Rainbow Acrostic Poem for Kindergarten and First Grade

Acrostic Poem in Kindergarten and First Grade

My talented student teacher has been teaching the children about adjectives and character traits. She came up with a project that combined both of these using an acrostic poem format. The children thought of a character trait to go with each letter of their name. They used a format we created to write and organize the poem. Check out the adjectives in the photo above. One says, "educated" this was written by one of the kinders!! Hooray!! This just made my day. This little girl would barely say a few words when she can to us. Now she feels educated.



The children came up with their own ideas. After they wrote the acrostic poem, they glued it to a cloud and then added the words on the rays! I got out the cotton balls and the writing project was complete with puffy clouds. As the children were finishing they listened to Happy by Pharrell Williams. They were so cute as they celebrated their projects. It was a great moment! Take time to enjoy Happy from Despicable Me. It can truly make you happy.

 


Haylee is doing a great job. The future of teaching looks bright!!

New Base Ten Kids Numbers and Operations Unit with a Freebie

This is part of my new unit for learning about Numbers and operations in Base Ten.

This is a great back to school unit for second grade and a great start for first graders and kindergarteners that need practice with this skill. This is a matching game the children can play that uses expanded form, base ten blocks and numbers. The unit is Practice in Base Ten with the Base Ten Kids. You can find the unit on Teachers Pay Teachers. There are 65 pages of activities for the common core standard for Numbers and Operations in Base Ten. A I have, Who has game with tens and ones using addition and subtraction is part of the unit. There are several center activities that can be used as finishers once the children understand how to play them.

Ten Frames for Matching Numbers
One of the centers is matching ten frames and ones with a number. A great way to play this game is to place magnetic tape on the back of the cards and let the children use cookie trays from a dollar store.

There are cards for a Poke It Game and for a Dice Roll Game. Many of the centers can become independent work stations and finishers once the children know how to play them.

Math Task Cards and Thinking Sheets
There are math task cards and thinking sheets so students can write and draw how they solved a math problem. There are a lot of worksheets as well in this unit so you can be sure you are getting a lot of bang for your buck! I have used variations of this unit in my classroom. I made this new unit with graphics that will appeal to boys and girls. The activities are challenging and I have provided for differentiation in this unit. You can use this unit throughout the school year. I can't wait to share this unit with my children at school. I'm sure they are going to love it. There is sample download with the unit so you can get one activity free! I hope Practice in Base Ten with the Base Ten Kids will be part of your Back to School planning!

Please visit my new blog, Teaching Resources for the Classroom, and follow. I am having a big contest soon with a $50.00 Dollar gift card to Target. Woohoo!!

Reading Strategies to Help Build Reading Confidence

Reading Strategy Number 3~ Circle It to Show You Know It

If you missed the other reading strategies link directly to it from here. This is a link to my site Teaching Resources for the Classroom.

3. Circle It to Show You Know It! it s fun practical reading strategy that I created to use with readers who need to develop confidence. It can be used with any level of reader. I find that many readers know words but do not have confidence in their ability to read the words when presented with a book or a page full of words. The photo is an example of a passage from a Magic Tree House book that I am using with a student.

I copy a page from a book I know the reader likes for educational purposes. I ask the reader to circle each world that he can read. If you pick the just right text most of the words will be circled. Just right texts are texts that the reader know 94% of the words. Here is poster with the Goldilocks Rule and the Five Finger Rule for picking texts. This is easy to teach to children.

The children love Circle It to Show You Know It!. It is visual reminder of what they do know. I put the percentage here so you could see it. I don't do this on the reader's page. For most of the children just seeing what they know is a huge revelation to them. Their faces light up. This strategy would work for adult education as well. The written page suddenly becomes less scary and more like "Hey I can do this!" I have had children carry these around and show their families and friends. Sometimes I think we should frame their sheet. If you use this strategy in your classroom or home school drop and tell me how it worked for your reader. Do you think this is an effective strategy? I welcome your comments below! 2 more strategies are on the way.

Freebie for Place Value

My Freebie for the week for Classroom Freebies is a quick math center to practice place value, expanded form and base ten counting. You can get it here on Google Drive.

All the best,
Sarah

Technology In with New and Out with the Old?

There have been times in my teaching career when I have embraced technology and other times when I just wanted to do things the old way, the familiar way. We have all been there. When a cash register stops working in a store and one helper after another is called to fix it and I think just get out a piece of paper already. Add up my total, get the tax percentage and let me pay and get out of here...oh that won't work because I'm paying with a debit card none of that old fashioned cash for me. I just have to wait it out with all the other folks who are contemplating switching lines or checking their watches or should I say their smartphones. Technology is here to stay and is moving at the speed of light it seems. I am always seeking a balance between using the tried and true methods and the new technologies. My goal is to give each learner what he or she needs to truly grasp a skill. Most of the time that is a combination of methods and media.

This summer I'm tutoring from my home. I work with the children on math and reading. I often use the ipad while tutoring. In the photo below one of the children I tutor is using a math app for learning adding mulitple numbers. This app is Hungry Fish and it is a popular app with the children I teach.

In this photo my student is still using the ipad. She is using the app Splash Math but there is also something else in this photo. She is using manipulatives at the same time. I could tell that she needed something concrete as well as conceptual. You see that she is also wearing a hat and a robe. These come from a costume box I have so children can become a character and role play a context from a story. It turns out that mixing the old with the new was the best solution for this learner.

What ways have you mixed the old and new in your classroom to help a child learn? Leave a comment below and tell us what is working in your teaching setting. I would like to invite you to check out a new Pinterest Board that I created called Technology Resources in the Classroom. I'm spending time looking for resources that you can use.

Technology in the Classroom Check out the New Board

I'm so excited about my new Pinterest Board that I have to share it with you all. This is a snip of the cover for my new board on Pinterest. The cover is from edutopia.org The board is Technology in the Classroom. I have structured the board to so it is easy to use. Each pin is labelled with a grade level range or TTS which stands for Teacher Time Saver! I'm really thrilled that this board has grown to 200 followers in 4 days. I have recruited some fellow pinners to help me with the board. My goal is to provide a variety of resources from mp3 songs, power points, white board activities down to purposeful integration of technology. I love the quote on my cover board. We need to form a relationship with technology that makes it ordinary but the learning and thinking is extraordinary. In my classroom I truly want the children to view technology as a facilitator something that helps them along the way but they are the thinker,the learner and the dreamer! I'm going to share a couple of pins each day this week from my new board. Just go to the board and click through!

A sweet song freebie by Educasong! This is an mp3 file.


You can make free Bingo Boards for your classroom. I plan to share more with you this week. If you have a favorite technology idea from a blog, your classroom, an article or a pin please share it in the comments and I will check it out for our board. This board is for everyone that is using technology in their classroom and for those that are just beginning!
Technology in the Classroom

Remember the Christmas in July Linky Party 2013 starts this Friday, July 19th. I look forward to seeing everything that you will link up.
Look for this button for the link-up.
Fern Smith won the Getting Ready for Christmas in July Contest. She won a $10 Target Gift Card, Xacto Decorative Edge Stickers and a surprise!

Christmas in July Contest Free Prizes/Fern Smith

  I'm having a Christmas in July Linky Party starting July 19 through July 31. The linky button is being designed as I write. I will also be having a big ole contest with some great gifts for my blogger friends. The gift will be sent out in the mail! I love getting mail and especially packages in the mail. Prizes will include a 25.00 gift card to Target, some gifts that teachers will like and some other surprises. I especially hope you will plan to link up to my party. The Christmas in July Linky Party is strictly fun. I welcome many different kinds of link ups. Maybe you want to share a freebie holiday center you have created, a picture of you in your tacky Christmas Sweater or maybe your dog in his tacky sweater, or perhaps a recipe that we could all enjoy. My goal is for this to be a fun laid back party.
This contest is a get my feet wet contest for me! Yep you heard me. Getting my feet wet and inviting you all to join in the fun for the big party!
3 prizes will be mailed out to one lucky winner. You will get the neat X-acto set of 4 Scissors with Decorative Edges. I love these...just a little snipping and you have made the world a lot cuter. The winner will also get a 10.00 Target Gift Card and one mystery gift. I can promise you that you will love getting this package. It would cheer my heart if you would be willing to share this contest. I'm looking forward to the big party!

Fern Smith is our winner for this contest! Congratualations!

Throwback Thursday and Cat in a Hat

Happy Fourth of July Everyone!

Hi All I'm glad to be participating in The First Grade Parade: Throwback Thursday with Cara. I am sharing a fun game I made to go with the celebration of that famous guy. Should we say his name???... It doesn't bring up scary thoughts like the guy in Harry Potter....Val...Val...Vald....nope I just won't say it. Anyway kids love this cat and it isn't scary at all. I hope you can use this in your classroom!
Please come back and visit I'm hosting my first linky party "Christmas in July" and a contest for a some great prizes. I would love to have a lot of bloggy friends to join the fun!


I blogged about this is February 2013.

Well friends I am just totally crazy about what I have created for you all this week! Dr. Seuss' Birthday is coming up very soon and I wanted to celebrate with some new Math Centers. There is a missing addend match up game with 32 cards and 16 matches, a missing addend worksheet and a two digit addition worksheet for your class celebration! Everything is ready for you. You need to print, cut and copy! It is that simple.
Get your Cat with a A Hat Activities here!

Despicable Me Review and Despicable Me Party

We saw this movie on July 3rd and I couldn't be happier with the sequel. It was as fun and delightful as the first one. This one was actually fluffier than the first one. Love is in the air for Dru this time. I won't spoil it. You will have to see for yourself. The movie has enough villain action to keep the plot moving but the minions almost steal the show this time. We are still in love with Agnes and the it's so fluffy.. The girls are growing up and I love the way Dru faces some of the same challenges that we have have to deal with as parents. I'm sure we look almost as ridiculous as he does. At least our kids would say so.




I found this pin that features everything you need to have Despicable Me Party. I may have to find some kids and have a party.


Here is the website for all the party goodies from Fabulously Smitten.

I wish the movie would have been rated G. It seems that even Pixar can't resist throwing a "What the ____" in the movie. Of course the blank is blank but it was obvious in the movie and really unnecessary. I'm assuming some of the PG rating was for the action and peril in the story. All and all it is a lovable movie and brought smiles to everyone's face. This will definitely be on my list of I can watch again and again movies! Go, see and laugh! I can't wait to see what the minions are going to be up to in their feature movie.

Multiplication for Young Children and Fourth of July Happiness

Mark and I just got back from taking our youngest daughter to her college orientation. It was wonderful but overwhelming. I went between wanting to cry and wanting to cheer. Our daughter had a blast and has determined that she made the absolute right choice. Thank goodness because I don't think I could make it through all that stuff again!! I have been working with some tutoring students this summer. I want to share a video with you all that I took of a child working on multiplication. My student is sweet little fellow. He is heading to third grade in the fall. Please note that I gave him a lot of processing time. Even though you don't see it in this video I gave him a lot of praise afterwards. I was focusing on the way he solved the problems. I found the manipulatives we are using at the Dollar Spot in Target. I just love that place. I have to check it out whenever I go to Target!



This is his first lesson with multiplication while he has been working with me. We skip counted prior to starting and talked about grouping in skip counting. The cards I used are from Math-Aids.com. There are a ton of materials on this website! I snipped a couple of examples of the many flash cards they offer. Best of all their resources are FREE!

We all know students need the foundational skills to be successful in multiplication. Do you have any ideas or activities you would like to share? Please leave them in the comment section below. We can all benefit from shared ideas! Teachers are just so smart! Don't you agree!

I'm putting my first Farley's Currently in this post. Below the Currently is a fun link for 4th of July Subway Art from FiveArtHome.com. Samantha gave me permission to share it with my friends. I have already printed mine and put it in a frame. Enjoy!

Click here for your downloadable copy of Samantha's Subway Art.

Happy Fourth of July!

Do you use Fundations in your classroom? Ideas for teaching Phonics

My district has adopted Fundations Wilson Language Basics. I'm heading to my first training soon and I would like to hear about your experiences with Fundations. I have already heard various view points about the program. I am wondering how it fits with other classroom activities. I love to use music and songs in my classroom. I found this video while searching Fundations on youtube.com.



Can you still use videos like these in a Fundations classroom? I also use Starfall.com in my classroom and with my tutoring children. Have you used Starfall.com in your class? My kids love the videos that Starfall.com provides. I also like nifty charts like this one I found on Pinterest.

What other ways do you teach phonics in your classroom?I like to use a variety of teaching resources in my classroom. I am interested to hear about the teaching resources you use in your classroom! Thanks for joining the discussion.

Do you DIBEL? How do you feel about it?

Do you DIBEL at your school? I was the number one skeptic at my school 10 years ago when we went to learn about the DIBELS Assessment. We used the paper and pencil version for years and now we DIBEL on our iPad. Over the years I have not been fond of data and the many uses of it. Mainly because I felt we had forgotten to actually look at the children and their experiences. Lives do not happen in a vacuum I was known to say. After many years of rebelling and trying to make this work I have finally made peace with the DIBELS assessment. This is mainly due to the recent administrations I have had the pleasure to work with. I have changed the path of my instruction based on the DIBELS but I have found a way to keep the instruction fun and fresh. This year I had a little boy go from red to yellow to green and his parents were pleased as punch. The Mom often said it was due to focused interventions and hard work. This little guy was willing to work. We didn't do something fabulous every day but we kept it fun! We jumped around, we used markers to write sounds, we made up games and we worked on our goal. I did a lot of goal setting with my children this year and it really paid off. One of my favorite resources is the Florida Center for Reading Research. They have focused easy to use interventions for reading from kindergarten to fifth grade. I love to use songs. There are tons on Youtube.com. These are good videos for letter sounds.

Check out some of these examples.










I would love to hear your views on DIBELS and DIBELS NEXT and resources you use successfully in your classroom! Please comment below.

This Little Piggie Came to School....in a Book Bag!

Most teachers just think we have seen it all (mostly because we have) well anyway. Something new happened in my classroom this past Friday! One of my sweet little girls came up to me first thing and said, "Mrs. Winchell my guinea pig is in my book bag." I said, "What??? Are you sure?" and she nodded that sweet little head. Being an animal lover and knowing this little girl doesn't make stuff up. I asked her to get her book bag and there in the bottom of it was a sweet little baby guinea pig. I knew this sweetie had guinea pigs. She had brought me a picture of them! According to her it just amazingly crawled in there and she didn't know! We all just about fell over but it was the cutest thing in the world so we loved it up and put it in a box. We already have a class reading guinea pig so we had all the supplies we needed. That guinea pig was the sweetest little thing. It had a great day at school and was delivered safely to Dad at the end of the day. It was great fun on a Friday. As with any big happening we need to talk about it and then we need to write about it. I created this fun writing activity for your kiddos to imagine what they might bring to school in their book bags! You can download it here.



I'm sure your children will come up with some delightful ideas. And remember just when you thought you had seen it all you haven't!

Ahoy! Pirate Writing and Hats for the End of The Year

I'm adding a math freebie to this post! My kid love, love bump it games. I have created a Pirate Themed Bump It Game with sums to 18. You will need three dice and a copy of the printable! Enjoy! Please visit awhile and grab up some other freebies! I would love to know where you are from. Please leave a comment below if you have the time. Thanks, Maties



I have created this fun Pirate writing activity to help you and your students reflect on the wonderful year of learning you all have had together. Together you all can fill up the treasure chest with all your memories. There are versions for Kindergarten, First Grade and Second Grade. This is an open ended activity and you can print as many pages as you like. It would also be great for a class book as well. You could also share some of the writing with the children who will be moving up. I'm sure they would like to know what treasures they will find in their new grade level. Comment below and let me know how you plan to use it in your classroom. I love reading new ideas!

You can find your copy of this activity on Teachers Pay Teachers!
If you are visiting from The Busy Educator welcome to I Dream of First Grade.