August Back to School Ideas for 1st Grade - plus a FREEBIE!

It's time to go back to school! What curriculum are you using? How about centers? Have you thought about morning work? If you're drawing a blank, here are some things I'll be using!

At the beginning of the year, all of my students use the same morning work. I am getting to know them and them me. I want morning work to be independent but they will need help getting started. Here are some of the choices in my Customizable Morning Work for 1st Quarter. 

I put 4 on a page which takes 15-30 minutes to complete with a spelling practice page on the back. Perfect for me to take attendance and take care of allllllllllllll those morning tasks that pop up! 
Here's what one of the pages looks like.  

I have included a checklist so I don't use the same pages twice when choosing morning work. 

Click Customizable Morning Work to see this in my store! 

We start off the year subitizing, then adding using pictures, and then number bonds 5-10. My Headfirst Math Curriculum has made planning and teaching math a snap! 

Click Headfirst Math Curriculum Unit 1 to see them in my store! 

At the beginning of the year, I teach a lot of repeated centers that I use throughout the year. 

Click Editable August Learning Hunts to see these in my store! 

 

My students love these play-doh mats. Enter your own words! Click Editable Play-doh Mats to see them in my store. 

Simple but fun! Click to see Alphabet Soup Magnet Letter Center in my store!

Cars make reading so much fun!
Click Phonics Parking Lot to see in my store!

Using QR Codes and a tablet with a QR Code reader, kids can read and write CVC words. Click Phonics QR Codes to see in my store!

My students really like this center. I have cards for each month of the year. I start out with APPLES! We practice counting every day during math and this is a great way for them to practice independently. Click 120 Chart Cards to see them in my store! 

Have a great August!

Phonics Parking Lot Freebie

Back to School in 1st grade plus a FREEBIE!

Ready or not, here it comes! Back to school. Are you ready? If not, here are some things that will help you get there including a FREEBIE at the end of this message!

Here is my All About the Teacher Book. Your new students are going to want to know ALL about you. This is a classroom library favorite of my students ALL.YEAR.LONG! They can't get enough of me! 😉 I made this resource EDITABLE so you can enter your own pictures and text to make it ALL ABOUT YOU! 

Click here to see my Editable All About the Teacher Book!

Make getting desks ready quick and easy with these editable name plates for student desks. 

They have the Saxon pictures with the manuscript alphabet letters and a number line with 1-20 with a plus and minus sign for addition and subtraction help. The editable field in Adobe Reader expands when you type on it to fit first or first and last names with the handwriting lines. Just type in your student names, print on cardstock, cut, and laminate. I like to leave a little laminate film around the edge in case they get wet to prevent the printer ink from bleeding. 

Building a positive relationship with students and parents right away leads to a successful year and makes it easier when you have to address discipline problems later. These Editable Positive Notes are quick and easy. Just grab it and fill it in. 

Click Positive Behavior Notes to see them in my store! Parent communication is really important in the primary grades. These communication notes are great to keep on hand! 

The gray boxes show where you can edit these pages. They do not show up when printing. 

Click Quick Parent Communication Notes to see them in my store! The freebie below is part of this resource! Be ready for absent students with my editable absent student sheets. Click here to download the freebie: Absent Student Sheets

I hope these things help get you in the Back to School mood! Have a great year!

Handwriting House - Handwriting instruction and interventions for kindergarten and 1st grade & a FREEBIE

Do your students use the handwriting lines correctly? If not, these Handwriting House resources can help! 

There are upstairs letters: b, d, f, h, i, k, l, t
There are downstairs letters: a, c, e, m, n, o, r, s, u, v, w, x, z
There are basement letters: g, j, p, q, y

During whole-class instruction, I use this page in a page protector on my board when I am teaching how to write the letters. 

Students can use these personal mats to practice writing the letters or numbers in small groups. 

This is a student using the mats for occupational therapy. 

These cards can be used in different ways. I have them on flashcards for letter recognition. I have a set that students can trace with dry-erase markers. I also use them as an alphabet strip above my chalkboard. 

Teaching how to use handwriting lines just got easier! Use these practice sheets to reinforce how letters are written. 

You can even use them during writing! 

I also have D'Nealian Handwriting Resources available.

Click Handwriting House Resources to see these in my store! They are available separately and in a bundle. Grab this EDITABLE Name Writing Practice sheet FREEBIE by clicking the image below! 

Hidden Sight Words fun sight word center for kindergarten, 1st grade, and 2nd grade

Practicing sight words or spelling words becomes FUN with my Hidden Sight Words Center! The kids love using the magnifying glasses to find the hidden words and record them on the recording sheet. You enter your own words so it is totally customizable. Snag this best-selling center!

There are seasonal mats for each month. Use the same recording sheets all year! I use a page protector and dry erase markers. 

Click Editable Hidden Sight Word Mats Center to see these in my store! 

Winter 1ST GRADE Resources for the busy teacher!

Happy New Year! It's almost time to go back to school. What will I be using in my classroom in January?

January Learning Hunts are editable printer-friendly ELA and Math Centers. 

 

These ACTIVities are a favorite of my firsties! I use them for centers, early finishers, and whole group. I have the students “hide” the cards and take them down for me when the activity is finished. Click here to see it!

Winter Bingo Dauber Centers are also a favorite in my classroom! I mainly use them for sight words and spelling centers because they are EDITABLE! Kids dab the same words with the same color of dot marker. Click here to see it!

I use these EDITABLE Hidden Pictures for sight word practice. My students can't get enough of them. I don't have a picture of the winter one in use but here is the Christmas one I just used! Click here to see!

My Winter Pictionary is a wonderful tool for both vocabulary and writing! I use these in my writing center and during writing lessons. Click here to see them.

Winter Writing is so fun! We'll write about building a snowman, our favorite winter activity, MLK, and space. Here are some things from my Winter Writing Pack. It's editable! Click here to see it!

Bump is also a popular game in my classroom. Here's the winter version we'll be playing! Click here to see it.

These are my Audio Books for January. I put the CDs on iTunes and use playlists on my old iPhones for kids to listen. 

Have a great January!