Calendar/Circle Time

Calendar is a very important part of the day.  In my first grade class a student leader "teachers" calendar and I guide him or her as needed.

On my Teachers Pay Teachers page, I made a set of blank calendars! They have multiple uses!

TEACHERS PAY TEACHERS

The blank calendars can be used as citizenship documentation in which each child colors a square in corresponding to his or her behavior that day (e.g. green, yellow, or red).

They can be used to track weather, teach calendar skills, document how the students are feeling that day.

You can even use them to write down your instructional focus for the week and the daily objectives.

The can be used as a testing schedule or to mark which days your students go to various pull out programs (such as speech or ESL).

They are great for creating your own homework calendars.  These are useful if you have children that need more challenging work or extra reinforcement at home.  If you take the time to make one of these special calendars, you can use it for improving the home/school connection.  You could create summer calendars to the children do not lose what they have learned over the summer.

These calendars can help extend circle time where the children apply what they have learned.
The possibilities are endless!

Fun Vocabulary Builder

A fun way for kids to learn new vocabulary is to have them make a classroom museum.  Basically each child is given a word and they have to make a model of that word using clay (or play-doh).  They also make a sign for their exhibit with the word and an explanation of what the word means.  Once everyone completes their exhibit the class goes on a museum tour and the children read and discuss the clay models as they walk around the room.

If you want to take grade or document the activity, you can have them fill out the Museum Exhibit Report form.  The report form is a useful tool for the children to help them maintain focus while sharing with the class or their buddy.  It's only one dollar on Teachers Pay Teachers!

Afterwards, the children buddy up and discuss their word and their thought process behind the model.  The children then take pictures of each "exhibit."  The teacher loads the pictures into a slide show or a PowerPoint and then the class reviews the words each day.

It's a great way for the children to be engaged and to build their vocabulary.

You could also have the children write about their museum experience or you could have them list as many new words as they can and then share the lists (the possibilities are endless).

Note:  If you do not want each child to do their own word, you can have them work with a partner or a group of three.  If you have them do groups I would have a plan for dividing up the responsibilities.  One person could be the artist, one could create the label/sign, and the other could be the reporter/photographer.

Station Documentation (Centers)

I have a new product in my Teachers Pay Teachers Store!  It is a station documentation packet.  Basically it is a way to record what stations your students went to during the day.  I have also included s brief explanation of the various stations.  Right now it is on sale for $3.00!

Here are a few images to give you an idea of what is included. 

Common Core Resources

I created my first item for Teachers' Pay Teachers!

Check out the link to my page!  I've created first grade checklists to document the following Common Core Standards:

Reading: Literature
Reading: Informational Texts
Reading: Foundational Skills
Writing
Speaking & Listening
Language

Please give me some feedback.  I'm new to this and want to do my best!

Here are some great resources on the Common Core Standards!

Common Core Resource created by the State of Illinois
This is a great resource.  If you scroll down to the table of contents there are links for activities that correlate with the common core standards.

Read Tennessee
This website breaks down each standard.  I love that it includes the vocabulary the children need to know, what the standard is, and questions to ask,  It also provides a suggested learning progression.

Common Core Standards
This is a link to the actual standards.

PARCC and the Common Core
This is the new assessment that will be based on the Common Core Standards.

 CCSSO Council Chief State School Officers
List of resources

Cleveland Metropolitan School District
2011–2012 Scope & Sequence Guide  PreKindergarten through Grade 12
This resource is over 600 pages.  I printed pages 17-25 for first grade information.  The only drawback is that the font is very small in parts.