Starting the New Year with Organization

Happy New Year!

I hope that you are all settled into your back to school routine.  It was a busy week in first grade and as much as I love my first graders I was 'a tad' tired by Friday and ready for the weekend! ;)

We started the week by creating toasts from Katie Mense's New Year pack - they turned out adorably!!!!  You can find her pack HERE.

My kiddos were then thrilled to solve the mystery of my free New Year's Place Value Mystery Picture.  You can download a copy HERE.

I spent much of the holidays organizing at home ... closets, the kitchen... I actually accomplished a lot!

Once I got back to school I created new bin labels for my Monday to Friday bins.  Let's face it - a cute work space is essential!

You can download the labels for free HERE.

Happy New Year friends!

How I use Sight Words and a freebie (or two)

Yesterday morning I posted a picture on Instagram of the Sight Words Pouches (pencil cases) that I picked up at Target.  Since then I've received a number of emails wondering how I store / use sight words.  Here's a peek into my sight word routine.

First, the picture I posted of the cutest pouches.

At the beginning of the year I stock up on recipe cards at the dollar store.  Each time I teach a new sight word I have the students print the word on a card and store it in their pouch.  The pouches travel home for practice but are returned to school so we can use them each day for practice (see the game below) and to add more.

I jazz them up with a label for the front.  Click HERE to download my labels. I have formatted them to fit on AVERY 5163 labels.  There are 10 on a sheet so I only needed to use 3 sheets :)

One of the games my kiddos love to play is an idea I picked up from a co-worker years ago.  It is called WORDO  - think bingo but no bingo markers!  You can download a copy for FREE by clicking on the picture or HERE.

I've included the directions with the game, but basically students choose 6 words from their pouch and place them on their playing card (which I print 11X17).  The teacher (or caller) calls out sight words and if the player has it they remove it from their card (NO MARKERS NEEDED!).  The winner is the player who clears their card first. EASY PEASY!!!  My students ask to play it ALL.THE.TIME!

I hope you enjoy these sight word freebies :)

If you have ideas for how I can use sight words in my classroom I'd love to hear them.

Organizing Math Stations in your classroom

If you are a regular visitor here you know that I LOVE math work stations.  Well, I have posted a product that will explain how I implement them in my classroom and provide you with everything you need to get started :)

You'll find:
-some tips for your classroom
-binder cover and spine to keep you organized
-planning sheets
-table numbers signs
-students name cards and number cards
-pocket chart sign
-student expectation anchor chart

I am especially in love with my new table signs.  I've made them 4X6 so they will fit in any frame, but aren't these ones that I picked up at Michael's absolutely perfect?!?!

I've put these on sale in my TPT store HERE for the rest of tonight and tomorrow :)

Happy Organizing!!

I just might like collecting data this year!

The expectations for collecting and using data increases every year in my district.  I am very good at keeping running records, writing rubrics, etc in student binders, but last year I also kept a 'teacher copy' - a go-to binder that listed current running record levels, behavior notes, etc.  But ... it wasn't pretty.  This year I'm keeping this one on my desk on a place for everyone to see!

I'm not loving my inkjet printer right now ... so while I dream about a new one I had these pages printed at Staples.  Seriously, I ordered it online and it was done before I got there!  I also included black & white pages not only as a save your ink option but wouldn't they be ADORABLE if they were colored in by your students???  Here's a peek:

I've posted this in my TPT store HERE as a zipped file.  It contains a PDF version and an EDITABLE Powerpoint (with instructions) for you to personalize your own.

I'm heading out to run some errands, but when I return I'll send a copy to 3 RANDOM people who leave a comment on this post.
We have 3 winners!!