Saturday, September 29, 2012

Happy Fall TpT Sale- 50% Off!!

I'm having a HUGE TpT sale this weekend!  

I've reached 200 followers on Pinterest and I LOVE fall so I thought this would be a good weekend to throw a big sale!


Click on my picture to head to my TpT store and get 50% off everything over a dollar!  
Click here to follow me on Pinterest:  Follow Me on Pinterest

If you leave me a comment with your Pinterest address I'll be sure to check it out!! 

Happy Fall and Happy Shopping!   :)

Friday, September 28, 2012

Fantabulous Friday Freebie and October Activity Pack

Happy Friday!

I haven't felt well this week so this is going to be short!  I had to post for Fantabulous Friday Freebie.  :)

We have weekly class meetings in our school as part of our anti-bullying program.  This week I used Natalie's How I Will Stop Bullying Anchor Chart and class book.  We discussed what bullying is and how we can stop it when it does happen.  
With all of our efforts to stop bullying, it does still exist and students need to know what to do when they see it happening.  I printed Natalie's anchor chart and it is hanging up in our room.  We also made the book that goes with it.  We listed as many things as we could think of to prevent bullying and how to stop it when we see it happening and then students put their book together to take home as a reminder.  

Click here to go grab this wonderful freebie and click here to visit her blog.  Make sure you show your thanks and leave her some feedback if you grab her cute freebie!  She has lots of cute things in her store so take a look around while you're there!!  :)

I also finished up my October Activity Pack this week.  Click on the first picture below to go grab it at my TpT store.  It's on *sale* for only $1.50 until Sunday.  





I'll give this away to the first 3 people who leave me a comment!  I can't believe it's almost October already!! 

Make sure you become a follower while you're here so you can catch all of these Fantabulous Friday Freebies and new pack giveaways!!  :)

Sunday, September 23, 2012

Class Dojo Freebies!

Have you heard of Class Dojo?!  

I have to share this great resource with you.  It is a FREE and VERY EASY to use classroom management tool that my school has started using this year.  Our school was able to hire an assistant principal this year and he shared this great tool with us.  Now quite a few teachers at school are using it.  I absolutely love it and my kiddos are crazy about it!!  

Here are some pics to show you as I explain how it works: 
The website is www.classdojo.com and it is completely free!  Basically every student has their own avatar (silly monster) and they can earn points for positive behaviors (you pick) or lose points for negative behaviors.  The website keeps track of how many points each kiddo has.  Teachers, Parents, and Students can create accounts and log-in.  It only takes about five minutes to register your class.  Just go to the website, click on log-in as teacher and create your account.  Once you list your students' names you're ready to go! 

When you first log in there will be a list of positive and negative behaviors already there.  You can use these or modify them and make your own.  I have been adding behaviors as they come up in class so that parents know exactly why their student earned or lost a point. Just type in the behavior you want and choose a picture to go with it. Easy-Peasy! Now you just click on your kiddo and give or take a point.  A list of all the behaviors will show up and you just click the one you need.  It also makes a noise so the kiddos can hear it.  They will know if someone earned a point or lost a point.   You can also use your iPhone or iPad with Class Dojo.  They have a new app and it's wonderful!   
I wanted to see what my students and parents saw when they logged in so I created an avatar for my hubby first and then for myself.  I'm always teasing my kiddos that I earned a point for something good I did so they thought it was great that I have my own avatar.  The 3 and 5 are how many points we have earned.  :)  The circles are green because those are positive points.  They turn red when students have negative points.  

At the end of the week you will see this behavior report.  This is my entire class at the end of our week a couple weeks ago while I'm logged in as teacher.  You can enter an email address for your parents and send them an email each week showing their child's behavior report.  They will only receive their child's report, not the entire class.  For kiddos who don't have access to internet at home, you can create a student account for them using your email address and then when you email the reports out print theirs and send home a paper copy. 
This is an individual student's report.  It's actually for my avatar which is why there is a 0% on the chart.  I didn't earn any points that week!  :)  It lists how students earned and lost points on the side so parents know how their kiddo is doing.  You can also include a comment for each day so if you need to explain something you can leave a comment for parents.  So far I have just written a quick note to congratulate the kiddos that have gotten 10 points.

One of the coolest things about Class Dojo is that students can log in themselves and create their own avatar anytime they want.  This is the one I created.  I did have a very smart little girl ask if they could give themselves points when they log in as a student and of course they can't.  Wishful thinking on her part though!  :)  When I first logged in I let my kiddos choose which avatar they wanted.  There is a list of ones they can choose from.  When they log in under student they can actually create their own avatar.  You just need to send home their student code so they can log in to your class.  My kiddos love this and always let me know when they have changed their avatar!  


I'm really learning as I go, but so far this has really increased good behavior in my room.  I have used classroom dollars for the last several years, but this year they earn/lose points.  We decided that when students get to 10 points they can earn a reward out of my Rockin' Behavior Reward Catalog.  Students can choose from wearing their hat all day, bringing in a favorite stuffed animal, or eating lunch with me.  My first student to get to 10 chose to read a story to her brother's kindergarten class.  She felt like a total Rock Star and her brother really enjoyed it too.  

My kiddos are so eager to choose from my FREE rewards and I am only too happy to let them since it's not costing me a penny this year!!  Woohoo!  :)  Click here to check out my Rockin' Behavior Reward Catalog.  

To help keep track of when my kiddos earn 10 points I have created these little monsters and number chips.  It was getting tricky last week to remember because even after a kiddo gets to 10 they can lose points and go backwards.  When they get to 10 again they are not earning another prize.  Our deal is for every 10 points they get a reward.  After they reach 100 they will have to earn 20 points for a reward.  That's the plan for now.  We'll see how it goes throughout the year!  

If you want my monsters and number chips you can download that freebie right here by clicking on the picture:


I hope that explains Class Dojo and how amazing it is!  You can make it very simple or give prizes like I do.  Whatever works for you!!  If you have any questions, feel free to ask and I will help you if I can!  

If you're already using Class Dojo I would love to hear about how it works in your room!  

Friday, September 21, 2012

Fantabulous Friday Freebie and Happy Fall Sale!

Happy Friday!  TGIF!!  :)

I have another wonderful freebie to share with you today!  I used to have a poster in my room with color words on it, but it wasn't very cute and it was so small that this year I decided not to use it.  

The problem is my kiddos NEED to see their color words.  That's where this wonderful freebie comes in!  I found these adorable color word signs and they're FREE!  They are black and white so you can save ink.  Just print them on colored paper and you're all set.  I printed mine on construction paper so they were darker and thicker. 

Check out Erica Bohrer's classroom pictures.  Here are her cute color word posters. You can check out more of her classroom pictures here
Erica Bohrer's First Grade Classroom- FREE color word posters!  So cute!!
Aren't they cute?!

If you would like to download these adorable color signs, click here to go get them!  Just remember if you download them, make sure you leave Ashley some wonderful feedback!  

I love them and they look so cute in my room!  Yay for great freebies!  

Some other great news is that I have joined Casey's Happy Fall Y'all Sale so my Teachers Pay Teachers store is 20% off this weekend!  You can join her linky party by visiting her blog.  Just click on this cute picture:  
Go have fun shopping this weekend!  Lots of other bloggers are having sales too so snag up some goodies.  

Here are some of my best sellers and favorites:
We made our flat friends this week and will be sending them out soon!

My kiddos had so much fun with this last year!

This pack can be used all year!

This is my newest pack.  We just made our time capsules.  I'm going to 'bury' them in my backyard this weekend!  :)

Click here to go visit Casey's blog and see all the bloggers that are having sales!  Show her some love for throwing this great fall party!  

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Time Capsule Fun!!

Every year I have had my kiddos make a time capsule.  We have soooo much fun with it! :)

Here is the link to my post back in the spring when we did this last year.  

This year I decided to make my own so I created a Time Capsule Pack that is available by clicking here!
We completed our time capsule papers today in class.  I've done them in class together and I have also sent the papers home to have parents help.  Either way works!  I decided to do it together this year so my kiddos would "spell the best we can".  This makes it more fun to see how much they have grown by the end of the year!  

Here are some of the time capsules my kiddos created today:
This little boy could not be any cuter!  He loves his teacher.  :)  I wish I had more of him.  

This little boy is so sweet and cute.  I love his hair-do!  :)  And he likes sins (science) too.  

I just love this sweetie.  She wants to be a nrs (nurse) when she grows up.  That's spelling the best we can!  :)

This little girl really likes Daily Five.  She's a great reader and enjoys the time spent reading good books!

Then we decorate our time capsules (aka paper towel rolls).  I write their names on them with permanent marker and draw a box around it to give them a boundary.  Then they are allowed to decorate their time capsule tube.

We roll up the paper and stick it inside the paper towel tube.  To make them more official I cover the ends with saran wrap and use rubber bands to hold it on.  
Then I put them all in a bag and tell my kiddos I'm taking them home to bury them in the backyard!  My kiddos really believe me so I let them...it's more fun that way!  To make it more authentic at the end of the year when I bring them back, I always throw a little dirt in the bag and apologize for getting them a little dirty.  Aren't first graders fun?!?!  

I really just hide them in my closet in my classroom.  They don't need to know that though....

Usually during the last week of school I give them another time capsule paper to fill out and then we open our time capsules to see how they have changed and how they have stayed the same.  The kiddos always love opening them.  

This is such a fun way to learn about time: past, present, and future.  

Click here to head over to my TpT store and purchase this Time Capsule Pack for only $2.00.  I will give 3 away to the first 3 people who leave a friendly comment with their email address!!  :)

Saturday, September 15, 2012

Fantabulous Freebie "Friday"- Direction Cards

I really wanted to post this yesterday for Fantabulous Freebie Friday, but I didn't get home till midnight and I was exhausted so I'm posting a few hours late! 

We went to the Cleveland Indians game last night.  Yeah, I know the Indians are the worst team in the league not exactly the best team in the league, but the seats were amazing!!!  Even if we were sitting by some obnoxious Detroit Tiger fans who kept screaming all night....they were even yelling rude things to the Tiger players.  I just don't get that.  

The fireworks after the game were amazing though!!  They played TV show tunes at the same time and the fireworks were actually really good.  It's cool to see fireworks in the downtown of a city.  They might have been the best part of the night...other than the free tickets!  :)

But, I wanted to share this freebie I found with you.  There are so many great freebies on TpT!  
These classroom direction cards are from Christina Bainbridge and they are so cute.  I have downloaded them, cut them out, laminated them, and added a magnet to the back.  Now they are hanging up on the front of my board under my Touch Point numbers.  We used them this week and they made giving directions so much easier!


All I had to do was drag down the pictures in the order my kids should do them and they had a quick and easy visual if they forgot what to do next. 

One girl kept asking me if she should glue her pictures yet during a science lesson and all I had to do was point to the picture cards and she knew what my answer was!  With first graders these are invaluable!!  

Thanks Christina for sharing them as a freebie!  And I should mention that Christina didn't ask me to do this!  I just loved them so much I had to share!  Click here to visit her blog and click here to visit her TpT store!  

If you download her direction cards, make sure you let her know how awesome they are!  It's always nice to hear that something you created is appreciated by other teachers!  :)

Go get your own direction cards and enjoy the quiet next week!  :)

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Favorite *FREEBIE* Linky Party

Our students didn't have school yesterday because we had in-service so today was our first day of the week.  We have been implementing and practicing Daily 4 Math and Daily 5 Reading since school began 3 weeks ago. I was a little nervous about how it would go especially after having 3 days off. Today was the first day I began my small group instruction while the rest of my kiddos worked quietly.  All 27 first graders...

I have to be honest....it was AMAZING!!  My kiddos were so engaged during their activities and it was so nice and quiet. 

Last year I did Daily 3 Math where we just rotated between Math by Myself, Math with Someone/Computer, or Meet with Teacher.  This year I'm doing Daily 4 Math and letting the kiddos choose where they go during each round.  Their choices this year are Math by Myself, Math with Someone, Math on Computer, and Math with Teacher.  

It's always amazing to see first graders working independently 4 weeks into the school year.  It makes my heart so happy!  

Daily 5 happens right after lunch in the afternoon so it's nice that the kiddos are able to move around and stay engaged.  As exciting and entertaining as it is to listen to me talk for an hour and forty five minutes, I think my kiddos enjoy Daily 5 just a little bit more! :)

I have joined a linky party tonight to share my favorite freebie!  Check out Cynthia's linky party at 2nd Grade Pad by clicking on the picture below.

Here is my favorite freebie: Poetry Notebook: Covers, Table of Contents, and Log.  
This freebie has 2 choices of covers for your kiddos' poetry notebooks or folders.  Some years I have used small one inch binders and other years I have used regular folders with 3 hole prongs.  
 
We decorate the cover and then put a Table of Contents in the front.  One piece of advice would be to make several copies of the Table of Contents.  It's much easier to have extra copies than to take everything out and add more pages later!
 There is also a Log form for parents to sign if you want to send the Poetry Notebook home.  Last year I would send it home on Fridays and if they read ANY of the poems their parents would sign the Log.  After they filled it up they could earn a classroom dollar.  They loved it!  
Poetry is such an important part of fluency and reading.  Hopefully this Poetry Notebook Pack makes it a little more fun!  :)

Make sure you visit the linky for more wonderful FREEBIES!!  

Sunday, September 9, 2012

Rockin' Behavior Rewards Catalog

Last year I spent so much money on rewards and treats for my kiddos.  While I'm all about positive reinforcement, I'm not all about spending too much of my own money on little trinkets that will soon be lost or thrown away.  

I saw some blogs last year that showed behavior catalogs where kiddos could earn a reward and then instead of choosing a toy out of a box they chose a FREE reward out of the reward catalog.  

I thought this was genius!!  
So I decided to create a Rockin' Behavior Rewards Catalog.  The rewards that my kiddos can choose from are bringing a toy in for show and tell, wearing a hat, switching seats with a friend for a day, or earning an extra recess.  These rewards are much cheaper than what I was buying last year and the best part is that the kids LOVE these choices!!

This catalog could be used in any classroom to help encourage Rockin' Behavior!!  I have also included Rockin' Behavior coupons that students can earn.  I use classroom dollars and when my kiddos get $10 they can choose a reward.  





 I give the kiddos these cards when they buy their reward.  They can cash it in anytime they want.  It also lets parents know that their child has saved their money and earned a reward!  


These are the behavior coupons.  I created them in two different sizes.  Students earn these coupons and then cash them in for a reward.  

I wish I had taken pictures of my binder at school to show you.  It's so cute!! 

I will give this Rockin' Behavior Catalog away to the first *three* people who leave their email address and share how you reward your kiddos for positive behavior!  

You can grab my Rockin' Behavior Reward Catalog here for $2.00 in my TpT store.  If you have any other suggestions, I would be more than happy to add them to the catalog.  I'm sure my kiddos will come up with new and interesting rewards throughout the year!!  

I have been working on graduate homework ALL WEEKEND!!  I just submitted my 17 page report a few minutes ago.  I am off to relax for a little while before I head off to bed.  I'm exhausted!!  :)

Monday, September 3, 2012

September Currently and Sweet Treat Tags

I have joined up with Farley's September Currently!  Click here to visit her blog and create your own Currently!  :)


1. My kiddos and I are loving our Rock Star theme!  I have a disco ball hanging up in the middle of our room and I was able to find some guitar necklaces and disco ball necklaces for their beginning of the year treat bags.  They loved them!  

2. Class Dojo is a very cool classroom management website that our assistant principal introduced to us.  I'll share more about it later, but the kids get to choose their own avatars (monsters) and you can give or take away points throughout the day based on their behavior.  You can also email a report to parents so they can see how their child is doing.  We had a lot of fun with this on Friday!  

3. I *heart* my laptop.  I'm going to get a new one because this one is OLD in computer world, but I really love it!  I do everything for school on this thing and I take it everywhere with me.  I'll be sad to give it to my hubby when I get a new one....but I really do need a new one!  :)

Before I go, I promised to write a review for a friend about her new Sweet Treat Tags and Bag Toppers!  Here is a preview:


Jaime, from What's the Buzz in First, has created these adorable treat tags.  There are 32 cute labels that will last through the entire year.  

Here are treat toppers you will get:
Back to School
Thank-You (for parents, volunteers, or staff)
Halloween (several to choose from)
Thanksgiving
Christmas
Winter
Valentine's Day (several to choose from)
St. Patrick's Day (a couple to choose from)
March is Reading Month
End of the Year/Summer
Birthday
Open House/Curriculum Night
Chinese New Year
Easter
Book Fairy Notes
Good Readers

I have to share that my favorites are the Reindeer Noses and Snowman Soup.  Although, I think the Halloween ones are so cute I'll be using those too!  This makes my gift giving for holidays so much easier and cuter too!  

Thanks Jaime for letting me review this product.  It's only $5.00 for a year's worth of treat toppers. I highly recommend going and purchasing them now.  You won't regret it!  :)

I'm getting closer to *300 followers* so that means there will be a big giveaway soon!  Enjoy the rest of your Labor Day Weekend!  Check out my last post for my Labor Day Freebie!

Saturday, September 1, 2012

Reason #467 Why I *HEART* Daily Five and a Labor Day Freebie

I have to share a story with you that happened this week with one of my kiddos and Daily Five.  This is my third year implementing D5 and I LOVE it!  It works fabulously when it's all up and running.  

Right now, since we just finished the second week of school, we are still building stamina.  We worked on Read to Self and Read to Someone a lot this week.  The kiddos got to shop for their own books yesterday and they really loved that!  It was so quiet during Read to Self you could have heard a pin drop....with 26 first graders in the room.  

I have a kiddo this year that has some real needs which require the help of an aide.  Well on Thursday during Read to Someone I asked this kiddo (we'll call him Jimmy) to read with another kiddo.  Jimmy doesn't like change or uncomfortable situations so he didn't want to.  He aide is wonderful and she stepped in and helped mediate the shared reading.  The little girl that read with him was great about it all.  

Then, yesterday I told the kiddos to get their D5 bags and we went over their job during Read to Someone and then I told them to choose a partner and read.  Jimmy got up ALL ON HIS OWN and found the little girl he had read with the day before, asked her to be his partner, and sat down and read for 15 minutes straight making NO noises, throwing NO tantrums, with NO arguing.  They were truly reading together.  

Knowing this little boy and his needs and how he had become comfortable enough to do that on his own completely touched my heart. His aide and I were just shocked that he did it on his own.  I was so proud of him I was bursting.  Of course, I had to share this with my principal who knows this little boy very well.  

To top that off, at the end of the day he actually RAISED HIS HAND AND VOLUNTEERED to help another student with an end of the day job.  That was another shocker!!  

Needless to say, yesterday was a GREAT day in Mrs. Seymour's class.  I was so happy for Jimmy.  I think he's going to have a great year!  And, I HIGHLY recommend D5 to everyone.  It's a great framework for your kiddos to be able to move and feel comfortable, while you can differentiate instruction in your small groups.  

I have a little girl reading above a first grade level so this year I am going to challenge her through small group.  If I don't, she's going to be bored all year and that would be a waste of time!  

I just had to share my D5 story with other teachers.  We all have difficult students in our rooms and when they do well and make good choices it is the biggest blessing!

For reading my LONG story, I am going to share a Labor Day freebie with you!  I revamped my Patriotic Pack and added a lot more pages.  It went from 16 to 45!  
You can use these supplemental materials for Labor Day, Veteran's Day, Election Day (with a ballot to vote with), President's Day, Memorial Day, and July 4th.  There are also other patriotic pages that can be used anytime throughout the year!  

Happy Labor Day my friends!  :)