Coming to You (FINALLY!) From Spring Break!

We are in the midst of our spring break, and let me tell you, it is a beautiful thing. I am loving every minute of this. We had fantastically warm weather here in Chicago on Saturday (almost 80... Whoop whoop!), but it's been colder since. Nevertheless, I've had date days with each of my kiddos, including a trip to the American Girl Store today (brings back memories of my own Kirsten and Felicity!), dinner with a friend from college and her new hubby... And just relaxing a bit.

Also, knowing that there are eight weeks left in the school year? Relaxing and frightening at the same time!

I've used this teeny tiny bit of downtime to finish a product I started long ago. Like I had to go back and change the dates at the bottom from 2013 to 2014.

Sigh.

Lo and behold, here it is:

(Click the picture above to see the listing on TPT.)

Each year, my firsties learn about matter, and let me tell you, it is my FAVORITE unit. I started college as a chem major, TAed chemistry my senior year of college, and taught 8th grade science my first year of teaching. Yes, you heard that... I {heart} science. Chemistry specifically. Not enough to make it my major (I ended up a psych major), but it holds a place near and dear to my heart.

I wanted to make the unit as teacher-friendly as possible, so I included the following:

Enduring understandings for the unit that really focus the unit on keep principles that are high-level, yet appropriate for young students.

A student-friendly reader about matter that is easy to assemble (copy, stack, staple, and cut) and easy to read. It's also interactive, allowing students to draw and label in the book.

A matter sort (an updated version of the one I have posted on TPT) that includes enlarged cards for a pocket chart or anchor chart, as well as smaller student sorts for authentic assessment.

Student-friendly vocabulary cards that include visuals and a quick definition of key terms.

Tree maps for supporting student thinking and understanding (small and large versions).

Seven experiments aligned to those key understandings, each including:

Teacher instructions...

... and student recording sheets.

Plus a blank book for your students to write their own All About Matter informational text (great for end-of-unit assessment).

Phew! 

As a bonus, the unit {click here} is ON SALE through tonight for just $3.00 (instead of $6.00)... Plus I'll give a copy to the first two posters who comment on this post with their email address.

Have a great day!

How I Teach Vocabulary and More FREE Fonts

First of all, I'd like to congratulate Sarah on winning my 100 follower giveaway! She's walking away with some awesome prizes contributed by some fabulous bloggers.

So, I thought I'd share a little bit with you about how I teach vocabulary to my first graders. I teach in a school with a very high ELL population, and I always have a range of linguistic needs in my classroom. Vocabulary is SUCH a critical area to develop in all students, and particularly in ELLs, since it's key to comprehending reading. Without a specific vocabulary instruction program, I began searching for ideas for how to teach vocabulary several years ago. I found a wonderful post (I think on A to Z Teacher Stuff) but I cannot for the life of me find it anymore. It had a wonderful idea for teaching vocab, and I've used it ever since.

My read aloud time tends to alternate between a theme or author study and a chapter book. I try to read a range of chapter books to my students, including longer nonfiction books, like level 3 or 4 Time for Kids readers. For each book, I try to pull out about 15-16 Tier 2 words, or words that are not terribly common (like "green" or "milk"), but that aren't highly academic (like "photosynthesis"). These are the kind of words I'd like my students to use more of in their own speaking and writing, and that they're likely to encounter again in their reading.

I take a piece of chart paper and fold it into 16 squares. Each day, I write two or three new words on the chart, one per square. I leave the rest of the square blank. Before reading, I tell the students the words they should listen for in that day's chapter. When I get to the word, students put their thumbs up. I often will stop and reread a couple sentences before and after the new word. Then, we discuss the word, using context clues to help determine the word's meaning. We do a lot of acting out, and discuss scenarios in which the word makes sense. Sometimes, I draw the picture right then, to help give students another visual to associate with the word, but other times, I draw the picture after school. I may also write a synonym underneath the picture. By the end of the book, we have a chart that looks like this:

(This was a chart for Toys Go Out, which is a GREAT read aloud about toys that come to life when their owner goes to bed. It's hilarious and very engaging, especially for my boys.)

After we complete the chart, I give pairs of students each a card with a vocabulary word on it and we play charades to review the words. The next day, my kiddos take a short quiz, using the words in a sentence and briefly defining the words with pictures and words:

We accumulate these charts on our wall, and the students get a kick out of hearing a lot of the words in subsequent read alouds and making connections between words that mean the same thing.

At the end of the year, we cut the words into squares and I give each kid a stack of words to take home. It sounds lame, but I think it's like the kid version of Oprah's Favorite Things. They seriously shriek about it! Ha!

Finally, I have a freebie for ya to start your weekend right!

Two free fonts for you! You can use them in personal or commercial use documents (like TpT products), and a link back to my blog is appreciated but not required.

And, in honor of turning the big 3-1 yesterday, I'm throwing a SALE in my TpT shop! 20% today through Sunday! Click {HERE} to go to my store!

Have a great weekend!!!

Group Research Projects and a Freebie Rubric

Last year, I studied Comprehension and Collaboration with some AMAZING coworkers. If you've never heard of it, it's a fabulous read!

 

A big focus in the book is using inquiry projects to fuel student reading, writing, and content-area work. My grade level restructured our reading units to include lots of inquiry projects during the second half of the school year. We are gearing up for our first big inquiry project - Should there be zoos? I'm so pumped!

To prepare my students for these upcoming projects, we did a lot of cross-genre reading and worked on research and note-taking skills. We practiced them in the context of student-selected topics like George Washington, camouflage, and penguins. (Pictures to come soon!) My students worked in groups to research, so of course, I needed a group research rubric.

Click the link to grab your free copy!

I'm linking up with Manic Mondays at Classroom Freebies!
Goodnight, everyone!

P.S. I'm inching closer to 100 followers! And I've hit the 200 follower mark on TpT! That means a giveaway is coming!!!

Free Rubrics for Guided Reading and Daily 5... And a Pending Giveaway?

First of all, I'm home today with the FLU. Yuck. Double yuck. All last week, I had no fewer than 4 kiddos gone each day. I Lysoled, I Cloroxed, I Purelled... But I, too, have been attacked by the flu bug.

I'm hoping a little R&R will let me be back in the classroom tomorrow!

I thought this would be a good chance for me to post a couple freebies that hopefully will help some of you all with assessments (particularly as we reach the end of second quarter - and grading/comments loom overhead)!

First, this freebie is a guided reading rubric to assess your students on a range of key skills and behaviors.

And here's a freebie rubric to assess your kiddos as they use the Daily 5.

You can click on either image to download from Google Drive, or hit up my Teachers Pay Teachers store by clicking {here}.

I am currently at 79 followers - just 21 more till the big 100! I plan to do a big giveaway here when I hit that mark, so if you or anyone you know might be interested in donating a product for the giveaway, please let me know by clicking {here}.

I'm linking up with Manic Monday at Classroom Freebies!


Happy Monday!

MORE {FREE!} Binder Covers and Spines!

I've gone through and added some more binder covers and spines in the black and white theme. They're two separate FREE downloads in my TpT Store.

The covers/spines include:
Lesson Plans
Gradebook
Teacher Binder
Substitute Binder
Student Data
RtI Documentation
Parent Contact
IEP Information
Common Core

Just click {HERE} for the the lesson plan, gradebook, and teacher binder covers/spines. Click {HERE} for the sub binder, student data, common core, RtI, parent contact, and IEP covers/spines.

Enjoy!

First Grade Common Core Math Assessment

After quite a bit of intensive labor, my First Grade Common Core Math Assessment is complete! Phew! Our district is focusing on implementing reading and writing CCSS this year, and will move to focus on math as this year progresses. However, I wanted to have an assessment that I could use to group students into guided math groups and for monitoring my students for RtI.

It includes:
*Instructions and materials needed (just some basic classroom materials like counters and a whiteboard)
*A comprehensive assessment tool with ALL first grade math standards, and space to use the assessment five times per year (beginning of year, then after each quarter or trimester)
*Areas for notes about misconceptions and strengths
*Class Assessment Data tables to gather data across the class to aid in forming guided math and/or intervention groups

Get your copy (for just $3.00!) by clicking the picture below!