Teaching in Centers- Part 2: Math

In the first series of this 2 part blog, I talked about teaching phonics in small groups!


Now, lets talk about math!

For math, we utilize Eureka (or Engage NY) math. I started teaching in centers about half way through my first year using this curriculum. I found this curriculum to be so heavy language based and abstract that often times I was teaching to the middle of the road or over scaffolding. My strugglers were being left in the dust and my high achievers were bored!

I have three stations set up in my classroom:

-Meet the Teacher
-Problem Set Practice
-Fluency/Technology


Meet the Teacher

During meet the teacher, I am meeting with a group on the rug. I usually begin with my lower or middle group. During this time they are learning the new concept of the day. We are able to use white boards and manipulatives (without causing too much headache for me prepping it all!)

It is seriously 10000 times easier to prep for 6-8 students than it is for 17-25! 

Problem set practice

Pretty self explanatory, but they are working on the problem set. This is slightly complicated because the group that starts here is working on the previous days problem set. Because of this, this group is my high group. It took some time, after a month or so, all I need to do is write the page on this small white board and they are able to get right to it!

Fluency/Technology

This is where we are practicing math fact fluency or using ipads/ChromeBooks. For fluency, I like to keep it to games! I believe that learning should be fun. My favorites are no prep games! To keep it more fun for the kiddo's I love seasonal games.

(You can grab this growing bundle of games by clicking on the picture!) 

Happy Teaching!! 

Teaching in Centers - Part 1

Hi there!!

I wanted to jump on here and talk about what happens in my first grade classroom in terms of instruction and share some resources with you!

So, my classroom is the inclusion classroom in first grade. This means there is quite a big range of needs and abilities. It also means I have a full time paraprofessional (I know I'm lucky!) and there is also a variety of push in support throughout the day. In order to utilize this help in the most meaningful way without any adults having to watch me teach whole group.

For phonics and math instruction, I utilize small group instruction. By doing this I feel as though I am utilizing our time much more wisely, meeting the needs of all students (both high, middle, and low), and the other adults in the room feel helpful and needed!

This blog is going to focus on phonics and part two of this will jump into math!

First, let's talk phonics! 

During phonics on Monday, Thursdays, and Fridays, I have about an hour (sometimes longer for phonics- YAY!) I have 4 stations set up in my classroom:

-Fluency
-Trick Word Practice
-Word Work
-Meet the Teacher 

I keep the above slideshow that contains the groups and a timer! I keep the centers to about 10-12 minutes.

Fluency 

During fluency they are spending a lot of time reading decodable texts, practicing tapping out words, etc. Basically, ANYTHING to get them reading words!

Trick Word Practice 

Trick word practice is where things have gotten much more exciting with STUDENT CHOICE! I am SO excited about this!

During this time we are utilizing MANY different activities all of their choice which makes it ten times more engaging for them! 

One activity that I keep is "a weekly game". For this choice, I am utilizing my editable word work pack.

Now, if you are part of my newsletter subscription (if not be sure to sign up) below! You will be receiving a newsletter only freebie on April 1st! This freebie is what I keep in my "Sentence Writing" drawer in my trick word center! 

Word Work 

During word work, I love to use a mix of games and word building. I love to keep learning fun and hands on. Some of these activities require a bit more prep, but once they're made its done! I've had some of my favorite word work activities since my first year teaching! 

Meet The Teacher 

At this point, we are simply working on our Fundations! BUT, I am able to really differentiate based on what they need. I can either push, teach the lesson as is, or review/support based on what they need! I have gotten to know their skills and abilities in phonics so much more this way! 

Be sure to sign up for my newsletter so you can have access to newsletter exclusive freebies! 

Happy Teaching! 

SO Many Exciting Things!

New name... who dis? 

No, its the same me! As I was trying to expand and market, I realized that "Miss Emily Rose" did not give an indication of who I really was on my instagram or my TPT store, so I thought long and hard and came up with this new name! I feel like it fits me SO SO much more! I am in fact 6ft tall and my whole life I was "that tall girl". Now, even as a teacher, sometimes I hear from kids that don't know me refer to me as "That Tall Teacher" so... its time to own it! 

Now, for way more exciting things that you came here for! I wanted to share a few new products and a FREEBIE. Yep, only for those of you that are visiting my blog. 

SO, my new favorite product is a growing bundle! The best part is, it is all no prep! My other favorite part, it is thematic for each month of the year. Currently, the bundle only contains January and March (meaning it is the cheapest you can ever get it right now).  They are designed for first graders in mind, but they could work for a challenge for your higher kinders or review for second graders! Click ANY of the photos to head directly to the bundle in my store! 

All of the games are and will be designed so your firsties will only need dice or a paper clip! 

Some may even require both! These are great for sub plans because they keep engagement high and they're easy for you and the sub! 

Some of the games are designed for partner play! 

They have been firstie tested AND approved! 

Another fun, new product in my store is a FREEBIE! I love mixing up my phonics with some thematic practice to keep my firsties engaged! 

This is fun for a pocket chart center or just a matching game on the rug or table! 

NOW, for you blog only freebie! Here's a preview of a product in the works and you get a sneak peak. 

In the future, this will include nk words, AND many more activities! 

HAPPY TEACHING EVERYONE!! 

Breaking Down Daily 5: Word Work Organization

Happy November !! 

I have exciting news! I started in a new district this year and I am still teaching first grade! I am so happy where I am. With a new district, comes new curriculum, standards, assessments, and more! I've been so busy, but I'm promising (to myself) that I am going to continue working hard on my TPT, Instagram, and blogging to keep you all updated and in the know! 

During our RTI block, my school utilizes the Daily 5 model so that there are the same routines in each first grade classroom. For those of you unfamiliar with Daily 5 it is a balanced literacy approach. Students will work through stations "read to self, read to someone, listen to reading, work on writing, and word work". Every blog you read about Daily 5 is slightly different and some allow much more student choice than I currently allow. 

For my students, I have them grouped and set a timer and have them rotate through the centers (directed by me). This just makes MY life slightly more organized and I am able to monitor and ensure that students are getting to each activity. I also combine my listen to reading/work on writing center (my RTI group consists of 14 kids so this made groupings easier). 

TODAY however, I am here to talk about my Word Work Organization.

Once my kiddo's know what group they're in (I display a chart on my SmartBoard with a timer). Each group has a number 1-4. These numbers are in fact meaningful because I have 4 bins with these numbers. This number has activities that are specific to the needs of the students in that group. I do this because even though we tried to group students for RTI based on similar levels, many of them required various word work needs. For example, I have some friends that are ready for CVCe while I have others that are still struggling with short vowel sounds. 

By doing this, there is a HUGE sense of independence. Typically, these bins contain:

-Daily Activity/Weekly Activitiy
-Supplies needed for the activity (glue/scissors/paperclips etc.)
-Early finisher activities

At my old school, I was blessed to have lots of magnetic letters which led to me purchasing/creating a great deal of magnetic letter centers. I was spoiled and had the letters in the nice Lakeshore containers, but this summer I knew I needed to have magnetic letters in order to make my Word Work time meaningful. (I am a huge fan of word building activities!). I purchased magnetic letters from Amazon Prime (I stalked prime for deals and finally got an amazing deal- letters will be linked below). Little did I know that this magical set of letters was not organized!! I am all about keeping them organized so that time is not wasted looking through of sea of letters for an E- haha! My 19 year old cousin was a life saver and offered to sort the letters for me (as an easy 10 bucks... college kids, you know how it is!) Then, I was faced with how was I going to KEEP them organized... 

NOW, I LOOOOOOVE my teacher tool box, so I got to searching (more like shopping) on Amazon and two toolboxes later.... My magnetic letters are ORGANIZED!!!! After a few days of RTI this is already an incredible system. The letters are contained nicely in drawers, and there is no mess or time wasted! 

(Click the image above to get the labels- Link to ToolBox will be listed below).

Check out the letters here! (nonaffiliated)

Check out the ToolBox here! (nonaffiliated)

Once my friends are done their activity for the day and there is still time left. The expectation is they will do some early finisher work. This typically consists of fluency activities. By having this expectation I am no longer hearing "I'm done!, What now?" comments, which then distracts me from my small group instruction. Trust me, there are some growing pains with this, but overall it has flowed nicely!

 





These fluency books have ben a staple in my bins this year! (Click the picture to check them out!)


That's pretty much the breakdown of my word work organization in Daily 5! Stay tuned for more Daily 5 tips and more!

Happy Teaching!

Opinion Writing Made Fun!

Happy Summer teacher world! How happy are you right now??

The other day I literally spent an hour and a half in Barnes and Noble browsing the children's section.  I found some amazing new books I can't wait to read to my firsties! BUT I'm here to tell you that I found a book that has made opinion writing SO fun! (Opinion writing was always fun... but this book... all the hearts and giggles!) 

You Don't Want a Unicorn by Ame Dyckman is my new FAVORITE opinion mentor text. It is a perfect way to teach the importance of giving reasons to support our opinions (I mean seriously, who WOULDN'T want a unicorn??) The reasons are silly and fun, but can be a great way to end your opinion unit or kick it off! 

Naturally, my creative side got to thinking and I went straight home and created a FREEBIE to go along with the book and opinion writing. I used this as something fun the last week of school. We read the book, identified the author's opinion, identified supporting details. Then, we listed reasons why we would want a unicorn or why we wouldn't want a unicorn on a T-Chart. Then the firsties determined their own opinion and got to work listing reasons! 

Included in the freebie: 

-Lesson overview

-T-Chart Headers

-Graphic Organizer

-Writing Page 

Click the photo to head straight to the product and click here to purchase the book! 

*Please note I do not own the rights to the book and this is not a sponsored post*

Conferring Forms

Ah! I've broken my promise yet again to be more involved with this blog. BUT I have officially completed my Master's Degree in Literacy in a K-8 Classroom! I'm a true literacy nerd so this degree was so fun to complete (kind of...). In other news, I have also become licensed in PreK-2 in addition to my Elementary 1-6 licensure in Massachusetts! These have been two major goals of mine since becoming a teacher and I am so excited to have them completed. I am also so happy to be able to really dive into my TPT and blog life again!





I had my class decorate a piece of paper, laminated it, and hot glued it down to the cap!

Now for what you really came to read about... During my time in grad school I had the opportunity to really dive into reading, reading behaviors, leveling systems etc. This became something I was SO interested in and lead me to really dive into this in my own classroom. I realized I NEEDED to know more about my readers. Sure I took notes during guided reading and conferencing, but I really didn't know their true behaviors and why they were the level they were.

I have created something that I have been using since school started. I wanted to really test it out before sharing with you all. I have looked at various articles regarding reading behaviors at each reading level (A-N) and put together conferring forms. These forms have been literally LIFE CHANGING when thinking about my guided reading time. I have been quickly able to form groups based on strategies. Now I know I am giving them what they need to reach the next level!





So lets talk a little more about these conferring forms!






I love these because I can use them or my classroom assistant can as well while she is reading with students while I run a small group. I use them during conferences or during my mini conferences during my small group time. I use the note take space for running records or for notes on comprehension or other things I notice.








What I love about these more than anything is that I can quickly look at students forms that are at the same level or similar and identify similar needs! This helps me to form lessons for either whole group or small group lessons.

If you're interested in this product head directly to this product by clicking any of the images in this post!


Happy teaching!
-Emily

Sight Word Data

DATA! It is probably one word that will never not be a buzz in the educational world. It can be time consuming to gather, track and analyze, but let's be honest, its a true necessity in our lives as teachers. I'm not the biggest fan (I'm keeping things honest here), but I live for the data. I use data in so many ways. I love to see the kiddo's grow and I love how easily small group lessons can be created just by glancing at some data.

How do we get the kiddo's invested in their data... especially when they are just little firsties. For starters, there's no easy way given the rules regarding display of names, fear of students (or their parents)  being upset when comparing theirs to others, among a variety of other things.

For our sight word data, I found (what I think to be) the (or my) perfect solution... My students would each get an ice cream cone! I mean, ice cream... what first grader won't get excited about ice cream. Low and behold, they were THRILLED!

Watching their ice cream cones grow excited them beyond belief!

What I LOVE about this bulletin board set is that it can be virtually set up ANYWHERE! In this photo my classroom display is on our class bathroom door! I print the scoops on colored paper and coordinate by level. The students color their cones. What is great about this however, is that students can also color their own scoops as they make progress! 

This is something else I LOVE because, let's face it, this girl 

has a bit of OCD. I keep this form in my data binder and track student progress and set goals with the students. Included with this pack is also all the sight word lists for the Dolche words. I allow them to color their own scoop as they progress to make it more exciting for them! 

Also, included in this product are all the dolche sight word lists so that you can assess your students! Click any of the above images to head directly to the product in my TPT store! 

Happy Teaching!

Emily