Homework

I'm shaking up my first grade homework routine this year! Last year I felt not organize with my homework routine. So I searched teaching blogs and Pinterest for ideas... and I came upon the blogs teachinglittlefirstie and theinspiredapple which had a great homework template! If you go to the site you can download Babbling Abby's Homework Packet Template via Teachers pay Teachers. I took some of  her ideas and combined it with some of my own.

Here's what I'm planning on doing: 

On the blog teachinglittlefirsties - the teacher has a homework binder for each student. The students take home the binder on Monday and return it on Thursday. 

On the right inside pocket of the binder is where unfinished work goes, expected to be turned in the following day. This year any students who fail to turn in their homework on time will have a lunch detention until turned in.

In the front you could store behavior logs and explanation of the behavior program. I will probably only use this for students who are needing a behavior log. 

Next I would have the Weekly Homework sheet. On this page it would explain to parents what is required to be completed for this week's homework, along with the students spelling list. 

The second page would have the student's sound-words and sight-words list. Students would be expected to read these words every night with an adult.




Next page students would complete their weekly spelling homework.



The following pages would consist of  the student's weekly math homework.



The last pages will hold the student's Reading Log and Books in a Bag.In first grade our students are required to read 20mins. every night. This is where the parents will log for the students the books they are reading nightly. Behind the log is where the books are kept.

In the back inside pocket of the homework binder is where students will store Notes Home.                                                                                                 

Hopeful this tool will help keep everyone organize and improve school to home communication.

I will post pictures once I'm finished making my own and I'll report back soon on how it's working in the classroom!

The blogs above have great letters that are sent home explaining the homework binder. I've just finished adding my ideas to the homework binder and reading log letter that will be going home with the parents.

As an incentive for reading at home, students are going to keep track of their reading hours on a STARS Scorecard. For every 6 hours read, students will receive a sticker to go on their stars scorecard. Once students have read 30 hours they will receive a STARS certificate and picture to be taken for the All Stars Reading Board. I'm still in the process of making the STARS Scorecard. Once completed will post a picture. (STARS Scorecard idea was found using Pinterest) 

Second Day of School

Day 2- This lesson was created with help from Pinterest and other fabulous teaching blogs. I cited the materials that were taken from other teaching blogs.*see Kissing Hand Activity, Crazy for First Grade, and onceuponafirstgradeadventure.

The Kissing Hand Activity - At the carpet we would re-read The Kissing Hand. Together we would infer how Chester the Raccoon felt in the story and how the students felt on the first day of school. The students would then write and draw a picture about their first day of school.

      

After finishing the writing portion of The Kissing Hand activity, we would play the Ice Breaker game from yesterday. The only difference is when the students choose a question they have to answer it and then work together to remember my responses from yesterday.This is a fun way to have a friendly competition, teacher vs. students.

Next we would read aloud the story Chrysanthemum. I got this idea from the blog: fun-n-first. We would discuss how everyone's name is special. Next the students would play a name building game. The students would write each letter of their name onto letter squares, cut out each letter, and practice spelling their name and classmates. 

Next we would review our classroom motto of Bucket-filling. I would re-read the story Have You Filled a Bucket Today? Together as a class we would discuss the book,classroom expectations, and consequences of being a bucket-dipper.

*Consequences of being a bucket-dipper: In my classroom first students get a Warning. Then students are asked to go to the cool down area (Picture to Come) where the students are expected to fill out their action plan and lose 5 minutes of recess. After this the students would then receive a lunch detention and a parent phone call. If behavior is still escalating the students will lose a full day of specials and recess/lunch with their classmates, in addition to completing extra work that will be graded.

  

Incentive for being a Bucketfiller: I like to make clear the consequences, but I also like to focus on the positive. After lunch the students have 20 minutes before they go to their specials. During this time we share examples of who they saw being bucketfillers. These students receive stamps on their their buckets, along with the person who's bucket got filled. (Just like in the story).

Before bus dismissal students that did not end the day on a warning or lower receive tickets for "Pauley's Picks". On Friday we draw up to 15 tickets to win prize coupons.

Incentive for team-classroom behavior: This year I will also have a bingo board numbered 1-120. (Picture to Come). At the end of the day on Friday we tally how many students made it through the week without any warnings. Based on those numbers we receive marks on our class bingo board (every 6 students is a mark). We also receive marks for complements from other teachers.*

To be a bucketfiller students must understand friendship. I found this Find a Friend Game on the blog: theinspiredapple. After the game the students return back to the carpet to read a short story about friendship.

After the story I like review letter sounds and play a name game to help the students learn their ABC line order. First the students say their last name. Then other students guess what is the first letter in their last name. Lastly the students line up in their ABC order.

Its the afternoon now and Math is here! Like yesterday the students would review counting to 10 using their touch math cards. After practicing the students will learn their first group game. I found this game on Pinterest: Color Block Game. During this game I would check the students courting skills and encourage building classroom friendships.

 

To finish the day the students will complete The Kissing Hand activity. In the morning the students wrote how they felt on the first day of school. The students will read back their stories while I record a list of their feelings. Students will spend the rest of class finishing their raccoon. I got these ideas from the blogs: rhondabaldacchino and onceuponafirstgradeadventure.

Before the students get ready for buses and begin the drawings for Pauley's Picks, I'm going to give the students a Learning Inventory that I found on the blog: Crazy for First Grade.

Now its the end of the second day, and hopefully we will finish The Kissing Hand Activity. Hopefully my pictures and samples will look as nice as the ones I found from these amazing teaching blogs. Only one more week until the kiddos come!

First Day of School

Planning for the first day of school is the hardest for me. I get very anxious for school to start and when I begin planning, I get fixated on the little details and find myself running through each lesson word for word in my head. This is my second year teaching 1st grade, but by the end of my first year, I felt like I developed a different teaching style. I'm trying something completely new this year by putting more on building a classroom filled with "bucketfillers", respect, and love.  

Day 1- This lesson was created with help from Pinterest and other fabulous teaching blogs. I cited the materials that were taken from other teaching blogs. Hopefully as I get more adventurous and confident, I'll begin creating more materials on my own.  

I work at a late-start school. The students arrive by bus to school between 9:10-9:45. The students are served breakfast during this time. I take attendance and chat with the students. I usually have all the students' names memorized before we head up to the classroom.

Once we're in the classroom, the students get to pick their desk. This year I will start their day by playing an ice breaker game. You can play this game using PowerPoint on a Smart-Board or projector cart.


Get To Know Me! A student picks a question to answer. Once they answer it, they click on the question to revel the teachers response  I thought this would be a fun way for the students to learn more about each other and their teacher while integrating technology.

After the game, the students will get to unpack and label their school supplies. Then, they'll have their first read aloud of the school year to the story First Day Jitters! I got this idea from the blog Crazy for First Grade. 

After reading the story we will discuss what the word jittery means and how it's normal for everyone to feel nervous on the first day of school. The students will then go back to their desk to write/draw about their first day jitters.

Next the students will head back to the carpet and to listen the story Have You Filled a Bucket Today?

I didn't begin reading Have You Filled a Bucket Today? until the end of the school year last year. After the first read aloud my class fell in love with this positive behavior message. We even made our own buckets and put stamps on them to represent "filling up a bucket" like in the story. I noticed a difference in my students' behavior and self-reflection skills once we began discussing how we can become bucketfillers. I'm so excited to start the bucketfillers101 program that I bought all of the bucketfilling books and even some of their posters. (I''ll post pictures of the posters once my classroom is finished)

After our read aloud we will discuss what it means to be a bucketfiller. Then together as a class we will create a classroom expectation poster that every student will sign. (Picture to come!) 

Now that the students know the classroom/school rules, they'll get a chance to practice them. I encourage them to have the best First Grade ABC line order while we take a tour of our school! If we finish our tour before recess/lunch, the students will get to color their own buckets to match the story above.

The afternoon is here and so is one of my favorite subjects to teach...Math! This year, for the first time, I'm introducing Touch Math. Touch Math is a multisensory way that uses touch-points to teach counting. I'm hoping that starting touch math early in the school year will help my students counting skills.

I made number flash cards that show the students where to touch/count.

After introducing how to use Touch Math the students will cut out their own Touch Math cards. The cards will be stored in baggies that the students can use anytime. When the students are done practicing their Touch Math, together as a class we will complete a number listing and shape assessment.

I like to collect performance data early in the school year to document my students growth and use the data to help drive my teaching. This assessment asks the students to draw and label as many shapes as they can, and write as many numbers as they can in order. I'm still working on the Class Record Sheet and Tracker. Once completed I will post online.

By now it's around 3:10, there is an hour of school left, and the students are usually getting tired and missing home. This year I'm going to end my day by reading The Kissing Hand. I found two great The Kissing Hand Activities on the blogs Crazy for First Grade and Classroom Fun.

First I'll read aloud the story The Kissing Hand. We will infer the feelings of Chester the Raccoon and make text-to-self connections. The students will then be shown an art/writing activity that will be completed in steps. First the students will make their own Chester Raccoon Art. The next day they will reflect on their first day of school by writing on the First Day of School writing paper.

I'll end the day by going over bus procedures and end of the day routines. By 4:45 bus duty is over and so is the first day! Now on to Day 2 and Day 3 lesson ideas...

Next week I will be teaching these wonderful activities instead of daydreaming about them. I will post how everything went and post some student work once completed!