Top Three of 2011

Hi All!

I am linking up with Fern from Fern Smith's Classroom Ideas. She is having a linky party about our Top 3 posts for the year. My stats are sad compared to everyone else.

#1 Bulletin Board Ideas Linky Party- Showcase your best!- 108 Pageviews.

#2 Daily 5 - 43 Pageviews.

#3 Lesson Plan Template- 40 Pageviews.

 Make sure to link up with Fern! 

 

Fern Smith's Classroom Ideas!

 

 

Thinking Maps

Hi All! I know it's been a couple of months since my last post. This pregnancy has been very DRAINING! Unfortunately,  I have no pictures to share of the crafts my students made this year. Instead, I will be sharing pictures of some of the thinking maps my colleagues and I have created.

Here is a bubble map we made after reading a decodable reader about the US Flag. 

Here is a bubble map we made for Rose Robot. It is one of our main selection stories for Treasures.

This one goes with a main selection for Treasures.

We've made a few Bridge Maps to find rhyming words from our weekly spelling list. 

Every week we also make a Tree Map to sort our words.

We've also made brace maps to show the parts in compound words as well as contractions. 

We have also made circle maps to make lists of words that contain the sound of the week.

School Bag Linky Party!

I had to link up with Abby from The Inspired Apple and her linky party about teacher bags! Here is the bag I am currently using. I know...It's not as cute as the other teacher bags, but it works for now. I have to confess that I stole it from my daughter.

 Here are some of the things inside:

What's in your bag?

Are you pinning?

Michelle's Math in the Middle is hosting a linky party so you can follow people that interest you.  

This is a quick and easy link-up.  All you need is:

1. A teacher blog, where you will write a quick little post telling your readers about this Linky Party ~ Then go link it HERE
2. A Pinterest account
3. The Follow Me on Pinterest Button displayed on your blog

HAPPY PINNING!

And I'm Back!

At least I hope! I have not blogged in over a month. I have been on break from school for 2 1/2 weeks. I am not doing much but cleaning, planning, and spending lots of time with my little one. I am also EXPECTING! I am 4 months pregnant so that is the main reason for me not posting anything lately. I have been extremely tired, nauseous, and HUNGRY! Not a great combination. I have been reading other blogs and have gotten some great ideas that I plan to use at the end of this month.

Two day iPad training!

Today I start my two day iPad training. Can't wait to receive the 5 I won!

Pictures...Finally!

So the first few weeks have been busy and exhausting! I am finally getting a chance to post some pictures.

So here is a picture of my Kissing Hand board.

 This will be my board for my student of the week.

 This is an activity my grade level does to talk about rules. We make this project after reading David Goes to School and creating our classroom rules.

 We write some of our rules inside the school house.

 Here is on of the Thinking Maps we've introduced. We used a circle map to make a list of things they can do.

 This is my "explorer" board. I've displayed The Three Little Pigs activity. We describe each house.

 Here is the inside.

 Here is the close up of the front of the activity. They had to draw the straw house, sticks house and bricks house.

iPads!

I just got an email today, letting me know I have been awarded 5 iPads to use in my classroom! All that grant writing paid off. I will first have to attend a two day training before receiving them. I am so EXCITED =) I can't wait!

First Week of 2011-2012

It was a long but GOOD week. I am enjoying my students. I have a GREAT group of kids.

Here is a picture of our first project, The Kissing Hand. The kids loved it. It has evolved throughout the years.

I could have sworn I took more pictures. Apparently, I only took pictures of the students. I will do my best to take pictures of my bulletin boards once they are completely done. I am the type that might redo them a few times until I am happy with them.

I am really excited to say that the Daily 5 is going well. I have 3 kids that I know I will have to work with. They try and talk to anyone near them. The rest of the kids are enjoying Read To Self. I had a little boy approach me and asked, "Are we doing read to self again." So I answered, "Yes. We have one more round." He then replied, "Good. I like read to self." They get excited every time we add a minute. On Monday we will be up to 7 minutes.

First Day of School!

Yes, that's right! Today is my first day of school for the 2011-2012 school year. I am so EXCITED to implement Daily 5 and am working on my SAFARI theme! I will do my best to take pictures of everything we do today and post later on.

The rest of you, enjoy your summer!

Castles and Crayons is having a Giveaway!

Head over to Castles and Crayons for an awesome giveaway.

Need a Title

I decided to do a jungle/safari theme next year. Yesterday I made a new poster board with my new jobs. Most of the pictures are from abcteach.com so they don't have animals or anything safari on them. However, I did want to at least have a catchy title. Here is where I need your help! I can't think of a catchy title.

The only things I've come up with are:

*Hunting for Helpers
*Mrs. Ibarra's Safari Guides

You talented ladies have any other ideas?

No More I'm Done

Just found a link to this book.

You can read it for free here. Just finished Chapter 1 and has my attention! Can't wait to finish the book. Anyone read it or reading it?

Who's Idea?

So I just finished making these and I LOVE them. Totally not MY idea. I couldn't find the original post on this. But I want to say thanks to who ever posted these. Any one know???

First Day Read Aloud

So every year, I read The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn. The activity I do has changed, but I've been reading the same book for the past 8-9 years.

This is the activity I did this past school year.

Click here for the templates. 


I am looking for something NEW to read. What do you read to your kids? What kinds of activities do you do as a follow up?

Daily Schedule

So I decided to join Growing Kinders daily schedule linky party.

Here is what schedule has looked like the past two year. It is very basic and it's what I give to parents during Parent Orientation. I usually hand them a packet of things that I hope will be useful in helping their child through out the year.

Don't forget to head over and link your schedule!

Templates

Here's what I have found:

The Kissing Hand Template was from a website that no longer exists.
The template was made by Carol Hartery and it was from, www.tltree.com.

The duck template is from Teacher's Friend Publications. May Idea Book.
Publisher: Scholastic Prof Book Div
Publication Date: 2003
These books are great. I have gotten so many ideas from them.

The robot template used for this board is also from Teacher's Friend Publications. It is from the September Idea Book.

The Team Work writing template is from Scholastics. It is from All About Me Read and Write Books.

Templates

Unfortunately, I can not share some of the templates many of you are asking for. The rest are from books and not created by me so therefore, I can not post online. SO SORRY!


But here is the Robot fill in document that I typed.

Ladybug Contration Templates

I finally added my templates. Sorry for the LONG wait! I didn't have them scanned. So here they are. Just click on the images.

Bulletin Board Ideas Linky Party- Showcase your best!

Joining in the linky party fun at Teaching Happily Ever After.

 This activity really wasn't placed on a "bulletin board."

 Instead, it was placed over the windows and doors. It looked really cute. I just don't have a picture of how it ALL looked. I only took this close up. 

 This was a writing assignment the students did about being on a team. Their writing was behind the people pictures. Above it, running all the way across to the other wall was a word sort on a bunny. This picture was taken last school year for Open House.

Here is a picture of my ladybug contractions. These where done last school year and I placed them on the teacher station. The picture on the bottom is from this school year on an actual bulletin board. 

 

 This bulletin board was done at the beginning of this school year after reading the kissing hand. The kids loved making their little raccoons.

Hope you have enjoyed looking at some of my boards. Can't wait to see what YOU have done!! Please join the linky party!

The Monster!

 
About a year ago, the desk apprentice was a hot topic on ProTeacher. Everyone was getting them....well I fell in that trap! UGH! It is huge (that is why a teacher friend and I call it the monster). It sat on my desk for a while but I kept throwing junk in it. For most of the year it was hiding in the top shelf of a closet. I REALLY want to be able to put it to good use. Any one out there have any ideas???? Any one has one and found a good way to use it?? NEED HELP....THANKS!!!

Last Day of School!

Today is officially my last day of the school year...woohoo! Check out the cute gifts I received from my students.

Sentsy Electric Candle (it smells wonderful)

Cute little slippers (so soft and comfy)

Now I have tons of time to plan for the Daily 5. Can't wait!

Clutter-Free Classroom Giveaway!

Love this site! You need to check out this giveaway at Clutter-Free Classroom.

Word Wall Linky Party

 

Here is a picture of what my word wall looked like at the beginning of the year. Our bulletin boards are partly covered by our classroom computers. The words are added weekly after we have practiced reading and writing them. They are stored in envelopes labeled by units. Each unit is a different color. All the words are laminated and taped to the closet doors. Students are allowed to take the word to their desk and put it back when finished.


Hope more of you join Ms. M's Linky Party. Check it out here.

Daily 5 Resources

Since I've decided to implement the Daily 5 next school year, I have been doing research online. I found a GREAT site that provides six scheduling options. 3 of the schedules are for 60 minutes blocks and the other 3 are schedules for 90 minutes blocks. If you use the Daily 5, take a look at this site. Daily 5 K-5 Literacy Connections In addition to the schedules, there are videos that show the Daily 5 in action and other teacher resources.

Back to the Daily 5

I finished reading the book today! I made myself read it now so that I could have next month to plan. I am wondering though, how to fit my school's adopted reading program into the daily 5. Any of you use both? Can any of you share your schedule? I am really excited to use the daily 5 in my classroom, but also am struggling with HOW to do it.

Ms. M's Lesson Plan Templates!!!!

I just purchased a lesson plan template from Ms. M at A Teacher's Plan. I am SO excited to use it for next school year planning!!! Her plans are all amazing....please check her out.

Daily 5

How many of you use the Daily 5 in your classrooms? I've been wanting to try it for the past 2 years. I started reading the book, but never finished...ugh! I am hoping that when I am off in 3 weeks, I will finish it and be ready to implement it for the next school year.

So those of you who use it, what do you recommend? Anything you would do differently? Any advice for first graders? Did you introduce one thing a day or all five at once? I think this is my biggest concern...How long it's going to take to get them all on a routine.

I have found a few websites with great Daily 5 printables. Mrs. Meacham has a lot of awesome resources. You should check her out.


I am excited to try this out as I have heard SO many great things about it. Plus I really want to focus more on intervention next year. This will really give me that opportunity to work one on one and in small group.

Can't wait to hear from ALL of you!

Yay....My New Design

Doesn't it look great! I can't believe how cute my blog looks. Thanks again to Kristen over at Ladybug Teacher Files.

I'm A WINNER!

I just found out that I WON a blog design from wonderful Kristen over at Ladybug's Teacher Files. CHECK HER OUT!  I had a pretty stressful week so winning really made my WEEK! YOO HOO!

Thanks Kristen!!!!

Parent Orientation/Back to School

My school has always done Parent Orientation at the beginning of the school year. We go over our home/school contract, rules, procedures, etc. This year we will be doing Back to School. Which in reality is not much different.

In all the years I've been teaching, I've always given my parents a Parent Packet. I've included our class schedule, homework tips, spelling ideas, etc anything I think will help parents help their children at home. What do you give your parents?

New School Year Linky Party

Time 4 kindergarten is having a linky party! Like I mentioned in an earlier post, I start my school year in July so I am definitely getting ready for the new school year. Here is the list of things I've gotten ready so far.

1. I have a notebook full of things I want to do next year.

2. My teammates and I got together and assigned jobs for the year. My job is HOMEWORK and planning out the year! 

3. So I have paced out the year for my teammates (language arts and math).

4. AND I already have homework for the 4 of us for 2 months.

5. I made copies of all the activities we do the first 2 months of school.

6. Started getting writer's folder and writing journals ready.

7. I have binder inserts ready to turn in for copies.

8. I've decided to do a Poem journal next year. I have a master copy and will be turning in copies soon. I already have notebooks that I will use.


I am sure there are more things!

Teacher Appreciation Day

The only gift I received from a student this week.

And of course I had to buy myself something....love it!

 

Open House 2011

So Open House is in 2 weeks! I am SOOOO stressed out. As I get my room ready, I am also turning in copies and getting things ready for the new school year....YES! You heard right. My school year starts in July and I am off in June so I need to prep my stuff NOW!

Here are a few pictures I've taken of my room so far. Some things have changed as these were taken about a week ago before I REALLY started getting ready.

Upper Grade Blogs!

I have a teacher friend who is leaving first grade and will be teaching a 3rd and 4th grade combo. Do any of you know of any good upper grade blogs?

Lesson Plan Template

I am looking to revamp my lesson plan template. I have used this template for many years and would really like to try something new. I am hoping that some of you will SHARE what you use. I am attaching mine in hopes that someone else will find it useful.

Get it HERE!

First Grade Again!

I am so excited to announce that I will be teaching first grade again next school year. It will be my 10th year in first!

Website Links HELP!

Hi All!

A week or so ago one of you awesome teachers created a list of links with the help of the great blogging teachers out there. The problem is that I thought I saved it. Now that I want to refer back to it, I can't find it. Can one of you awesome friends help me.....PLEASE?!?!?

Mrs. Ibarra

Author Study

Ok. So this year I started an Author Study but it only lasted for a few months. After reading Debi's post about her Poetry Journal Scrapbook at Just 4 Teachers I was inspired to plan out an author study that correlates to Treasures Reading. The author chosen for Start Smart and Unit 2 do not correlate with Treasures. I didn't find an author in those two units that I thought I wanted to focus on. So for Start Smart, I chose David Shannon because we use his book "David Goes to School" to talk about rules. So it correlates with our Social Studies Unit. For Unit 2 I chose Leo Lionni because he is one of my favorites and I have tons of books by him.

Let's hope this link works. Author Schedule

Treasures 2011 k 6 scope and sequence

Check out this SlideShare Presentation if you use CA Treasures

Treasures 2011 k 6 scope and sequence

View more presentations from Sharnon Johnston-Robinett.

Another Giveaway

Hey all!

Head over to Building Blocks for a chance to win $25 in gift cards. And get a chance to look at her blog.

Classroom Photos Linky Party

Just wanted to thank ALL of you that participated in the Linky Party. I sure did have a great time looking at your pictures and am ready to implement some great things I saw when I return to school in 1 1/2 weeks. And as soon as my room is "SET UP" again, I will share pictures of my "nest" and what my room looks like. As I mentioned, my classroom hardly ever looks the same. Plus I will be in the "other" room. I am in one room for 2 months, have vacation, and then return into the room next door. Yeah! So much fun...lol! It helps me to keep my room and closets somewhat organized...or at least I try.



Always First Grade