Monster FREEBIE: A Present for YOU!!!

 HAPPY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME...TO ME!!!

My family and I spent the weekend at our local amusement park celebrating my baby boy's 5th birthday.  He's not such a baby anymore!!  Here is the party crew of superheroes.  My boys are in the middle...Batman and Robin!  Gavin chose 2 friends from his preschool...one boy and one girl.  They had a blast! 

 I even got to ride the carousel with my little Landen.  He actually sat still for the entire ride...that doesn't happen very often!

We had such a great time enjoying the fall festivities and celebrating our birthdays.  My hubby even took me on the tallest, fastest, and longest roller coaster in the southeast.  He apparently saw the camera on the top of the coaster and was quick witted enough to think to make a silly face.  I was too worried about losing my sandals and the possibility of walking around barefoot the rest of the day!  HAHA!!

So since it's my birthday now...I have a present for YOU!!!
If you love the movie Monster's Inc., you are going to LOVE these cute literacy center activities featuring those adorable monsters.

 The ABC Order game will feature nasty monster words.  LOL!  YUCK!!

 The syllable counting game will have students practicing the phonemes in a word.

 Monster Boggle will have your kiddos building words with the boggle board.

You will receive the following 10 literacy centers:

ABC Order: Put 3 monster words in order alphabetically
Building Words: Create words using the word “Monster's Inc.”
Word Wall: practice Writing word wall words (letters: B, U, G)
Syllable Counting: Say the word and count the sounds
Rhyming Words: See if the two words on the card rhyme
Nonsense Words: Read the word to see if it’s a real word
Boggle: Use the boggle board to make words
Graph a Word: Graph words by rolling a die
Sorting Sentences: Read and record telling and asking sentences
Spooky Stories: Read a monster story and write about it

I hope you love your monster FREEBIE!!!  Enjoy your Monday!!

 

Creepy Creatures, Numbers/Place Value Assessment, Tens Frames

Hello bloggy friends!  I hope you all are off to a wonderful start to your school year and have your routines set in your classrooms.  I finally feel like I'm in a groove and I'm loving it! :-)  Sorry for such a long post:  I have a lot to say...it's been a while! :-)  Anyway, here is my new download for my October literacy center activities.  Click on any of the pictures to download all 10 literacy center activities.

 
 We have been busy in math since the start of the school year teaching numbers and place value.  I was a little apprehensive to begin math this year because my county has changed the way we teach the common core.  Last year, we spiraled each topic throughout the year and only really taught each for a week...then moved on. When we taught numbers and place value, we spread it out over the entire school year.  This year, we are teaching numbers 1-120 in it's entirety by the end of October. 

Over the summer, I was part of the Units by Design training team and we learned how to keep each chunk of the common core together instead of breaking it up in small, week-by-week chunks.  We started with math only and we came up with a math curriculum map that our entire county uses now.  We used several research based programs and theories to guide our thinking/decision making when we planned the progression of each chunk of the common core.  Here is what we came up with:

This curriculum map allows us to spend the more time on the most important topic in math.  We decided that numbers and place value was the most essential for first graders to learn. We have been teaching every aspect of numbers and place value since the beginning of the school year.  I feel that my students will really have a grasp of all numbers 1-120 by the end of October and this wonderful foundation we have created will really develop their addition/subtraction skills needed in the next unit.

The first step in the UBD process is to create an assessment so you know exactly where you want your students to go.  Here is the assessment that I made for unit 1:

  Click HERE to download this entire Unit 1 assessment for FREE.  We have just a few more weeks until we give our assessment and I really feel like my class is going to be ready!!  Last week we practiced using tens frames to show numbers and we incorporated a little technology with the ipads.  Here is a video of one of my kids using the drawing app to make the number 19 with tens frames (don't mind the background noise):

I hope you like our new way of teaching math and look forward to our next unit: Addition/Subtraction.  Have a wonderful week!

Excited for October!!

October is almost here, which means it's almost time for my sweet Gavin to celebrate his 5th birthday!! With us both having October birthdays, we look forward to the leaves changing colors and all the Halloween festivities the month brings. As I prepare for his big birthday bash I have been busy creating invitations for his big day.
He chose to have an alternative party this year, instead of the traditional Chuck E. Cheese or home party. So we will be heading to our local theme park for a fun filled day of rides, Halloween festivities, trick-or-treating, and a costume parade. Check out my little "batman" in the invitation that I created for his birthday. If you are in need of invitations for any event, I can create those for you. I usually send the picture to Walmart and have them print it on photo paper. They look great printed on card stock as well. This year, we're doing digital RSVP's so I just sent the invites by email. Saves paper and stamps! :-)

Down on the Farm: My Literacy Centers

NEW!!  Just posted my new format for my literacy centers this year.  Our next theme for September will be farms and I have created this literacy center pack to use in my center bins.  Each of my students have a center schedule that tells them which literacy center activity to do each day.  

I will be posting more information soon on how I teach reading and how I manage my classroom during that time.  Check back soon for those documents.  Have a wonderful Monday!

Ultimate Number Sense Game Pack GIVEAWAY

I hope you all have had a great start to your school year and are ready to dive into the Common Core.  I have just uploaded a huge resource pack to help you teach number sense to your first graders.  This game pack contains 169 pages of full color games including numbers in sets, number words, tallies, base ten blocks, and more.  Click on the pictures below to check it out! 

The first person to guess the name of my favorite candy will win this Ultimate Number Sense Game Pack for FREE!!  Good Luck!!  Be sure to leave your email address in your comment.

Have a great week everyone!