I never thought we were going to reach our 15 minute stamina....EVER! I did not start Daily 5 until the second week of school. I am teaching high ability first graders this year & I let them choose their books on the first day. I am going to be honest..... I let them loose in the library before I knew their reading level. I don't always like to look at their previous reading levels, I want to find out their ability on my own. I was pleasantly surprised how excited they were to choose books. My classroom library is huge & they are in love. I never thought I'd have to say "Are you active listening when your nose is in a book?" Seriously....I have to say that several times a day. I showed them how our library is organized by level. I am HUGE on pushing AR & all of my books are AR books in the library. If they are not, they don't make the cut. I had to make sure they only were taking 5-7 books. I do allow them to keep a chapter … [Read more...] about Daily 5 Launch & Lakeshore Learning at Home
Daily 5
Loads of August Randomness & a FREEBIE!
As you know I tend to disappear around this time of the year. I have been coo coo for cocoa puffs CRAZY busy! I'm sure you all can relate. I am now teaching high ability kiddos with brand new curriculum....eek! I honestly don't know what direction this post will go in because trust me, it is all about randomness! I will start by showing you some project pics. Yes, this would be the hubs modge-podging. He was a modge-podging maniac this summer & we are still not done! I we prefer to modge-podge on the outside of the drawer. I like the way the color pops. Do you agree? As you will see in this post I am a tiny bit obsessed with chalkboard & neon decor. Do I still have peace signs, yes, of course I do. These are their little trash baskets for scraps....for now. These were only $1 @ Michaels! This was chosen by Michaels in their #createtoeducate #sweepstakes on Instagram...follow them here. They sent me a $50 gift card! It was spent the … [Read more...] about Loads of August Randomness & a FREEBIE!
Throwback Thursday
I'm linking up with the fabulous one & only Cara from the First Grade Parade! This is a very popular post from last summer when we did a Daily 5 book study. Hope you get some ideas friends! This is by far one of my favorite parts of D5. My students have loved all the activities I've made for them. I split up this chapter because I have so many ideas that I have used for writing & word work & wanted to share them with you! I do work work activities based around spelling, vocab, seasonal, word wall, amazing & sight words. First I show them some but not all the materials they can use during word work. They must know where to find the materials and where to put them back independently. Then I go over the following chart. Click on the pic to take you to your freebie Work on Writing/Word Work packet. Now I'd like to show you some of my ideas for Word Work. You have to make it fun & exciting for them. Make things so they … [Read more...] about Throwback Thursday
Winter-licious Fun!
I was honestly so excited to see my little nuggets when we returned from winter break! They had the biggest hugs & smiles for me as they arrived. The morning went beautifully...I guess since they were all half asleep & half of them were at the nurse....LOL. I was a little afraid to see what was going to happen after lunch. I kept thinking.....either they were seriously just exhausted or they were just behaving to please me....you know remember all the hugs I got??? After lunch.......I was convinced they were intravenously given straight sugar or their parents all gave them pixie sticks for dessert. Let's just say.....HOLY MAMA! Even though they were exhausting they were eager little learners during Daily 5. I was super stoked to have them try out the new centers I made. I just love the look on their faces when I tell them I made it! They always say it was their favorite...little brown-nosers! Here is a preview of my … [Read more...] about Winter-licious Fun!
Daily 6 Chapter 6-Part 2 Word Work
This is by far one of my favorite parts of D5. My students have loved all the activities I've made for them. I split up this chapter because I have so many ideas that I have used for writing & word work & wanted to share them with you! I do work work activities based around spelling, vocab, seasonal, word wall, amazing & sight words. First I show them some but not all the materials they can use during word work. They must know where to find the materials and where to put them back independently. Then I go over the following chart. Click on the pic to take you to your freebie Work on Writing/Word Work packet. Now I'd like to show you some of my ideas for Word Work. You have to make it fun & exciting for them. Make things so they don't even realize they are learning. My kids would fight over going to Word Work & it was because I always had different things to offer. Their VERY FAVORITE Word Work activity is the following games I … [Read more...] about Daily 6 Chapter 6-Part 2 Word Work
Daily 5 Chapter 6 Book Study & a Lakeshore Discount!
I will be honest......I have always struggled getting my firsties to love writing. I am confident they leave my classroom with a love of reading but my goal last year was to do that with writing.We are giving them the foundation for reading and writing and it's our job to prepare them for the dreaded "writing" portion of state tests. If you have been following my blog then you know I use warm fuzzies. Last year I actually started taking warm fuzzies if they forgot a capital or punctuation. They would get so frustrated but it did work. Daily 5 provided my class with the opportunity to write daily and they ended up being the BEST writers I've ever taught. You have to make it exciting for them & change things up. As soon as I sniffed out any boredom at all I would change things up. There are so many resources out there in blogland and on TPT that I took advantage of this year. I start out discussing the following chart. Of course you need to provide them … [Read more...] about Daily 5 Chapter 6 Book Study & a Lakeshore Discount!