The Best Home-School Communication Folder System for K–3 Teachers

Let’s be real: sending things home and getting them back in one piece is practically an Olympic sport for K–3 teachers. Whether it’s crumpled permission slips or mystery money floating around in the depths of a backpack, home-school communication can feel like a daily scavenger hunt.

After years of testing and failing, I finally found a communication system that actually works. Spoiler: It’s affordable and easy to implement, and I’m giving you a free set of editable labels to make setting it up easy.

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A Simple Way to Motivate Young Writers!

If you are a primary teacher, then you know teaching writing to young children can be HARD.  Writing is an elusive skill for many of our little ones, and they often lack the motivation to persist when it is hard.  I want to share with you a writing activity I do around this time of the year that really helps to motivate my students and get them writing more.

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12 Ways to Teach using Play Doh!

Play-doh is something every child loves to play with.  Have you ever thought about using that love to excite your students and use it to teach?  There are so many possibilities and all of these ideas really help our kinesthetic learners.  Today I am sharing 12 ways you can use play-doh in the classroom during your math and literacy times.

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A Simple Strategy to Review Sight Words

Are your student's struggling to learn their sight words?   Would you like an easy to use system with those student's that targets just the words that they need?

I am blogging over at Who's Who and Who's New and sharing about how I use my free Word Wall Words flip books to do just this. You can read all about it by clicking here: 

Until next time, 

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Get your Graph On!

Thanks for stopping by!  I have a lot going on in the classroom right now and I am having a hard time getting inspiration to blog.  Tonight it struck me that I should just keep it simple and talk about what we have been doing during our Graphing unit lately.  Get ready for a practical post!

Graphing is a skill that usually comes fairly quickly for students.  They work on it a lot in Kindergarten.  When teaching it I always start with concrete graphs - we make graphs with ourselves which the kids love!  We look at our clothing, our hair, our shoes etc and sort ourselves out and make a graph using the tiles on the floor as the spaces to stand on.  Next, we pull out the math manipulatives and start making concrete graphs at the tables.  I like to use a ruler as a 'starting line' so that students can clearly see where the objects go.

Collecting primary data is another skill that requires a lot of practice and I  do a lot of whole group work around that skill to prepare them for asking their own questions and conducting a survey.  I like to make the surveys applicable to our classroom lives so students see the real reason for doing this in real life.  Recently, we maxed out our champ on Go Noodle (we love that site) and needed to choose a new champ.  This was a great opportunity to conduct a survey.

After lots of whole group opportunities I introduced centers for independent practice.  During this time I work with one group of students while the others are working at their centers.  We always spend a day exploring the centers beforehand to make sure that "most" students can be independent. I try to ensure there is at least 1 "teacher" who can help those who are stuck, in each group.

Graphing boxes are one of my centers.  There is  a collection of boxes filled with small items: erasers, beads, pom poms, gems etc.  The Dollar Store is the perfect place to find things to add  your graphing boxes.  The students create the concrete graph with the objects and then translate that information into a bar graph or picture graph.  

My Grab and Graph center is another center we use to practice making a concrete graph, then a bar graph.  At the bottom there is opportunity to practice communicating about the graph to explain what the data tells. There is little reading to be done on the page so it makes it easier for your early readers and writers to complete with independence.

Grab and Graph Math Center

My Spin and Graph centers are also a big hit since they involve using dry erase markers.  Everything is more fun with markers, according to my students.  The worksheets for this center involves a bit more writing so it is perfect for those students that are ready to handle more writing.  Some of my non-writers often draw the picture on the line to communicate their thinking.  

Spin and Graph Match Center

Would you like to see what we did next?  Head to the second installment of Get Your Graph On over {HERE} 

Before you go I wanted to share with you a graphing freebie that we will be using in a few weeks on Valentine's Day.  I love, love, love it!  It really gets kids to slow down and look at their valentines.  In the past I was disappointed in the way the kids rummaged through their cards in search of treats and other special things.  Last year they contentedly looked through their cards, made judgements about what category worked best and completed their graph. It was a proud teacher moment.  Click on the photo to head over to my store to download it.  

Until next time,

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Celebrating Halloween in the Classroom? Keep it Simple!

Halloween in the classroom can be a CrAzY time, so I am so glad you stopped by. I will be sharing a few helpful ideas and FREEBIES to help with your Halloween celebrations in the classroom.

My best advice is to KEEP IT SIMPLE!

In my experience in First Grade, it is best to celebrate within your predictable routine. We already know our children are beside themselves with excitement. By enjoying fun Halloween activities in the regular structure of the day, your students get to celebrate, but things are less likely to slip over the edge into chaos!

A Literacy Center perfect for the week before Hallowe'en! 

The week of or before Halloween, I intentionally choose word wall words with the "oo" sound so I can review the two sounds these letters make. I use this quick little activity in my centers for the week. Just sign up below to grab the FREEBIE!

Next up, some Halloween Art, with a bit of math thrown in! 

Who doesn't love to do Halloween Art projects! We created paint chip Frankenstein's using green paint chips from the hardware store! The students love this one, so I will do this craft every year. This is a great low-cost craft that really showcases each student's creativity.

All you need is: 

• Paint chips from the paint store. I have used 3 and 4 colour paint chips.
• Scrap paper is used to make the eyes, teeth, and bolts.
• A sharpie to add stitches.  

A fun math activity we did as a tie-in was to count the "stitches" on Frankenstein's face to see how many he had. Before making the stitches, we talked about how stitches look like tally marks to 5. After finishing, they skipped counted the stitches to see how many Frankenstein had. 

I have several Halloween books that pair perfectly with this craft. One of my favourites is:

And finally, a Halloween Math Freebie for good measure!  

In math, we will use my Halloween patterning center this week to revisit patterning. As a special thank you for stopping by, you can grab this Math Center FREEBIE to use with your students. Students will look at each card, determine if it shows a pattern, and then place it on the sorting mat. I have also included a recording sheet so students can record their work as they go. Click on the picture to grab it.

Wait, There's More! 

Are you looking for ideas for your Literacy block for Halloween, too? I have you covered there as well. Check out this post for Halloween poems for sight words that are perfect for Kindergarten and first grade. 

Thanks for stopping by!  

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How to Tame the Classroom Chaos on Valentines Day

Valentine's Day in the classroom.  It's a chaotic day filled with cards, candy and chaos if you let it.  What if you could have the fun but keep things under control too?  That is my kind of classroom celebration.  Keep reading to find some EASY and FUN activities for Valentine's Day.

My secret to a day of celebration:  KEEP YOUR ROUTINES INTACT! 

There, I said it.  I firmly believe that small children thrive best in routine, and when you throw out all of the regular routines in favour of a day of activities that are totally out of the norm, you will have problems.  That's not to say that you can't sprinkle fun activities throughout the day but do so within your regular routine.

The Card Exchange

The card exchange is the highlight of the day for the children.  I want to ensure that they actually take the time to check out their valentines rather than just counting up the candy and sticker treats they receive.  That is why I created this FREE activity, and it has been a hit with my students year after year.  You can get it for yourself by clicking on the cover below.

After the students have opened all of their cards, they get a copy of the graphing sheet and take a close look at each card to determine which category it fits into the create the tally chart and then the graph.  Believe me when I say that everyone is engaged during this task.  I love to watch them look over their cards.  Afterwards, we create a class graph to see what type of card was the most received.

Valentines Crafts

Crafts are a fun and creative part of any day of celebration.  We create our own Valentine's bag or folder before the card exchange.  Making heart animals has become a new favourite, and I have found lots of inspiration on Pinterest.  My students use heart tracers to create the parts of the animal and then glue it onto a folded piece of construction paper or paper bag, as pictured below.  I love that no two are exactly the same.

Fun and Games

I always continue with my regular math and language centers, although the centers are Valentine-themed, if possible.  The one math center that has always been a hit is measuring with candy: conversation heart and cinnamon hearts. 

You can check the centers out by clicking on the image below.

Even though I remind them that the candy has been on the floor and handled by many, many children I always have some who can't resist it and eat it.  #YUCK

Minute To Win It games are also a fun addition to the day.  I usually save these to the end of the day. Two of my favourites are Stack it up! and Target Practice.

Stack it up! 

The challenge is to stack the conversation hearts to make the tallest tower.

 Target Practice!

Picture students sitting across from each other on the carpet.  In between each pair is a cup.  One student tries to toss as many conversation hearts as he/she can in one minute while his/her partner retrieves the misses and tosses them back so the game can continue.  It is pure chaos, but the kids have a blast.


At the end of the day, you will go home exhausted but less frustrated if you enjoy the day within your regular routines.  I hope you have a great Valentine's Day with your students!

Until next time, 

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3 Simple Classroom Management Tips You Can Try Tomorrow

Are you looking for tips to classroom management tips?  I have 3 simple tips for you that you can implement in your classroom tomorrow.  Read on to find out how to simplify your line ups, move more quietly through the halls and get your class to work as a team.  I am linking up with Mrs. McClain over at Buzzing with Mrs. McClain for her monthly You Oughta Know blog hop. Other bloggers and I will be sharing things that you “oughta know” for your classroom.

I don't know about you but some years my first graders return and they seem to have grown up so much over the two weeks. Some years however, I feel like I am back at square 1.  I want to share with you some of my management tricks to help them get back on track.

First off we often struggle at line up time - too many kids, too small an area (although I have a huge area this year, go figure!).  There is always arguing about who lines up where as well.  This year I whipped out my silhouette cutting machine and some vinyl and created girl/boy line up spots.  They work like a dream!  The kids just find a girl or boy circle to stand or, if they have the job of line leader, caboose, or door holders, they go to those special circles.  NO more fighting about spots in the line.  I have heard a lot about Sit Spots and I expect that they would work too. 

We struggle with moving through the hall quietly too.  This year I rarely have to take them to other places in the school but our French teacher takes them to her French room or the gym every day.  She loves this program.

Each time we line up to head into the hall I pick 1 boy and 1 girl popsicle stick and put them in my pocket.  I announce to the line that I have my two “hall stars” and will be watching to see if they are behaving as a Hall star should.   We do a quick review of our “Hall Stars” expectation poster before leaving.  On the way to our destination and back I keep my eye on my “hall stars”.  If they were successful I make a big deal about announcing their names and then write their name on the chart.  If a student wasn’t behaving properly then their name is returned to the “pick me” pocket and nothing more is said.  This really seems to encourage the kids to behave respectfully in the halls.  In my room if you are a Hall Star you get to clip up on our clip chart. 

This is available as a FREEBIE in my TPT store.  You can find it by clicking {HERE}.

My final tip today is all about getting the kids working together for a common reward.  I use Behavior Bingo in my room.  I use a clip chart for individual students but wanted a system to reward the whole class for appropriate behaviour. 

 

 

The month of December is so crazy that this little program takes  a back seat, so I pull it out fresh in January.  We review the ways we can work together to earn BINGO numbers.  The idea is that when the students are all following our classroom rules or expectations the class would earn a bingo number. 

Some ways they earn numbers are making their way to the carpet quickly and quietly, getting started quickly on a task or getting a class compliment, to name a few.  On a good day we may earn 2 or 3 BINGO numbers.  We are now entering Week 3 post holidays and our BINGO board is filling up more slowly than I would like it.  If you would like to give this a try it is available in my TPT store, you can find it {HERE}.

What are your favourite management tips for getting kids back into routine after the holidays.  I would love to hear from you with a comment below.  Now take a moment and hop to another blog to learn about something that you "oughta know"

Thanks for stopping by

An InLinkz Link-up

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A Management Strategy for Improving Hallway Behavior

Classroom management when you are not in your classroom can be tricky. Do your students struggle to stay quiet when moving through the halls? Are your old tricks just not cutting it anymore? Perhaps it is time to change it up and try something new.

We are all about routines right now and I am pulling out all the stops to try to get my active, boy-filled class on board.  One area that is always a struggle each year is moving through the halls.  Last year I moved into a new classroom and it is the farthest away from EVERYTHING.  All I can say is I am beyond thankful that I have my own bathroom in my classroom.  On our way to the Gym, French or the Library we pass all of the other primary classrooms.  I needed something new to really encourage them to be quiet and respectful when in the hall. 

This is why I came up with “Hall Stars”.  Each time we line up to head into the hall I pick 2 popsicle sticks or stars with students names on them and put them in my pocket.  I announce to the line that I have my two “Hall Stars” and will be watching to see if they are behaving as a Hall Star should.  We do a quick review of our “Hall Stars” expectation poster before leaving. On the way to our destination and back I keep my eye on my “Hall Stars”. If they were successful I make a big deal about announcing their names and then put their star on the chart. If a student wasn’t behaving properly then their name is returned to the “pick me” pocket and nothing more is said.  

You can find this FREEBIE in my store!  Click on any of the images to find it or click {HERE}.

This has been working really well for my class.  I hope that you find it will help your students with their hallway behavior.

Until next time, 

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