22 days left!

T minus 22 days until inservice starts! Still been working hard. In my classroom, I have done some painting and redecorating. Here is a before picture.

My bulletin boards were in sad shape and there weren't enough of them so I put new ones up. Hubby helped me hang plywood and I glued cork squares to it. It was a bit of work but turned out great!

My old chalkboard I decided to paint with magnetic paint. I have not worked with this paint before and to be honest, I was pretty disappointed with it. I had to use 3 cans for a total of about 9 coats and it still isn't as magnetic as I'd like it to be. Maybe next year I'll cover it with a bulletin board too. Chaching!

I also painted several shelves and two tables. My classroom animal is a panda so I'm going with the black and white theme. I'm hoping the black paint holds up!

I'll be going back in probably tomorrow to do some more work. Until then, happy summer!

Elf on the Shelf

Merry Christmas! I wanted to share my elf on the shelf activities in our classroom this year. Some of these I have done in the past but I did a few new things this year too. I am a cheapskate and I came across this elf from Oriental Trading. It was a lot cheaper than the real elf on the shelf. 

Here's the link where you can get it. Oriental Trading Elf on the Shelf
This is the first note when our elf arrived. I let the kids name him. They suggested names and I wrote them on the board. Then at lunch I picked 3 that I liked and we voted on the name after lunch. We did a graph. 

The day after the elf arrived, he covered the board with his name and left this note. 

I also made wallet-size pictures of the elf for the kids to take home.

This was an easy one, aka a day I forgot to move the elf before I left school.

This was after a day that had been rough in my classroom.

We had written about reindeer and they got to sit in the reader's chair and use the microphone to read their writing. The elf brought them all new Christmas pencils.

I laid the elf on the copy machine and made some copies.

I wrapped the easel with wrapping paper. I've also used sticky bows in the past which is easier but kind of expensive!

We were getting ready for our Christmas concert later that week.

Another easy one. I give out stickers when the kids read and return their paper readers. So I just stuck some stickers on him.

 

I made a zip line in the classroom. It was a huge hit!

I wrapped up the elf's leg and pretended it was hurt.

I hid candy canes all over the classroom. They each got to find one.

We have been doing gingerbread stories in addition to elf activities.

 They had their Christmas concert the night before.

I have a pet leopard gecko that has a heating lamp.

 I brought a miniature tree and put it in the classroom.

 

 I made up a little bed and threw tissues all over the floor. I made sure I told the janitor. The first year I did it, he swept up all the tissues before the kids saw them!

I put up a slide show on PowerPoint of staged pictures of my elf doing things in the classroom. 

 I put him up on the projector on my ceiling.

I had this sign on my classroom door. Kids arrive for breakfast before I even get to school so I caught them going into the classroom before I was there. This was a problem because some days I didn't move the elf before I left for the day and needed to do it in the morning. Also, I wanted everyone to see the elf at the same time so that some who saw it before others wouldn't spoil the daily surprise.

With all the excitement of the elf, there was a lot of commotion when the kids came into the classroom so I used this note next.

I bought a new elf book. It was cute. I got it at Target.

At the end of his stay, he left some candy for them and gave them a peek at Santa's nice list (they were all on it).

Elf on the Shelf is a pretty big time commitment but it was fun for me and sooo much fun for them. 

❤Melissa

Headfirst First Grade Math Curriculum Unit 1

These are highlights from Unit 1! It is designed to be used during the first quarter of first grade.

This is the teacher binder. On the left are keys for the worksheets. On the right is a lesson plan page.

I have a teacher binder file that has detailed instructions on how to put together this binder. It has the lesson plans with photos and teaching tips as well as the keys to the worksheets so you can see

at a glance what you are teaching. 

a calendar for practicing counting, number patterns to extend and much more! I have the pages in page protectors, and as my team and I plan, I write with dry erase markers the dates we will use things and any notes. 

Here are some worksheet examples:

Number Lines:

Number Bonds using an abacus:

Linking Number Bonds to Number Sentences:

Understanding that the equal sign can be on either

side of the number sentence:

Understanding the pattern that comes from adding one more:

At the end of the unit, I have included practice of

mixed number bonds and linking them to missing addends:

Mystery pictures of each number 5-10:

This is an example of one of the story problem prompts.

Students can glue the strip with the problem in their notebook or the pages can be printed for them to write on. This can be projected so kids can follow the teacher model.

These are activities included for small groups or centers. 

Part Part Whole Mat:

Dry erase mat to use with two marker colors:

Linking dominoes to sums:

Using two colors to show the ways to make a number:

These are crafts for each number bond:

It is the 9th week of school, and we are nearing the end of this unit. I have taught this unit from the first day of school and other than tweaking some things, it has be GREAT! The kids are understanding number lines, ten frames, and number bonds, addition, and subtraction to 10 more deeply than other years when I have used other curricula. The students have been excited about math and engaged daily in hands-on and paper and pencil activities, both of which I feel are crucial to deeply understanding math concepts. I am looking forward to finishing Unit 1

and continuing on to Unit 2! 

Click HERE to download the Sampler FREEBIE!