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 

CKLA Vocabulary!

Happy Fall Everyone!

So I'm here today to share with you a product I am SO excited about! Last November, my district invited big important curriculum people into our school and they evaluated our teaching to the common core standards. Long story short- it resulted in a new curriculum. Yep- in November 2016 we completely dropped Readers and Writers workshop (yes, I cried- a lot) and adopted Core Knowledge Language Arts curriculum for better alignment to the common core. This was a HUGE change. These units are now topic based, content heavy, and all read aloud with a focus on comprehension and vocabulary development. The research and data is there to support our districts feelings. Instead of resisting and being upset, I made the decision to find a way to make this mainly scripted curriculum into my own! One way to do that is by creating resources (my favorite thing to do!).

The curriculum has SO many great vocabulary development lessons, but I needed the resources for them.... So here I am with Core Knowledge Vocabulary!

CKLA identifies many words for each read aloud for each domain. However, they focus on one essential vocabulary word for each story. They suggest you do a variety of actives. When I start a new story, I like to make sure I have the key vocabulary word hanging up on an anchor chart of on the board. 

These word cards have the word, the definition directly from CKLA and the part of speech. In the top corner you will notice that I included the domain and story. This is to make your teacher life a little easier! 

When it comes time for the practice of the key vocabulary word, CKLA identifies many different activities for you to do. Some of them suggest drawing and writing, while others are just a discussion about the word. I found this was the time I wanted my kids to be writing because there isn't a great deal of writing in CKLA Listening & Learning (it is in the Skills portion). Also, after beginning the implementation of CKLA last year, I found that when my kids were writing and drawing, they were able to own the word a little more. 

Some activities are examples and non examples- a research based technique on teaching vocabulary! 

Others are writing about the word!

The prep for this product is designed to be a little as possible! I like to make things easy for teachers. The Bundle is in my store as a GROWING bundle. As of right now there are 5 domains up and only 6 domains need to be added. By purchasing the growing bundle, you save 20%. Click on any of the images to head right to the product and check it out. 

Upload Schedule for Remaining Domains: 

Domain 6- 9/30
Domain 7- 10/15
Domain 8- 10/29
Domain 9- 11/12
Domain 10- 12/3
Domain 11- 12/17

All will be uploaded before January! 

Thanks for stopping by to learn more about this product!! Please reach out with any questions! 

Let's Talk Place Value

Oh boy, place value... I guess I have a love/hate relationship with the concept in first grade. How can I get my kiddo's to understand that 1 ten is actually 10 ones? How do I keep them from sitting there and counting out every cube on a tens rod?

In order to start from the beginning of the year and build on throughout the year, whether the unit we are doing is place value or not, I incorporate place value into my daily calendar. Easy and quick to add to your daily routine and I can say I have seen a great improvement in their place value sense from year to year the more I work on this in implement in in more ways.

For each day of the week we add a straw, identify the number of hundred, tens, and ones. Then we always count by either 1's, 2's, 5's or 10's! You can get the pocket chart here!

Something that I have added more recently is writing the expanded form of the number. Our math curriculum isn't really hitting this standard too much so I thought it was an essential component to add to our calendar as well. I simply have a dry erase center strip that I picked up from the dollar spot months ago and we complete the expanded form for the number of the day each day.

Beyond that, I incorporate center activities weekly. My firsties are a very active, hands on bunch this year who needs visual learning. With the help of these centers I have been able to give them just that and see their place value knowledge expand!

Here are their two favorite center activities!

With this activity students make a puzzle by match the tens and ones of a given number (the bottom of the circle). This is a firstie favorite in room 103 and ideal for groups of 2-3. Keeping the puzzle pieces organized is key for this center. I usually separate the number from the 10's and 1's just to ensure I am organized.

Now this is a center that they BEG me to pull out on our center activity days. I mean, anything with ice cream cones is cool for a  first grader, right ;). For this, students match the cones with the number to its corresponding scoop of expanded form, ones, and tens.

Included with this pack are a few printables that are great for a pre/post assessment or for homework as well as more centers that are available to see if you visit my TPT store or this product directly by clicking any of the images above or down below!

CLICK HERE TO HEAD DIRECTLY TO THE PRODUCT !

Thanks for stopping by! Be sure to check back often for more :)

--Emily

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