I hope you are all enjoying your Presidents Day.  I have family in town this week so we are heading down to Disney to spend the day at the pool with our Rhode Island cousins!  They are so excited to be out of the snow and cold...

I have to say I have been a wee bit envious of all the snow days everywhere, but I don't miss the snow and cold.  This winter here in Florida has been too cold for this girl whose blood has THINNED!  So we are excited we are finally climbing back in the 80's this week!  Now I remember why I moved to Florida 20 years ago! (OK- that and I met dear hubby:)

Happy Presidents Day!

Wow!  We made it through a Friday with a full moon AND Valentine's Day!  Let's just say it was tiring.  The best was when a firstie asked if my present to them could be no spelling test!  Good try:)





A tried and true Valentine favorite is candy heart graphs.  The kids {heart} this activity and a little graphing review is always a welcomed treat (especially when it involves food)!

Opinion writing 101 is a recap of our opinion writing journey through the past month.  I decided to nix our reading series writing lessons for the month and really focus on opinion writing for the ENTIRE month! 

This is not to say that I, or even my class, has mastered opinion writing.  We are FAR from that!  However, by building daily on our craft, I  have seen more growth than I saw the entire first semester!

This intentional deviation from our reading series started while we were working on the Common Core Standard:

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.1.1 Write opinion pieces in which they introduce the topic or name the book they are writing about, state an opinion, supply a reason for the opinion, and provide some sense of closure.

At that point in time, we were engaged in a Jan Brett author study.  Ahhh, this was the perfect time to jump into opinion writing and have the students give their opinion on a Jan Brett book!  WRONG!!!! After a few lessons and lots of modeling, I sent them on their way.  What I saw was LOTS of story RETELLING.

Wait! Stop! Backup! My first graders couldn't tell me a reason for their opinion.  We had worked so hard on narrative stories and retellings, they couldn't quite transition to UNDERSTANDING how to backup their opinion.

So out of necessity, we backed up and worked on giving our opinions about a particular topic.  This seemed a little easier and with lots of modeling and this very ugly not so pretty chart, we were on our way!


I promise a new chart is in the making, but my kids just needed to have a visual with a suggested way to get started! 

My go to unit was Common Core Aligned:  Winter Writing Prompts and Pages.  You can check out Lindsay's blog post about it over at A Year of Many Firsts.  Our favorite prompt at the writing center included "Do you think children should be able to wear pajamas to school?".  Her journal prompt cards are ADORABLE and my kids ate them up!

Another favorite go to is Writing Rubrics Megapack for the primary grades. You can check out more over at Sarah's First grade Snippets.

We celebrated 100 Days of School on Monday and the kids had a ball.  More importantly was the enthusiasm that spread through the room through reading, mash and even writing!




The kids were given a letter and a Zip-lock attached last Thursday asking them to find a collection of 100 things that would fit in a sandwich bag over the weekend.  We had pennies, Legos, hair bands, toys, garden rocks, baseball cards, and colored rubber bands. We sorted in piles of 10.  A few cuties came up short and were reminded to go back to recount!  All was fine as each collection had 100.

We then used the collections today to introduce non-standard measurement and talked about how all the objects had to be the same size and shape.


The highlight of the day was the AMAZING "When I am 100" projects.  The students wrote funny stories and created my favorite Deanna Jump 100 day art portraits.  I know it is hard to read, but this little sweetie wrote that she will be wearing dentures and living at an old folks home!  Too funny:)


As the 100th day came to a close, I have to say that it makes me a little sad that this year is more than half way over.  I LOVE my class this year and am so proud of their growth.

My kiddos are super excited they are learning their Fry Words!  I have been using my Fry word packs during Daily 5 and as a homework extension to differentiate learning instruction.

I have broken down the first 500 Fry words into units.  Each 100 word unit comes with a master check off sheet for assessment, take home sheets for practice with parents, flash cards for classroom practice and an award for each 100 words learned!  Each 100 word unit comes in its own theme for easy storage and organization:)

I have shared these units with my team and everyone seems to take and use it in a different way.  I love when a product (that I create or purchase) can be adapted and changed to fit my needs.  My sweet friend and teaching buddy Robin went to McDonalds and had French fry containers donated. 


I finally made my way there (for another reason than a Diet Coke!) and begged asked very nicely for 20 French fry containers. The cashiers thought I lost my mind (and maybe I have:)... and after clarification that I wanted EMPTY containers and a manager's approval, I FINALLY got them.

Each child's name is written on the inside of the container and each  week they can earn a French Fry for their container.  I have never seen such excitement over French Fries that CAN'T be eaten!!

I do have to say that I modified the process for my class.  In addition to the 6 high frequency words from our Wonders series that every child is accountable for, I have assigned 4 Fry words to each child's weekly words that are TESTED and GRADED on Fridays. 

 

OK, truth be told, I have NO IDEA  why my pictures are loading sideways, but I will retake the pictures tomorrow:)  On the left is my master check off and on the right is a picture of the bottom of my newsletter.  I have the 6 Wonders words listed and then I write in each child's 4 additional words.  It takes a bit of time, but I have a system finally going and I love the differentiation. 

The Fry words that the child is able to successfully read are written on the yellow "Fry" and added to the McDonalds French Fry container.  Children are able to pull them and practice with a partner occasionally.  If a child misses a word, they get the same word the following week with a * in front of it to remind the parent, the student and myself that this word is challenging to the student and needs extra practice. 

I have also bundles the Fry Words 1-500 into the Mega Bundle.  If you would like to see more, click HERE! 


I would LOVE to hear what you do to differentiate your sight word practice!  Leave me a note or pin this unit and leave the URL and I will give one away on Thursday! 

The "love of reading" is a concept,  hope, reality in my classroom this year. Now don't get me wrong, given the choice of recess or reading they would definitely choose recess... But when all is said and done, there has been a reading "buzz", if you will, in my room this year.

I want to shout it from the roof tops!  We all work really hard teaching reading, but I believe I have done 3 things differently this year that together have made a difference.


I have leveled my classroom library with AR levels.  I have pulled and sorted books with K-2 grade AR levels and put them in baskets on a separate book shelf.  I do use the Daily 5 framework and know that the "Sisters" discourage this, but I believe it has truly helped my kids this year.  In addition to the ease, they waste less time looking for a book on their reading level as they are grouped together.  (Note: This picture is from preplanning and all baskets weren't out and labeled...)


I have consistently been assigning fluency passages EVERY week.  I have used Jody Southard's Monthly Fluency Passages along with her Monthly Songs and Poems.  My kids take home the fluency passage and practice it for homework for 3 nights.  There is even a sign off on the bottom of the page for parents.  We work on the same poem in class and add it to our poetry notebooks.  The kids then practice their poems during the "Read to Partner" portion of Daily 5.  The units can be purchased monthly, seasonally or a Year of Fluency all at once!

Happy New Year!  Hope you all had a safe and happy New Year's Eve and a restful day!  We had a very early dinner with cousins, dropped off the boys at their grandparents and poor hubby was sleeping by 10:00 as he is battling a horrible head cold.

As it is the first second day of the month, I am linking up with Farley at Oh' Boy Fourth Grade for Currently.


This month Farley has some great links at the bottom of her post if you need some help linking up.  I remember it took me three months to figure it out!  (OK, I know that I am technology challenged!!) Then be sure to comment on the two blogs before you and one after you to share the love and maybe meet a new friend:)



I am loving lazy vacation days, sleeping in, surfing my favorite blogs, watching tv and staying up late:) I even boxed up all my Christmas ornaments this week into these super cute boxes and didn't wrap one.  Fingers crossed they all make it to next year! I picked up 3 and went back for one more and they were already SOLD OUT!  I {love}organization.


I am truly blessed and so thankful for my little family.  God is good. I am committed to spending less and saving more this year.  One of our family hopes is for a cruise the summer of 2015.  Justin will be graduating from middle school and Zach from elementary.  Sounds like a perfect time for a celebration:)

I have completed my Score! {Fry Words 401-500} pack and would love to give one  away. It includes an assessment page (100 words), flash cards, take home lists (25 words each) and a certificate of mastery.

I will be giving one away Friday night.   Just leave a comment with your One Little Word or New Year Resolution along with your EMAIL please!