First Grade Fanatics

Happy Wednesday!

Hope you’re week is off to a great start! Classroom Friendly Supplies contacted us a few weeks ago and asked us if we’d give an honest review of their pencil sharpener. Having a decent pencil sharpener is very IMPORTANT to us and we were more than happy to try them out.

They sent us one in purple, their newest color.

How cute is this?

The pencil sharpener comes with a screw type clamp to secure it to a table.

I just LOVE it! This pencil sharpener sharpens pencils perfectly! I am even able to sharpen my Handwriting Without Tears pencils and they’re pretty short.

You simply squeeze the two black knobs and gently pull the pencil holding compartment out.

It will stay out until you squeeze the tabs again. Next, you’ll want to squeeze the tabs again and insert your pencil. Once the pencil is inserted you can release the tab and start sharpening

As you are sharpening, you’ll see the pencil slowly moving into the sharpener. You’ll know it’s completely sharpened when you hear a quieter sound. The handle will also turn faster when the pencil is fully sharpened.

And what’s great is that my students can easily use this sharpener and they know when the pencil is sharpened rather than sharpening the pencil is down to nothing. My classroom helper is the pencil sharpener for the day. After checking in with me, he/she goes right to the dull can and sharpens five pencils. My first graders LOVE it and can easily sharpen independently.

In Kinder, Erin also uses this fabulous pencil sharpener. Even her sweet kinders are able to independently sharpen their pencils, without breaking and wasting their precious lead. In kinder it's incredibly helpful being able to have the sharpener stable at one spot in the room, yet also easy to move to a different location. We move around our classroom a lot, and until we get another one in the room, it has to go back and forth between the front of the class and the back. Since Erin is new to kinder this year, she has quite the wish list, so she'll have to wait to purchase another. But we have to tell you, this company is the best to work with! Such great customer service and such a great product!

If you’d like to check these out, you can stop by here:

Classroom Friendly Supplies

They also sell replacement blades and a permanent sharpener mount!

And here’s a little freebie I wanted to share! A few weeks ago we were learning about frogs and their life cycle in my first grade classroom (I tie my weekly themes with my Treasures Reading themes) I created cards with pictures and text to retell the life cycle of a frog. We recreated a life cycle circle on the floor in our large group area.

These cards also work great in a pocket chart with or without the arrows. I have these placed in our pocket chart station and these are one of the resources my first graders can use when they’re at the pocket station during literacy stations.

If you’d like this little freebie, you can go {HERE} or click the picture below!

Have a great rest of your week!

How I Do Literacy and Math Stations

Hope you’re all having a great weekend!

It’s Leslie here and I thought I’d share with you all about how I do math and literacy stations in my first grade classroom.

Last year and several years prior to last I followed more of a Daily 5 rotation. Using our Treasures reading program, I would teach whole group reading, then my kiddos would go to their first station while I met with my first small reading group. After my first group, my kids would switch to their next station and I would meet with my second group. This would continue as I met with all of my reading groups.

The problem that I had with this rotation schedule was some of my kiddos weren’t able to complete their stations due to time. Some kiddos also missed some of their stations due to an additional reading group.
So this year I tried something different and

used Kickin’ it in Kindergarten’s It's Station Time cards which I
Love, love, love!
Each child has their picture in the pocket chart. These are the white cards that are shown below. They are flipped over in the picture.

My kiddos have 3 rotations they can choose from each day.
Reading to self or a buddy (I made these cards) is a station that all of my students can choose each day. I also created an iPad, iPods, and a listening card to match our classroom iPad and iPods. My students can pick (out of their three choices) what station they go to first, and I don't require them to get to all three each day. Several of my students leave during our reading block for other literacy groups so it would be impossible to require them to go to all three. Having this option provides them an opportunity to make choices, yet also complete their work before they can go to their next station.

The next morning I move the station cards down, rather than move the picture cards. That way my kiddos know where their picture is on the chart and they can easily find it. I chose to have six rotations so the groups could remain small. Every seventh I change the stations and or activities at the stations. I am keeping a list of what I do for each of the six days, so next year it will be A LOT easier for planning!
I handle math stations a little differently than literacy stations because my kids finish their independent work at different times. Our math program has some guided work that my students do along with me, and an "On My Own" page. After we complete some of the work together, my students complete the "On My Own" page independently. When my kids are done with their "On My Own" page they choose a math station that they would like to go to. Kids that have a 1 by their picture on the pocket can go to an iPad or an iPod and play a math game that I have in a designated math station folder. Kids that have a 2 by their picture on the pocket chart can go to ixl.com and practice math on a classroom computer. All other students can choose a math game/manipulative math station. This system works for me at math because if I required kids to go to a game station, sometimes there would only be one student since others might still be finishing their independent work. So when my kiddos finish their independent they find another child who has also finished and play a game together. Others join in as they finish. Independent activities with manipulatives are also available.

If you would like a copy of the sign above my pocket chart, you can click any of the pictures below, or go {HERE}! They're FREE and there are 8 different options!
Here are four of the eight!

I have made expectations that my kiddos need to follow while they are at literacy and math stations. These cards are on display beside my pocket chart.

I also have them on a ring and they are hung in our meeting area, so we can review often.

If you would like to check these out, you can click on a picture above, or go {HERE}! I have made two different choices for the first card. You can choose stations or centers depending on what you call them in your classroom.

I also made these cards for my small group reading area.

The white card hanging on the hooks contains names on the other side. It's just flipped over in the picture. My kids know to look here when it is time to meet with me. For example, before we begin literacy stations, my kids look here first to see if they are the first group to meet with me.

This is how it looks when the names are displayed.

If you would like an editable version, so you can just type your kiddos names in. Just click one of the pictures above, or you can go right {HERE}! It's FREE!

Thanks so much for stopping by! Hope you all have a great Sunday!

Transportation & Apple Activities

Hi everyone it's Leslie!

Hope you all are having a fantastic weekend!

Well, it's finally October and we're just loving it!

We've been in or classrooms for about a month now with our kiddos and it finally feels like we're in a solid routine. Schedules are finalized and our math and reading stations are running smoothly, YAY!

Here are a few things we've been doing along with a few new freebies!

A few weeks ago I incorporated apples throughout my week. We read lots of books about apples, used some smart board activities from the smart exchange website, and incorporated these activities below.

After reading several nonfiction books about apples. My kiddos retold the apple life cycle by placing picture and word cards into a pocket chart. (Please ignore the picture quality, bad lighting).

A few days later we completed the worksheet below.

The following week I included an apple label activity in my fine motor station. This will continue to be at my fine motor station for the next 6 days of literacy stations.

The life cycle cards were also used again

and were put at my pocket chart station.

Both were a great reinforcement about a previously learned topic!

These activities can both be found in our

Apple Sort & Label (life cycle & apple parts )

Look for Erin's apple activities soon!

Transportation was one of the reading themes in my Treasures reading program last week and I incorporated a transportation sort along with a few transportation books and songs.

Here's a picture of the sort below.

When my stations change next week, I will include this picture book in my publishing station.

There are picture cards that go along with this book.

The kids can color, cut, and glue their pictures on the appropriate page.

The picture sort and mini book with pictures can both be found here:

Transportation Sort & Mini Picture Book

I am enjoying including activities that relate to previously learned topics at a few of my reading stations. My kiddos can work independently and feel successful while completing these activities! Next week one of our reading themes is frogs. I've got a few things planned that I'll be sure to share with you in a few days!

Lastly, here are a few freebies that we'd love to share with you all!

This little welcome sign is placed in a 5x7 frame on my counter as you enter my classroom. It's editable and in our TpT store! It's replacing the September one that was displayed last month. Just click the picture below to get your copy. It will print on a standard 8 1/2 x 11 piece of paper. I just prefer to shrink it down to fit in a small frame.

I also updated a few posters that I use quite regularly in my classroom when solving addition and subtraction story problems.

These little gems are hole punched and have a ring through them. I hang them right above my document camera cart and pull them down when we complete math story problems. My kiddos get used to this, and hearing these words repeated over and over help when they complete story problems independently. Just click the pictures below and you can get these little freebies as well!

Hope you all have a wonderful week!

It's back to school for us this Tuesday,well actually we've been back since last week, but this week will be our first week with our new kiddos and we're so excited to meet them! We've got lots of Pete the Cat activities scheduled for our first week back. Pinterest has sooooo many wonderful ideas! To go along with our Pete the Cat themed week, we created a little award that we're sending home with out kiddos on the first day of school. It's an editable version too! Just click the picture below to grab your copy!

Cat Award

This little award has been on our blog since we first started blogging. It works well after reading The Kissing Hand books with Chester the Raccoon. Since we added our cat version and made it editable, we updated our raccoon one as well! You can click the picture below to download this recently updated freebie!

Raccoon Award

Our next resources tie in nicely with our First Grade Treasures reading program. Leslie uses this program with her first graders and has mapped out the themes for the entire year! If you use First Grade Treasures and would like a copy of our map, just email us! She plans on sharing freebies and book titles that tie in nicely with the weekly themes! So check back often for updates!

Smart Start will begin next week and will run for three weeks. After that, Unit One Week One will begin.

The themes that we've connected to Unit One Week One in our series are:

My Home

My Senses

School Rules

If you don't use Treasures, we're sure these freebies will still work for you at some point throughout the year!

Here are a few books that we've checked out through our local library network and plan on incorporating in our themed book display.

And here are two freebies that we'd love to share with you!

Five Senses Label

This simple book provides easy patterned text for your kiddos to read to someone,

and includes two printing options.

All About Me Book

We hope you all have a wonderful week!
We'll be back later this week with classroom pictures!

New Reading Friends Poster Pack

Happy Thursday!

Hope you've all had a great week whether it be with your family, friends, or students! We go back in two weeks and our students return in three! We've definitely been trying to accomplish A LOT and have been super busy creating new products, updating a few oldies, and working in our classrooms! Look for classroom pictures soon! Erin is in a new classroom this year and is setting up for her new kindergartners, and Leslie has been unpacking all of her things since new carpet has been installed in her first grade classroom!

Here's a new addition we've just added to our store,
and it's on sale through tomorrow!

This is a very simple version of our recently updated
Reading Strategies Poster Pack.

This pack includes 8 decoding strategy posters, a student bookmark, parent page,
and cards to use during small group.

The strategies included are:

*Eagle Eye
*Lips the Fish
*Stretchy Snake
*Chunky Monkey
*Skippy Frog
*Tryin Lion
*Flippy Dolphin
*Helpful Kangaroo

You can check them out {HERE}!

Here is a sample of what's inside:

Decoding Strategy Poster

Small Group Cards

We're using these little cards during our small group reading instruction and plan on laminating them and attaching them to craft sticks.

Student Bookmark

Parent Page

These can be sent home for parents to use while reading to/with their child.

Or while they're listening to their child read.

Here's a freebie set that we created to go with our Reading Friends Poster Pack. This little poster pack contains coloring sheets for all eight strategies and can be found {HERE}.

Thanks for stopping by!

Editable Welcome Sign!

Happy Saturday friends!

Hope you're all enjoying your weekend!

We've got about 4 weeks left of summer vacation and while we're trying to soak in every last minute of it with friends and family, we're also prepping for the upcoming school year!

We've added lots of new products to our store and are now adding some editable items as well.

One of our newest products, Pocket Chart Schedule Cards, is now editable! So of you've purchased it please re download for the editable version.

You can find it {HERE} or by clicking on the picture below!

And here's a little freebie that we made for our classrooms & we'd LOVE to share with you!

It's an editable sign that includes three versions. You could print, frame, and place on a shelf in your classroom. You could also use it as part of a bulletin board display.

The possibilities are endless!

You can find this little freebie {HERE} or just click the pic below!

Enjoy your weekend!

Alphabet Link Up

Happy Saturday friends! Since the fabulous Abby is having her Alpha-BOOM week, we thought we'd link up and share a new idea for introducing the alphabet to your kiddos! Since Erin is now going to be teaching kindergarten, this will be the first thing she does in her new classroom. We've spent the last few weeks creating our biggest product yet, our new ABC Bootcamp pack! It's 200 pages full of activities and resources to help you introduce the letters to your students, in the first 26 days of school.

Just click the pics below or go {HERE} to check it out!

Here's a little preview of what's inside!

We've also added a little freebie of a few items that can be found in our ABC Bootcamp pack.

If you'd like to check out our Bootcamp freebie, stop by {HERE} to download!

We are currently LOVING Show and Tell Aprons! If you're not sure what they are just look on Pinterest or Google. Since we'll be using them in our classrooms next year, we're creating card sets that can easily fit the aprons. If you don't have an apron, these can easily work with pocket charts too, or can be used at a table for a center activity!

Here's our first set!

You can check out our Alphabet Show and Tell Apron Cards {HERE}

And here's our numbers 1-20 set! You can go {HERE} to check it out!

Another new item added to our store is our

Read the Rainbow Sight Word Pack.

This is a unit to help teach and master the first 220 sight words based on the Dolch Word List. Each list has a color, and as the students master reading their list, they move through the colors of the rainbow. This is set up so that you can easily make this work for you! We created it in March, and used it toward the end of last school year.

Our kids just loved it!

Look for a post in September about how we incorporate this into our reading instruction.

Just click the title or picture below to check it out!

Read the Rainbow Sight Words

Here's a freebie to use with our Rainbow Sight Words pack. This sheet could be used for kiddos to track the list that they are currently on. You could use this sheet several ways. One idea would be to place a sticker on the number of the corresponding list that they've mastered.

Read the Rainbow Freebie can be found {HERE}!

And since we're on the topic of Dolch words, below is a preview of some new Dolch sight word worksheet sets that we've recently added to our store. These worksheets incorporate the first 220 Dolch sight words. We use these during our morning literacy centers and our kiddos an easily complete them independently.

You can find these {HERE}

You can also click below for separate links:

Two more sets are in the works and we'll be adding them to our store soon!

We're updating our numbers, colors, and shapes posters in our classrooms so we added our new designs to our store! They are full size, but can easily be printed 2 or even 4 to a sheet if you want to make them into flash cards. On a mac when you select print, just go to layout and change how many pages per sheet.

Numbers, Colors, and Shapes Poster Pack can be found {HERE}

Here's a little preview of what's inside!

Numbers, Colors, & Shapes Poster Pack

We've also created a few worksheets for

number, shape, and color recognition.

Just stop by {HERE} to get your Numbers, Colors, and Shapes Freebie!

And here's who we're linking up with!

Babbling Abby from The Inspired Apple!

One of our favorite blogs!

Check it out {HERE}:

Hope you all have a FANTASTIC weekend!