All Manner of Pressing Issues

Here are a few pictures from our zoo field trip last Friday. I took some advice and had my students hold onto a “rope” (piece of yarn) while we were walking. It worked wonders. I was so glad I did that! After our visit to the zoo we went to War Memorial Park to eat lunch and play on the playground. The weather was beautiful and the students had a blast. Our next field trip will be this spring when we will take the students to a live theater performance. It was a huge hit with the children last year, so I am really looking forward to it!

What’s with all the sticky notes you ask? At my school we are required to display “standards based bulletin boards”. The board must display student work, a rubric, and each paper must have a sticky note on it with praise that relates back to the standard. Only student work that scored a 3 or a 4 can be displayed. This gives “bulletin board” a whole new meaning does it not? The purpose of it is for students to see examples of correct work. The standards based bulletin boards are meant to be used as teaching tools.

In the above pictures you see the entire board, the rubric, student work, and an up close shot of the Sticky Note. Click on any of the pictures to enlarge.

Here again we’ve got the standards based bulletin board. It’s a little boring in my opinion, but in theory I think it’s a good idea and regardless of whether I think it’s a good idea or not, I have to follow the rules, right?!?!

On this assignment the students were making all the combinations of 5 with matching number sentences. Click on the picture to enlarge.

Each month in literacy, we have a specific standard we focus on and then many others that tag along with the main one. We’ve been focusing on retelling a story including story elements and using graphic organizers (as a class, not the students individually). The “Story Elements” chart is our anchor chart that we refer to every morning when we do a read aloud. It guides us through the story elements. After reading we also use a graphic organizer to help us organize our retelling as we include the story elements.

Next to the Story Elements anchor chart is the What Good Readers Do anchor chart. We refer to this during our Shared Reading time when we are reading familiar charts or a big book. I also refer to these skills during guided/assisted reading groups.

Above are pictures of our What Good Writers Do anchor chart and a picture of some modeled writing I’ve done with my students. We added the sentences on the What Good Writers Do one at a time, spacing them out over several days, so we could focus on one thing at a time–adding to
the list slowly. When I do the modeled writing, I emphasize the items on the list as I am writing. No matter how lame I think my sentences are, the kids always love them and they think I’m an artist. Teaching first grade is great for my self-esteem! Ha!

Last, but certainly not least: word families. The all important method of teaching students short vowel sounds and blending (among other skills). We’re currently working on short o. The students complete sorts from Words Their Way. For phonics ideas I also use Month-by-Month Phonics for First Grade by Patricia Cunningham.

Delta steals the show does she not? Check out that tail wagging!

I hope you enjoyed the tour and maybe even found it helpful. If you didn’t, maybe you at least enjoyed the picture of Delta! This week is another hectic one, but hopefully I’ll be around a
little more than I was last week!

I have put off writing this post because I kept thinking I would take pictures of the two other bulletin boards I have up right now, but it hasn’t happened yet, so I decided to go ahead and post what I have! Maybe by the end of this week the other pictures will get taken! Things have been very hectic for us this week (and it’s only Wednesday!!!!). I’m taking my class to the zoo tomorrow. They are all very excited and so am I. Every day for the last two weeks they have all come in asking if we are going to the zoo today (it’s marked on our calendar and we’ve been counting down for weeks, but in first grade we struggle with concept of time).

I hope these bulletin board ideas are helpful to someone. It’s my plan to be back with 2 more by the end of the week.

Last year I decided it was a good idea for me to wear a half apron at school. I know it sounds silly, but having the pockets helps me keep up with things I would otherwise drive myself crazy trying to keep up with during the day (pens, post-it notes, timer, etc.). The apron I wore last year was falling apart by the end of the year, so I haven’t had one to wear this year. Mom and Dad spent Saturday night with us, so I asked Mom to bring her sewing machine! She did 99.9% of the work–that’s why it looks so good! I really like my new apron and I have high hopes of it making me more organized in my classroom.

This is a felted purse I actually knitted over the summer. It has laid on my shelf since then. About two weeks ago I bought some silk to line it with. I think I going to put two magnetic closures on it and possibly pink leather handles.

Last Sunday I started knitting this shawl/scarf. I really like the way it looks. I am ready to be finished with it so I can wear it! I am about 3/4 of the way! I am knitting this using Debbie Bliss Cathay and I love this yarn!

One of my friends is having a baby and I am knitting this hat for her. It will be a stocking cap lined with purple fleece. I can’t wait to see the finished product!