The Brown Bag Teacher

Motivating students to become wild readers is always one of my top priorities each school year. From ridiculously engaging read-aloud voices to weekly themed shelves, I am willing to pull out all the stops because growing readers matters. One of the easiest ways to achieve student book buy-in is peer pressure! Getting students to suggest books to other students immediately validates the recommendation. Today I wanted to share one way I have students share their favorite books with their friends.

Where Do Book Recommendations Fit?

Using a Daily 5 model for our reading block, my 1st graders spend 20-30 minutes reading (by themselves or with a friend) each day. As a class, we often talk about the books we are reading and in between rounds/choices students will bring a book to the carpet. This is a signal to me that the student wants to share what they are reading/learning with a friend.

If a friend finds a book they are particularly interested in or captivates their attention, we have introduced Book Blurb recommendations. I used these blurbs in 5th grade, and am excited to start using them in 1st grade! Our standard for writing a blurb is that it is a book you want to read over and over again.

The Common Core has an entire ELA Strand devoted to Speaking and Listening Standards. Book Blurbs and Recommendations give students the perfect opportunity for students to speak in front of their peers and respond in a real way (reading the book or not reading the book). Additionally, one of the 1st grade opinion writing standard is "Students will... write opinion pieces in which they introduce the topic or name the book they are writing about, state an opinion, supply a reason for the opinion, and provide some sense of closure."

Book Recommendations in Action

When students have found that PERFECT book that everyone needs to read, they may grab a blurb bubble from Work on Writing. Right now, students are using the sentence started "You should read this book because..." but eventually we will learn to structure our own sentences and eventually, paragraphs. (Grab the template for free here.) This friend loved Ninja Red Riding Hood. Her recommendation read "You should read this book because it is like Red Riding Hood but better. It has ninjas." 1st grade standards, people!

In between each round of choice, students may bring their book blurbs to the carpet to share. They love introducing a book to the class and reading why their friends should also pick the book. Every 3-4 days, I pick 4 or 5 of the blurbs to attach to books.

I use a large paper clip to attach the book blurb to the book. When students decide to read the book, they place the blurb back in our Work on Writing spot for recommendations or take it with them as they enjoy the book.

When students enjoy the book, they return it to our window sill or whiteboard tray for other friends to read!

Currently our book recommendations are sitting on our whiteboard ledge. In 5th grade, our books and book blurbs were propped on a window sill using plate stands from Hobby Lobby.

Using Book Recommendations in Your Classroom

So, are you ready to introduce book blurbs as a way for students to share must-reads to their friends? If so, here is a game plan -

Model. Model. Model. (with Words) Before introducing book recommendations, model introducing and picking highlights as you do class read-alouds. "Today we read Duck on a Bike I love this book because all the animals end up riding bikes. It is so silly and always makes me laugh."
Model. Model. Model. (with Writing) Although I expect students to write recommendations on must-read books, for a week before I introduced them as an independent choice, we wrote a recommendation on every.single.book we read together. So, whether we read 2 or 3 books a day, we wrote a recommendation together.
Organize Your Materials Make copies of the recommendation form (snag it from here free) and find a home base for it. Figure out how you want students to turn it in/share their recommendations (we bring ours to the carpet in between Daily 5 rounds). Then, choose a day of the week for choosing which recommendations to display. (If you have TONS of recommendations in a week and want to encourage all students, you might decide to fill your library display shelf with all the recommendations!)
Launch Now, it's time to release and make tweaks based on what works and what doesn't. As your launch, BE EXCITED! This is a huge step for your readers and they will love it. Sharing books has power, so hold on.

What are your favorite ways to get students talking about their reading? Having students talk about their reading and recommending books is a HUGE part in motivating readers, so I'd love to hear your ideas!

Differentiation - a word that drives fear into the teacher heart and requires a dramatic eye-roll during a staff meeting. So many times when we hear DI, it seems like this burdensome task is completely overwhelming. But friends, DI should NOT require hours of extra hours or thousands of extra copies. I've shared about about differentiation before here, and today I wanted to share one of my favorite ways to simply level math centers - with dice!

My Favorite Dice

Last fall, I ordered a 'Pound of Dice' from Amazon (affiliate link) and was amazed to receive over 80 colorful dice. Each color-set included 4/6/8/10/12/20 dice, as well as, a place value dice (included multiples of tens). These dice allow me to have the same center in a tub with three different sets of dice - one for each of my math groups. (Learn more about how I group my students for Guided Math here.) I snagged a bead container from Michaels with a 40% coupon and my 15% Teacher Discount for less than $5 - a perfect storage solution!

Dice in My 1st Grade Classroom

When pulling math centers, I tend to use the green, yellow, and blue dice most. These match my color-coded math groups and makes it easy for students to grab the right dice. My 1st graders know their math color and grab their dice from the math center bin.

Introducing math centers for the first time during our Making our Way to 120 Unit, Race to 120 is the first math game I introduce. It is simple, requires few pieces, and is the perfect way for students to learn patterns on the 120s chart through repeated exposure. My green group is using dice within 6 as they are still individually counting squares on the grid, yellow group is using dice within 12 so they can begin to make hops of 10, and blue group uses the dice within 20 as they are able to easily manipulate the 120s chart early in the year.

In October, my friends were doing Place Value Roll with dice, base ten pieces, and a recoding log. Easy peasy prep. My lowest group was working with the green place value dice (10, 20, 30, etc.) and 0-9 dice. My middle group worked with two 0-9 yellow dice and had to decide where to place the dice to make the largest number, and my above grade-level group worked with 3 blue dice to make a 3-digit number.

In our Fact Family Center we loved using our set-of-five Fact Family Triangles (Amazon affiliate link) to relate addition and subtraction. I placed the triangles, a recording log, and 3 sets of dice in the bin (each set in a ziploc bag with a colored sticker). My green group is working with two 6-sided dice (sums within 12), yellow group is playing with a 12-sided dice and a 6-sided dice (sums within 18), and blue group is playing with two 12-sided dice (sums within 24). The learning target - "Students will be able to relate addition and subtraction." is being reviewed and practice with just-right materials.

Other Ideas for Math Center Differentiation

If you don't teach 1st grade, here are some other ideas for Easy Dice Games (and easily differentiated based on the number of sides each die has):

Representing Numbers: Have students roll multiple dice to make a number. Then, ask students to represent the number in 4 different ways on a whiteboard (place value, tallies, addition/subtraction equation, number word, expanded form, money, etc.)
Comparing Numbers: Roll 2/3/4 dice (depending on your grade). Order the dice to make the largest possible number. Use <, >, = to compare your number to your partner's number. The friend with the largest number receives 1 point. First partner to 15 points wins!
Missing Addends: Have students roll two dice. The students must place the numbers in a sentence frame where one dice is the addend and the second dice is the sum. (You could also have one dice be a subtrahend and one dice be the difference.) Then, students must solve for the missing number and create a word problem to match the equation.
Place Value: Roll 2/3/4 dice. Make all the number combinations possible out of those numbers. Then, order the numbers from least to greatest. (If you teach older grades, require every number to have a tenths or hundredths place.)
Rounding: Have students roll multiple dice (depending on standard) and record the number. Then, have students round the number to the nearest 10 or 100 (or both).
Word Problems: Leave a set of word problems on a binder ring at a center. For every number in the problem, leave a blank. Then, have students roll numbers to fit the problems. They have to ensure the numbers make sense and then, they have to solve the problem! (To learn more about differentiating word problems in this way, read this blog post.)
Fractions: Have students roll a 4-sided dice as a denominator. Then, have students roll the 20-sided dice for a numerator. Then, students have to make the improper faction, put it in simplest terms, and write it as a decimal!

I use these dice every.single.day and they are definitely one of my teacher-must haves. I give these away to all my University Students and I frequently shout-them out on Instagram and Facebook. Do you use dice to help level your math centers? If so, what are your favorite ways to use them. I'm always looking for new math ideas and would love your input. For other FREE classroom resources and freebies, sign-up here for teaching ideas to land in your inbox each month.

During mini-lessons and Guided Math, I am ALL about manipulatives. Base 10 pieces, unifix cubes, cuisenaire rods - give me all the math things. Especially in 1st grade, manipulatives offer a concrete way to represent a number and their thinking. At some point, this concrete thinking has to begin to transition into abstract and mental math processes. Number Talks offer a daily, short, structured way for students to talk about math with their peers.

What is a Number Talk?

Number Talks are short (10ish minutes), daily exercises aimed at building number sense. Number sense is the ability to play with numbers meaning students can visualize problem solving, perform calculations quickly, and are flexible in their mathematical strategy. Students who have strong number sense solve problems in more than one way and check that their answers make sense. During a number talk, students are thinking, asking their peers questions, and explaining their own thinking all while the teacher records the thinking.

Sherry Parish has written the book Number Talks (Amazon affiliate link) and it offers awesome ideas for Kindergarten to 6th grade. It is definitely an expensive (up to $60 if bought new) but offers great ideas and real-life examples of Number Talks.

What Do Number Talks Look Like?

When possible, I love slipping a number talk in at the beginning of our Guided Math block. If we're running late, I'll slip a Number Talk in during an awkward transition or at the very end of the day. A traditional Number Talk follows this routine -

Present the class with a problem. Students are seated in a common area with no math tools. Number Talks are mental exercises. I store my number talks on binder rings next to my Document Camera for easy access.

Give think time. (When a student raises their hand, it tells other students they were not fast or good enough in their thinking. To account for this, students give me a sly thumbs-up on their chest to signal that they have thinking they want to share. Then, they put up multiple fingers (on the same hand) to indicate they have multiple ways to answer/solve the problem.

3. Call on a student– “_______, what are you thinking?” Have the student explain their thinking and then give their answer. My focus is always on the process not the answer.

4. Offer the strategy to the class. Student will elaborate (if correct) or ask questions (if misguided). If students aren’t sure they understand a friend, they will say “I’m a little confused. Could you tell me in a different way?” If students agree with the student sharing they will do sign-language for ‘me too’ (thumb near chest and pinky pointing at friend). This builds the student’s confidence and offers the student sharing positive affirmations.

5. Invite other students to share their strategies.

Scaffolding Students

If students have never been expected to explain their mathematical thinking, students may be very resistant to share their own strategies. So, how do I encourage students to share their own thinking/strategies?

Model, Model, Model – The first 2 days of Number Talks, I do a lot of modeling. After this, I completely release the Number Talks to the students.
Sentence Stems– “In my head I saw…” “My first step was…” “I decided to try…” “I needed to…” "I wasn't sure what to do, but I noticed..."
Force It– Awkward silence is your friend. Sometimes I will wait (for extended periods of time) for students to share their thinking. Even if a friend is STRUGGLING with a problem or sharing their thinking, I do not come to the rescue. Growth comes when friends are able to sort out their own thinking and my 1st grade friends are able to do this...even if it is a little painful for me.

Examples of Number Talks

So, it all sounds great, right?? But what do number talks actually look like? My first number talks each year are always subitizing patterns (dot patterns). They are the perfect introduction into composing and decomposing numbers. Slowly that transitions into the 100s chart and eventually into word problems and balancing scales.

If you're interested in me emailing you some of my favorite number talks, sign-up here and confirm your email. Then, 5 weeks of number talks will show up in your email!

So friends, have you used number talks before? If so, how has your students' number sense changed since using them? Do you have any go-to number talks? I'd love to hear your ideas!

From Morning Meeting to Dismissal our school days are packed with important learning and some days it all seems like a race. Taking the time to slow down and reflect on the day is often placed on the back burner and it is only as our head hits the pillow that we start thinking about the day and 'fixing' for tomorrow. Sound familiar?? Today I wanted to share with you a school-wide initiative that helps build intention and reflection into our days - as teachers and as students.

Why Reflection?

Our school is a Leader in Me school and we actively work to engage students in reflecting on their learning. Reflections allows for mega-cognition of learning, greater retention of learning, and provides accountability for choices. Each afternoon, our school has a 10-15 minute block of reflection built into our afternoon schedule. As a Leader in Me school, we use Stephen Covey's terminology of "Plus and Delta" reflection. A Plus is something that went really well or something we are proud of. A Delta is not necessarily a negative, rather it is something we want to change in the future.

What does it look like in the classroom?

In 1st grade, we meet on the carpet and as a class brainstorm some plus/deltas for the day. As a class, we do talk about the idea that not every plus and not every delta are a 'good fit' for every friend. While indoor recess might be a Plus for Jane, it might be a Delta for Josh. It's all about perspective!

At the beginning of the year, students pick one plus and delta from each column and record it on their own logs. Towards October, we still brainstorm together but students are more comfortable writing highs and lows specific to them. At this point in the year, students are expected to write in a complete sentence.

In this picture, you see my 1st graders 5 days into the school year. In August, it takes about 25-30 minutes for Plus/Delta to happen (and it is PAINFUL). Before launching, we spend the first half week of school just doing whole-group reflection. Then, the Monday of the first full week, I introduce the actual reflection sheets. Honestly, the first week takes many deep breaths and positive affirmations. Slowly, it does get better as students become better readers and writers. #havefaith

This year, I have an up-and-moving group, so we love doing our Plus/Delta standing, laying on the flooring, and perching on classroom furniture. My group last year loved sitting on their desks. Regardless of where students reflect, I do expect for reflection to be done at a Zero Voice Level, giving every one a chance to think about their day.

After students have completed their reflection, they check their color on the Clip Chart and bring their reflection sheet to me. While students are writing and before students bring me their reflection sheets, I have at least 3-4 minutes to write positive notes home. Building this routine into my day keeps me accountable and means so much to my friends. They love seeing who gets a note in his/her folder! (You can snag these positive notes for free here.)

Checking reflection sheets is such a sweet time because I have the chance to check-in with every student, write a note of praise or a reminder on the reflection sheet, and see what were the best parts of our day. It's been enlightening to see what my 1st graders remember from the day and consider the deltas of their days. (Note - this reflection sheet was from the beginning of the year, hence the one-word reflections.)

After I've checked the Plus and Delta sheet, students place their reflection sheet in home folders. When students arrive home, this reflection sheet gives families a solid conversation starter and an easy way to see any notes I may have written. This is a simple form of constant communication and at the end of week, the reflection sheets are hole-punched and go in our Leadership Binders.

Implementing End-of-Day Reflection in Your Classroom

End of day reflection time is the perfect way to celebrate success and make a game-plan for tomorrow's learning. It helps focus our learning and actions, and it provides a great at-home conversation starter. If you are implementing reflection with the start of a new year, here are my tips -

Model, Model, Model - Take the first week and model exactly what you expect. During these first days, do not have students write their reflections. Do the reflections whole-group and then, have students share their own plus and deltas with a partner.
Have a Plan for Managing the Paper - At the end of the week, what will students do with the reflection sheets? Have a plan and prepare accordingly. We keep our reflection sheets in our Leadership Binders (so we can reference them at other times in the year), so when I print them I know to go ahead and hole punch them. This makes the end of the week easy because the papers are ready to slip into the binder rings!
Building in Reflection Time - Those first few days when students are writing their reflections, it does take a chunk of dedicated time. IT DOES GET BETTER. Take some deep breaths and have a Diet Coke ready. Toward the beginning of the year, reflection took about 25-30 minutes for everyone to finish. Now (in January) it takes us 8-10ish minutes for everyone to finish.
Notice Patterns - One of the benefits of doing daily reflection is the opportunity for me to 'see' what students think about our days. If I'm paying close attention, I can see patterns among students and their thinking. I know that my friends HATE missing a math center and it really concerns them when a friend is absent. Afternoon RtI is something we look forward to (which I would *never* guess without these plus/deltas) and this group of friends would choose Indoor Recess over Outdoor Recess every day of the week.

So friends, do you implement end-of-day reflection in your classroom? If so, do you find it worthwhile or have any tips for making it run smoothly? If you don't do an end-of-the-day reflection, what are your questions and hesitations? I'd love to hear from you!

What does a day look like in my classroom? How do we organize and structure our time together? These are two of the most common questions I receive each week, so today I wanted to share with you a basic overview of our daily schedule (barring no interruptions).

Throughout this post, I've linked lots of different blog posts if you are interested in learning more or seeing pictures, as well as, Amazon affiliate links for easy shopping if you're looking for resources.

8:15-8:30 School-wide Morning Meeting

At 7:45 students may start arriving for breakfast or they may wait for Morning Meeting to begin in the gym. Our school uses a whole-school morning meeting where we do the pledge, sing an America song, recite our school mission statement and the Leader in Me Habits, and sing our school song.

8:30-8:40 Preparing for the Day

After morning meeting, we walk to the classroom together and I greet each student at the door with a hug. Students come in, unpack their backpacks, put their Home Folders in their mailboxes, put their backpacks in their cubbies, make a lunch choice on the smart board, and then, may read with a partner or by themselves. Every Monday we have a new set of themed books on our library display shelf (read more here) and my friends love exploring these books in the morning.

8:40-10:20 Daily 5

Students meet me on the carpet where we begin with our Good Morning song. We use Thomas Moore's song and love the handshakes and smiles we exchange with our friends. Then, we talk about our game plan for the day.

I have a few friends who THRIVE on schedules, so everyday we walk through what our day is going to look like, who will be in our room, and any changes to our normal routine. Within 2-3 minutes, this quickly transitions into our must-know words for the week and our phonics mini-lesson. These are 5-6 sight words that are displayed on the Whiteboard. Each Monday we assign motions to each word, on Tuesdays we practice identifying the words and introduce our phonics skill, on Wednesdays we use Whiteboards to practice writing the words, on Thursdays we practice using the words in a sentence including our phonics skill, and on Fridays we try to combine as many of the words into a mega 1st grade sentence.

By 8:50 we are transitioning into our first Daily 5 choice. This is the time where I meet with my lowest group of readers. I meet with this group for 20 minutes, or so...sometimes longer if we are really jamming with our Daily 5 choices! (See what our Daily 5 choices look like here and snag a free editable rotation chart here.) Our choices include Word Work, Listening to Reading, Read to Self, Work on Writing, and Lexia (an online reading program provided by the District.)

After our first choice (9:10 or so), we meet back on the carpet for a 10 minute comprehension mini-lesson. This mini-lesson follows our comprehension skills for the week and is based on a book we read the previous day during read-aloud. (Read more about how I use Duke on a Bike for making predictions.)

After this mini-lesson, we make our 2nd choices and I meet with my first grade-level group. Students record their choices on this accountability log.

Again, after this group, we will return to the carpet. Many times I will lead a writing or grammar mini-lesson but this is also the most flexible of our transitions. If students are working on something or reading something they want to share with the class, they know to bring it to the carpet. This is their signal to me that they need to share. During this time, we celebrate what is going on during our Daily 5 choices, the goals we are working toward, and give advice/tips for next steps in writing and reading. This is one of my favorite times in the morning because it is so personal to the students and completely student driven. (Below is an email of a friend sharing their book review of a book he/she listened to during Listening to Reading.)

The last two reading groups have changed throughout the year. Although at the beginning of the year, I had 4 guided reading groups that I met with every single day, I am at the point in the year where I will alternate my two highest groups (based on how long our reading block is running). Both of these groups are reading Level J or higher and we work a lot in chapter books. Often times I will meet with one group for 15-20 minutes and then, check in with the other group for 2-3 minutes. Sometimes I will meet with both groups for a shorter amount of time...it really depends on the skills we're focusing on and the texts we're reading.

10:20-10:35 Bathroom Break, Snack, & Read Aloud

When choosing read alouds, I try to think ahead to the next day's reading mini-lesson or a science lesson I'll be teaching later in the day. I use a later read-aloud time for just-for-fun books, but this 10 minutes I love devoting to texts we will be using later in the week.

10:35-10:50 Number Talk

Using Parrish's Number Talks, we love starting our math block off with sharing our thinking. For our number talks, students don't raise their hands instead they give a thumbs up/down on their chest. This helps everyone to continue thinking even if a few friends already have an idea. During our Number Talk time, I am a facilitator and scribe. While students are explaining their thinking and their math processes, it's my job to write exactly what they are saying. Acting as a scribe gives other students the chance to ask their friends questions and give suggestions without feeling like I am judging or looking for a right or wrong answer.

Some of our favorite number talks include subitizing dots (what do you see), blank hundreds charts with rows colored in (how many are filled), and already solved word problems (what was the mathematician doing). You can read more about our number talks and give 5 weeks of FREE number talks here.

10:50-11:30 Guided Math Groups

Guided Math groups are my favorite part of the day. Our learning is hands-on and targeted specific to each of my groups. I run my groups for 20 minutes - usually having time for 2 groups before specials and 1 group after RtI. I'm often asked if 20 minutes is long enough to get a math mini-lesson in. My answer? Absolutely! Unlike whole group where you have to do a general overview with a little of everything, with small group I target the specific needs of each of my groups! With careful and intentional planning, I'm able to slip in a hands-on activity (as students come to the teacher table), a mini-lesson, guided practice, and then, 2 ish days a week, a quick Exit Slip.

While students are not in my Guided Math group, they are using DreamBox (an online math program provided by our District) or at centers. You can read more about our centers and guided math routines here.

11:30-1:15 Specials, Lunch, Recess

Our school is blessed with a 40 minute planning each day during Specials and we have a duty-free lunch. After lunch, we go straight to the playground for 15 minutes of recess.

1:15-1:25 Calendar Math

Coming back from recess, my friends get a drink of water, grab their calendar math journals from their desks, and find a spot to work in the room. Some friends sit in their seats, some sit on the floor, some lay on the library carpet. At this point in the year, students do most of the calendar independently, but we love sharing ways to represent our Number of the Day. The bottom corner always acts as a great spiral review (and introduces content we won't reach until the very end of April). This is our team's first year using the Lakeshore Math Journals and they were definitely worth the investment!

1:25-2:25 RtI Math and Reading

There are 5 1st grade classes and during RtI we split students among all 5 classes. The actual 'intervention' classes have 12 students in them (max) and are restricted to Tier 2 and Tier 3 students. These intervention groups are all small-group based. Our RtI Reading Class is blessed with 2 push-in adults, and our RtI Math Class is co-taught by the Primary Special Ed Teacher and myself. With these classes being so small, our other RtI groups are much larger, typically ranging from 24-29 students. While these numbers make it tough, it pays off for our strugglers and we as a team make it work.

For reading, students are grouped by their independent Guided Reading Level. While the reading groups are fluid, the reading groups don't change as much as the math groups do. To allow for differentiation in spelling tests, we do give Spelling Tests in our RtI Reading classes. For math, we use the District Common Assessments to group students. These groups change every unit (~every 6 weeks) and target the specific skilled assessed in each unit.

2:25-3:10 Writing/Theme

Most weeks, this post-RtI time is devoted to writing as our team is really intentional about integrating science and social studies into our guided reading and read-aloud times. Since this afternoon time is more flexible, it's not uncommon for us to split this 45 minute block between science and writing. Our hands-on science experiences do happen during this time (rather than the morning core). From sound experiments to testing magnets, we use the Next Generation Science Standards to guide our explorations.

In terms of writing, I use a Writer's Workshop model with loads of mentor texts. The first few minutes of our time together are a mini-lesson (focusing on a very specific skill - adding quotation marks, using commas to separate items in a list, using a hook to grab a reader's attention). Then, students are given the time to put our mini-lessons into practice while I conference with students. We love listening to Yo, Yo, Ma and since our visit to the orchestra, we're all about the Vienna Philharmonic. Then, we wrap-up our time with 5-10 minutes of friends sharing their writing.

3:10-3:20 Reflection

Each afternoon, our school has a 10-15 minute block of reflection built into our afternoon schedule. As a Leader in Me school, we use Stephen Covey's terminology of "Plus and Delta" reflection. A Plus is something that went really well or something we are proud of. A Delta is not necessarily a negative, rather it is something we want to change in the future. In 1st grade, we meet on the carpet and as a class brainstorm some pluses/deltas for the day and then students individually record their highs/lows for the day. You can read more about our school-wide reflection time in this blog post.

3:20 Dismissal

As soon as I check a student's reflection sheet, they add it to their green home folder, pack their backpack, put on their coat, and do their classroom job. From straightening crayons in a caddy to sharpening pencils, to organizing our classroom bookshelf, these classroom jobs keep our classroom looking neat. After students finish their job, they meet on the carpet with their friends or they can partner read. If we've finished Reflection quickly, I love to sneak in an extra for-fun read aloud.

Friends, you've made it - a day in the life of a 1st grader! We have a long but wonderful day. Sometimes it feels like a race, but I am blessed to teach in a school that values instructional time. What questions do you have for me? How does this compare to your schedule? I'd love to hear your ideas, thoughts, and questions. It's always interesting to see how other classrooms organize their time!

Organization and order are two very important things for me in the classroom. I'm definitely not afraid of making messes and letting kids be kids, BUT I do think that our students (of any age) can help in the upkeep of our learning space. Additionally, I would much rather every friend complete one small job rather than feel that I have to spend 20-30 minutes after school doing things that could have easily been done as team effort. So, today I wanted to share 5 sanity-saving routines that can help keep your classroom clean and organized!

1. Foster Student Buy-In

I do this with a class discussion of - "What should our classroom be...?" I record as students give ideas, adding a picture (remember that this was in August and our 1st grade friends don't read yet). Using our class brainstorm, I'm able to ask - If this is what our classroom should be, how will we make it happen?

Stemming from this conversation, we are able to agree that in order for our classroom to be neat, ready to learn in, and clean we must all do our part. Student buy-in is critical. Without it, you'll find yourself nagging and reminding - resenting the whole process.

2. Model Explicitly

Our students all come from different backgrounds and homes, so it's important to show students exactly what the classroom should look like and a reason behind it. A reason is critical because it provides context for students and helps them make it a priority.

We place clipboards back-to-back, so all 24 fit into the tub. That way when we go to Work on Writing, we don't have to worry about tripping. We keep the things in our desks stacked neatly, so we don't have to waste learning time searching for our things.

Our students are amazing human beings and love rising to a challenge.

3. Build the Routine

Although I truly believe students should be responsible for some/most of the straightening in the classroom, I also don't believe this responsibility should take away from academic learning. I would never want students to miss core learning to sharpen pencils. So, a part of keeping an organized classroom is building the habits and jobs into the daily schedule of the classroom. Transition times are a fabulous way to channel non-learning time into something productive.

In our classroom, students fulfill their role after our End of Day Reflection. Students bring their reflection sheet for me to check, pack their backpack, put their backpack on the carpet, and complete their responsibility before partner reading. In these 3-4 minutes before we load the buses, my 1st graders each assume a small role in getting our classroom ready for the next day. This allows me to use my after-school time for planning lessons, making positive phone calls home, and reading writing journals.

4. Release the Power

Now that students feel that keeping a tidy classroom is important, have a model for keeping the classroom organized, and know the routine - it's time to decide what jobs to release to the students.

Jobs that I release include - straightening clipboards, collecting read-the-room cards, hanging lunch tags in cubbies, returning all behavior clips to green, watering our class plants, stacking classroom technology, straightening our classroom bookshelf, organizing classroom book bins, placing our classroom mailbox slots back in their places, turning off the SMART Board and projector, closing the window, straightening the learning nook in the hallway, picking up trash off of the floor, stacking stools, collecting and setting-out new pencils.

In terms of accomplishing all that needs to be done you have 3 main options - (1) Informally ask students to complete the jobs - different students completing different jobs each day (2) Assign students to certain areas of the classroom (3) Have students apply for the jobs that most interest them.

I use a combination of all three. For the jobs that require extended training (stacking technology, watering the plants, collecting read-the-room cards) students are hired for these positions. (Snag a free classroom job application here.) They are welcome to ask a friend to help them, but I do expect the hire-e to assume the leadership position in the relationship. The other jobs I let students naturally fill but most of the time students find one job and make it their niche. Amy always stacks the stools, Sanders picks up trash off the floor, etc.

5. Get Rid of the Pencils

If there is any procedure that causes me to take deep breaths and want to jump out of my skin, it's pencil sharpening. It's loud, takes forever, always happens during guided reading, and it is really my least favorite part of 1st grade. So, to alleviate this stressor, when students have broken or dull pencils they put them tip-down. Then, students grab a new pencil from our drawer. Each Friday I rubber band the pencils and send them home (and a pencil sharpener) with a student.

And like MAGIC they come back sharpened - voila! #winning

This routine alone makes my life so much happier. But friends, Rule #5 is my rule. Just like Ron Clark's Dorito Rule, you need to pick a #5. What is the one routine/procedure/issue/thing in the classroom that makes you count to 10 and take deep breaths. Whatever it is, find a way to outsource it or build a procedure around that item.
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So, friends - are these routines that you've built into your daily schedule? If not, how are you planning on giving students more responsibility in caring for the classroom? What's your Rule #5? I'd love to hear your feedback and ideas!

Friday was one of those fun, hands-on, best-day-ever kind of days. It was play-based, rigorous, and had my crew of 1st grader workers begging for more. Today I wanted to share with you more about Compound Construction - a morning filled with hands-on compound word fun!

Setting the Stage

Unapologetically I believe in the importance of play in the classroom. Our young students learn best through exciting, hands-on experiences. So, when possible, I love intentionally crafting play and wonder into our day.

When students walked in our classroom door, they were met with Caution Tape, had to quickly put away their things, and get on their apron for our day of learning! Lowe's donated enough Kids' Aprons for all of my workers which was an amazing treat and added so much excitement to our day (Thanks, Lowe's!). Immediately I was greeted with HUGE eyes, smiles, and shouts of "This is the best day EVER!"

We gathered on the main Construction Floor (our classroom carpet) to hear from the Site Foreman. He explained to us his problem and we decided we could help him! As we worked, we heard the sounds of trucks, diggers, and saws with this music from Youtube.

What Our Morning Looked Like

Once we accepted the challenge, we split into construction teams (by table). Each different construction site had a task for us to complete. We took along our tool box and pencil, so we could record our work as we went. Each task was inside of a tool box or tool case that I swiped from my Mom (Thanks, Mom!). It made it so much more exciting to have to open up and dump each of the tool bags! Two of our construction sites were lego-based centers.

We also had to reassemble the school's plumbing at another construction site. I purchased two 5-foot 1/2 inch PVC pipe poles from Lowes and cut them into 3 inch pieces. This gave me 40 individual pieces (enough for 20 compound words). I then picked-up 20 couplings or joints to connect the two parts of each compound word. (The couplings came in packs of 10, so I picked-up two packs.)

I decided to use labels for the pipes and the legos, because I want to use these materials for other activities. The pipes and connectors will be perfect for teaching conjunctions and the legos will be great for indoor recess.

At another construction site, we were commissioned to design our own towers. Using the sand-timer provided, we "played" with wooden blocks to build a fabulous tower. After the timer ran out, we had to use our tower to write an awesome 1st grade sentence!

Now I'll admit - this was DEFINITELY a challenge for my friends but a very good one. It required the whole work time and really made us think about what we've learned about nouns, verbs, and adjectives!

The most challenging of our construction sites was the Compound Puzzle. Using a 24-piece puzzle set, students worked in partners to repair the broken picture. Each puzzle told a story of someone integrating 5-6 compound words.

One of the great things about a day like Compound Construction is that you have instant student buy-in. Students are engaged, focused, and excited. While they are learning, the focus is so much on the excitement that you can really bump-up the learning and expectations. This is an example of one of those bumped-up activities. In our typical Daily 5 block, my friends would *struggle* with this activity and I would hear about it. While my friends struggled on Friday, they persevered and kept working the whole time. They were determined to complete that site!

Reflecting on Our Learning

Once we had visited all the construction sites and had worked with over 100 compound words, we met together as a crew. We heard again from the Site Foreman and he thanked us for our work. Then, with our toolboxes in hand, we brainstormed some of the compound words we met. While there were WAY too many to include them all, every member of our crew shared their favorite one and used it in a 7-up sentence.

From walking into the construction zone to debriefing the crew about the day's building, we conquered Compound Words in two hours. This is a day where I did not meet with reading groups, but it was totally worth it. Honestly, I'll never have to touch Compound Words again, my 1st graders own them and they have such a positive memory to attach to the content...a definite win-win in my book!

Being Real - How Much Did It Cost?

When I do a special day like Place Value Bootcamp or Contraction Surgery one of the most common questions is - How can you afford this? I totally get this, so I wanted to break the cost down with you. In total, it cost me $17 dollars for our day of Compound Construction. Now our 1st grade team is sharing the activity, so it is easily split behind 5 teachers making it a $4 investment. The cost would have been much lower if I had borrowed the Legos from a student in my class, but I wanted them for indoor recess afterward. So, when I found mini-packs at Dollar Tree, I scooped up 5 packs!

Friends, are you ready to step outside of your traditional reading block for a day? Compound Construction is a perfect way to engage and excite your learners with hands-on learning! It's fun, simple, and makes a HUGE impression. You can snag all of the materials, ready-to-go here.

Now tell me, is Compound Construction something your friends would dig? If so, I'd love to hear about ways you keep learning hands-on and fun in your classroom!

Since coming to 1st grade, I've adopted a Daily 5 style to our Reading Block. I have shared dozens of posts about how Daily 5 works in our classroom (click here to read more) but I've never shared about Work on Writing. Honestly, it is the choice that makes me the most nervous and is the one that is most constantly changing. So, today, I'm sharing a post packed with pictures, ideas, affiliate links (for easy shopping and browsing), and samples of what works in our classroom.

Work on Writing vs. Writer's Workshop

While our Writer's Workshop and Work on Writing are often closely aligned, they are two distinct parts of our classroom. During Writer's Workshop, there are explicit mini-lessons, guided writing opportunities, and the use of mentor texts to model writing traits. (You can read more about our Writer's Workshop here.) During Work on Writing, my students love applying our Writer's Workshop learning to their own writing journals. BUT... during our Work on Writing time, students have complete choice in what and how they write. This choice allows students to explore what they love, develop writing stamina, and find a way to make writing work for them. During this time, students might be writing a thank-you letter to a custodian, sharing about the new location of their elf, creating a secret code for our class to solve (thanks, Jigsaw Jones!), reflecting on what we are learning in class, writing about a book they have recently read, or adding the perfect illustration to their narrative. I trust my students and I value their ideas. Our Work on Writing time helps communicate these ideas to the students. Whatever they are writing about (Minecraft, becoming a candy-maker, etc.) matters.

What's in Our Writing Center

With this flexibility, the materials at our Writing Center change a lot...depending on what my friends need and want. In the second month of school, this was our writing center. I have a word wall to the right of our center for words we are continually spelling-out (school names, teacher names, favorite sports, etc.). In this picture, you see two anchor charts - these change based on what we've learned about in writer's workshop. You can read more about the rating's scale and grab the materials to make your own for free here, and you can read how I launch narrative writing (the heart) here.

Last March, you see that our focus was with Opinion Writing and Time Order words (from How-To/procedural writing).

Even with a changing landscape, there are some Work on Writing staples that stay year-round. The first are our writing-paper trays. These trays hold our graphic organizers, student checklists, letter writing papers, cards, blank lined paper, etc. Any time students are working outside of their writing journals, they know they can grab a resource from these trays.

On that same left side where the writing trays are located, I also use my favorite magnetic hooks to hang writing prompts. While I prefer students generate their own writing ideas, some friends have days where they need a little extra spark. I only put out the prompts for the modes of writing we have covered. Right now, you'll find the inform/explain, how-to, and narrative writing prompts hanging!

In the middle of our writing center, you'll find our special writing implements. These are special because you can ONLY use them at this center. My friends know we only use the black writing pencils here, the yellow highlighters are for highlight 'because' in our writing, and the crayons are switched out monthly so they are just-right for adding illustrations. Keeping these supplies specials tells my students how important this choice is to me!

Our classroom mailbox stays on the corner of our writing desk. When mail needs to be deliver (via me during planning) the red flag is put up. Our class writing journals are for shared experiences and stay in our classroom from year-to-year. I'm a *little* late introducing them this year (#oops) and am hoping Monday is our day. :)

Providing Support to Writers Who Struggle

One of the most important caveats to Work on Writing is that is must be independent. While I love reading a student's writing and providing immediately feedback, this isn't the time. While students are writing, I am meeting individually with students or in guided reading groups. During this time, I do have a few go-to supports: graphic organizers (pictured above), word rings, writing folders, and pencil/paper alternatives. (To read more about how I build writing independence, check out this blog post.)

While we love writing in our writing journals, students also keep a Blue Writing Folder of work. This folders include any graphic organizers, prewriting, and random writing collections. In a clear, sheet protector in each folder we keep Michelle Oake's First Grade Helper in the middle. This is an amazing resource that includes how to spell months, colors, days of the weeks, numbers, and on the back is an editable word wall. All of our sight-words are on there for our reference. This solves so many of our writing woes.

While the writing resources really support my writers, I still have one friends who STRUGGLES. He has grown so much this year, but writing is physically and emotionally exhausting (for both of us!). Still, writing is such an important part of 1st grade and I do expect this friend to make his Work on Writing choices like every other student. I've found that Work on Writing via Whiteboard and Dry Erase marker to be an amazing accommodation. My friend LOVES using the whiteboard, it's less intimidating because it can easily be erased, and the dry erase markers are easier to hold. The week after Winter Break, my friends wrote this ALL BY HIMSELF!

I got a gummy maker. I wanted a gummy maker so much.

Our entire class was so proud, and we loved celebrating him. This friend, his writing, and his toothless smile were captured in a picture and immediately emailed to Mom and Dad. So, yes, we are slowly making the transition to paper, during independent writing time, a whiteboard works.

Value Novelty

One of the reasons, my friends love Work on Writing is the number of choices they have. I do believe in keeping our Writing Center novel. Last year, my friends were ALL ABOUT Mo Willems and Pigeon. So, much of our writing and ideas were directed at Pigeon.

This year, I have quiet a few Future Spies. Enlisting the help of a spy-in-disguise (i.e. a parent) we have loved learning and writing about spies. We have developed secret codes, writing letters, write opinion pieces about not stealing national monuments, etc. It has been so much fun and has captured the hearts of my writers!

I'm so thankful that this parent is willing to share a few moments with us each week. My friends have developed such a sense of voice and expression in their writing!

Dear Mr. Jason, I told people about what you did to the Statue of Liberty. And you won't get away just like that. The key is safe at school so you won't get it. But I'll get the master key, I'm sure of it. Be prepared. Good luck not getting arrested. Ha, ha, ha. -C

We also love writing about the events going on in our school. From touring the science room, to looking at the pictures in the 6th grade hallway, to visiting the Character Pumpkins in the library - our school offers so many great writing topics. Plus, it's a way to connect to other grades and remind my students where they will be one day!

Acknowledging New Literacies

While pencil-to-writing is a critical part of 1st grade, I also acknowledge that our 1st graders live in a world where they are SO many forms of writing literacy. From emails, to blogs, to digital books - we must start to develop students who are able to adapt and use many different writing modes. Slowly throughout the year, I do introduce many different ways to write. Around November, our 1st grade team introduces MyStory - an easy-to-work-with digital publishing app. Students can easily share their own writing in an e-book form and then, store it on our 'Class Bookshelf'. These soon become some of our favorite stories to share during Listening to Reading. (Read more about how we use this app here.)

Mid-year, I also start to teach students to type their pieces. This is a HUGE motivator for my students and they feel so 'big' opening a Word Document and typing. (Note - I also have 6 iPads, so students will also type using Notes and then, email the file to me.)

When we start publishing pieces with Word, I teach 1 student from each of my reading groups how to do it and they are responsible for teaching their friends. This keeps my focus on Guided Reading! (Note - the writing below is not a perfect paragraph...but for independent 1st grade writing, I'll take it.)

So, friends, tell me - what does your Work on Writing time look like? Is it one of your students' favorite choices? How do you mix-it-up and to keep students engaged and writing? I'd love to hear your ideas!

Oh friends - this post comes to you with Snow Day #3 in the books and a very-possible Day #4. When your school secretary shares this picture with you, you start longing for your classroom. Especially when you're going to be making up these snow days in June! It's been almost a week since I last saw my 1st grade friends and I can only hope they have been reading each night. I am all about those snow day snuggles, board games, and snowmen. But after a week, I wanted to share some ideas with my families...just in case my friends were getting restless.

Wanting a mix of fun, reading, math, and technology, I chose to highlight SumDog Math, StoryLine Online, Dance Mat Typing, Hour of Code, ABC YA, and GoNoodle. All 6 websites are perfect for all elementary students (K-5th grade) and offer families a variety of choices. Plus, these six websites are all free and some of my friends' favorites. If you're looking at another week of missed school or just want to be prepared, you can snag this printable here for free. (Note - I've also included a non-snow version for all of you warm-climated teachers!)

So friends, what are your favorite at-home practice websites? I'd love to hear your ideas. Until then, here's to hoping we return to school shortly...fingers, arms, legs, and toes crossed!

Over Winter Break, I took time to reflect on what was working in my classroom and what still needed tweaking. Slowly throughout January, I've been taking little steps to fill the 'holes'. I'll definitely be sharing more about these holes in the coming weeks, and today I wanted to share about one change in our classroom - from morning work to morning tubs.

Why Morning Tubs?

I love this group of 1st graders but they are very different than my first group. Being the first time, I've been in a grade twice, it's been fun to see the 'personality' of this group. My friends love building, drawing, creating, and moving. We sometimes forget to unstack our chairs (and don't realize until our 6th grade chair stacker comes at 3:15); we really like being charge of other people's lives (i.e. we're bossy), and we struggle to share. It has been a fun year, but exhausting at times. Unlike last year, I've had to explicitly model social skills - how to say excuse me, how to ask to join a group, how to play kindly at recess, how to walk by someone without touching them, etc.

With how much practice we've needed interact with each other (especially in informal, social situations), I began reading The Power of Play. It's a really easy read revolving around the idea that play sets the foundation for our later interactions with the world. It poses play not as an 'extra' but as a necessity and that play has been substituted for other things - iPads, TVs, toys, etc. It was a convincing read, a well-crafted narrative sharing the research of play. While reading Elkind, I looked at my schedule and asked - "Where can I incorporate more play into our already busy day?" Turning morning work into morning tubs, uur first 6/8/10 minutes of the day was the answer.

What Are the Procedures?

Our Reading Block starts at 8:40 AM and I respect (and NEED) the full time. Depending on how long our school-wide Morning Meeting lasts, we have 8-10 minutes of morning-tub time. Each Friday afternoon, I switch-out materials and place a tub on each table for Monday morning. After Monday, the tubs are stored in an extra cubby and someone from each table is responsible for grabbing a tub they have not yet used. (If groups fight over tubs, they cannot participate in morning tubs that day.)

As we walk in, I set our magnetic timer for as long as we have and students work together to create, build, imagine, and laugh. Students may use the materials at their table or they may independent/partner read. Unlike indoor recess, they may not choose any activity or any group. I place students very strategically at tables. I want them to learn and play with the friends around them. (Note - my tables all have 5-6 friends, so I try to place enough materials for 3 friends in each tub to encourage cooperative play.)

When the timer goes off, I set the timer again for 2 minutes. Students know they have to work together as a team to clean up and be on the carpet by the end of the 2 minutes. If a table has not synergized, they lose the privilege of participating in morning tubs the next day. Three weeks in, this has never happened. My friends really treasure Morning Tubs.

What am I Doing During Morning Tubs?

Great question! During morning tubs, I always take Attendance on Infinite Campus and check the turn it in tray. Earlier in January when first introducing morning tubs, I spent a lot of time playing with my friends modeling kind social interactions. Now, if specifically asked or needed, I will join our morning-tub time, which I love doing. BUT 8 minutes, is just the right amount of time I need to read with a friend. My friends LOVE getting to new reading levels and it's been a wonderful structure to encourage me to read with a friend each morning.

What Have Been the Benefits?

Even in a small amount of time I have noticed a few, important shifts in out day.

My friends have started thinking outside the box with the materials. Base 10 pieces are logs and phonics dominoes are a card tower. All the ways they want to play with reading and math manipualtives during reading and math, they now have a devoted time to do so.
Student walk in the door excited to get started. Morning tubs have minimized our morning routine. Students don't want to waste any time making lunch choices, putting away their folders, or stowing their backpacks because they know their time is already limited.
After playing and talking and laughing, my friends come to the carpet and are ready to learn. Our first Daily 5 choices have been out-of-the-world lately.
We've become a *little* more flexible. While I love morning tubs (and my 1st graders do too), sometimes it isn't possible. We need to start early or there has been a change in the schedule. When that happens, we've learned to say - "Oh well!" It's a special treat when morning tubs happen, but not expected.

What's In Our Tubs?

Our morning tubs are filled with lots of manipualtives (reading and math). While students are 'playing', they are also engaging with academic tools in a non-threatening way. They have the chance to explore new words with our phonics dice, they can make silly sentences with our sentence puzzles, create words with our letter tiles, conjure difficult math problems with the base ten pieces, and create 16-sided shapes with our geoboards.

Friends, I do believe in the power of play and believe it has an important place in our classroom. I'm excited to see the opportunities and doors Morning Tubs opens in our classroom. While we are just beginning, I can't wait to see how far my 1st grade friends will come in the next weeks and months.

So, how do you fill those morning moments? Have you ever tried morning tubs or exploratory tubs before? If so, I would love to hear your experience and ideas. If not, is this something your friends need or would respond positively to? I'd love to hear your thoughts!

As a teacher, watching other teachers in action is the most valuable Professional Development I can have. I love seeing other professionals in their happy place and learn from their classrooms. Realistically, guest teachers are expensive, our schedules are too important, and sub plans take TOO long to write. So, as teachers, we turn to alternative methods to build our professional networks - blogs, Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, etc. Today I'm sharing about how and why I use Twitter in my 1st grade classroom!

While I do have a Twitter account through my blog (@MsWsClassroom), I'm pretty intentional in setting blog/classroom boundaries. To protect my 23 beautiful 1st Graders, I have a separate account for my classroom and it's one I don't share at The Brown Bag Teacher. At the beginning of the year, I have families give permission for their child's face and work to be shared in this way. Although the District photography-form technically covers me, I like to be careful and have a form I can physically touch (our district forms are turned over at the beginning of the year).

On my classroom I account, I do not participate in Twitter Chats (I do that through my blog account, so families are not inundating with tweets about #edchat.) I'm also not comfortable allowing my 1st graders to Tweet throughout the day. I know many of you 1st grader teachers are, and I am so happy for you (go you!!). Still, it's not in the cards for my classroom and that's okay!

Connecting Families

So often our students arrive home to be asked - "How was your day? What do you all do?" and so often, our they respond "Nothing." or "I don't know." While our 1st grade team does things to prevent this (Remind Texts, Weebly Websites, End of Day Reflection), Twitter offer families and real-time view of what is happening in our classroom. At 8:50 each morning, I can see students reading, work on pyramid words, and writing a story. Today was Compound Construction, I should ask my child about that. Yesterday, my child's book order should have come in; I'll have to check his/her backpack. Twitter doesn't require a password to view, so ALL my families can see what is happening in the classroom without logging-in or signing-up!

Building a Community of Teachers

Although I do love sharing live snapshots of our classroom, the top reason I tweet is to connect with other first grade classrooms. There are 14 elementary schools in my District and between schools there are only little pockets of collaboration or communication. As classrooms following the same scope and sequence, Twitter allows us to see what's actually happening from other 1st grade classrooms. What does there student work look like? What was their math mini-lesson about on Tuesday? How do they celebrate student success?

Some of my favorite emails are the ones from other 1st grade teachers in the district that say, "Hey! I saw on Twitter that you were ____________. Would you mind sharing it or telling me more about it? I think my 1st graders would really like it."

In real-time, without sub plans, I'm able to connect with teachers and I am longer teaching on my island. Friends, there is an incredible beauty and reassurance in that.

There are about 12-15 teachers who tweet in our school (our principal included) and I love sneaking-a-peek inside their classrooms. Plus, Twitter makes it SO easy to see something and then brag on a coworker. There are awesome things going on in our building and I love having the chance to see these things and praise them.

Positive PR

Quite simply, Twitter is free, positive PR - for our school and district. Education is burdened with so much negativity, and Twitter gives me to power to say -

There are awesome things happening in this classroom. We are a family. We are learning. We are proud of our hard work.

We often have visitors in our school, and it's amazing the number of times I've heard - "Oh, I follow her on Twitter. I've seen her classroom before."

The Hashtag Search

The quickly searched hashtag is one of my favorite Twitter assets. If I'm ever feeling 'stuck' in Guided Reading, Guided Math, or Daily 5 - I love turning to Twitter. Unlike Pinterest, Instagram, and Facebook, Twitter isn't product-saturated. Rather, Twitter feeds are filled with real, in-the-trenches pictures of teaching/learning. When I search for these hashtags, I'm able to see what these structures look like in other classroom, pick up ideas, ask questions, and am motivated to try new things. Some of my favorite hashtags to search include...

So friends, tell me - is Twitter in your repertoire of teaching tools? Do you use it for professional development, quick hashtag searches, and/or a way to connect families? Are there any favorite #hashtags I should be checking out? I'd love to hear your thoughts, ideas, and questions!

Sight words play such an important part in building a foundation for reading...especially with my struggling first graders. Today I wanted to share with you a quick and simple game we use to practice our must-know words during guided reading!

What Do I Need?

Know this is a VERY simple game, and it's only a game because 1st graders are awesome and believe whatever you tell them. :) I've included the templates and affiliate links for easy prep! To begin, I quickly type out our must-know words (or sight words) into a simple 3x2 table in PowerPoint. You can snag the template here. Then, I print enough sets of the words for each friend in my guided reading group. Each set is on a different color of Astrobrights Paper so they are easy to sort and collect. I paper clip each set together and they are ready to go all week! Plus, afterward, they are the perfect size to fit in card-collecting sleeve protectors!

Where Do You Get Your Words?

This year, our school is only using the basal for our phonics program and the sight-word sequence, and it's working really well! (See more about how I use Reading Street here.) If you don't have a reading program, you might use Fry Words, Dolch, or even vocabulary words from Flocabulary! This game is so simple and can be modified to work with any set of words (or even numbers and math problems).

How does it work?

When students come to my Guided Reading table (while other students are making Daily 5 choices) they find the cards in middle of my teacher table. Each students grabs a set of cards and lays them in front of them. I've taught my friends to make a 3x2 or a 2x3 arrangement, so we don't sprawl everywhere!

When I arrive at the guided reading table, we do a quick review of all the words. I say a word and my friends point to the word or cover it with their paperclip. For this, I am only giving students a few seconds before moving on to the next word.

Next, I start using the words in sentences. Students have to listen to the words and then, put the must-know word or vocabulary word in the middle. Sometimes we'll also hold the cards to our chests so wandering eyes can't see them!

When using the cards for vocabulary words, I don't actually say the word. I'll say a synonym and students have to decide which word fits. For example, if our word was adapt, my sentence would be "Animals have to change to survive in their environments."Students would be listening for the vocabulary word that should have been used in the sentence. Then, we will re-say the sentence with the vocabulary word or pull out our whiteboards and write the sentence!

Placing the Words in Context

Yes, I want my 1st grade friends to be able to identify the words (when they hear them and when they see them) BUT placing them in context is also a HUGE part of high-frequency words. Typically on Day 2 or 3, I pull out the whiteboards and we start pulling words to fit in sentences. I'll have sentences pre-written on whiteboards. Students have to read the sentence and then, identify the word that fits in the blank. It seems simple enough, but it is tough for many of my friends - especially my friends who struggle and my ELLs.

We've learned how to use the process of elimination to "try-out" the words. "Read it will be my birthday again?""Afraid it will be my birthday again.""SOON it will be my birthday again." My friends have gotten really great at asking themselves, "Does that make sense?" and I am seeing the transfer to their own reading and writing...which is AMAZING! (Bonus Points - this is a really important testing skills when students get into the upper grades and it's such an easy one for primary teachers to assume the responsibility for teaching!)

Giving Up the Power

After a 2-3 days of teacher-led questions and sentences, it's the perfect time to hand over the control. Give students the opportunity to be the teacher - asking friends to identify words, creating synonyms, writing sentences with missing words for their friends to "solve". Students love being in charge (and having teacher permission to do so) and it really requires that they own the words they are quizzing their friends on!

How Long Does it Last?

Friends - guided reading is THE most important part of my day. I use Jan Richardson's "The Next Step in Guided Reading" to structure my time, so Word Work is just one part of our time together. This game is intended to be simple and QUICK! So, we spend no more than 3 (4 max) minutes on it. It's a warm-up and fast paced...then, it's time to move on!

Other Ways to Use This Game

Numbers - Print a number or equation on the cards. As a math warm-up describe the numbers in different ways and have students identify the numbers you're describing. "I'm thinking of a number that is 6 more than 5.""I'm thinking of a number that adds with 7 to make a ten.""I'm thinking of a number that you would count when counting by 2s starting at 5."
Vocabulary - No matter the content (reading, science, social studies, math, etc.) students can get some quick in-action practice. From synonyms, antonyms, real-life examples, and definitions - there are TONS of opportunities for students to think about a word in different ways.
Pictures - For pre-readers or friends who need more support, you might have pictures (easily found on Google) that describe different concepts. You could use adjectives to describe a pictures and students have to identify it. You might also describe different settings or characters and have students identify them. Then, students can easily add their own details or use the pictures for a writing prompt in Work on Writing.

I told you friends, I super simple, fast-paced, and easy 'game' for getting students in the sight-word groove! Is this something you've used before or think your friends would like? Have you used this idea in a different way? I'd love to hear your ideas!

Teaching a PBIS school, we focus on positivity and creating structures where student choices are celebrated. We love focusing on the gains students (and staff) and I am always impressed that 90% of the time it works! Students have individual goals, group goals, and we have whole-class goals. When we reach those goals, it's definitely time to celebrate. Today I wanted to share some of our favorite whole-class rewards that won't break the bank and aren't food based!

The Great Chair Mix-Up - Give students the opportunity to choose their own seats and own spots in lines....no exceptions. From the floor to a spot next a special friend, it will be a great experiment in seeing where your friends love to be!
Class Read-In- A reward that celebrates and promotes reading is always a win-win. Have students bring in their favorite pillow, a blanket, and a favorite book to share. Camp out on the floor and enjoy lots of extra reading moments! (Read more here.)
Stinky Feet - Take off those shoes and rock learning in socks. This is a classic choice that brings out the 5-year old in any student!
Hat Day - Rock that favorite pilot's day and teach the day in style!
Class Walk - Have you ever taken a silly walk? We love making sure our tennis shoes are extra-tight and putting them to work. We walk around our school in all different kinds of styles - robots, ninjas (low to the ground), bunny (hoping), granny (tiny steps), race car (arms out straight with quick walking feet), gymnast on a tight rope. After you've modeled a few, put a student in charge and see what types of walking-style they can create!
Dance Party - Turn on KidsBop on Pandora and jam. Make a whole-class dance circle and give every friend a moment to showcase their favorite move!
Directed Draws - Art matters and there is never enough time for it! Directed draws are the perfect reward for awesome choices. From turkeys to snowmen to Dr. Seuss, we are all about showcasing our listening and art skills!
Guest Readers - From a favorite custodian to a friendly secretary, we love inviting special guests into our classroom.
Bubble Party - A set of 24 mini wedding bubbles can be purchased from hobby Lobby for $3.99 (If you don't have a Hobby Lobby you can snag them on Amazon using my affiliate link). They are the perfect size, ridiculously fun, and a great excuse to visit outside for an extra 10-15 minutes!
Science Experiments - Science just for the sake of science is THE best. From Making Music to the Great Candy Cane Experiment, the magic and joy of science is unstoppable. Plus, experiments are always the perfect chance to revisit how-to/procedural writing.
Lunch Outside - Sunshine and fresh-air can completely turn a day around and add extra zeal to later learning. Take a trip outside to your school's picnic tables or a concrete basketball court for a special lunch. (If you are going to have to do a bit of traveling consider inviting a parent to join you for lunch. An extra set of hands is always helpful.)
Show and Share - Definitely a more time-consuming choice, have students prepare 2-3 facts (to be shared in full sentences) about their show-and-share object. It's the perfect way to integrate the CCSS - Speaking and Listening Standards into your celebration.
Special Writing Supplies - Just like Birthday Supplies, special writing supplies make any learner pumped for the day. From colored pencils to scented markers, pull out your most coveted supplies and put them to work!
Extra Play Centers - Morning Tubs have become a favorite part of our day and we love working towards an extra 10-15 minutes of exploratory, play-time!
Stuffed Friends - Stuffed animals make great listeners for beginning readers and they can be the perfect friend to teach the math concept you've been practicing! Make sure that all stuff friends are small enough to fit in a backpack for easy transportation. ;)
Extra GoNoodle - Celebrate your class's accomplishment over the course of the ENTIRE day. Decide on a number of extra GoNoodle breaks and sprinkle them throughout the day. It's the perfect way to build suspense into your learning!
Lunch in the Classroom - Build relationships and lose no learning time with lunch in the classroom. Eat with the entire class or split the group into boys/girls taking two days to celebrate. This is such a fun, social time just to hang out with the amazing human beings you learn with each day.
Crazy Sock Day - Pull out the craziest socks you own and rock them outside of your pants. Putting silly back into your day is always a win-win.
Classroom Partners - Partner with a younger grade and be reading buddies with them for a few minutes. Have each student pick out 2-3 books a younger student would enjoy and visit their classroom. It's the perfect way to build reading motivating and allows your friends to feel oh-so-big.
Library Visit - Find out when the library is empty (typically when the librarian has planning) and take a special class trip. Allow students to lounge in their favorite corners of the library and enjoy some special read-aloud time from the librarian's chair *gasp*!

Ideas for Choosing Rewards

So, you've reached your class goal, now what? There are three main ways to choose the reward. (1) Students choose the reward before setting the goal. This way you all are working toward a specific goal. (2) Choose a reward yourself and work toward that reward. (3) Work toward an unknown goal.

While I am all about a class-vote, using Decide Now (a .99 app) is the perfect way to build suspense and excitement into the reward. Regardless of what is chosen, everyone is happy because no one lost. Students know it was just luck-of-the-draw and you are able to add the choices that work for you and your schedule.

So friends, what are your favorite whole-class celebrations that are inexpensive and still keep learning the focus of your day. I am ALWAYS looking for ideas for mixing up our whole-class rewards and would love to hear your ideas. :)

We love music in 1st grade. We sing in every transition, in all of our spare moments, and in our efforts to master tough skills. Music is perfect for focusing, energizing, and setting the pace within the classroom. This week we've launching our Compare and Contrast reading/writing unit, and I was so frustrated when I couldn't find any video or song to practice our learning. I ended up writing my own song and wanted to share it with you all today!

It's March and we're at that sweet spot in the year, where we can really fly with this skill. As we've been learning all about signal words, comparing similar traits/characteristics of things, and how to organize our thinking in venn diagrams. (More on all of this is to come!) Below is the song I introduced on Tuesday to summarize a lot of our learning. You can snag the printable lyrics for free here.

Right now, we are singing this little ditty 3-4 times a day. During reading and writing, and then, during a transition. If we sing it twice, it is just long enough for all of our friends to clean up their choice and make it back to the carpet.

I've included a snapshot of the song being sung in our classroom. You can use it to teach yourself or even use it as a model in the classroom. It may help my musically-challenged teaching friends! ;)

So friends, do you create your own songs for the classroom? If you do, what are your favorite tunes to pull from? Do you have your own Compare/Contrast song? If so, I'd love to learn it. :)

So, you've found the perfect Science Kids video to launch your writing unit or a just-right song to review that phonics skill, you hit play on the video and allofasudden you see Hedi Klum's body in a bikini rolling on a beach, a man taking a little blue pill to "get in the game" and YOU DIE. Your mind starts panicking and you jump in front of the projector only to realize your body is now projecting an ad for the morning-after pill. Your brain can't work fast enough, and you hang your head in shame. Rookie mistake, you tell yourself; I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN BETTER. You tell your colleagues and they start taking bets about how many parent emails you are going to receive.

Sound familiar?! Today I'm sharing with you 3 free resources for circumventing the internet-cycle-of-shame and protecting your friends from things that you don't want to talk to a 6-year old about!

Eliminate YouTube Ads Instantly

ViewPure has quickly become my go-to resource for putting YouTube videos onto a blank surface - no ads, no pop-up videos, no automatically playing videos after your video wraps-up...NOTHING! Plus, there is no copying of links involved. Rather, you drag and drop the orange little button you see below to your Internet Dashboard/Favorites/Bookmarks. Then, when you are on YouTube and need to purify a video, you just press Purify and the video opens in a new white window. Boom - 2 seconds and you're done!

YouTube Ads - Round Two

Similar to Purify, ShareShare.tv allows individuals to eliminate both the side-ads and automatically playing videos after your video. SafeShare does require users to copy-and-paste their YouTube link into their website, then a safe link generates. An added feature Purify doesn't have is that you can choose the caption/name of the video (and description) that shows up when the video is played.

Eliminating Website Ads

Ad Block is a fabulous app (it's a Chrome extension, as well as, an app for mobile devices) that automatically removes website and search ads. All you do is install and it starts working. You know it's working because a Red Stop Sign shows up with a small number. The small number tells you how many ads were blocked.

This is a great resource to install on computers where students might be doing research or anything on the Internet. When using it for National Geographic Kids, 7 ads were block. Using Discovery Kids, 3 ads were blocked. While the ads might not have been objectionable, they are still a distraction and a temptations for young learners. This is an AWESOME extension that helps keep our friends focused and it's completely free within Google Chrome.

So, friends - take the next 5 minutes and explore these resources. Save yourself the internet-cycle-of-shame and the awkward parent emails. These are 3 websites I routinely use in our classroom and the best part is that they are free and easy. Do you have any other go-to websites for blocking and eliminating and cleaning internet links? If so, I've love to hear your ideas!

Friday was one of those fun, engaging, awesome days of learning. It was play-based, rigorous, and had my operating room of 1st grader doctors begging for more. Today I wanted to share with you more about Contraction Surgery - a morning filled with hands-on contraction fun!

Setting the Stage

Like Compound Construction, part of creating a learning experience means going all-in. Primary grades are special because our littles still believe in the power of magic and they believe in us. So, if we say we are operating on contractions - they say "Let's Scrub Up!" For our day of operation, we had a guest teacher named "Dr. W". I borrowed scrubs from a teammate's family, a stethoscope from a local education cooperative, and snagged a grade-level set of gloves and masks. (You could definitely have the gloves and masks donated from a local doctor or dentist office but I had just requested some for another activity. I've included Amazon affiliate links to the materials I purchased.)

Typically, I would start a hands-on experience at the beginning of the day and have everything all set up, but Friday was an alliterative schedule day. So, we started our morning with a normal Daily 5 block and then, during planning, I set-up. Since I already had all of the patient records and patients ready to go, the set-up took me a total of 20 minutes!

Each operating room was covered in white bulletin board paper (or white table cloth), a surgical mask (Amazon affiliate link), surgical gloves (Amazon affiliate link), glue sticks, knives (scissors), patient records, patients, and a tray of apostrophes (bandaids).

What Our Morning Looked Like

Students walked in from specials and gathered on the Operating Floor. We learned that there had been a terrible Word Accident. They were commissioned by a doctor to repair the broken contractions! I love using ChatterPix to 'hook' students into a lesson because it helps build excitement and creates an outside purpose for the activity.

After hearing their task, we did a quick contractions review and Moby and Annie. The 4 minute Brain Pop Jr. was the perfect way to review and practice how to form contractions. During the video, we stopped and added possible patients to our class anchor chart.

Then, it was time to save lives! My doctors were ready and speedily got to work. Gloves and masks were put on, and it was time to repair those broken contractions. Although many doctors worked by themselves, several doctors decided to work in operating teams. Each person at the table had 7-8 different patients: it worked really well and my 1st grade doctors were exposed to MANY different contractions!

The trickiest part of the surgeries was learning how to operate on 'not' contraction, realizing that only the 'o' needed to be removed from the contraction and figuring out how to do that with gloves on - ha! #firstgradeproblems

Throughout the surgeries we realized we need to work quickly and efficiently. We heard our patient's heartbeats in the background and it was STRESSFUL! So many times, I heard "Work faster doctors! The heart beat is slowing now. We're losing them!" come from my 1st graders mouths. They were eating from the palm of my hand!

Being Real - How Much Did it Cost?

The surgery was a blast and a perfect way to channel our "it's-about-to-be-Spring-Break" excitement into learning! It took a full 90 minutes, but my 1st grade doctors could have easily worked another 30-40 minutes. They were completely into it!

In terms of cost, the materials were split between the 2 first grade classrooms. If we had asked for the gloves and masks to be donated, it would have been an almost free venture...but we had just asked for the same supplies for a previous staff meeting (and I was too chicken). So here is what the supplies and cost break-down looked like:

Have you done surgery in the classroom before? If you have, what were you learning and how did it go? If not, are you ready to step outside of your traditional reading block for a day? Contraction Surgery is a perfect way to engage and excite your learners with hands-on learning! It's fun, simple, and makes a HUGE impression.

Out of all the math content taught in 1st grade, data and graphing is some of the most hands-on and fun. While I love place value and making 10 to add (and they play SUCH a huge role in later grades), towards the end of the year it's nice to mix in 'lighter' content. Today I've shared my go-to ideas and centers for mastering data collection and graphing!

Data is Real Life

One of the great things about data and graphs is that it is completely real-life. Students interact with data ALL the time, without even knowing it. This 'real-life' aspect makes it the perfect 'hook' for reaching learners. To launch our unit, we take out all of our Reading A-Z books (from our book bins and our at-home reading bags) and we search for charts. We end up making a classroom collection of data and graphs! It's the perfect tangible way to say "Data matters. It's real. You see it every day."

Pulling Out the Post-Its

Mini-lessons at my teacher table during our graphing unit open-up with whole-group mini-lessons. Typically, we do a related number talk, but during these two weeks I add on a mini-lesson. Over the course of the week, we pulled-out our post-it notes to survey our friends. From our favorite ways to play, to favorite foods, to which pet our class should-have-but-will-never-get. Each day we opened by creating our graph from the ground up. We learned to include a title, labels, axis, numbering each bar, not leaving gaps, etc. Plus, since post-its move so easily, it's no big deal to make mistakes and change our thinking!

Integrating Geometry

Graphing is an easy unit to incorporate other strands of the math standards. We use a huge bag of 2D shapes to play "Scoop and Graph". Students worked in partners at my teacher table to take a scoop of shapes and create a pictograph of the results. This was a GREAT chance to talk about how appearances can be deceiving. While the row of hexagons looked HUGE there were actually more diamonds. A spot-on way to learn (without me having to explicitly say it) that when graphing the units being used must be the same size.

Bumping-Up the Challenge

Pulling out our foam dominoes (Amazon affiliate link) it's the perfect time to review sums and practice our addition fluency. Creating an axis with sums from 0-12, students sort and 'graph' the dominoes based on their sums. It's a great seg-way into bar graphs because our foam dominoes are all the same width. You can snag a free recording sheet and visual directions to make this a perfect center during guided math!

Making Data Social

Collecting and organizing data is the perfect time to get your social learners up-and-moving. We LOVE working in pairs to create survey questions and learn more about our classmates. Initially we do surveys as a whole-group activity, later on it works perfectly as a center! Using a clipboard, survey recording sheet, and a partner, students create their own questions, collect responses, and analyze the results! (Snag a free survey recording log here. For a variety of options, click here.)

Analyzing Our Data

Collecting and representing data is an important part of the 1st Grade Common Core Standard; however, an equally important part of the standard is analyzing and discussing what students know and can learn from the data. It's a great tie-in to earlier units because students are expected to apply math vocabulary in a real-world setting to demonstrate their knowledge. Vocabulary and concepts such as least, greater, compare, in all, etc. all become critically important. For my friends who often struggle with language and communicating their ideas, sentence frames and sentence stems have become our best friends in this unit. Some of our go-to sentence frames include:

_______ has the greatest number of _______.
_______ has _______ more _______ than _______.
_______ had the least number of _______ with _______.
_______ has _______ fewer _______ than _______.
There would need to be _______ for there to be a new winner.
There are _______ more _______ than _______.
There are _______ (number) _______ altogether.

Not every frame works every time but it gives our friends a place to start and some common vocabulary to use throughout the unit. When at our guided math table, we will ask questions and make observations about the data. To mix it up, we'll also pull questions from our data jar and respond to them. When we introduce data into centers, friends create the graph and then are expected to pull and answer 2 questions in their math journals.

So friends, what are your go-to mini-lessons and ideas for data and graphing? It is such a fun unit and I would love to hear your ideas!

From cuisenaire rods to base-ten pieces, manipulatives are a CRITICAL part of our primary classrooms. They offer students a real, hands-on way to explore a mathematical concept and build their own meaning. The CRA model of mathematics has us moving students from the concrete to the representational to the abstract when introducing and teaching new material. When students are struggling at the representational/abstract level, we always move back and build concrete experiences with mathematics. Students need hands-on ways to interact with math.

Why Use Online Manipulatives?

Online manipulatives are internet-based math tools that allow for whole-class modeling (led by students or teachers) moving students from the concrete to the representational mode of thinking. These math tools are often free resources sponsored by textbook companies and other organizations to generate alternative ways to represent math content. There are SO many ways to use online math manipulatives.

Online manipulatives allow students to show their thinking in a whole-group mini-lesson before guided math small groups begin (a great scaffold for students who struggle but still want to share their math thinking)
While doing a number talk, online manipulatives give a way for students to 'try-out' others' thinking or for teachers to model student thinking in a real way
Partner task cards with a carefully chosen online manipulative displayed on a SMART Board or laptop, and it makes a perfect math center
Math manipulatives can be SO expensive! Online manipulatives give students and classrooms access to a variety of math tools without having to invest in them, perfect for at-home learning and practice.

Today, I am going to start by sharing websites with the greatest number of resources and then, highlight a few specific learning tools within websites.

Think Central

Think Central, a free resource from Hardcourt, offers K-12 teachers resources to accompany their math textbook. Our school does not use a prescribed curriculum, but still we love having access to these free resources. From basic math concepts to middle-grade geometry and algebra, Think Central is thorough (remember - it's intended to supplement a textbook so it has a HUGE catalog of resources).

I really like these manipulatives and workspaces because within each resource there are lots of bells and whistles. The different options offered within each section closely match specific skill and strategies introduced in the classroom. These manipulatives are perfect for mini-lessons!

Although we try to do most of our number talks mentally, I do love pulling out the number balance for 1st grade algebra. This can be such an abstract concept for my 1st graders and being able to easily manipulate a scale (without having to make sure it is initially balanced) helps simplify balancing equations!

Math Learning Center

The Math Learning Center offers web and app-based manipulatives - with the best resources for building number sense. The Math Learning Center provides easy to use number-sense building manipulatives - abaci, ten frames, hundreds charts, etc.

Personally, this is the most visually appealing of the online manipulatives The colors are bold, allowing students to visually differentiate between different numbers and concepts. Plus, the bottom dashboard makes flipping, copying, and writing on the screen simple.

Glencoe Manipulative Library

Glencoe has an awesome collection of grade-specific thinking mats named "backgrounds" that you can interchange with a huge bank of manipulatives. From Part, Part, Whole mats to fraction unit tiles, Glencoe has ALL the materials needed to demonstrate Common Core math strategies and concepts. There aren't as many bells and whistles (pens, markers, flexibility) but in terms of content, it's thorough.

Interactive 100s Chart

For the first few weeks of school our 1st grade focus is recognizing number patterns on the 100s chart, as well as, 'before' and 'after'. My go-to 100's chart is SPLAT online! We turn this online resource into a game, playing as a class on our SMART Board. Using different paint colors, students can visualize patterns on the chart. Another variation on the game is having students take turns making number puzzles, "I'm think of a number that is one more than 15." Everyone would circle it on their 100s chart (at their desk using a dry erase marker) and then, one special friend would SPLAT a number on the board.

A Number Line (Open and Closed)

A number line is such a valuable tool especially as I am weaning my 1st grade friends off of their fingers for counting. It offers familiarity and comfort but allows students to work with larger numbers. EduPlace's Number Line is one of my go-to resources because of its flexibility. (1) The number line continues to any number by clicking the black arrows...even negative numbers (2) Hops can be made in any increments which makes it great for introducing open number lines. As students become more comfortable with the number line, they can take larger hops (2, 5, 10, etc). This is a perfect number line to explore number relationships and compose/decompose numbers!

Online manipulatives offer a perfect transition from concrete to representational math thinking. They can provide an important scaffold in math thinking and offer students a way to show their thinking when words or numbers aren't just-right. I've shared some of my favorite online manipulatives and would love your perspective. What are your go-to ways to use online math manipulatives? What are your favorite websites or resources? I'm always looking for other resources and would love to hear what works in your classroom!

Do you ever feel like there is never enough time in a school day? That you are always behind schedule? <all teachers everywhere raise their hands> Sure choosing to extend an activity or bask in the moment is one thing, but consistently being behind is SO frustrating. As a class, we learn about, engage in, and begin DOZENS of activities every.single.school.day. So making every moment matter is critical! Today I wanted to share with you some of my favorite tools and strategies for keep our classroom moving and our day rolling ahead.

5 awesome ideas for managing time in the classroom! I especially love the iPhone alarm idea.

The Art of the Timer

Time management is one of my struggles in the classroom. I mean, I could teach Guided Readings for 5 hours a day...not even kidding. Since coming to first grade and having ALL day with one group of friends, a timer has quickly become one of my best management tools. So why do I use a timer??

It keeps me on track and ensures that I know the big-picture game plan for the day.
Students learn to budget their time and know when to expect a transition. Being able to expect a transition is huge for students who tend to struggle during these transitions!
Timers can be motivating for students, as they know a task or activity has a tangible end. Plus, it helps build an attitude of "I can do this!"
Tracking time is perfect tool and visual for tracking stamina...which we do a lot of in 1st grade!

With that said, not all timers are created equal. Below you'll find my favorite time-management tools, as well as, when and why I use them at different parts of the day.

Stopwatch Timer

Online stopwatch is a free timer that counts down and also can act as a stopwatch counting up. With a large screen and easy-to-press numbers, this is my go-to classroom timer especially when we are building reading stamina since it can be seen easily from across the room. It's simple to use, no bells and whistles, and my 1st graders can easily navigate it. Using this timer makes a coveted classroom job!

PowerPoint Timers

Did you know you can set timers on a PowerPoint presentation? If your math or reading rotation charts are hosted on a PowerPoint, you can set the Slide Transition time for any amount of time - 10, 12, 15, 20 minutes. Once you press, Slideshow --> "Play from Start" the time starts and the new slide will automatically appear after the allotted time. This is a great and silent way to tell yourself and students it is time to transition to the next center, choice, or activity. (If you would like the below chart, snag it free here.)

Phone Timers/Alarms

The iPhone Timer is one of the best tricks of the teaching trade. It is PERFECT for reminding you of those things that always get lost in the hustle of the day - i.e. Alice going to the office for her medicine, taking attendance and sending-in lunch count, sending Jake for Wednesday speech. My iPhone is littered with dozens of reminders and alarms. Plus, you can assign different sounds to each alarm so students know when 'their' alarm is sounding and can take action! Once students are trained, it places the responsibility on your students, which helps build independence. #winwin

Magnetic Timer

For times when you need your SMART Board or screen for something but still want a timer, I love this magnetic timer from Scholastic Reading Club that I snagged for FREE with bonus points. It makes a faint ticking sound as it counts down which it a perfect auditory reminder for students that time is limited, and when the time is up, there is a cute little jingle.

I use this timer for impromptu timings, timers for a specific group of students (since it is not evasive and pretty quiet), or when the time needs to move to a certain area of the room. Most of our classroom future is metal, so it is easy to move the timer to our classroom library, our pocket chart center, or Work on Writing.

Sandtimer

Lastly, a sand timer (Amazon affiliate link) is a simple intervention and support for individual students who struggle managing their own time or are working toward a specific goal or end. It's an ideal tool because it is inexpensive, hard to break, small, and silent. No one else in the room needs to know a friend is using a timer!

My "barometer students" (students who help you determine the "weather" of a room and are often the students who break stamina first) keep a sand timer in their book bins. It helps remind them of the just-right times to change books or positions when reading. Additionally, I have several friends who keep a 2 or 3 minute minute timer next to them during Work on Writing to alternate writing and drawing. This is a strategy I use with friends who seem to do a lot of illustrating and just a *little* writing. ;)

Hold On One Second.... <pun intended>

Now are timers always appropriate? Absolutely not! Sometimes we use a timer but decide the learning moment is just too great to pay attention to it. Plus, if a timer is adding stress to the classroom or causing panic, we ditch it! BUT so many times, it is the gentle prod I (as a teacher) need to keep things moving and grooving, and it helps focus many of my learners. Plus, anytime my 1st graders can take responsibility for their own learning and pace themselves, I will also consider that a win!

Do you use timers to help manage time and keep you on track in the classroom? What other tools and resources do you use? I'd love to hear how you keep things rolling in your classroom!

Scholastic found that in 2014, the average teacher spent $750 a year on his or her classroom during the previous school year. I read this number and laughed. While I am blessed with a pocket of classroom money (from our PTO) my classroom investment is definitely more than $750 a year. In the past few years, I have been blessed to turn to Donors Choose to help fund some larger classroom wants and needs.

Tired of spending hundreds of dollars each year on your classroom? Check out ways to use Donors Choose to fund the materials your students need to learn!

What is Donors Choose?

Donors Choose is a crowd-funding hub that allows public-schools to request classroom materials, and for people across the world to fulfill those requests. Donors Choose helps connect the public to schools and helps lessen teacher spending by providing materials that students need to learn- making connections, and helping to fill the gap in unfunded school programs.

Donors Choose in My Classroom

I began using Donors Choose my first year of teaching. I was entering a 5th grade ELA classroom that had ZERO books published before 1990 and my 5th graders never went to the school library! Posting a project through Donors Choose, we had over 40 graphic novels donated to our classroom. Throughout the next three years, we've been blessed with two classroom iPads, materials for learning about money (magnetic money, fake money, books about money), two iPod touches for Listening to Reading, a class set of Scholastic News and Science Spin magazines, 3 Hokki stools, and an awesome set of math board games. In three years, my classroom has been blessed with over $2,000 in learning materials.

How Does it Work?

Before creating a Donors Choose account, make sure to check with your Principal about getting started. Some districts only allow certain items to be requested, while other districts don't allow it at all. My district requires pre-approval before projects are posted on the site.

Once you create an account, you'll be connected with your school (even if you're the first person at your school to use Donors Choose). You'll definitely want to add a profile picture as this helps personalize your classroom for a potential donor. Once your account is verified, you'll have 3 credits to post projects. Credits are earned by having projects funded, meeting thank-you deadlines, and posting photos of your completed project. After you click, "Create a Project!" the website will walk you through the process. (This is when I always have multiple tabs open to look for similar projects!)

Different types of projects require different numbers of credits. Taking a school field trip requires 6 credits; while choosing a $400 or less from one of the Donors Choose vendors only requires 1-2 credits. For your first project, you'll want to choose a smaller project. Projects under $400 are more likely to be funded. Even as someone who has had lots of projects funded, I still try to keep my projects small or break my larger projects into smaller chunks. Donors Choose has this great guide for commonly requested materials and where to request them from.

May I Ask for Anything?

Short answer - yes! Longer answer - it depends on the number of account credits you have. Currently Donors Choose works with ___ vendors. These are the easiest projects to make and require less time to approve. Once you have ___ credits, you can begin requesting materials from outside vendors, bring in guest speakers to your school, and take field trips!

Before posting a project, you’ll always want to check the match page here. This page highlights companies that are offering special match codes and opportunities for 50% funding. If you write a project that follows the directions of these special matches, your project will automatically be 50% funded!! This is how I had my set of money math books and graphic novels funded!

I'm Not Sure What To Ask For...

If you are unsure what to ask for, take a look around the site and read already posted projects. While your shouldn’t copy projects or descriptions verbatim, it’s a great place to get a feel for projects! You also might consider “extras” that are no longer funded by schools - art supplies, flexible seating options, book bags, science materials, etc. The more specific your description and your reason for needing the materials, the more likely a donor is to choose your project! Below are some ideas -

Materials to get your Listening Center running smoothly
Pocket charts and math manipulatives to get Guided Math going
Hokki or Wobble stools for some flexible seating options (Amazon affliate links)
Watercolors and Paper to integrate more art into your day
Sturdy Book Bins for Daily 5
Materials to mix-up your Work on Writing area - paper trays, highlighters, snazzy pencils, writing prompts, magnetic hooks, writing folders

Tips for Setting Up My Project

Be specific. When writing your description and explanation, be specific and make it real. Personalizing your classroom and your students is critical. You want donors to feel connected and feel moved to give.

Be realistic. While Donors Choose is an AMAZING resource, we don’t want to be greedy or unrealistic. Posting a $10,000 project might not be the best use of your time. Plus, do you need all the supplies right now? What do you need for ___________

Plan Ahead. Although most funded projects are funded within ___ weeks, you’ll want to work 2ish months ahead of time. It takes time for your project to be approved, for you to promote it, for it to be funded, and for the supplies to arrive.

$1 matters. The more individual donors, the higher your project will rank. So, even if your friends/families/random strangers donate $1, it helps your project!

My Project is Live...Now What?

Promote your project on Twitter and social media. Spread the word!

Make sure to use #donorschoose and #bestschoolday hashtags when you share.
Look at Match Funding BEFORE you decide on a project. It's an easy way to get 50% of your project funded!
If comfortable, share on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and other social media sites. If you're really brave (I'm not) and have permission from your Principal share your project with your families.
Donors Choose gift cards make awesome Teacher Appreciation Gifts. If your PTO does anything for teachers around this time of year, possibly suggest a Donors Choose gift card as a gift!
Become a member of the many Donors Choose communities. Through these communities you’ll learn about special match codes, funding opportunities, and have the opportunity to learn from other Donors Choose pros. My favorite online community is Caring Classrooms on Facebook. This group (run by Laura and Francie) offer weekly funding opportunities, tips on maximizing your project request, and leaves you with a warm-fuzzy teacher feeling.

My Project Has Been Funded!

Woohoo - now it's time to celebrate and share the great news. You'll need to confirm that you still need the materials and Donors Choose will send a fax to your school, sharing that your project has been funded! Typically the materials arrive within a few days/weeks. After the materials arrive, your classroom will have the opportunity to say “Thank you!” You’ll be asked to post 5-6 photos of the donations in action, as well as, make thank-you cards for the donors. Although thank-you cards aren’t required in every case, I would always encourage you to write them. Even if you don’t have an address to mail them to, you can send them to the Donors Choose offices in New York. Practicing appreciation is such an important life skill and it’s the perfect time to model this for students!

Before you post any pictures of your students using the donated resources or experience, make sure you have families fill out a permission form. While your district form *might* cover you, I like to be careful so I send home the form Donors Choose provides for families to complete.

What If My Project Isn’t Funded?

Sad day, friend. I know it's hard when your project isn't funded but it happens. I've had several projects that haven't been funded and it is okay. What does an unfunded project mean?

You expected magic. You posted your project and then, didn't touch it again. You didn't share it with friends/families/social media.
The project description needed tweaking. Copy matters and sometimes we need an outsider's perspective. Did you use too much education jargon? Does your project make sense to someone outside of the classroom? Is your project actually a need or just a want?
The rules weren't followed. Teachers love giving directions but sometimes we're not so great at following them. Donors Choose has a great blog and Q&A with many tips, tricks, and suggestions.

If your project isn't funded take some time to reflect on why it didn't work. Once you've made the necessary tweaks and edits, you can always repost your project. Any points spent on the project are returned to you. Any money that was donated to your project is given back to the donor with the option of putting it toward another project.

So friends, do you use Donors Choose in your classroom? If so, what projects have you had funded? Any tips or idea for quick funding? I'd love to hear your ideas and create a great list of tips for other teachers!

Teaching 1st grade, I feel like I am always looking for simple centers that are easy to differentiate. Using a Guided Math model for instruction, we use A LOT of centers every school year. I love pulling board games during math centers because the materials are always really durable and my students immediately consider them fun! We've started using Connect Four during math centers so I wanted to share the details, visual directions, and affiliate links for easy set-up!

Using math centers during Guided Math each day, I feel like I am always looking for simple centers that are easy to differentiate. This idea for using Connect 4 to add to 10, 15, and 20 is so smart and EASY to do! Plus, she has the FREE visual directions ready to go.

Getting the Best Deal!

Walmart had Connect 4 on sale for $4.50 when I purchased my game, so it was a great deal. I've also heard that Dollar General and Dollar Tree occasionally carry a smaller version of the game. You might check your local Goodwill or Thrift Store. If all of these fail, you can also purchase it on Amazon...although it is a little pricier.

Preparing Your Game

In each board game, there are 22 yellow pieces and 22 red pieces. Since my students are working on finding a specific sum (10, 15, or 20) I decided to number the counters. I wrote 1s on 6 pieces, 2s on 4 pieces, 3s on 4 pieces, 4s on 4 pieces, and 5s on 4 pieces. Then, I wrote the same numbers on both colors (red and yellow) so it would be fair for both players.

If you are planning on using the chips for more than one subject or at more than one point in the year, you’ll want to purchase yard sale stickers to add to the counters. Then, the stickers can be written on and removed later.

I also attached these visual directions to the front of the box. You can grab them here for free.

How Does it Work?

When we play, I ask students to put the counters in a brown bag, so there is an element of luck and strategy involved. If students were able to look at the pieces as they chose, the game would be over quickly. When they pull them from the bag, they have to decide when and where to use the chip. As students are placing chips, they can add the subitizing dots or they can keep a running total on a white board.

Differentiating for Every Learner

Working our way toward the Common Core fluency standards, each of my groups is working on a different sum. By the spring (when I first introduce this game) my green group (approaching grade level) works to make 10, my yellow group (grade level) works to make 15, and my blue group (above grade level) works to make 20. When they think they have their desired sum, students must 'prove' their work to a partner. The partner is responsible for checking the work. The next game, the winner goes second.

Other Uses for Connect 4

While we are using Connect 4 for sums of 10, 15, and 20, there are SO many other ways and ideas for using it. Additionally, it's an awesome resource for both math and reading centers!

creating CVC or CVCe words
making a whole out of fractions
using decimals to add to a whole/one
connecting shapes with similar characteristics (number of sides, type of angles, etc.)
add task cards to the board game box, students can’t pull a counter until they correctly answer the question on the card (This is the most versatile way as you don't have to write on the counters and you just need to add a set of task cards that works for your students!)

What are your favorite math boards games in the classroom? Have you ever used Connect 4 for learning? If so, how did you use it? I'd love to hear your ideas!

When math mini-lessons turn into mega-lessons and your small-groups seem dull, photograph-based stories are the perfect way to 'hook' learners and connect your learning to the real-world! Today I'm sharing some of my favorite strategies for engaging students during our mini-lesson and small-group times.

Why Use Photographs?
Growing up in the digital age, our students are inundated with thousands of images, graphics, and photographs every day. It also means that we, as teachers, have access to so many real-world connections to learning. Math is being represented all around us and our students! So, why not use photographs in math class?

Photographs are real-world and have real meaning. They give students an easy way to make a math-to-self or math-to-real-world connection. When our learning has meaning, it makes all the difference!
They offer a great link and connection to word problems. As we embed more photos and stories into our math teaching, our students become flexible problem solvers who are willing to try a variety of strategies. Great problem solvers are willing to be wrong!
Students who struggle with math (and reading) often have problems "seeing" their learning. Photographs provide students a perfect visual for learning and is a great scaffold for students, especially ELLs and SPED friends.
Routinely using photographs in the math classroom encourages students to 'see' math all around them! As students become more comfortable with this idea, they'll start suggesting and sharing their own photograph ideas.
Using photographs in the math classroom requires me, as a teacher, to be creative in my thinking and teaching. From finding the just-right photos or taking my own, it keeps me on my toes. Plus, crafting stories and situations that connect to our learning, allows me to explore my imagination and the content I'm teaching!

Providing Concrete Learning Experiences

When we use photographs, we are trying to make math more concrete to students. As I craft situations and stories, I also offer many different manipulatives and math tools for students to explore and explain their thinking. From unifix cubes to base ten pieces to counters, students need concrete materials to make sense of the math and show flexibility in their thinking!

John, David, and Cameron were playing on the basketball court. It was a really hot day and the sun was high in the sky. As they were playing, the boys noticed that they all made different kinds of shadows. They were trying to see who could make the tallest shadow. After trying for a while, all three boys decided they were as tall as they could get, but now they needed to know how tall they were. How could they decide? If David is the tallest, how much taller is he than John who is the shortest? What about Cameron who is in between the other two boys?

The Art of the Untold Story

Our little learners LOVE stories. We spend so much of our reading and we want students to fall in love with it. Channeling their love for storytelling makes the perfect hook for awesome math situations. When I spin a tale using a photograph, I will use a traditional plot line (beginning, middle, and end) BUT I will leave out one of the parts. Then, students use manipulatives to figure out the missing part.

Below is an example of a story that includes a beginning and middle, but it is missing an end. Students work in partners to determine the missing ending! This is one of my favorite stories for determining the meaning of the equal sign and it sounds a little like this...

Friends, Last night I was at the park and I saw a father and a son playing together. [show photo of father and son] They were having SUCH a great time. They were laughing and playing on the slides. Then, the son got bored and walked over to the see-saw. Well, I watched the son get on the see-saw. Then, the Dad got on a see-saw and something VERY funny happened.

Right now, I want you and your partner to talk about what do you think happened when the Dad got on the see-saw. [students talk and share] Okay, so you all think that when the boy got on the see-saw when down [put weight on 4] and then, when the Dad got on the boy when up [put weight on 10 on other side of the balance].

Wow! You all are right but that looks so unsafe. It makes me nervous - eeek!! Right now, I would like you and your partner to explore and see how you can add one weight to the balance so the boy and his father are even/flat. [students work in pairs with their mini-balances, exploring correct and incorrect answers]

Okay friends, who can tell me where they put their weight that did NOT make the see-saw balanced? [collect answers on whiteboard or easel under "False" heading] Okay, so these were combinations that were not the same as 10. Now, who found a way that was the same as 10? [record answer in true column]

At this point, you've 'hooked' your students and they are ready to practice! From there, you have done enough talking and it's time to get students practicing and modeling and talking.

Creating Problem-Based Situations

While creating a story with a missing part is one approach to using photos, another favorite strategy is offering a problem that needs to be solved. Using this strategy, the teacher provides students with a problem and ask them to solve it using manipulatives or mental-math strategies. Students will have a variety of strategies, so it's the perfect opportunity to get students talking and collaborating! (Note - This example is a little more abstract but is a situation perfect for exploring defining and non-defining characteristics of shapes.)

Elijah had an entire box of blocks and was working on building the tallest tower he could. He was almost finished and only had a few shapes left. Which shapes do you see that Elijah has left? [students respond] Which shapes should he use to make the tallest tower? Will he have any leftover shapes? Why? Has Elijah really built the tallest tower he could? Use the shapes we have (the same ones Elijah has). Can you build a taller tower than Elijah?

Where to I Get My Photos?

I Take My Own: Math is ALL around us and once you start looking for it, you can't miss it. I keep a folder of photos called "Math" on my iPhone. Anytime I "see" math in the real world, I take a picture and put them in the folder. Then, when I need them, I can print or display them!
Google Search: As long as you are using the photos for your classroom (and yours alone) feel free to snag photos from Google Search. There are millions of photos that cover so many different topics!
Facebook Friends: We're all on social media so often. As you are catching-up with friends and learning about their lives, you might see a photo that reminds you of math class. If you do, send your friend a quick note about using the photo in your classroom! Hi _______! I saw a picture of _______ and it reminded me a lot of _______. When I teach about _______, I would love to show my students this photo. Would that be okay with you?" #boom
Wikimedia Commons: A Wikipedia for photos, Commons is a HUGE data base of photographs that are free for personal and classroom use. It's easy to search and filter photos that you need!

Ideas for Printing Photos

Display Them: Save your ink and your card stock. Instead of printing the photos, display them using a laptop, iPad, iPhone, or Interactive Whiteboard.
Black & White on School Copiers: Using a school printer, you can print the photos in black and white. Although I love having them in the photos, this is a cost-effective way to share photos with your students.
HP Instant Ink Program: HP Instant Ink is an AMAZING program that tracks your ink usage on an HP Printer (Amazon affiliate link) and sends you new ink when you need it, automatically. You pay for monthly subscription ($10/month is my preferred plan, but there are lots of others) that gives you a ton of copies in color and black and white. When your ink gets low, the system will automatically send you new ink in the mail – it’s that simple and awesome! With HP Instant ink, I don't have to worry about the ink I use because it's always there!

Other Photograph-Math Connection Ideas

Due to copyright, I'm not able to share many of the photos I've used in class (#whompwhomp), so below are some of my favorite lesson ideas I've used with photographs, as well as, some ideas teachers brainstormed on Facebook Live! Please know below are the examples with no frills. It's up to your creative teacher mind to add all the details that make the story come to life (kid names, team names, weather, days of the week, dialogue, movements, etc.)

Watch it LIVE!

I've shared more about this idea and modeled an example lesson in this Facebook Live video! You can watch below or at my Facebook page.

So friends, do you use photographs in your classroom? If not, can you think of any ideas for math lessons that could use a photograph hook? I'm always looking for new mini-lesson ideas and would LOVE to hear your ideas.

Guided Math is a structure for organizing your math block that involves mini-lessons, targeted small-group instruction, and opportunities for spiral review through math workshop. Like guided reading, guided math offers us, as teachers, the opportunity to intentionally group students based on skill and to carefully target specific skills. So often I'm asked - "What materials do I need to request to get started?" So today, I'm sharing some of our team's go-to math materials!

How Do I Get Started?

Since using Guided Math, our 1st grade teams feels like we know our students as mathematicians like we know them as readers. We love the confidence students have in talking about their math thinking and the freedom we have to push, to question, and to fill 'gaps' in understanding. If you're interested in reading more about how I make guided math work in my 1st grade classroom, I've linked the posts below for your convenience!

What is Guided Math?

Launching Math Centers in August

Differentiating Your Classroom with Ease

Using Dice to Differentiate Math Centers

Number Talks in the Classroom

With that said, like guided reading, it took us 3-4 months before we hit our Guided Math stride. From figuring out how to switch-out math centers to how to group students to what resources we needed, it takes time to make Guided Math work for you and your classroom. Today I wanted to share the resources and materials that we use every.single.week in my classroom - whether students are at my teacher table or reviewing at a math center. Full disclosure, throughout the post, you'll find Amazon Affiliate links, which means Amazon tosses a few nickels my way if you purchase something through that link, at no extra cost to you, that help keep my corner of cyber-space running and helps fund giveaways like this one!

Dice for Differentiating

The single most valuable item in our math block is my set of dice. From twenty-sided dice to place value dice to four-sided dice, this pound-of-dice offers us a TON of different options to reach all of our learners. Plus, snagging a bead organizer keeps the dice easy to grab-and-teach all of my groups: green, yellow, and blue. (Read how I use dice to differentiate math centers in this post.)

Basic Manipulatives

The whole premise behind Guided Math is that students are working in small-groups on specific skills they struggle with. When students are working, they are interacting with hands-on materials that allow them to make sense of the math. They aren't working on worksheets or busy work. They are using base ten pieces, unifix cubes, cuisenaire rods, double-sided counters, foam shapes, etc. So, in order to make Guided Math work, you need concrete manipulatives. Hopefully, your district has always provided these basics so you don't have to invest in them. We can't skill ahead to the semi-concrete or abstract too fast!

When we pull out these materials, I'm traditionally of the "Dump and Use" family. It makes it easy for all students at the table to have access and it allows for easy clean-up between rounds because students push the materials to the middle. Does it look like a hot mess? Yes. Does it matter? No.

Of course, before we introduce any manipulative as a learning tool, we take the time to explore and play with it. Not only does it allow students to the opportunity to find their own uses for the math tool but it allows me the opportunity to give purpose to the tool later. Read more about how we use cuisenaire rods in this blog post.

Individual Student Number Lines

Number lines are a go-to strategy for beginning mathematician. Plus, by laminating, hole-punching, and handing them, the numbers lines are easily accessible to students during math centers. Storing them this way, creates independence in my 1st graders while I am at my teacher table. They know to grab a number line if they need or want it and don't have to interrupt learning.

Magnetic Ten Frames

Magnetic Ten Frames are perfect for whole-class demonstrations or hands-on math centers. Each pack comes with 4 ten frames and 40 circles (20 green, 20 blue). Note - you can also grab a set for FREE from the Highlights magazine in the fall. (Read more about how we work our way to 10 in this blog post.)

Clear Spinners

Spinners offer a ton of options for different learners. All students can be playing the same game or on the same board but just using leveled-spinners. You can totally make spinners using brads and paperclips, or using a pencil and a paperclip BUT my first-grade friends always struggle with the homemade spinners. Since students are using spinners mostly at math centers (when I am teaching at teacher table) I love the ease of these clear spinners. (Snag the leveled spinners for FREE here.)

Dry Erase Pockets

The perfect way to save paper, dry erase pockets are perfect for reviewing or practicing skills. They are also great for creating paperless math centers. Slip in one recording sheet and students can write straight on the pocket. Below you see my friends making 10 to add. When they finish, students can take a picture of their work for you to look at later, or they can share it during the next mini-lesson in between Guided Math rotations. Sheet protectors also work as a less sturdy option!

Colored Card Stock for Leveling Centers

Each of my math groups is assigned a color - green, yellow, blue to help differentiate our centers and work. During math centers, students are all working on the same standard or skill but all with different scaffolds. Students know to grab the folder, paper, playing cards, or dice that match their group's color. Using colored cardstock keeps life simple and easy to manage! (Read more about how I use to color to differentiate our centers here.)

120s Pocket Chart

From the first day to the last day, our 120s Pocket Chart is always out and it gets a work-out. From ordering numbers to noticing patterns to finding 10 less/more, this pocket chart is gold. Unfortunately, most pocket charts only go to 100 but the Common Core asks students to work within 120. We all know 99-120 are some of the hardest numbers for students to conceptualize, so having an actual 120s chart is important to me. Plus, it becomes a PERFECT math center all year round!

120s Dry Erase Boards

Like the pocket chart, our 120s boards are perfect for individual practice in adding, subtracting, finding 10 more/less, identifying number patterns, and practicing those tricky 99-120 numbers. Plus, they are double-sided (one side with numbers and one with just a 120s grid) which makes differentiation simple! See more ways we work to master 120 in this blog post.

Sterilite Clip Top Bins

Oh how I love a good container and these are definitely the BEST math center tubs. They are sturdy, easily picked-up by little hands, easy to open/close (but do not not fall), and they fit an entire sheet of paper or folder inside of them. No more folder/curved papers for us - holla! These bins can be found at Dollar General, Target (only with green clips now), Home Depot, and Amazon. If you order them online from Home Depot and Amazon, you can order them in sets of 6 which is less expensive than ordering them individually...but note - they are definitely an investment.

Whoa! How Do I Afford These Things?

Do you need all of these resources to start Guided Math?? Absolutely not but having at least some of them does make life a lot easier. I slowly collected these goodies over the last two years shopping sales, using gift cards from students, through the classroom money our PTO provides (which is amazing), and through Donors Choose!

These must-have math materials help guided math run smoothly and offer great options for differentiating math centers!

Scholastic Reading Club - Using bonus points you can snag all kinds of resources from the Teacher Bonus Catalog. I've received magnetic timers, dice, book bags, whiteboards, and ten frames all for FREE! Read more about how I make the most of Scholastic Reading Club here.
Highlights Magazines - Every Fall Highlights asks teachers to send home order forms. Even if your students don't order, you collect the forms back and earn points for teaching supplies! Last year, I picked up the magnetic ten frames for FREE for a teammate. #score
Donors Choose - Over the last 2 years, I've been blessed to received over $2,000 is FREE resources for my classroom. From math board games to iPads to iPods to guided reading books, Donors Choose is an awesome resource for public-school teachers. I've shared my tips for getting started on Donors Choose here.
Save Gift Cards - Throughout the year, I will receive gift cards from my students and our PTO. It's always a treat and never expected. If I receive gift cards for Amazon, Target, or Staples, I always save them and put them toward classroom supplies. These gifts help my personal budget stay on track! (Note - I know how blessed I am to work in the school whose population has the disposable income to do this and I am so thankful! This may not be an option for most classrooms but it is just one idea.)

We all know Back to School can be such an expensive time! So, I am sending ALL of this math goodness to a classroom around the United States as a THANK YOU. I have been so blessed by your friendships and have learned so much from my readers! Enter for your chance to win some of my favorite resources below.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
So tell me, what are your go-to resources when teaching math? Are there materials you and your students find yourself grabbing every.single.week? I am ALWAYS looking for other ways to enhance our math block and would love to hear your ideas!

Dice, subitizing cards, center tubs, number lines – oh my! Our 1^st grade math routines require so many resources and manipulatives. While Donors Choose, Go Fund Me accounts, and school funds are great options, homemade math tools can be a simple, inexpensive ways to stock our math toolboxes!

Today I’ve shared some of my favorite and most-used math tools and resources that I've made for students! While I shared some of my all time Guided Math favorites, these tools are a little more affordable. I've included blog post links and Amazon affiliate links for easy shopping and reading throughout.

Ideas for Using Math Tools

Even if you already have these math tools in your classrooms, there are so many uses and reasons to make small and more inexpensive sets.

Sending Home with Students - These homemade tools are perfect for sending home with students. Perfect for at-home practice or resources for homework, you don't have to worry about these tools making it back to school!
Math Centers - Do you ever have multiple math centers than need the same supplies? Rather than choosing a different center, these homemade supplies are a simple and inexpensive way to make sure you have the materials in all of your centers!
Family Volunteers - I teach at a school blessed with many parent volunteers and university students. I love having a Math Toolbox ready for these awesome adults. Regardless of what we are learning about, I can add one of each of these tools and the adult and student is ready to learning and practice!
Guided Math - My guided math groups are big - honestly, too big but that's a story for another day - and sometimes getting 8 of one supply is expensive! These homemade math tools are inexpensive to make, which is perfect for this teacher budget!

Bead Racks ($7.54)

Before a math training in June, bead racks weren’t part of my math toolbox. My students saw them on DreamBox, an online math program, but we didn’t have them in our classrooms so I did not teach with them! After seeing these in action and after finding these FREE e-book with math talks and activity ideas, I knew I needed to make them!

Using the box from my latest Amazon order, red and whitebeads, and some elastic string and I was ready to go! I made bead bracelet with 10 beads on them (5 red and 5 white). Then, I stretched them over the cardboard. I prefer this way, rather than punching holes in the cardboard, because it makes the bed racks easy to level. Math groups can easily add and take away groups of 10 to get a just-right number for them!

We use 5 red and 5 white because the fluency standards in Kindergarten is 5, so this becomes a benchmark. Once students have mastered 5, having different colors allows students to easily subitize 5 - doubling it, counting back, counting forward, adding other groups of numbers to it. (If you're looking for other ideas, check out this FREE 46-page Ebook from The Math Learning Center.)

Dot Cards ($3.99)

Subitizing is the ability to quickly identify groups of objects. As students are able to subitize and quickly identify dot patterns, they are learning number combinations. It’s the perfect way to introduce composing and decomposing numbers without even writing numbers. Show students dot patterns and asking what they see is a perfect number talk for beginning-of-the-year first graders. While some friends might immediately see 5, others may see 4 and 1, and some may still need to individually count the 5 dots. Regardless, it gives you – as the teacher – a glimpse into their math thinking and is a simply way to get students talking about numbers!

I quickly and cheaply made these dot pattern cards with half-sheets of cardstock and Avery circle stickers! Adding a binder rings keeps the cards easy to storage next to my SMART Board. You never know when you might have a few extra minutes for a number talk, so I like to have talks handy!

Pipe Cleaner Number Lines ($2.39)

Using pipe cleaners, left-over beads from your bead racks, and these FREE number line templates, you can create simple number lines that meet the needs of all of your learners. Different than a traditional number line, these number lines offer a bit more tactile experiences for learners who need to physically move a marker along a number line.

Punching a hole at the top and bottom of the number lines, you slide the pipe cleaner and bean through the holes and fold the ends over. I did add a piece of tape to the back to keep our littles from being poked by the ends of the pipe cleaner!

Ziploc Number Lines ($3.32)

I love the above number lines for students who need to physically manipulative a number line and love the below option for learning-on-the-go. When we have random minutes in the hallway, parent volunteers working with students in our learning nooks, or outside math with task cards – this is my go-to number line. Plus, the materials couldn't be less expensive! Anytime I need more number lines or number lines with different numbers, I grab some baggies from my kitchen and bring them to school!

Using the baggie slider as a place holder, makes these number lines portable and inexpensive to make. Plus, these baggies can carry task cards inside the baggie, perfect for learning on the go or in different places! They are so simple to differentiate and if they are torn or wet, it’s no big deal.

If you’re looking to stock your classroom with lots of math tools but are cash-strapped, these are some of my go-to math tools! Are there other math tools you’ve made for your classroom? I’m always looking for new ideas and love to hear what works in your classroom.

Our school has adopted the Next Generation Science Standards and one of my favorite units in 1st grade is our Sound Unit. NGSS asks that students conduct experiments to explain that vibrations make sounds and sound can make materials vibrate. Today I'm sharing some of my favorite ways to keep sound hands-on and writing based!

Making Sound 'Real'

Typically our sound unit takes place in the late spring, but this year our school was blessed with the opportunity to attend a Christmas Concert put on by the Kentucky Orchestra. Our 1st grade team decided it was the perfect opportunity to integrate our science, arts, and music curriculum with a two week unit!

With a real-world sounds experience under our belts, we read the book - Sounds All Around (Amazon affiliate link) - a great introduction to sounds and where they can be found. The books uses kid-friendly language to explain how vibrations make sound and how sound can travel through different materials (solids, liquids, and gases).

After reading Sounds All Around, we brainstormed a list of sounds in our worlds. From the silly to the every day, we named things that make sounds and the verbs that match the sound. (In Quarter 2, our 1st grade friends focus on verbs and adjectives). Then, students wrote in their journals about something that made a sound, circling the verbs. (Ignore my mis-spelling of trumpet...oops!)

Vibrations Make Sound

After we had been to the orchestra and made observations about sounds all around us, it was time to answer the question - how are sounds made? We read the book - How Does Sound Change (Amazon affiliate link)- and learned that sounds are made when materials vibrate back and forth very quickly. Making it to this photograph, our 1st grade friends decided to try our own rubber-band experiment.

Each of our table groups received their own rubber band and had to work together to create and feel different vibrations. It tools several of my groups SEVERAL rounds/attempts of plucking, picking, and pulling of the rubber bands before they felt their first vibration!

While my friends loved being able to feel the vibrations of the rubber band, my 1st graders struggled to hear the sound produced and really couldn't see the vibrations. So, for the first time this year, we pulled out the Slow Motion feature on my iPhone. My friend K videoed as we plucked the rubber band and the results were AMAZING!

Learning About Pitch

After learning what vibrations were and that sound is created by vibrating materials, we started our conversation about different types of sound. We brainstormed a list of things that made sound and how they sound (airplanes - loud, violin - high, babies - low and slow, etc.).

Introducing pitch, we used a metal spoon to 'play' glasses with different amounts of water. My friends took turns playing the glasses, making songs, and moving the glasses. Before introducing new sound vocabulary and writing our learning, my friends talked about their observations - which glasses sounded higher? which sounded lower? why do you think it is?

Then, we watched the BrainPop Jr. video about pitch and made the connection to our experiment! My friends were so confident in writing about their observations.

Throughout our unit and our sound experiments, we focused on six main vocabulary words -

Wrapping It All Up

Borrowing a set of handbells (Amazon affiliate link) from my church, we spent an afternoon comparing the sound of the bells and explaining how the bells make their sound (each bell had a spring and a hard ball inside, so the length of the spring affected the sound made by the bell). My 1st graders had never heard or used Handbells, so it was definitely a magical experience. Plus, it was the perfect time to put into action all of our sound vocabulary - sound waves, vibrations, pitch, echo, etc.

After playing the handbells, one of my sweet littles asked to bring in her violin to play for us and teach us how she makes music using her bow. It was such a sweet moment and a perfect opportunity for her to shine in front of her friends. PLUS, I love seeing music valued and my 1st grade friends were in awe. Music is magical, but even more magical when your friend is explaining how everything we learned is working. Our learning definitely became real with H's concert! :)

All throughout the unit, we took time to write about our learning, vocabulary, and thinking in our science journal (response pages found here). At the end of the first week, I gave my friends the main idea - "This week we have been learning about sound." asking them to share something they had learned about sound and an example of sound in the real world. I LOVED seeing these responses from 2 of my on-grade level friends. Even our littlest learners can have huge take-aways from hands-on learning!

This week we learned about sound. Sound is made by vibrating- that means back and forth. A ukulele vibrates when you strum its strings. It makes music.

This week we are learning about sound. Sound is noise that is made by vibrations. Vibrations are things that move back and forth really fast. A whistle vibrates because the little ball inside moves back and father really fast when you blow into it.

Our week was hands-on, real-world and it was a blast. Honestly, I was blown away with how much my friends learned and how they were able to explain their learning. If you're interested in using the resources that our team used, you can snag them here.

Is your school using the Next Generation Science Standards? If so, what are your favorite ways to make sound real for your friends? I'd love to hear your ideas!