My First Reading Book

It's Throw Back Thursday on my Blog

Today I am writing about 1st grade.  I could hardly wait to start reading. My First Grade reading books were, Dick Jane, and Sally by Scott, Foresman and Company. I loved the characters in the book!
I especially loved Baby Sally and Puff the little Kitten.  I 
thought they were both so cute.  I also thought Tim the Teddy Bear was very funny.

 I was in a combination first and second grade classroom. There were about 10 first graders and about 15 second graders.  My teacher would alternate teaching between the two classes. While one class would work at their desk with seat work, she would be instructing the other class.

I could hardly wait to start reading!There were little brown wooden chairs placed in a circle at the back of the room and my teacher would call all the first graders over.  We had to sit on the chairs with our feet flat on the floor and our hands on our lap.
First we would go over the vocabulary(bowcabulary) words.  She had a pocket chart with the long words cards and a pointer stick to point to each word as we read them.  Finally we would get our books! We would practice reading our books aloud, each having a turn, around the circle of chairs.

It's fun to remember!

Pocket Chart Assessments

I 'm not all about testing and assessing kids.  Too much time in a day is being spent testing when I think good enrichment, books, and language are important.  I know assessment and testing is the current rage so that's what we do.  Don't get me wrong I know we still have to assess, but a one day "testing" is only a snapshot of the child for that day.  

One way I assess is using a pocket chart and cards. 

 I wanted to assess my kiddos in a "Blink of an Eye" and be consistent in the skill I am teaching over a duration of time.

Pocket Chart Cards

A Year Long Assessment

Before school starts I assign numbers to the kids according to alphabetical order of first or last names, do what's best for you.  (Example:1- Amy, 2- Beau)  I want the kids to know a number I've assigned them. The number order is important because I use it all year long for everything! 

 The kids pick up a wallet size picture of themselves and put their picture in the pocket chart according to their number.  

After the first month of school I start assessing other learning  skills. The kids continue to put their picture in the pocket chart, but now I have the assessing card in the chart. They have to take out the card and either write down an answer or tell me the answer.  (For example: shape cards) This is how I do it, the kids take the shape card out of the pocket chart and replace it with a picture card.  Now look at the card and identify the shapes on the card.  Come over to the teacher and say the names of the shapes on the card. With older kiddos they may even write the names of the shapes on paper.

It's a quick assessment can be done each day.   I don't keep track of the assessment in a record book, but I will jot down something I need to remember or want to note as an area of concern for a kiddo or a skill that I need to work on more in the classroom.

I put the cards in the pocket chart each morning.  It is one of the morning jobs the kiddos must do each day when they come to school. 

If the children need paper to write an answer, I have the kids write their “number” on a piece of paper, to  make sure everyone has done the assessment, and it is also where I may want to jot a comment.

I laminate some the cards because they are handled so much.  I keep the cards in a small file box. I put the cards in the pocket chart in random order because it is assessing the same skill.  I always have plenty of paper cut up to write the answers for the assessing cards.

The "Table of Contents" lists the skills I assess.

This is so quick and easy and gives a good understanding of each child. 

I have this product in my TPT store and it is also bundled in my August-September Lesson Plan Bundle.  If you are interested in a quick assessment for your kiddos check this out!

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/The-Teacher-Bin

Throw Back Thursday on my blog!

My sister told me on Facebook, Thursday is a Throw Back day!  I decided it was also going to be Throw Back Thursday on my blog too!  When I went to kindergarten, it was only a six week program, but I can remember it like yesterday. There were only 12 kids in my class, 9 boys and 3 girls.  Here is my kindergarten desk. It was bolted on a  rail with 4 or 5 other desks.  I sat in the front seat, so there was an empty seat on the front.  (I brought my little  desk to school and let my Special helper of the day sit and work on his/her projects and activities,  to say the least, it was popular!)

Now that I am thinking of kindergarten here are a few more memories of my kindergarten. We had coloring sheets of Nursery Rhymes and we made a book of Mother Goose Nursery Rhymes.  I can still smell the mimeographed sheets and the crayons.  We also did a Nursery Rhyme play. I was Old Mother Hubbard. I remember playing with clay and making  Humpty  Dumpty. 
Duck, Duck Gray Duck was the popular outside game.   There was nap time which I HATED!  I was never chosen to be the Wake-up Fairy because you had to be a  good napper to get that job.  I also invited one of the boys in the class to come over to my house and stay a night, so he got on the bus with me and went home.  He didn't get to stay a night.

Until next Throw Back Thursday, it was fun to remember!

Boggle Jr.

Do you want a great game for Word Work in your classroom?

A game I love to have is Boggle Jr.   Anytime I go to a garage sale or a Goodwill it is the first thing I look for, I  can't pass up the game!   I like the picture cards that come with the game, they have a picture and word on each side.  I try to stay away from the Boggle Jr games that have the tray with the  built in clock, it's a  distraction!  The kiddos spend more time winding the timer than playing the game.  We don't play it according to the directions.  I give it a name like

Word Work Boggle Jr. or _____ Word Contest

Contests are very motivating!  I have material list and directions on how to play .

Materials needed for each kiddo

A Boggle tray

Word sheet 

Picture cards

letter cubes

How to play the game:

The kiddo picks a picture card and sets it on the Boggle Tray.

Next finds letter cubes to spell the word on the tray.

Once the word has been spelled, the kiddo must show a buddy at the table, that the card word matches the cubes.

If it's correct, the kiddo can write the word on the Boggle sheet.

Winning the Game

I have many options!

Single game-I have a certain number of words that must be written on the Boggle sheet. 

Team Game-A table group must have a certain number of words written before the time is up.

Class Game-Set a goal for the amount of words to be written for the whole classroom.

Of course if you win there is always some type of reward!

You can find the form in my TPT store

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/The-Teacher-Bin

Movement Break

My teacher friend introduced me to the great sights on You-Tube, Kids Dance 2.   It is perfect for all the restless times or transitions in a day.  I put it up on the smart board and the kids start dancing!
They love the music and the movement.  You need to preview the song and dance you want to use.
The kids have ideas of what they'd want, but if you are prepared with your list all goes well.  One of the favorites in kindergarten is You're a Gummy Bear.   It is so funny to watch those little kiddos show their moves.

This is a great transition break. It really depends on your kids and the restlessness.  At the end of the year I used this several times!  The videos are about 3 minutes long and by the time they finish dancing a couple of videos they are ready to work.  

photo credit: Dick_Morgan via photopin cc

Classroom Game-Give the Dog a Bone

 Often times our noon also means no outside time. We play the Smart board game "Give the Dog a Bone".  It is a timed game on a blank 100 square grid. The object of the game is to locate the correct square for a number that is shown.  The game is on a timer. The kiddos are put into teams, for my kids it is  the tables they sit at.   Four chairs are lined up at the side of the smart board, as soon as the timer begins the kiddo in the first chair goes up and located the number space, then it the next child and that continues until one minute is up.  I keep track of the total score numbers found.   We play 5 rounds.  This may take a couple of days, but the kids sure love it.  The kids are very attentive and get excited during play.
Table 1=____ _____ _____ _____ _____
Table 2=____ _____ _____ _____ _____
Table 3=____ _____ _____ _____ _____

I  have rules during during our game
No one can tell the players the square the number should be in.
Everyone is good sports during the games.

At the end of the 5 rounds the winning kiddos have their names put on an award in the hallway.

You can get the award in my TPT store as a Freebie

Morning News Charts

My summer "Back School Blog" choice is Morning Charts.

My morning charts are "News" of the day.  I know I could do it on a smart board, but my kiddos love taking home the chart for their special helper day.  As the year goes on the chart becomes a learning text.  I usually don't write the whole message until the kiddos are in the circle and it becomes interactive.

 What I do is get the school calendar for the  and then buy 4 charts.  I just write the greeting, date, and important events for that particular date.

As the year goes on I start to leave out words, dates, etc. and the special helper fills in the missing information.  By the end of the year I like the special helper to fill in most of the information, including the greeting.

The chart is written for the day, but does not go home until the next day, because we read the old news first and then tear it off and start the new day.