Getting Better...Slowly Plus a Math Game

Ok so I am slowly getting better at this blogging thing. I post a lot more on my teacher instagram, and do my best to pop over here with my little posts but it doesn't always happen. So if you want to see more from me, make sure you are following me on instagram. 

I bought a new game that I wanted to share with you. It's great for primary and upper grades to practice addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division facts. It's called Mobi.

*This is not sponsored. I found Mobi on uncommongoods.com and thought I'd give this a wirl.

This game reminds me of Scrabble. You create a number sentence and build off of it. It's fun, it's hands on and it really gets the kiddos thinking.

Since I am teaching first grade I have pulled out all of the multiplication and division tiles (multiplication on one side and division on the other).

It comes in this cute little whale and all the pieces come in two separate ziplock bags inside. 

Here's an example of how the game is played. SO MUCH FUN! 

Making 10

Making 10

We've been working on ways to make 10. I bought 2 ice cream sets  and put a number on the top of each scoop. The cone says 10 on it. The students needed to come up with different scoop combinations
that equal 10. This little friend of mine came up with a 3 adden cone to make 10. 

Simple but oh so fun. I usually have them record their addition sentences as they make them. Today we had a few minutes to kill before we got ready to go home so I just let them have at it. 

Addition Connect Four

Addition Connect Four

 What a fun way to practice your math facts. All I did was write on each of the little pieces different addition sentences. On one side I would write it with the larger number first and on the reverse I would write it with the smaller number first. For example: 2+3 = 5  what a fun way to practice your math facts. All I did was write on each of the little pieces different addition sentences. On one side I would write it with the larger number first and on the reverse I would write it with the smaller number first. For example: 2+3 = 5 and  3+2 = 5.

  Then the standard rules of connect four apply. They pull out a little piece say the number sentence, tell the answer to the number sentence to their partner, and if they get it right they get to use their piece. If they get it wrong it goes back into the bag. Then we just have to try and make four in a row.

 There are so many different ways you can play this game. You can have all of the little pieces that they put into a row add up to a certain number, you can use subtraction, or multiplication, or division.

 You can make this game more challenging for your kids who need extra stimulation, and you can also make it as simple as what we are doing now for those who still need a little extra help.


 My students have asked me for a subtraction version, and a version for all of our star words. Those are in the works once I can get my hands on some more Connect Four games for cheap.

Teacher finds!

It has been a busy first few weeks of school. We are learning our classroom routines, how to solve problems between peers, and recalling all of those kindergarten skills that seem to have been forgotten over summer.

 This three day weekend I got all of my teacher prep done on Friday night so I could enjoy the rest of my extended weekend. I found some great little deals for my classroom that I'd like to share with you today,  as well as share with you a few things we've been doing in the classroom.

 These simple little dry erase boards with primary lines on them from the  Target Dollarspot have been such a huge success. My students love using them to blend out and spell words. 

 I bought a super simple stopwatch to time my students with their reading for fluency, and it's really great even for students to use. It's very simple with only three buttons start stop in clear. I also bought a digital timer to use for various activities during class that is magnetic.

 Buzzers. Do you have buzzers? If not you should get some it makes any learning experience that much more fun. There's something satisfying about hitting the buzzer and hearing a silly sound  that makes answering addition sentences listening for rhyming words and other activities more fun. 

We were learning ways to make 10 and I used the book called 10 Little Fireflies ( I think that's the name of it ) ,  this print out of a mason jar and little yellow fireflies. Each time one of the kids in the book how to firefly we would catch a flyer flies well and write a number sentence and that would let us know how many fireflies  there were all together.

T

 I got this cute little Caroline Gardner pencil case to put all of the random pens, markers, pencils, paper clips that usually end up in the bottom of my purse. This little pouch will stay in my purse to keep all that contain for when I have to take my correcting, and other prepped things on the go to work on. It's the perfect size and fit in small purses as well as my large ones. 

This cute butterfly basket I found it target for $6.34. I thought it would be perfect to put some of our reading pillows in to store them.

 Each year my students and I study lifecycles of plants. We usually do pumpkins in the fall and other plants in the spring. I found these great pumpkin shaped box 643 dollars in the Target Dollarspot. This is where we are going to record all the information we learned about the lifecycle of a pumpkin, before we take our field trip to the pumpkin patch. 

Just like with the buzzers you need to get some flyswatters as well. Amazon has great deals for bolt flyswatter's. Here we took our flyswatter's in some colored true and false paper to practice some math facts. I would shout out a math fact and they would have to figure out if the math fact I said was true or false by slapping the correct piece of paper.

Fifth Street Books

Building up our classroom libraries can be quite costly and time consuming... going to bookstores, searching online, thrift stores etc. After doing a little searching and chatting with some teachers online I found this amazing place called Fifth Street Books . They are a massive used book store in Mebane, NC . So if you are in the area go. They sell many of their books for less than a dollar and if you are a teacher they are only twenty-five cents.  Now, if you are like me then you don't live anywhere this magical place, but never fear, you can order books in bulk online. 

Go to the Fifth Street Books online click on Boxed Children Books, and choose your grade level. Then  you can order books in certain quantities. Now, I teach first grade, but I ordered 2 packs of Kinder and 1 pack of first grade books. Why? Well as you know there are many different programs and ways to level books. I don't expect the employees at this store to know the specific levels so I thought I'd cover my bases. I figure that buying Kinder and First grade books I'd get a good mix of Kinder-2nd grade books and I was right. 

Here's my book haul. The larger set of books are the Kinder set and the smaller is the first grade. Each set came in a paper bag in the box. 

We Make A Difference, They Will Remember

If you are anything like me, you often find yourself wondering, "Am I making a difference? Will they remember me when they grow up? Have I done anything that will have impacted their lives for the better?"

Well I am hear to tell you that... you are, they they will, and you have. Both of my parents taught. My dad taught for 35 year and my mom just retired this past school year after 46 years of teaching.

ANYWAY, growing up, we would always run into former students of my parents.... they were grown adults and they always had something nice to say, sharing memories of their time in my parents classrooms. It always gave me a proud, happy feeling knowing that so many people loved my parents.

 Today I wanted to show you something that was on my dad's facebook page. Come back to this post and look at this photo at anytime you doubt you are making a difference, and even the littlest of things can make a HUGE impact on a child's life.

You make a difference, you build the confidence, you open the doors, you make them feel loved, appreciated and cared for. 

Flexible Seating Find

Super awesome finds at Home Goods today. I am going to use these lap desks as alternate seating. They are very long and the legs are metal so they are more sturdy. I also got the rolly  cart as well. It will fit perfectly under my teacher desk. Don't mind Pudge the dog. He is a world class photo bomber.

Productive Summer

 I hope everyone's having a great summer vacation. My summer vacation has been busy propping for next school year. I've gotten a lot done. I plan to the first two months of school, trips and activities, and have done a little organizing and buying some thing.

 I making master copies of some of the files I have on my computer, and putting them in binders for easy access during the school year.

 I stopped at our local Big Lots to pick up the pencil cases you see at the top right. They're great for the kids to keep their pencils and erasers  while they work around the room. The containers that you see are amazing. They were only $3.50 each and they all came with two different colored labels. You can write on them with dry erase marker's to label what's inside.  Cheverly will you choose not to use there's a special spot at the bottom of the container where it hooks in. I got a few other little things, like pencils, erasers and other little goodies. Something that is not pictured that I got there is some pillows for my classroom library.

Here is a pile of stuff I have accumulating under our kitchen bar area for next school year.

 This is a fun little craft I did for the Fourth of July. It would also be great as classroom decoration. I just took some treat bags from the dollar section cut the tips off and glue them together. It's super simple,  super inexpensive  and super cute. 

Summer Time

Summer is here! I am on my second week of summer break and I am loving it! I've taken time to relax and prep for next year. So far I've planned almost my first two months of school and...

The summer addition of my cause box came in and I love everything in it. It's a fun subscription box and you also are helping others around the world as well. You can check it out it cause box.com.

 I found a great deal on a super cool book display. The campus style like I have here and the primary colored one are the prices listed. They do have a pastel colored one that is a little bit cheaper. I chose the canvas style because it will go  with any classroom theme I choose to have. 

I just got this book of mail today. I'm excited to dig into it.

On top of getting lesson plans done I've been prepping some new learning games for next year. So I sit on my couch and while I prep I have been watching the new season of The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.

 I hope you are having a relaxing summer filled with family, fun, friends and good times. 

Coming to a Close.

 The year is coming to a close rapidly. Our last day with students is June 8, and we have a training on June 9. With that being said teachers everywhere are slowly closing out there here in saying goodbye to their students. When tradition my half at the end of every year is to make a little movie/slideshow to give to my kids with the rest of the goodies  I get them at the end of each year. Our movie this year is an hour and 19 minutes long. That's the shortest one I've ever created. It was very difficult to do. So I sit at my desk right now burning DVDs, writing on them and opening a very fun subscription box. It's a special subscription box just for teachers.  It's called the pampered teacher. You can learn more about it at  www.pamperedteacher.com .   I got some great little goodies including a cute bag that can carry up to 60 pounds of all of my teacher goodness, the head massager which is amazing, some cute owl napkins and a sweet treat. There also some colorful binder clips. If you don't want to sign up for the subscription but you like to experience a box, go to Amazon.com And do a search for pampered teacher. The exact box that you see here is the box you can buy for $28 and if you're a prime member that includes free shipping.

Erin Condren Teacher Planner

 I just got my Erin Condren  teacher planner, professional development notebook, and a few other little goodies in the mail. I was very excited to open it. The teacher planners are amazing and my most favorite to use. They can be a little costly, but as any teacher knows when you find something that works, you stick with it. These teacher planners  work, and I absolutely love them. Here's a picture of the packaging and what I got. Want to see what the inside looks like? Send me a message or leave me a comment below.



Want to give teacher planner a try? Their life plan is are amazing as well.  Will click the link below and you will get $10 off your first purchase. It's awesome to use towards one of the planters or anything else you might want to check out a try.

https://www.erincondren.com/referral/invite/staceyrapp  

Fun way to get kids to read.

 If I can make learning more fun for my students, then I'm going to do it. When it comes to reading my kids are pretty good. However if I can make it more fun in someway then I well. Today was overcast and the clouds covered the sky. And made our classroom that much darker so I decided to forgo our plans this morning, give everybody a glow bracelet and  let them read in the dark. We call this glow-in-the-dark reading. The kids absolutely love it. Some of the kids wear their bracelet around the wrist and hold it up to the book, and others will leave their bracelets straight and use it to track their reading. Something so simple, that doesn't really cost a lot, makes reading that much more fun.

Earlier I had showed you pictures of the tents we have in the classroom. Today my students who are on tent time loved reading in the TV with the glow stick and using my tablet to take AR quizzes.

 They have such a blast and everyone was so engaged that I just left them read the morning away. We went out to recess and when we came back and we got back to business taking our spelling test, and finishing up our pronoun assessment. Our pronoun assessment was pretty cool and my kids will really enjoyed it. Here's a photo of what we did.

The Bees Are A Buzzin

Open House is Thursday and I am in the process of putting up some of my students' work.  One of our writing assessment was to write  what we had  learned about bees after doing some research. The project only had to go to the rough draft of the corrected, but I chose to keep the process going. We learned more and more about bees and their jobs. We edited our bee writing and they turned into  my little hive. This idea was inspired by a student who suggested doing something like this. Then we also turned ourselves into bees to put around the hive.

No School Friday

 We didn't have school on Friday, so what does that mean for me? It means a trip down to Disneyland to surprise my sweet niece. She's in third grade and hasn't been to Disneyland in a year or so. So when I found out they were going to go the same weekend I was, her parents and I planned a surprise. They walked down to the front of main street  where I just happen to be, my knees looked up and there she saw me. We spent the day going on rides, eating and having fun. Here are just a few pictures from that sweet trip.

Busy Teacher, Busy Students

 We have been super busy and first grade. So many things to do, so many things completed, not so much time to update the blog. A few pictures from some of the things we've been learning and creating in our classroom.

 Had an egg hunt. All of my eggs were labeled with the students names on them. One of the eggs had a sweet little customize know from me to them. They loved it. 

 Bought two of these really cute tents. The kids are obsessed with them. They love reading in then when they have reached their goal to turn tent time.  They were only $15 apiece. 

 Love learning about antonyms and synonyms. This was her Antonin project. 

 Thank you Pinterest for this great idea. This is Joy the winking pig. We recorded our OY/O I words on spots of mud and put them all over joyed the pig. 

 I want to do you'll whole blog post dedicated to our unit on these. We have learned so much about these and this was just a quick little Friday activity to go over the parts of the B we have been learning about. 

 The kids loved joy the pig so much that I decided we needed to become pigs ourselves. They had to read the room finding a OY/OI words and write them on the pink cup. Returned the pink cup into a pig snout. They enjoyed recording their findings on their pig nose, and wearing them around all day. 

 More pig fun with OI/OY words. 

 Sweet notes from one of my homework club student. 

 Learning about subject and predicate while we make silly sentences. 

 Plant lifecycle fun. We are planting Christmas lima beans. 

More posts when I get more time and more detailed exclamation of other activities we've been working on. It's almost open house and my firsties and I are quite busy.

Sit where you need to sit

I am a firm believer that some kids have a hard time sitting at their desk to work. In my classroom we do sit at our desks but not all of the time. Even when we are at our desks you will see some students sitting and others standing. Then there are times when we just need to sit somewhere else. 

I have trained my class to really focus when they are doing independent work. This has allowed them to be able to work from other places in the room. Some like to sit in the reading nook, others right in the middle of the classroom. They each have a clipboard and if they need to move away from their desk, then they can. I find I don't have to remind them to focus on their work or even to keep their eyes on their own paper.  My students have really learned to take pride in their own work and only at times do I have to remind them to keep their eyes on their own paper. 

Here are a few photos of us working in other place in the room  besides our desks.

Happy Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day was on a Sunday this year so we celebrated on Friday the 12th. The kids had a great day full of fun Valentines themed learning. 

Here are the little Valentine Goodies I put together for them. Everything came from either the dollar spot at Target or Dollar Tree. My kids work hard everyday and I try and give them all I can from lots praise to Valentines. 

So I got the kids the coolest Valentines. It looked like a fruit snack package. They had to put it on their desk and hit it with their fist. Then the package started to expand. 

When it popped open there was a little balloon inside they had to shake up. SO MUCH FUN! 

We also made Love Potion. (Sprite and Cherry Juice. The kids got to put cherries in their drink if the wanted). The straws were from Target Dollar Spot.

The kids graphed with conversation hearts, and worked on other activities. I let one group at a time pass out their Valentines. 

The classroom is ready for the kids. They all have their Monster Valentine Holders on their desk and a fun V-day morning work activity on their desk to work on.