Cross Checking

Hello Everyone!
Next week we will be introducing the concept of cross checking in reading.   Cross checking is a strategy for helping kids think while they read.  Do the words (and sometimes the pictures) match with what they are reading? When they get to the end of a sentence, stop and cross check. Does it look right? Does it sound right? Does it make sense.  Kids should be aware of mistakes when they are reading.   The Sisters of Daily 5 and CAFE have a little hand movement they do while teaching this strategy, but my team and I wanted a little visual as well. This is what I came up with.

 

You can get your free printable

HERE!! :)

 

Let me know if this is at all useful to you. I love to read your comments and suggestions!!

 

Have a wonder-filled weekend, everyone!!  Thanks for stopping by and peeking through our little window!!

Joyfully!

Nancy

Do Not Play With Your Purse!

Hello Everyone!
Our first graders have met David, of "David Goes to School" fame, and Chrysanthemum, from her own self titled book, and finally they got to meet Lilly, from Kevin Henke's book, "Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse."  Kids love Kevin Henke's book characters, and Lilly is no exception.  They fall in love with that cute little mouse and soon realize that she has a bit of a naughty side to her.  We learn so much about respect, school leaders, citizenship, etc, through Lilly.
After reading and talking about the messages in the story, the kids wrote down what they thought was the most important  thing they will remember. 

 

After a couple of other reader's response activities, the kids had the opportunity to make their very own movie star glasses.  Lilly would have loved them!!

 

For your own Lilly unit-20 pages or so- CLICK HERE! :)

 

Now, off to school!!  Stephanie's Ponytail awaits!! :)

Have a great day!! And remember, do not play with your purse!! :)

Joyfully!

Nancy

Great Start!!

Hello Everyone!!
We have had a wonderful start to our year!  The past couple of days were filled with  establishing routine, schedules, expectations, goal setting, and getting to know each other. Yesterday we enjoyed learning about school expectations through our little friend David. You know him! Little David in David Shannon's book "David Goes To School."  I love the little David's my kids made this year!  They all turn out so different!!

 

 

You can get the David literature connection activity in this little unit.  It also includes other reading/social studies ideas for you to use at the beginning of the year!

Just click here!! :)

 

Today we tackled the tough subjects of bullying, and respecting ourselves and others using one of our fav characters, Kevin Henkes' Chrysanthemum!  We have done this connection activity for many years and every year, it hits home with the kids.  They make the connection that you can hurt another's heart with words. There's that old chant we used to say, "Sticks and stones may break  my bones, but names will never hurt me."  Well, I don't believe that to be true.  Words can sometimes hurt even more than other things.  As we read the story we crumpled a large paper heart each time little Chrysanthemum hears words that hurt.  That heart got pretty crumpled. It even tore a little! We tried as hard as we could to smooth it back out. Of course we couldn't get it perfectly smooth. We decided to put some bandaids on as a way of driving the point home.  Even words can hurt!

 

 You can get this little reading/social studies connection in my Chrysanthemum unit.

Click here for this mini unit!! :)

 

 

I am so excited about tomorrow!  Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse!!

 

Till then, thanks for stopping by for a peek! We appreciate you!

Have a great evening!!

Joyfully!

Nancy

First Graders are Soaring!

Hello Everyone!!
What a wonderful first day we all had! I love my new littles and can't wait to see what this year has in store for us!!  I know we will all be going places!! I want to share just a couple pics of our hot air balloon theme. Each of our classrooms has a big balloon in the hallway with the words, "Come soar with us in first grade" and "Imagine the places we'll go!" Very simple and quick...as well as "fire marshal approved."
 Today, as a way of goal setting, we brainstormed ways that we could "soar" this year. I love all their ideas!! We then made large clouds with our ideas on them and put them up around our hot air balloons.

 

 

 

 

 
 We will get some more of our first grade soaring clouds up tomorrow. I hope all my little sweeties want to come back tomorrow!!
Stay tuned!! Much more to come!!
Thanks for stopping by our little window for a peek!
Joyfully!
Nancy

Beginning of Year Treat Bag Hot Air Balloon Style!

Hello Everyone!
I love my new class!!  They seem to be very sweet and ready to learn! We had our "Meet the Teacher" on Thursday evening and it was such a joy to meet all the lovely families.  I am so excited to get to know them better.
I still have so much to do to be ready for them to travel this amazing first grade journey with me beginning on Monday.  I'll probably be at school all day today (Saturday), but I want to start out ahead of the game!  I'm sure my whole team will be up there.  I am thrilled and feel so blessed to be a part of this group of teacher friends!! Here's a quick pic taken on "Meet the Teacher Night." Aren't they darling???  Oh!! And I love our shirts!!  "First Grade Rocks!"  Moonlight Threads did them for us.  Here's their site.

http://www.moonlightthreads.com/store/

Our beginning of the year "theme" so to speak is hot air balloons.  I'll share our hallway decs later.  The kids have a part in that, so I want to wait until they do their little projects. But I do want to share a cute little treat bag we had ready for the kids on Thursday. So easy and cheap!!

We had one of these waiting on our sweet new little ones' desks.  I think it helped some of them to calm their little nerves!
Here's a closeup of the poem.

 

You can get your free printable

 

HERE!! JUST CLICK!!

 

Well, I'm off to do some more organizing and putting finishing touches on my home away from home!!  Till next time, always look for the joy!!

Nancy

3 ways to read a book and D5 independence charts

Hello Everyone!
Super quick post today!  One week and counting until those little cuties come bouncing in!!  I wanted to redo my  Daily 5 Independence anchor charts and "3 Ways to Read a Book" charts, so I created a chevron set and a western set. Chevron for my sweet new team mate and western 3 ways for me! :) Just sharing in case you need new ones!
Preview:

Daily 5 Independence charts, chevron style??? Click here for your free download.

"3 ways to read a book" 2 different designs??? Click here for your free download!

That's all for now!!  I have to get all my folders and notebooks set up!
Have a great rest of the weekend!
Joyfully!
Nancy

Math Notebooking!

Hello Everyone!
Well, I finally had a chance to get away with the family and have some beach time!!  Precious rejuvenation time memories!!! But... I'm back and am in full school mode now and ready to share another unit!  This one is all about math notebooks.  I  have always had my kids do a math journal of some kind or other, but as you know, we are always evolving and "working on work." After a great math workshop this summer, I wanted to revamp the way I approach math notebooking.  I wanted to, of course, include infinity calendars and number of the day pages in varying degree, but I also wanted a place for kids to articulate and record their thinking about what we did in math during a mini lesson or what they did in their math tub for the day.  I came up with this little ditty.  It ended up being about 40 pages long, but it includes all the calendars, 4 different number of the day options, various recording sheets and resources. I'm looking forward to trying this out with my kids.  I will print, copy, hole punch, and place in 3 ring binders (the skinny cheap ones) for each kiddo. Here's a peek:

...along with a list of vocabulary words

Click HERE for your unit!! :)



Don't forget to leave some feedback!! :) Things to fix, change, add, etc.

Now, off to get my new class list and meet with my sweet team!! Here we go!!!
Joyfully!
Nancy