Hi there! Just a quick teacher tip that I thought I would share with you today...
Have you ever made multiples of a station or game with cut/laminated pieces? I usually make 3 sets of each station/game so that I can have 3 sets of partners working on the same thing. When I do that, there always seems to be those 1-2 cards that get left out at clean up time and then you don't know which set it belongs to. Ugh!
Am I preaching to the teacher choir? Can I get an amen at how frustrating that is?
I finally figured out, after a long time and many, many frustrations, to either print each set on different colored paper, OR, to simply use a Sharpie to label the back of each set with a number (i.e. set "1", "2", etc.).
Genius! Now, when a card gets left out at clean up time, it's easy to figure out which bag it belongs to. In fact, I've taught my 1st graders about this little trick and they know how to get any lost pieces back to their respectful bags all on their own.
Hope this little tip helps some of you in case you hadn't tried it.
Have an awesome day!
My students are going to think this is the "coolest" thing ever!!
Today was our first day back from winter break, but it was a teacher work day. Our students come back tomorrow.
One of the things I prepped today was an investigation station. I have an area set aside in my classroom where students can do a little inquiry based learning. This week, we will kick off some project based learning around solids and liquids. I decided this year to focus primarily on snow, ice, rain, etc. while investigating solids and liquids. I'll post more about this PBL unit as we progress through it.
For now, this investigation station will allow students to explore books this week. We will be doing some research once we come up with our inquiry questions about snow. I also plan to put some items to investigate here as we progress.
To entice them over to this station, I used chart paper to create some icicles on the shelf. They are going to notice it straight away as soon as they enter the room - kids notice everything, don't they? I know my kids will line up to choose this station to work at.
In my room, investigation station is one of my Daily 5 choices. I usually put something there to explore having to do with concepts we're working on. This has really worked for me in my classroom because students can explore independently while others are reading, doing word work, etc. I allow 4-6 students at this station at one time. And, I love to listen in on their conversations as they explore.
In addition to the books you see on the shelf, I have some items in a basket for them to sort into solids or liquids. Gonna put some more items in there tomorrow...
They will use post-it notes to explain their thinking about why an item is a solid or liquid.
All of this is just for my students to explore and to get their feet "wet" (sorry for the cheesy puns) before we jump in to our PBL project later this week. Can't wait to see where it leads us!
I went into my classroom earlier this week, just to get a few things ready for the new year. I always move student desks around to give them fresh beginning. I also give them some fresh school supplies. I throw away old pencils and replace with new sharpened ones. I give every kiddo a new eraser, etc.
Our grade level asks students to bring in 2 boxes of crayons for school supplies at the beginning of the year. I always give them one, and then put the other box away for the new year.
When students arrive back to school next week, they will have a fresh box of crayons to use. You would think it's Christmas all over again... they get so excited about all the new supplies.
It's just something small, but this helps my students get excited after a long winter break and ready to begin school fresh!
How do YOU start fresh in YOUR classroom for the New Year?
I just uploaded the latest in my series of Math Journal packets onto TPT. We are getting ready to teach comparing numbers after winter break, so I made up this set of math journals for my class to work on for daily practice as we progress through the unit.
My kiddos have been loving completing a daily math journal each day, so I know they will love working on this new set in January. I will post some pictures of them in use once we head back to school. For now, you can take a look at the preview in my shop...
We completed our gifts for parents today! This is the first year that I've made these cute little snowman votives and I LOVE the way they turned out! Each snowman has its own little personality.
I found the votives for just 77 cents at WalMart. Before we began this project, I used a blue sharpie to write each student's name and the year on each votive.
To make these, I poured a little white craft paint on a paper plate. You can get this at WalMart. Students used their thumb to make two thumbprints for the snowman. We let these dry overnight.
The next day, we used these painters pens to paint on the eyes, nose, mouth, buttons, and stick arms. These were extremely easy to use, just make sure you explain to the kids that it is paint and not to smear it. We didn't have any mistakes at all... a very simple project for my 1st graders.
I picked up these painters at WalMart when I got the votives. I think they were like $1.96 each and they come in lots of colors.
That's it! We let those dry, put in a tealight candle, and they were ready to wrap.
To wrap these, we colored white paper bags to look like snowmen. Want to take a guess where I picked up the white paper bags? You guessed it... WalMart. One stop shopping for this project, people!
Beforehand, I cut out the corners from the bags so that the top could be colored like a hat. Then, the kids got creative in coloring them and wrote their "To" and "From" on the other side.
We wrapped our votives in tissue paper, put them in the bags, and that's it. Done and done!
I will definitely be replicating this little gift next year. Probably the cutest, fastest, easiest gift I've done with my kiddos to date.
I hope you can use this idea, if not this year, then someday!
Thanks for stopping by!
***FREE! Today only! Follow my blog, TPT store, Instagram, and/or Facebook page and download my brand new Money Match cards for FREE!***
This week we have been learning all about money. We began with coin identification and values, then moved into counting and sorting like coins.
On Friday, we began counting mixed sets of coins. I made up these Money Match cards to help us count and sort various coin amounts. My kids love the challenge of completing a match. They will literally rush to get it completed before clean up time. It's a great motivator, for sure!
These cards have 14 different coin values represented on the green cards. These cards match up with 3 red cards, each representing a different way to make that coin value.
My kids loved working with these this week, so in the interest of holiday spirit I'm making them FREE to you today only! All I'm asking in return is that you follow me: on my blog , TPT, Instagram, and/or Facebook page! I'm trying my best to get my name and products out there amongst so many other teacher bloggers and TPT'ers! Thanks for your support!
Get your Money Match cards for FREE, today only! After that, they will be available for sale in my TPT shop here.
I hope they are helpful to you and your students!
Have a Super Saturday!
Just posted a new Math Journal to TPT! I have been creating sets of Math Journals as I progress through 1st grade curriculum this year. We have just finished this math unit in my classroom and I compiled these math journal problems from the addition and subtraction strategies we've been learning about. I'm happy to share them with you!
The strategies covered are:
Adding and Subtracting 10
Ways to Make 10
Making 10 to Add (compensation)
Doubles
Addition with 3 Addends
Fact Families
If these are strategies you use in your classroom, hop on over to TPT to take a look!
