FRIDAY I LOVE YOU!!

Friday, Oh Friday I have been waiting for you.  Indoor recess all week has taken it all out of me.  These kiddos NEED playing time to run and get some energy out.  Hopefully the temps and the ice will be kind to us next week!

Tonight I want to share a few things that I have been doing in my room, including a new product and a FREEBIE, but also some goodies that I have gotten from other teacher bloggers.  I also and Linking up with Amanda at THE PRIMARY GIRL with her Friday Free-For-All.  I am partnering with her and LOTS of other teacher authors in a few weeks for a BIG EVENT.  Stay tuned!!

FRIDAY FREE-FOR-ALL

As I mentioned I linked up with Amanda to share a FREEBIE this Friday.  Take a trip over to her site and check out some of the other FREEBIES up for grabs today!  I am sharing a new item in my store that will help you get ready for MLK Jr. Day.  

I haven't done it with my kiddos yet, but it's in the plans for next week.  We have been reading and talking about him and how he made a difference in our world, so hopefully they are ready.  What do you think?  WIll it work for you?  Grab it HERE on Primary Gal or HERE in my store.  

Closed Syllable Phonics Practice Pack 

Melanie and I have REALLY enjoyed making all of these phonics packs for you all.  They are our BEST SELLERS and we know that some of you are a bit further along in your school year than we are (We don't head back until after Labor Day.) SO... we decided to move on and continue the packs before (HOPEFULLY) you get to the units.  The next Fundations Unit for Grade 1 (Unit 9) focuses on closed syllables and allows students to review all of the skills learned up to this point.  You can find this pack HERE in my store.  Here's a peek at the pack...

Opinion Writing

You may remember that earlier this year I made a set of Personal Narrative posters for First Grade and more recently for Kindergarten based on the Lucy Calkins writing program.  These have been HITS with teachers, so I am continuing the series by working on Grade 1 Opinion mini-posters and Grade 2 Personal Narrative mini-posters.  They are on the to do list for this weekend - We will see what I get to...

For now, I wanted to share the first chart that I used whole class with my kiddos called "Convince You Reader".  This shares the first 3 things they need to do when writing an opinion piece (we will be adding to it as we go).  They have a lot of opinions, but the structure of opinion writing can be tricky.  This chart gives the kiddos CLEAR visuals and words of what is expected.  Here it is...

Organizing and Collecting

When the CCSS came out a few years ago our district did a great job of aligning our curriculum in math right away.  We use Everyday Math which is great, but it didn't hit every point in the CCSS (even with the new updates, I think things are missing - especially the math reasoning piece).  So, we got 2 additional units to help kids contextualize and decontextualize complicated math concepts.  The unit we are doing now is called Organizing and Collecting.  The kids are working on counting collections of items (markers, blocks, crayons, cubes, etc) and each day they work builds.  Here how it works:

Day 1:  Kids count in the way they think is most efficient

Day 2:  Math Congress of ways that they counted.  Kids choose a new strategy and count again.

Day 3:  Organize collections into packs of 10 and loose ones. 

Day 4:  Math Congress

Day 5:  Organize collections into packs of 10 and loose ones. Then find out how many more you would need to make another pack of 10.

Day 6:  Game Day

Day 7:  Organize collections into packs of 10 and loose ones. Then organize collections into packs of 5 and loose ones.  Math Congress to notice patterns.

Day 8:  Game Day

Day 9:  Organize collections into packs of 10 and loose ones. Then add an additional pack of 10 to find the total.  

Day 10:  Wrap-Up/Review

I wish I had some pictures.  This unit is one of my favorites mostly because the kids are engaged and excited every lesson for the whole 2 weeks.  We are finishing up on Monday and I am kind of sad to move on...

Making Predictions Using Patterns

We have been reading many books with patterns and talking about how those patterns help us when we are reading.  Mostly we have been focused on retelling the stories.  This week I introduced the idea of noticing/using patterns to make predictions when we are reading.  This is another Kim Adsit unit - which I love trying out!  Here's the cute chart that goes with it!

Thanks for stopping by to see what's going on in my world.  I am off to enjoy the weekend with the Little Lady and the HUBS!  First though, I need to figure out what's for dinner...