett's "Gingerbread Baby" and discuss what would happen if we created gingerbread friends and they "ran away" to another state to teach a class of first graders about our state...

I thought the easiest way to create a gingerbread friend and include information about our state would be to make a booklet with our friends holding the information....or "carrying the information booklet" to the other class :)

Here's the pages for the booklet the friend will be holding...

Of course we'll start it all off with some Gingerbread Baby Graphing....just like last year :)

If you're from the state of Tennessee and would like to use the pages of this booklet to create your own state books....you can download the pages HERE.

Enjoy!

Skyping a lesson with Mamaw!

2011-11-15T15:35:00.000-08:00

YEAH!!! We successfully skyped a lesson with my mom today! It was a blast! She talked them through how to put together the turkey she had created for them. Then they told her what they were thankful for so that they could begin the writing portion of the project!

It took a minute for the kids to realize that they had to be in front of the camera for Mamaw to see them.

They were totally enthralled with the whole process and were so intent on doing the things she said!

Here's some of their end products!

Create your own turkeys using the patterns HERE

Can't wait to skype with mom again as she helps them put together an elf project for December!

Chalkboard and File Folder Stories

2011-11-13T07:50:00.000-08:00

File Folder Story...ahhh...the good ol' days!

I LOVE Dr. Jean's blog! Today she's sharing about her file folder story: "Timmy Turkey".

I followed her directions and finished this cutie pie in under 30 minutes! I'll laminate at school and add the construction paper, but how cute is this! Need a copy of the turkey body? Click here for a VERY OLD file of a turkey body! I'd love to tell you where I got it from, but it's THAT old that I don't even have the company on it...looks like it could be from an old Thanksgiving book that I used to use for holiday crafts, but I've since torn them apart and put into files. Sorry!

Dr. Jean even gives you the story to glue on the back...

Just copy and paste into a word document and voila!

Story ready for Thanksgiving!

Speaking of OLD files...I finally found the draw and tell story I was looking for...only it wasn't called a draw and tell back in the day...we called them "Chalkboard Stories"...probably because we actually used a chalkboard to draw the story as we told them! No chart paper or white boards for me :)

This one is called "The Wild Ducks and The Goose" by Carl Withers. I remember copying it down for an assignment in....1986...for my Language Arts college course. Our job was to locate and share story telling ideas to use in the classroom. I have an entire 3 ring binder of stories (hand copied)! I remember being graded on organization as well as....handwriting skill! Wonder if they still do that today?

I haven't used it in a couple (well okay... a LOT) of years and would probably change up the wording in some spots...but it's fun to do with the kids! I think this year, I'll tell the story and draw once....then have the kids listen and draw with me the second time.

You can download my "beautifully hand copied" version of the story HERE.

Don't forget to stop over at Dr. Jean's wonderful blog!

Heidi

Turkey Anyone?

2011-11-12T10:44:00.000-08:00

Mamaw (my mom) put together this adorable turkey for my kids to create during those two days before the Thanksgiving Break! The plan is to have a Skype session with Mamaw and the kids so she can show them how to put things together! They hear a lot about her, but have never gotten to talk with her. I think it will be great....now to see if it will work!

If you'd like the patterns for the turkey...you can download them HERE. or HERE.

I thought we'd also try the Draw and Tell story of the Turkey Lake.

You can view a librarian telling the story so that you can see how to tell the story and draw as you tell.

Sometimes I have the kids draw it too...other times, I just have them listen to the story and see if they can figure out what I'm drawing!

I used to have a story about the Wild Turkeys, but I like this one much better!

When we're done with the turkey craft....the plan is to have them write about their turkeys. I think it would be cute to laminate the turkeys they create and add a magnet to the back so that they can put it on their fridge at home!

Have a great day!

Heidi

Veterans Day Power Point

2011-11-06T13:35:00.000-08:00

To help my firsties understand Veterans Day a little more, I created a power point of this holiday.

Here's a preview of some of the slides in the power point...

I thought it would be a good idea to add some writing to go with the power point, so there's a tree map for creating sentences to describe what the kids took away from the power point.

I don't know about you, but I LOVE using the tree map organizers to help my kiddos create their own sentences and stories. If you haven't checked the info on the soldier craft project from Deanna Jump's unit, google it! They're terrific!

Thanks to all those who serve our country....

both the families who sacrifice the time away from their loved ones and the soldiers that keep us safe!

God Bless!

Heidi

Days, Months, and Holidays

2011-11-05T05:22:00.000-07:00

We worked on our target skill of:
"I can write days, months, and holidays using a capital letter at the beginning of each."

Some of my friends need to spend some more time learning to categorize words into days, months, and holidays this week.

Here's a simple word sort I plan to use during stations...to help them recognize and remember the difference between days, months, and holidays :)

First create the category headings for the pocket chart or file folder they'll be sorting the words into...

Download a copy here.

Use these words on labels to create cards to sort. I printed off the labels and added them to some cute colored cards I purchased from the local teacher store. You could use index cards.

Download the label words here.

After playing the sorting game for a couple of days, assess the kids using these assessment sheets.

Download a copy of the assessment sheets here.

Enjoy,

Heidi

A Turkey for Thanksgiving

2011-10-30T09:21:00.000-07:00

Here's a cute new story for Thanksgiving!

Well...new to me!

Thanks to Christin Casebolt for sharing!

She's come up with an adorable sequencing activity to use with this story too!

Here's the pdf of her activity!

Thanks for sharing Christin!

Heidi

Apple Pie Tree and Sequencing

2011-10-23T10:14:00.000-07:00

We had a great time visiting family in Ohio during Fall Break!

I even got the cousins to work together to create a video on a book I'll be using for my observation evaluation. Check it out here...

I think this is a great book to help with the concept of sequencing.
I even worked out a power point to go along with the lesson for sequencing.

You should be able to download it from my 4shared account HERE.
or from this link

sequence.ppt

Here's the file for the sequencing pieces the kids will use during the lesson.
Download it HERE.

I'm also going to use
"There was an Old Lady who Swallowed a Bat" for one of my stations.
The kids will use the pieces and the old lady to sequence the story on a magnetic board.
You can download the pieces HERE.

Looking forward to getting back with the kids tomorrow :)
Should be a great week!
Enjoy,
Heidi

One Breath Boxes from Teacher Tipster

2011-10-08T09:05:00.000-07:00

I'm always looking for new and exciting ways to help my firsties get those high frequency words into their vocabulary with fluency and confidence!

A friend overseas shared a great idea she found on teachertipster.com using high frequency words.

Here's the video from teachertipster.com

Mr. Smith has a great website full of downloads and suggestions! He's given the printable for the One Breath words on his site. I took the words and manipulated them to be the HFW from our Reading Street K words as well as the HFW from the first grade Unit One, Two and some of Three.

You can download the Reading Street Words HERE

Have a great day!
Heidi

Ten Frame Game

2011-10-02T17:56:00.000-07:00

My wonderful, marvelous, super duper cool team mate created this recording sheet to go with a game we have the kids do using ten frame ice cube trays and chips.

She's so nice to share.....THANKS, Friend!

Download the recording sheet HERE!

Enjoy,

Heidi

CUPS for better sentence structure

2011-09-25T18:01:00.000-07:00

Here's a cute idea from a team mate at school that is so very sweet to share generously!

We've been working on sentences and having them write sentences using their vocabulary, spelling, and high frequency words in grammar.

Here's her take on C U P S...with a little frog spin too....

After the kids write their sentence they ask the CUPS questions...if they can answer yes to all they build a cup at the end of their sentence. This way I know they've checked...well...in theory anyway :)

C - Did I start my sentence with a capital letter? If yes, they draw the oval for the top of the cup.

U - Can I understand what my sentence says? If yes, they draw a U under the oval for the bowl of the cup.

P - Did I use the right punctuation mark? If yes, they draw a heart on the cup bowl.

S - Do I have spaces between my words? If yes, they draw the handle on the cup.

Download a copy of the idea and the words we used for the first couple of stories in Reading Street.

Thanks Nancy! You're amazing!

Sorry for the sporadic posts.... BAND has taken over my life at the moment! And I'm enjoying every minute of the time I get to volunteer with them....well....almost every minute anyway!!!

If you'd like to check out my son's Wonderful....Awesome....Truly Amazing band show this year, you can click on this link to see them perform at their first competition in Martin, TN....they are Super Fantastic!!!!

Click here to see the show....it's not complete yet...they've still got a song to go, but boy am I proud!

Enjoy your day!
Heidi

Part of a Number to Make a Whole

2011-09-11T09:29:00.000-07:00

I combined some of Kathy Gursky's ideas from theschoolbell.com (in her Number Family Tubs Page) with some of the ideas in the eNvision's Math Topic 3 for first grade to create power points to help me introduce and work with the concept of part to whole when counting to add.

If you're an SCS teacher, I used the Power Standard for Operations and Algebraic Thinking: Add and subtract within 25. 1.4Relate counting to addition and subtraction (within 10 for first nine weeks).

If you're using Common Core, I think it would be: 1.OA.5 Relate counting to addition and subtraction.

You can view the power point online HERE. However, you won't get all the actions and teacher notes. This version will allow you to see what's going on in the power point.

You can download the powerpoint from the google docs HERE.
or
You can download the powerpoint from 4shared.com HERE. When I opened this download it seemed to have all the actions included...the google doc version did not :(

However, none of the versions will not include the song that goes with the speaker icon.

You'll need to add that on your own. It's a great song from Shari Sloane to give the kids some time to get their materials out and ready to go before we start. It's a song about skip counting.

It's called: "Like to Count It".

You can go to Shari's site to see more about her album!

It's a great set of songs that I love to use with the kids...

I added the beginning slide with Target Statements to help remind me and the kids what goal we're working towards.

Fonts you will need to install before you can open the power points with the original fonts.

Bathingcap

Print Clearly

Vingy Normal

Community Helper Writing Project

2011-09-05T11:19:00.000-07:00

We've been asked to have our students turn in a writing project on community helper this week....so
Here's some of the resources and things I've put together to help my team complete.
We'll start off with the BrainPopJr. on "Community Helpers".
Then move to stories from the library on the different community helpers.
and the Power Point "Who Wears These"....

Then I plan to have the kids work in pairs to complete the tree map of community helpers...

and then we'll move onto writing a "paragraph" of sorts using the tree map to help...

All of this over the four day week coming up to hopefully end in a great writing sample to turn in next Monday :)

Download the pages and resources Here!

enjoy,

Top Ten Award

2011-09-03T09:22:00.000-07:00

Thanks to "Thinking Out Loud" for the Top Ten Blog Award! I appreciate the shout out!

If you haven't hopped by this fab little blog...take a dip and see all the great resources available there!
I'm loving her pinterest boards, so you might look into following her there too :)

The TBA blog is having a Top Ten Blog Award if you'd like to hop over and see what all the fuss is about :) It's a great way to see some of the fabulous blogs available to learn new and wonderful ideas from! I'm an author on this awesome resource and can tell you I LOVE all the great ideas that come through!

I have so many blogs I love to stalk that I'd need a top 200 list. Narrowing it down to 10 is gonna be tough, so I thought I'd try to share some of my favorites (that haven't already received the award)! Hopefully, you'll find some great ideas and concepts for yourself! Hop on by and check them out:

Heidisongs Resource

Mrs. Wheeler's First Grade Tidbits

Kinder Gals

Number Crunching Monsters

2011-08-31T12:22:00.000-07:00

Check out our Number Munching Monsters

I needed a visual to get the kids to see greater than and less than before using only the sign.

Sooo....

We created these number crunching monsters and had fun manipulating chips to show numbers that the monster might eat. Then we "read the sentence"....

One is less than four.

Five is greater than two.

I tried to get the kids to create the number dot patterns that we've been talking about during Topic One from Envisions. Easier said than created for some :) But we had fun with our monsters! We'll use the same technique tomorrow, however, we'll replace our chips with large plastic numbers so we can see the numbers taking the place of the dots.

Here's the sheet with the words if you'd like to download.

Enjoy,

Heidi

I Can Target Statements

2011-08-28T08:12:00.000-07:00

I've created some "I Can" learning target statements that I display near my board for the week.
We used to have the SPIs and GLEs displayed, however, after adopting the Common Core, we've switched to using the "I Can" learning statements. I think this works so much better for the kids as it's actually words and sentences that they can understand. Plus it really helps me when I'm telling them what we're going to be learning during the lesson!

You can download or watch from the internet here.

Or you can download the power point and change the words into statements that your kids will be able to follow!

The actual power point I created uses the Comic Sans font as well as "Peggy Font". You can download the "Peggy Font" HERE.

Enjoy the day!

September 7, 2011....Here's the updated Power Point up to Reading unit 1-4 and Topic 2 in Math

Assessment Power Points for Reading Street Stories

2011-08-27T16:26:00.001-07:00

I've created some assessment power points to see if I can better use them to assess my kiddos at the end of the story.

You can click here to go to the internet version of the power point. This is the first one I used and I liked how easy it was to have the kids come and go through the words. I may download to my iPad and find it something that I can assess with a few as we wait in line for the bathroom :)

I used the "Print Clearly" font when creating the power points, however, the internet versions don't recognize this font. You may wish to download the "Print Clearly" font HERE and then try downloading the power point from the link below.

Some may find this link better to download the power point to their own computers.

Here's the link for the internet version of the power point assessment for "The Big Blue Ox".

Some may find this LINK better for downloading.

Meet the Teacher

2011-08-22T15:59:00.000-07:00

Take a hop over to the blog hopping pad and check out all the great teachers that are blogging in the blog world! It's "Teacher Week" on the blogs and today is "Meet the Teacher Monday"

Click Here to get to the Blog Hoppin Pad

Tell us something about you...

I'm a First Grade teacher, a wife to an ultra runner, and a mother to an awesome son! We have a very spoiled pup that we love dearly and a cat that we tolerate :) Hop on over to my class web page to see some of the things we love to do as a family.

How long have you been teaching?

I started my career in a small rural school in the town of Brunswick, MD in 1986 after graduating from The University of Akron in Ohio! Wow....seems like just yesterday....it's a good thing my math skills stink....I'd probably choke if I knew how I've really been teaching!

I taught for 2 years in Brunswick, met my hubby at the Naval Academy and moved to San Diego,Ca where I was not allowed to teach in the public schools...(didn't have 5 years of college and didn't speak enough spanish)...but the private school life taught me a great deal and I loved the freedom it gave me to teach to a great group of families! Started a Mommy and Me class in Rhode Island and then back in Chula Vista, CA before coming to Tennessee to sub for awhile....8 years later and I'm enjoying teaching in a public school again (guess my 4 year degree works well in the south) !

You might know.....

I'm addicted to the internet and all things techy...well MOST things techy! I love reading on my iPad, but not as much as on my Kindle! I enjoy creating and sharing games to help the kids learn in a fun way!

This year I'm looking forward to .....

Hopefully having a student teacher! Using more WBT in the classroom....and seeing my froglets grow!

I need to improve.....

My ability to control my tongue and my actions! I'm too quick to speak and act sometimes! I need to learn to stop and think before I do...

Can't wait to share more this week! Enjoy your day!

Heidi

Reading Street Spelling

2011-08-21T16:21:00.000-07:00

Check out the Reading Street Spelling lists for the whole year. They're on the

First Grade Teachers in TN blog.

Need something for your advanced spellers....I've posted some of my lists on my classroom web pages.

Hop on over to the swamp and check them out.

Where Did Humpty Dumpty Sit?

2011-08-14T18:20:00.000-07:00

I love to touch on some of the Nursery Rhymes during the first month of school. It gives the kids something of a "handle" to hold onto. I've also found lots of interesting books to coincide with each rhyme. Like Daniel Kirk's "Humpty Dumpty". This fabulous rhyming book goes into detail about how Humpty came to be on the wall and the ending is a precious lesson on bravery and friendship! Love it!

The KinderLit company has a great book I purchased at a conference one year that has beautiful and easy artwork pages to go along with each nursery rhyme. And of course Dr. Jean has wonderful songs that go along with the stories too.

After reading the nursery rhyme and the story book, we talked about the vocabulary word: setting.

Then we talked about all the places that Humpty sat in Daniel Kirk's book. We brainstormed other places that would be neat to have Humpty sit and created our own book

"Where Did Humpty Dumpty Sit?"

I used the iPhone app "Sonic Pics" to take a picture of each of the children's pages and then had the kids record their "story" on the picture. With sonic pics, you can import the movie right to your computer. Then I added the movies into iMovie and created this cute online version of the class

Swamp Frog Humpty Dumpty Book...

enjoy,

Heidi

Songs to Teach

2011-08-13T07:01:00.000-07:00

I LOVE teaching concepts and procedures with songs.

I just find it engages my kiddos so much more and they tend to keep it in

their brain a lot longer!

Here's one of the first songs we start singing from the very first day....

I think I was at a conference in Texas when I first heard the idea,

but I have no idea who created the song.

I had to adapt the words a little as we put

our name AND our number on the paper.

But it's rare that I have an un-named paper now :)

I had the words made into a poster and it hangs

proudly at the front of the room.

Download the song words [HERE]!

Enjoy your day!

Heidi

WB Teaching and a New Lesson Plan Design

2011-08-12T04:32:00.000-07:00

School started back on August the 8th for us and we're busy learning procedures and setting our classroom rules! If you've never googled Whole Brain Teaching....now's the time to do some research! I'm loving the way it's working in my class!

They love the teach part!

Teachers are working on learning how to design our daily lesson plans using the

AFL lesson design. Anyone already using this on a daily basis? Would love to see your approach to managing the amount of time to complete it when planning for the whole week!

Enjoy your day!

Heidi

How Do You Use Post It Notes?

2011-07-31T10:14:00.000-07:00

Mrs. Rojas over at "Create-Teach-Share" is having a linky party on how to use Post It Notes!
Hop over to see some of the creative ways different teachers are using my favorite little friend...
the Post It Note!

Here's an idea I borrowed from our wonderful speech and language pathologist at school...
thanks Lindsay!
She made these for end of the year gifts for her daughters teachers....and what teacher wouldn't enjoy having one of these in there room!

I went to Wal Mart and found some cute but reasonable Post It "knock off" Notes for around 2 dollars.

Dollar Tree was out of the plastic stand up picture frames, but lo and behold...Wal Mart was cheaper...only 97 cents for this baby... which is a perfect size for my little post it note holder!

I used to be a "Creative Memories" Consultant (in another life) so I had plenty of pretty paper to use as the background under my picture frame...

I used some nifty double sided tape (from my CM stash) to attach the Post It Pad to the front of the picture frame holder

and Ta Da...

a cute Post It Note holder to place on a desk so that the kids can write what went wrong or something they need help with and post it to a bulletin board while I'm at small group...this was an idea from Debbie Diller....they can write what they needed help with if they can't solve a problem on their own or with a friend and then I can address the situation at the end of small group time :)

Enjoy and be sure to join the fun at "Create-Teach-Share"

Heidi

San Diego Quick Assessment

2011-07-30T14:14:00.000-07:00

I sure do miss having the Great Pacific Ocean only 30 minutes away!

However, I can reminisce about my favorite place each year school begins as I give my students the "San Diego Quick Assessment" that first week of class :)

If you do a google search on "San Diego Quick Assessment", you'll have a multitude of sites and pdf formats to download and enjoy. It's a quick and simple test I've used over the years to help me quickly place my kiddos into small groups before the first two weeks are over. As more testing and observations are made, I can move the kids from group to group as needed....however, I find this quick little assessment is usually pretty good about putting them into the right placement!

I've created a power point to go with the PrePrimer through the Fourth grade lists of words so that I don't have to have any papers sitting on the desk. I plan to download the power point as pictures and upload them to my iPad or iPod. Then the kids can scroll through the words and say them as they can...while I make notes on my computer or on the record sheets that are available online!

Download the Power Point for the San Diego Quick Assessment Words Here...

or by clicking the link below...

San Diego Quick Assessment.pptx

Have a great day!

Heidi

Replacement for the "Dreaded Treasure Box!"

2011-07-28T18:21:00.000-07:00

Maybe I'm a fuddy duddy, but I dread the treasure box and all that comes with it! Just seemed like a waste of my money and the kids lost or left whatever they got after they got it....probably because I was such a terrible treasure box provider :)

I came upon a the BEST idea for rewards to take the place of the dreaded treasure box posted on "First Grader....at Last!" She calls it her Behavior Catalog! Hop over to her site to check it out! I've already got my new "Frogtastic Behavior Catalog" ready to go! Thanks to Sarah! Click on her cute button below to take you to her site....click HERE to go to the post about the behavior catalog!

enjoy,Heidi

Check Out The Teacher's Lounge Blog

2011-07-25T07:20:00.001-07:00

I'm so honored to be a guest blogger on The Teacher's Lounge! Hop over to check it out :)

Really good stuff has a really good blog that's got great posts from various teachers...it was great fun posting for them! And I LOVE their products!

I'm working on something cool to do with the kids and my new obsession with cupcakes...did you see the plastic cupcake containers in the Dollar Spot at Target? My wheels are turning...just let me get through the next couple of days of band camp and I'll post about it :)

Enjoy,

Heidi

"Kiss Your Brain!"

2011-07-19T14:37:00.000-07:00

Check out what I discovered "hiding" in my "Craft Room"

(read room where everything school and photo related gets dumped)!

I've been enjoying some "Pinterest Time" to debrief from this mornings band camp...

First the Bass Drums had sectionals in the room I was working.....

Then the Sousaphones arrived! Gotta remember the Advil tomorrow :)

I really do enjoy the camp and the kids....but there's a REASON I teach First Grade :)

So...back to the Pinterest Get Away....

I pinned this cute idea from Mrs. Bond's Fantastic First Grade Website

I love the Dr. Jean song and we "Kiss Our Brains" quite often in my class....but how cute would this be to sometimes award a very thoughtful and unique idea/response with a real Hersey's Kiss?

Enter my "find" in the montage of a craft room...

Is this not perfect to sit in the classroom and entice the kids to really put some thought into their answers?

I took all the stuffing out and added two buttons on the sides of the seams ....

To each button, I added a sticky velcro dot.

Now....when someone deserves an extra special kiss on their brain...they can get a nice chocolatey treat....not to mention, when the teacher might need a little chocolate kiss too :)

Thanks to Mrs. Bond's Fantastic Idea....

Enjoy your day!
Heidi

Bottle O' Words!

2011-07-14T18:15:00.000-07:00

Okay....so like the water thingy on my fridge is....like broken...like again! So, I'm a big filtered water kinda girl...yeah, yeah, I know the water in my area is supposed to be the BEST...but....it is what it is.

Anywhooo....

I found these cool bottles of water at ....wait for it....Target!

So my brain starts ticking and thinking that it would be really fun to have BIG word bottles to search for the words in....but....it would take a TON of rice to fill this baby....literally! And then there would be the noise factor and the weight factor...some of my firsties have the tiniest arms ever! So the challenge became what to put into the jar to have the kids swish around to find the words...not too loud...and not too heavy! And Viola!

Perfect filler for such a big jar and very quiet and light!

So now...what to write the words on....

from the Target Dollar Spot! Love it!

Now I have a huge jar of words to shake and find!

And then I thought I'd throw in some Debbie Diller and make a journal for the kids to record their words in so that we could keep a record of who finds what words on which date...tried to

use the I can statements I so love from her!

Thought I'd start the first couple of weeks with a Big Bottle O' Kindergarten Sightword Review!

Need the labels? Download them for free from my Teachers Notebook Shop!

Enjoy,

Heidi

Cupcakes AND Books Make a Perfect Match!

2011-07-12T16:35:00.000-07:00

Cover to Cover is a local bookstore in Arlington, TN. It's got a new look, a new location, and a new buddy....the cupcake! And not just ANY cupcake...these are THE BEST cupcakes EVER!!!! Talk about having to go on a diet after this summer's find! YIKES!!!

Along with the great books, you can order a coffee and a cupcake to sit and enjoy free internet at the adorable cafe tables! The coffee is from a local business as is the unique pottery for sale! There's a small assortment of ice cream and some yummy sodas to choose from as well. Don't like cupcakes...then perhaps you'd prefer a brownie. I'm tellin' ya....this is the place to be!

The grand openings this Saturday, July 16th...I will of course be stopping in for the dollar cupcake bargains from 6-8! YUM!!!

Check out their facebook page too:

If you're going to the Shelby County Teacher Workshops at Arlington Elementary School...you are SOOOOO close to sweet goodness! Be sure to stop in and see what yummy treats are available that day! I'll be heading over there after the Math workshop on Friday at 11am...see you there?

Here's to trying to be good and not go for a cupcake right now! (Especially since I just had one last night and plan for one on Thursday, Friday, AND Saturday of this week!)...what can I say? It's a great place to meet up with friends and enjoy good sweets and conversation!

Enjoy,

Heidi

Blog Alert!

2011-07-12T06:53:00.000-07:00

Hop over to this adorable blog...."Busy Bees" for a great idea on the "Mystery Letter Bag"!

I may have to snag this idea to use with something this year...I've got tons of old lunch bags that could be snazzied up and put to better use! Plus I love the idea of having the kids read off clues...

I've used this idea before with just a plain old paper bag and had the kids bring in 100 of something for 100's day ....their something had to fit in a 20oz. or less clear plastic bottle...make sure you add in clean to the directions :)

It was a fun one time thingy...but this Busy Bee idea could be a year long treat! I could see sending the bag home on Friday and asking that it be brought back by Wednesday...call it something like "Wacky Wednesday's Mystery Bag Treat"... well...maybe not that, but you get the idea!

At any rate...take a hop on over to the "Busy Bee"and look around!

Enjoy,

Heidi

Are you a Vista Printer?

2011-07-10T08:38:00.000-07:00

Have you ever been to Vista Printing?
I'm hooked on making business cards to write "Happy Notes" ....

Check this design out...

And I thought this one would be a cute one too....

They've got tons of great things and if you like them on facebook,

you can hook into some great links for free shipping and deals :)

What cool things have you created?

Save up to 80% on custom printed products at Vistaprint. Order today!

Enjoy,

Pancakes Anyone?

2011-07-09T11:08:00.000-07:00

This is a Literacy Center I use at the beginning of the year. We read one of the many books available for pancakes...

To create the station, I used a Dollar Tree plate, some fun foam, and an old pan I had....cut out circles from the fun foam, add letters with a missing blank....

then draw the answer circles on a plate.

The idea is the kids serve up a pancake to match the missing letter.

I coded them on the back so they were self-checking.

It's a great activity to start the year with reviewing the alphabet :)

Enjoy,

The Book Whisperer Chapter 3

2011-07-07T06:38:00.000-07:00

Is this not a great book? I love the author's style of writing!

I find myself shaking my head as I read the author's words and thinking....oh yeah...how true!

Chapter Three: There's a Time and a Place

"Time for Reading is Time Well Spent"

Agreed, although easier to do in the upper grades, I still think it's necessary to give kiddos in the younger grades time to read on their own. I may have had the ability to tell my seventh graders to pull out a book and get reading, but it's harder to do the same with my firsties...love their little hearts to death...but if you can't read the words, you've gotta learn their are other ways to read a book.

I use pieces of the Daily 5 with my first graders to help with the independent reading aspect of our day. I feel as strongly as our author about kids reading to themselves! During the first week of school, we put together an anchor chart that talks about the 3 ways to read a book...

Read the Words

Read the Pictures

Retell the Story

We talk about each way to read a book and then spend some time that first week modeling the different ways we thought of that you can read a book. I create the chart with the kids using their words as much as possible and then pair it down to the short spurt sentences above ....

then this anchor chart is posted onto the wall near the library corner of my room.

The two posters below were shared on the proteacher.net boards...I don't put them up in the class, however, I do use them to remind myself what I want to discuss with the kids. The key is to get the kids to say it so we can make our own anchor charts...makes 'em feel like they're creating the anchor charts for the room :) You can check out the posts HERE.

"No matter how long students spend engaged in direct reading instruction, without time to apply what they learn in the context of real reading events, students will never build capacity as readers. Without spending increasingly longer periods of time reading, they won't build endurance as readers, either. Students need time to read and time to be readers."

I have reading boxes for each child in my room. It's their box of books that they read from during our independent reading time. At the beginning of the year, I add the books....picture books as well as books with words...like Clifford or Little Critter....when we talk about independent reading time, we talk about building stamina for reading by ourselves...I relate it to building up our muscles when we workout with weights. We'll start with just around 3 minutes that very first week and gradually increase until we get up to about 15-20 minutes. It's called our "Reading Box Time"...and if you miss it one day, they let you know! I usually try to schedule it right after lunch (as we don't get to go outside for recess then and they need something to help them get back into the groove)...Target usually starts putting out their school stuff right about now and they have these fantastic boxes that are perfect for reading boxes...

Really Good Stuff also carries them...just a little more pricey...

"Creating a Place for Reading"

Our author is not about having a specific place for reading...

"I do not care where or how my students read in my room, only that they are reading. They may lie on the floor, take their shoes off, or remain at their desks. Why should it matter?"

Well...it kinda does from the firstie aspect of it...especially the shoe thingy...I personally tell my kiddos 'if you can get them back on by yourself, you can take them off'...and that's generally said after coming in from the playground and hearing complaints of having rocks in shoes :)

That being said, I do have a reading corner, but I do allow them to read anywhere...we talk about this during the first week of school...however, I find I must be explicit about where they can and cannot read in the room...for instance up under the table where the computer sits on top and the shelf is on the bottom is just not the best place in the world...also under the window where you can sit on your knees and check out what the kids outside are doing is also not going to cut it...
We spend time having them show me where they think is a good place to take their reading box and spread out to read. I have a couple of throw rugs that I got at the Dollar Spot at Target that some of them choose to use... but most just sit on the floor. One year I had pillows...however it became a huge time consumer to get the pillows out and argue over who had which one first. This year I may let them bring in towels to take to their spot...only because the floor really is quite nasty! Still thinking on this one. At any rate, I totally agree with our author's thoughts on places to read:

"A classroom atmosphere that promotes reading does not come from the furniture and its placement as much as it comes from the teacher's expectation that students will read."

Wow...this has been one of my longest posts...sorry about that...but I'm really passionate about creating readers at a young age! I believe that if they start off early loving reading, then they'll keep it up throughout their long lives! I may not be successful with every one of my frogglets, but I do manage to hook quite a few before the end of the year :)

....time of my first Linksy party...
What are your thoughts? Got any special things you do to help your students with the independent reading? Do you do the Daily Five? ....spend time with independent reading? ....have special places the kids can read? Link up and share your ideas with us!

Total Ten

2011-07-06T15:42:00.000-07:00

Gotta get my kiddos to think more about how to make tens...found this game somewhere and wrote it up...not my idea, just my putting it together....

Download the Total Ten game for free from my Teacher Pay Teacher account!

Enjoy,

Heidi

HFW Pattern Blocks

2011-07-06T07:18:00.000-07:00

Mrs. Thiessen at "The First Grade Sweet Life" posted about some cool reading stations for Vocabulary Words using pattern block bingo boards. She got the boards from PreKinders.com in the pattern block section. Unfortunately, prekinders does not allow me to share the boards I created using their graphics....but the good news is they're really easy to create...

First...download the pattern block graphic you want to use. You can save it on your desktop or in your iPhotos. Next, open a new power point file and select a blank slide template. Now import your picture and pull and drag it to make it the same size as the slide. Last, create text boxes and add the words you would like to the areas on the graphic. Easy Peasy pattern block boards.

Watch this Jing Video to see how I put it together...

Unable to display content. Adobe Flash is required.

Still not the greatest at creating Jing videos, but hope this helps a little. I did go back and add a text box at the bottom of the board that indicated that the graphic was from prekinders.com.

Enjoy,
Heidi

Are You a Reading Street Teacher?

2011-07-04T18:03:00.000-07:00

Are you a Reading Street Teacher? Have I got a blog for you to check out!

I'm in the process of creating a blog to house some of the awesome ideas and files that are stored

on the firstgradeteachersintn yahoo group...tons of resources from around the world...but

all gooped together. I thought a blog would help sort things out

and be a great way to share and organize new ideas!

Take a moment and hop over to

First Grade Teachers in TN

It's not just for TN teachers...it's for anybody and everybody!

Enjoy your day!

Heidi

Zamzar File Conversions! YES!!!

2011-07-02T08:59:00.000-07:00

My new bestest friend! I have been converting You Tube videos to movies I can store on my computer for some time now with zamzar.com...but NOW they have a convert with button that you can install on your toolbar and it makes the conversion Oh So Much more easy!!!!

Check out their informational video HERE!

It's so easy to convert files now! I have a ton of videos from the Youtube world that I need to go back and grab :)

Enjoy your day!

Heidi

The Growing Cube

2011-07-01T04:50:00.000-07:00

Here's a cute idea I got from somewhere...not sure where....but I thought it would be fun especially at the beginning of the year. I'll probably start with 20 linking cubes and then move up through the year...

Download the directions and math talk card HERE!

Enjoy your day!
Heidi

Place Value Song

2011-06-28T06:20:00.000-07:00

I love Teacher Tipster! Here's a great video he did about his place value song!

Not sure if I could pull off the hat and glasses, but love the song and the hands-on idea for forming the numbers!

Sign Language Pencil Toppers

2011-06-25T09:57:00.000-07:00

Dollar Spot at Target Alert!
My whopping 10 pound Shih Tzu guard dog found these hand signal pencil toppers to be very interesting! And Martha Carol Carpenter had a great idea for using them during small group reading time!

Take a cute bag of colorful pencils...also at the Dollar Spot...where else would they be??

Add some wonderful Alieen's Quick Dry Tacky Glue....

Plop the hand signals on the opposite end of the eraser and voila!

A great pointer for reading those words with your finger on the word!

Thanks for sharing a great idea Martha!

Enjoy,

Heidi

Beat the Timer!

2011-06-25T04:29:00.000-07:00

Beat the Timer

an easy game to create for any age level to help them put numbers in order from least to greatest...greatest to least...counting by ones, twos, fives, tens....

Download the frog file here...

Don't have any timers...they're in almost every teacher supply store both online and at locations...

If you live near me...you're probably familiar with Knowledge Tree...

set of 10 one minute timers for $7.99...

If you're an online shopper, you may like Really Good Stuff...

they have 3 one minute timers for $5.99

and EAI Education has a variety of differing types of timers...

Enjoy your day!

Heidi

Lacing Beads

2011-06-24T16:52:00.000-07:00

Check Out these great lacing beads from the dollar spot at Target!

My plan is to change out the string for thicker shoe laces or pipe cleaners...

The kids and I will create an "I Can chart" similar to this one to show all the different things they can do at the Lacing Beads station. The chart will start of with one or two things and build to more as we introduce more skills throughout the quarter...

Download the I Can Chart Here

Here's are some of the ideas for task cards that will eventually be at the station with the lacing beads...

I tried to make each set of cards deal with one number for the addition sentences...

Download the Cards here

Enjoy,

Heidi