7 Habits of Happy Kids

One of the books I read this summer was the book called, The Leader In Me, by Stephen and Sean Covey.  This book was very inspiring as I think about this upcoming school year! I highly recommend this book to anyone in the teaching profession who wishes to make long-lasting impressions on the kids in their care.  There are so many things I took away from the book that I will be implementing into my classroom this school year.  One of those ideas was inspirational quotes and the other idea is having a data binder that the students are responsible for so they are aware of their progress in Reading and Math, especially.  I have created several pages for a data binder that I plan to use this school year.  It will be available at my TpT store soon!  I am very excited to use it this year.

 

 Click the image above to be directed to their website.

The book tells of so many schools that have really turned their school around by looking for the leader in each child who enters the doors of the school.  He also talks about how to teach leadership to the students.

As I was reading this book, I was amazed at how many things I was already doing, just not in a "leadership" way!  How easy is it going to be to implement the leadership aspect to what I already do!  One such thing is my Data Wall.  Last year, I used the Data we gathered as a class and put it on a wall in our classroom.  The kids loved seeing their progress over the year.  I also kept a data folder for each child.  However, they were not tracking the data, I was.  This year, they will be using the data to meet their goals.  Goals are another thing that I have been doing.  This year, students will be helping to come up with their own goals to achieve!  As you can tell, I am really jazzed about getting my students to become the leaders I know they can be!

 

 

Summer!........Where has it Gone?

It is hard to believe that it is now July, almost August.  Where have I been?  Well, I have enjoyed just being a mom this summer.  My oldest finished Kindergarten at the end of the school year last year.  He is very excited about being in first grade!

I thought I would start with what we have been doing this summer!

In June, after my classroom was packed and a professional development day was completed, my attention turned to my two little boys.  We started by having "Shape Week".

The first day was "Circle Day".  We did everything related to circles.  We had donuts for breakfast.  Lunch consisted of:  Spagettio's, grapes, soda pop (a rarity for them...but they have bubbles!)

For fun, we went outside, blew up balloons and tried to race them from one end of the driveway to the other.  It was a very windy day, so this did not work as well as hoped.  Fun all the same!  We also blew bubbles and watched how far they would travel.

The next day was "Triangle Day".  This was our most fun day!

We had PBJ's cut into triangles, Dorito's, pinapple tidbits as some of the things that were triangle in shape that day.  

It was kinda rainy, so we did an art project inside.  These will hang in the playroom when it is finished.  They turned out GREAT!  I got a pack of 2 canvases at our local Pat Catan's craft/art store for around $7.00 and 4 small bottles of acrylic paints in red, yellow, blue, and green.  I got paint brushes at Pat Catan's as well.  I taped off the canvases to make the triangles.  The boys helped me by telling me where to put the painter's tape to make the triangle.  Here are some pictures of the work in progress:

 They were so proud of their finished products!

The next week, we had "Space Week!"  We learned about the planets and the sun.  We talked about people get to space.  One of the things we did was to watch the Magic School Bus video, "Gets Lost in Space".  We also talked about the moon and how the moon orbits the Earth.  Below is a  picture of the boys making craters on the moon!  I put flour in a pie pan.  We used mini marshmallows to drop into the flour making a crater.  They tried using different forces with the marshmallows and found out that the harder they threw them, the deeper the crater!

 We, then, took the fun outside!  I found these water rockets at our local discount grocery store, Marc's.  They had a ball shooting the rockets into "outer space!"

 A few days later, we received our first Green Kid Craft box!  This box was all that it was cracked up to be!  Each kit contained EVERYTHING that was needed to do the activity.  I chose the "sibling" option when I ordered, so they sent enough for both boys to do the activities.  Well worth the money!  They asked when the next box would arrive, which was recently.  We will be building robots!  I don't have pictures of the boys doing the activities because I was having so much fun with them I forgot to take pictures!  LOL  I will try to get some pictures of the kids doing activities from the next box!

Click HERE to go to the Green Kid Crafts site!  They have other kits to choose from as well!

Next time, I will fill you in on some reading I have done this summer!

DATA Walls

In my last post, I said I would bring you what I do for my DATA Wall at school.  Well, here it is!

The first color graphs are bar graphs of our reading levels at the beginning of the year (top) and the end of the first 9 weeks (bottom).  Next week, I will have the graph up for the end of the second 9 weeks grading period.  The graph has the number of students going up the side and the Guided Reading Level across the bottom of the graph.

The next set of charts are for Sight Words.  We use the "trick words" from the Wilson Fundations program as our sight words for each nine weeks. The charts have the number of words going up the side of the graph and the dates of each attempt throughout the nine weeks to have everyone master the list of words.  We put a small star sticker for the number of students who get all the words on the list correct.  As you can see, we have improved each time we "test" our knowledge.  

Not pictured here is our Addition timed test chart.  Each week, we test our knowledge of our addition facts.  We started with the 0's and 1's.  We are now working on our 2's.  The chart lists each student down the side.  Across the top of the chart is 0's, 1's, etc.  As the students pass each test, they put a sticker beside their name in the space for the test they took.

This DATA Wall has REALLY been a great help to me as I track the progress of my students throughout the year.  The students are always checking it and talking about how they want to see more stickers the next time they take the "test".

I started my DATA Wall by doing "Getting to Know You" graphs.  We graphed our class by Boys and Girls, Favorite School Subject, Favorite Season, etc.  The students learned quickly how to read graphs, how to use the information to know about each other, that DATA is another word for "Information", and much more.  After we got to know one another and started into the "meat" of our school year, our DATA Wall changed to more of what is pictured above.  Sometimes we add a short term graph or chart up for something special we are working on.

I highly recommend incorporating a DATA Wall into your classroom if you can.  It really helps me focus on the things most needed to be mastered by my class.  To help you get started, I have created a beginners packet available on my TpT store.  Below is a picture with a link to it.

 

Click here to go to my TpT store!

 I would love to hear how you use a DATA Wall in your classroom!  Have a great week!

 

Snow Day!!! and a FREEBIE!

Today was yet another WONDERFUL snow day!  My kindergartener is finally understanding the joy of snow days as well!  We spent the morning putting Lego's together.  I have decided that Lego's and I have a mutual love/hate relationship! 

Tomorrow, it will be back to school!  I must admit, I'm a little excited about seeing my "kiddos" again!  This is the end of the grading period and am excited to see how much they have progressed!  I use a DATA WALL in my room and have seen growth in those areas but it isn't the same as working with them one on one.

I will try to post more about my DATA WALL in a future post.  

Today, I wanted to share a FREEBIE with you.  My class is learning about number bonds and fact families in their Math time right now.  The FREEBIE are some activities I plan to do with them this week.  So, I just grouped them together and put them in my TpT store as a FREEBIE for you!  Click on the image below to take you to the FREEBIE.  (I just love that word!)

Looking Back...

It's Christmas break!  Christmas wrappings are all done.  Shopping is completed.  (Thankfully, nothing needed returned!)  Now, my sights get set on the new year coming and reflections of the past year go through my mind.  

I am embarrassed that I have not blogged since July!  Where has the time gone?!!  I had wanted to include some pictures of my classroom this year.  I have gone with a Disney "Mickey Mouse" theme and have really enjoyed it!  My class has been having fun with all our Mickey Mouse things.  I will try to fill you in on them as I blog.  First, here are some pictures of the back of the classroom.   

I have absolutely LOVED using the tens frames to count how many days of school.  The kiddos add a dot sticker for each day of school.  We use this for counting by 10's, answering "How many more are needed?" questions. The numbers above the windows go to 20.  So many times I see the kids looking up and using it like a number line when adding and subtracting.  I am definitely using this theme again next year!  

As a visual, for those students who need it, I purchased a stuffed Mickey Mouse and a receiving blanket.  Mickey goes down "for a nap" during their work times and other times when silence is expected.  It has really helped remind those that need the reminder that they are to be quiet.  So many times, I hear the students reminding each other, "Shh.  Mickey's sleeping."  Love it!

I will touch base again with more great ideas!  Bye for now!

Summer Heat and More!

I must say...again....that I am really enjoying being just a mom this summer!  Those of you who teach understand this completely!  This isn't to say that I haven't been working on things for the upcoming school year.  I have been (have you seen my TpT store lately?!). 

Anyway, today was one of the hottest days we have had this summer.  At least, that is the way it felt when walking outside.  I was standing still outside at one point and I had sweat dripping into my eye!  Ugh!

After I posted my latest activity pack on TpT (CVC Hands-on Activities), I took the boys outside for some "fun in the sun"!  Here are a couple of pics from their fun on the slip-n-slide!

 I was hoping to post some pictures of ideas I have for this school year.  However, I am not ready with them yet.  Last week, the custodians at my school gave me an opportunity to come in and organize.  I am switching classrooms.  I'm staying in the same grade but changing classrooms to be closer to the other First Grade teachers.  I was so thankful for the opportunity to get in and organize, sort, pitch the things I have.  It felt good to give everything a "home".  I didn't get decorating done.  That will be for later.  Just a hint:  Mickey Mouse!  How fun!  Here are a couple of pictures of what my classroom looks like.

Our custodians do a great job over the summer months getting the classrooms looking GREAT!  I love the freshly waxed floors, clean boards, and hint of fresh paint in the hallways.

Check back tomorrow.  I hope to post some ideas from my newest item in my TpT store! This will happen as long as the weather holds.  When we have severe weather, I get "kicked" off the internet.  See you soon!

Great Book!

Back again!  As promised, I wanted to share a new book that I found while vacationing in Tennessee.  It is called, The Numberlys,  by William Joyce and Christina Ellis.

This imaginative story is about a group of characters who lived in a world of numbers.  Nothing had a name.  Everything had a number.  There are 5 "Numberlys" who decide that something more is needed.  They set off on their own to make numbers better.  At first their efforts are not so good.  However, after much effort, they create letters.  They end up creating the letters of the alphabet.  From here, the letters combine to make words.  These words name things and the world is a better place.

This creative story has so many different uses.  It is great for separating the difference between letters and numbers.  I plan to use it to show that "If at first you don't succeed, try, try again."  Many times students want to give up so quickly.  If they stick with it, they can accomplish so much.  The building where I teach is economically low.  Families really have a difficult time making ends meet.  Yet the kids come to school each day ready to learn and meet the challenges of the day.  I hope this book will be an encouragement to them.

Just a little side note, William Joyce does Olympic curling and has written and illustrated other titles such as The Man in the Moon; the Guardians series; and the #1 New York Times - bestselling The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore.

In the next couple of days, I hope to share with you some Back to School pics and ideas I will be doing this upcoming school year.