The Magic 5

I. Love. Magic. 5.  I created it while student teaching over 5 years ago, and it still works well for me.  I noticed my students were having a hard time listening on the carpet, so I came up with this one evening.  I keep it near the whole group carpet area and always say "I need to see magic 5."  Many kids will instantly show all 5 things.  Sometimes I'll have a little fun with them and say, "I only see magic 4 from some...I need to see 5 from everyone."  All the kiddos look around to see who it could be, while the ones that know who they are straighten up real fast.  I have another one I use when the kiddos are in their desks, but instead of criss-cross, the poster says sitting straight. I don't have a copy to post since I drew it myself, but there are lots of similar things out there in blogland.  Try it...you'll be amazed by the simplicity of it! :)

Birthday Graph

Birthdays are ALWAYS a topic of interest with children.  Here's how I display birthdays in my classroom:

I used to just write them down on a chart from a local teacher's store, but I switched to a "graph" two years ago.  It looks more appealing and lessons can even be taught with it.  One to one correspondence and teaching the terms more than or fewer than with comparisons are helpful with this graph.  I always keep a few blank cupcakes in my desk so I can quickly add that new student I'll likely get.  How do you display birthdays in your classroom?

Teaching with folktales

I love Fairy Tales.  I also like folktales, and The Three Billy Goats Gruff is one of my favorites.  Since my second year teaching, I've always done a 1-2 week unit with the story at the end of the year.  I created many of the ideas I still use a few years ago, and in the final week my students do a play (this year we did a simple puppet show).  I like teaching with this unit because you can do so much with it- character traits, cause and effect, theme, and develop fluency with the repeated phrases throughout.  In fact, I enjoy this unit so much that I created a 45 page companion to it for sale in my TpT store.

 Here is an example of one of the activities.  HA! The trolls are quite unpleasant looking!

 Click on the image below to see just SOME of the activities included with this fun mini-unit.

Have a great one!  Enjoy your summer!

Word Wall

Howdy! Happy Sunday!  A necessity in any primary classroom (or any grade level for that matter) is a word wall.  Here is a picture of the first word wall I made for the first year I taught back in '07-'08 (it's on the large white board in the back- sorry for the small size).

At the time, I thought it was great.  I had a teddy bear theme and a bear with each letter on the alphabet.  I evenly spaced out the bears and took my time with making it.  Each week I wrote words (HFW) with a dry erase marker to it.  Eventually, though this one became a problem for several reasons;
1) It was too large.
2) It was not in a good place, and I needed that board for other things.
3) The words would sometimes rub off (since it was dry erase).
4) It wasn't appealing to the kids.
Over the years, I've learned a thing or two to make word walls better.  Below is the word wall from my classroom this past year.

This word wall has worked out better for me since it's smaller, more appealing, and in a better location.  I also write the words on sentence strips and put those up rather than writing the words in marker.  This word wall is over a bulletin board and the paper extends onto my white board a foot or two.  It's also upfront and I can refer to it if I need to while teaching.  Next year my math wall will go here, so I'll have to find a new home for my word wall.  I never keep things the same two years in a row! :)

Another type of word wall I have in my classroom is a "word family" wall.  I keep word families up all year to help with spelling.  I don't have any pictures, but I'll post some when I have it up and running in September (it starts off slow and gets added to as the year goes by).

Teachers pay Teachers

Hi y'all!  Did you know I am a brand new seller on TPT?  I have a few little things up, and some freebies you might enjoy.  I have other ideas swirling around in my head, but between two grad. classes, a cake decorating class over the next month, and a new puppy coming home soon, I am one busy gal.  I can't wait until July; I'll have tons of free time then!

Check out my TPT store:  Cutesy Crafty Teacher's TPT store

Supplies, supplies, and more supplies...

Supplies... in a first grader's desk... yikes!  Now that it's summer, I am preparing for next school year here and there, and after five years of thinking I had the supply thing down, I am totally not feeling it after this year.  In my school, first graders get their own desk, and in it house all of their supplies: box (with pencils, crayons, scissors, glue), folder, journal(s), math book, reading book, handwriting book, and more.  This is a problem for various reasons:

1) They come straight from kinder from sitting at a table with very few supplies at their fingertips (maybe a supply box at most).

2) The little darlings can't keep their supplies neat- after all, it is a lot to keep up with as a six year old.

3) The little darlings simply can't keep their hands still.  Even the ones who ALWAYS listen get distracted from all the things in their desk.

4) Crayons, pencils, glue, and scissors 9 times out of 10 DO NOT end up in the supply box, but somewhere else in the desk or on the floor.

I don't know how many times my kids can't find their supplies because it's lost or because it's simply lost somewhere in their desk.  I am thinking for next year that the supply box in the desk has to go, and make everything communal.  A tub of crayons and pencils, and a tub of glue and scissors, all divided up by table groups.  Only the books and journals would be in the desks; nothing small.   I do think it's time for a change.  I've tried many different management strategies and the desk fairy visits often, but I can't find a system that works well for me.  How do you have your students keep their supplies organized?  I would love to hear your thoughts!