Sub Plans and Word Work!

I cannot believe how fast time goes! Days just fly by...well most of them! Some days can be brutal! Overall, most have been great and each day just gets better! I had to write my first set of sub plans and I hope they are okay! I do so much on the smart board, my calendar, word work, my mini lessons, my math, my writing...that is almost my entire day! With that being said writing sub plans were difficult because I am not going to assume that he/she knows how to use a smartboard. What do you all have students do when you are out and have a sub?

I really thought back about what we have been learning and did a lot of worksheets that correlated to those concepts. We have been doing tons of work on sums to 10! So the lovely Kathy Law over at First Grade a la Carte did a color by the code with sums to 10! Thank you Kathy there is my math time for tomorrow!

Fingers crossed that my plans are detailed enough and he/she doesn't hate me for not leaving enough details!

On another note Daily 2 has been progressing well in my class. The kiddos Reading Muscles (stamina) is keeps teetering around 18-19 minutes! That is almost 20 so I am very proud! We have also started word work! Yes I know this is out of order, but being a new teacher I was having a hard time getting my students into good fit books! Luckily, my school just got a huge order of leveled books to go along with Houghton Mifflin! Yahoo! I hope to start read to someone after fall break!

Back to word work! I was freaking out last time I posted and you fellow bloggers are so supportive! The lovely Miss Cosby over at You Might be a First Grader... helped me add a station to my word work! Nonsense Word Fluency Mini Unit! Yay!

I have fell in love and so have my kiddos! With the DIBELS Next nonsense word fluency is a huge component and this unit is so helpful with nonsense words!

So far their favorite game is Real or Make-Believe.

I had some foam blocks I got at the dollar store over the summer and I made letter dice. So I had two dice that were the same color and then one that is red. The two dice have consonants and the red one has vowels! It is so funny to see what words they think are make believe and hear little giggles coming from that station during word work! If your kiddos could use help with nonsense words I would definitely recommend this mini-unit! Click here to pick up the unit or here to stop by Miss Cosby's blog!

I hope you are all having a great Sunday! Hope to get back into the swing of blogging and I get more in the groove with teaching!

Wonderful Find for Word Work!

So I have been trying to implement the Daily 5 in my class! We are at the Daily 1 right now doing read to self! Being a new teacher I am having a hard time having enough "just right" books for my kiddos so our stamina was stuck at 7-8 minutes. Then I was told of old Harcourt decodables in the bookroom at my school and picked those up! Yesterday and today my kiddos read for 10 and 10 1/2 minutes! I was so proud of them! I am thinking that the same thing is going to happen with our time going up until we flatten out again. So, I was talking with my teammate and she began word work with her class this week. HOLD ON...first year teacher problem...I have not accumulated all these wonderful materials like stamps and wiki-sticks and so on to have word work stations!

TARGET TO THE RESCUE! Target just put out their new dollar spot items yesterday! I was checking it out and WALLAH! I found sets of alphabet stamps for $1! I grabbed 3 and wish I would have grabbed a few more. They are small, but for a 1st year teacher on a budget I am thrilled with the find! I ran next door to Michaels and grabbed some ink stamps, also for $1. Here is how my sets turned out!

The tub is from Pei Wei. Yes, I still eat like my firsties! I rock the kids meal! When my honey and I order to-go we ask for extra sauce and it comes in these beauties! I keep each one! They always come in handy!

Now I just have to get all of my other stations/centers ready for the start of next week! What are some of your kiddos favorite word work stations? That colorful 10-drawer caddy is sure coming in handy for organization!

Have a wonderful evening and a great rest of the week!

Wow! 1 month down!

Hi all! I am so sorry for being completely MIA for the past month. Being a first year teacher I feel like I have NO time! I am always thinking about something and have feeling like I am always a step behind. This is hard because I like to be 5 steps ahead. I have been on a total roller coaster. I will feel great one day and then come home and cry for like 2 hours some days. So again I apologize for being MIA, I have just been engulfed with my classroom and school.

Anyways...I did have a giveaway winner for my Classroom Friendly Supplies Giveaway! I will be contacting Nichole C. soon!

Also, I need to review the wonderful pencil sharpener!

Good things:
-It is QUIET! I mean any pencil sharpener makes noise, but when I am on opposite side of the room and a student is sharpening their pencil I can't hear it! AmAzIng!
-It makes the pencils really sharp! Luckily my kiddos don't write super hard so pencils are not always breaking, but they stay sharp for days! It is wonderful to not have kids always needing to sharpen pencils!
-It is pretty simple to use. I had not explained pencil sharpening rules yet and one of my kiddos decided to use it anyways! The student figured it out!

The only thing that sometimes is a pain is the piece that anchors it to a desk, doesn't always work. It tilts and the kiddos sometimes make a mess with spilt pencil shavings! No worries! Simple solution: head to local hardware store and pick up a longer anchor!

Thank you so much Classroom Friendly Supplies for making such a wonderful product!

Wow okay I need to get back into the routine of blogging. I miss seeing all of the wonderful ideas and sharing my ideas! Have a great weekend! We all deserve it!