On Your Mark! Get Set!

Hello Everyone!!
Well, about a week and a half before teachers report for the new year!  I got to meet with my sweet team this past week, and I just know it's going to be a good year!!!  It makes a huge difference when the people you work with are not just your co-workers, they are some of your best friends!  I love that we can trust each other for support and encouragement.  We trust that each will do the right thing for kids. We celebrate life events and hold each other up when it gets tough.  I feel so blessed to have all of them in my life!! Thank you, girls, for being so awesome!!!
I also feel blessed to be able to share so much with you all via this little blog.  I get so many e-mails from teachers from all over the world with thoughts about all that I share. I truly feel as though this blog is a bit like the food blogs where cooks, bakers, and chefs share their favorite recipes with anyone who wants to try them.  They share recipes that have been successful for them.  I share ideas that have worked for me in my classroom. I love hearing that they have worked for you and your students as well! Thank for letting me know!
As I gear up, I always like to clean up some of my printables. I did redo my lesson plan template because we have a bit of a different schedule for this coming year.  
Here's a pic of what it looks like now.  It is completely editable.  I copy and punch holes so that the two pages can lay open and side by side in a binder.  Some people like to type in plans, but I just handwrite  on this template.  

If you need an editable lesson plan template

CLICK HERE!!! :)

Another thing I worked a little on were my beginning of the year quick forms.  I like to have out a couple of notes and questionnaires at meet the teacher night for parents to fill out.  these are handy ways to get to know your kids and their families and have info at your fingertips. 

Here are a couple of pics from the mini pack.

The pack also includes a schedule, a wish list, and a couple of other things.

If you are interested:

SIMPLY CLICK HERE!!! IT'S FREE! 

The next thing I want to share is a little packet of fun for the kids to work on a bit at a time during the first week of school.

The first couple of days are filled with calming fears, gathering information, sorting supplies, talking to hovering parents, and so many teacher attention grabbing issues, sometimes you just need something for the kids to work on independently.  The only supplies the kids need for this packet are crayons and pencils! You will learn a ton about your new kids as they make their way through!  Win Win!!

Here are a few pics.

If you are in need of a way to get to know your kids, This packet is a CLICK away!!  

You will just pick out the pages you want, copy and staple in a packet form, and have them ready!! 

The last thing I'm sharing today is a math notebook unit.  This unit is almost 80 pages of printables for you to pick and choose from to put together an interactive math experience for your kids.  We have our kids work in their math notebooks every day. The notebook includes calendar pages, progressive number of the day pages, day tracking pages, weather, math talk, problem solving, vocabulary, and manipulatives. We guide our kids through the pages at first, but after a few weeks, they are able to do it all on their own. It takes about 15 minutes. This process has proven to be something that has helped kids gain confidence and comfort in discovering the beauty in math!

Here are a few pics!

17 different progressive number of the day pages from which to choose. This one is for the beginning of the year. The next one is for the end of the year!

There is another page with the rest of the 180 on it.

We print off all the pages we need to start the year, and put them in a 3 ring binder.  We add a new number of the day page every day. The different sections of the notebook are separated with paper dividers.  Sometimes the binder gets so full, I have to take out some of the number of the day pages, but in general they stay in there so kids can refer back to see patterns.

If you think you might want to try this

JUST CLICK HERE FOR THE FREE PRINTABLE UNIT!!!

IF YOU HAVE USED THIS MATH NOTEBOOK BEFORE,  GO AHEAD AND DOWNLOAD AGAIN AS I HAVE ADDED SOME NEW STUFF!

WOW!!! This turned out to be a long post!!  Thanks for hanging with me!  I hope you gained some things you might want to try! By posting all of this, I am getting excited to put it all into play! Bring on the new firsties!!!

I do have a few more things to re-organize and clean up, so I'll be back soon to show you! If you have any questions about anything, please don't hesitate to holler at me! Have a great last few days of your Summerbration!!  I know I will!!

Thanks for stopping by!

Joyfully!

Nancy

firstgradewow@gmail.com

First Week Fun

Howdy All!!
WOW!!! One week down already!  We had such an awesome first week. I love my new group of VIK's  so much already! I am so looking forward to my 34th year as a teacher!!!  I wanted to share a few quick pics of our first week.  Most are from our beginning of the year Camping Unit.  I've shared that already, but I'll put another link at the end of this post because I added a couple of things. First off, our cute hallway to welcome the kids!

Similar to what we did several years ago!  But still cute!! Kids' pics included some camping props!!

We got to know each other around our camp fire, made smores and made a little hands on visual.

We Organized our thinking about manners and behavior.

This is just a very small peek into all we have done so far!  There is so much more to come as we learn side by side! 

If you would like that camping unit, CLICK HERE!! :) 

OK!  Stay tuned!  We have just begun!!!

I hope your first week was just as great! 

Thanks for taking time out to take a peek into our little window of wonder!

Joyfully!

Nancy

May You Have Enough...and a Beginning of Year Camping Unit!

Howdy All!
I took a little break from blogging this summer.  I can't believe how many e-mails I received asking what was going on because they hadn't heard from me in a while. In all honesty, I needed to take a couple of months to rejuvenate---faith, family, friends, and home. I was able to visit my sweet boys, take a fun trip with the hubs, spend time with my mom, have some wonderful catch up time with my niece and her fam from Cali, do some touching up on our home, and....adopt a the sweetest little chocolate lab from our local animal rescue center.    I have been so blessed with enough. I want to focus on that exact thought. "May you have enough." 

 For a copy of this old "blessing" click HERE! :)

May YOU have enough! 

May YOU have enough!

Now that I feel centered, and focused again, I am ready to share my new beginning of the year unit.  Our new theme for the BOY is camping.  We have done a camping theme a couple of time before, but it was for open house or end of year fun.  This BOY unit includes many set up ideas, fun "get to know you" activities, some goal setting, math exploration, and science discoveries.  A couple of the ideas I pulled from my old units so you might recognize them, but they have a fresh new BOY look.   Here are a few pics from the 149 page unit!

For your own printable copy of this 149 page unit, CLICK HERE!! :)

I am so happy to be able to share with you all again.  Thank you to all those who expressed concern for my absence.  Thank you for stopping by this little Window On Wonder!!  I'll be back soon!!

Joyfully!

Nancy