I'm done. What do I do now?

How many times have you heard that question?  It has been the bane of my existence in the classroom for going on 28 years now.  No matter how many times I tell the children what they can do when they finish their work, they just can't seem to do it.  I've seen these "fast finisher" boards and whatnot around for a while now, but when I look at them, they just seem to hard for first graders, especially at the beginning of the year.  Plus, a lot of them involve me checking work when it is finished, and I just don't want to make that extra work for myself.

Enter Dollar Tree.  Every few days I stop in and browse around just to see what they have.  Last time I stopped, I spotted these.

Those looked interesting.  And the little picture up in the corner got me thinking.  I bet I could make a fast finisher activity choice board to use with these.  So I got to work and came up with this.

I printed it out at 190% and carefully cut and lined up edges, glue pieces down, added some tape, and tried it out.

I love the way it works! I will make two more, laminate them, and use them on the side chalkboard every morning, spinning them to tell the kids each morning what they should do if they finish their work early.  I like the idea of switching it up a bit each day, but there will be lots of overlap of activities as well. 

I really hope this does away with the "I'm done.  What do I do now?" question!

If you'd like to print out the board, you can download it by clicking on the picture below.

Have a great weekend!

Rested and Relaxed

Hi everyone!  Can you believe it's already almost the 4th of July?  My June was a c-r-a-z-y whirlwind of fun.  The day after school ended, we headed to North Carolina to visit our son and daughter-in-law, who conveniently live very close to the shores of North Carolina.

Here they are at North Topsail Beach.  As you can see, the weather was gorgeous and hot, hot, hot and sunny while we were there.  For the first time ever, I had to get out of the sun because I just couldn't take it anymore.

We came home, and my daughter had a week of Camp Invention.  At the end of the week, we were off again to Ocean City, where my daughter and husband participated in the Fireman's Parade.

Again, we had great weather with wall-to-wall sunshine.

I caught this gorgeous sunset over the inlet from the top of the Ferris wheel on the boardwalk.  The red building, the Assateague House, is where we stayed.  I highly recommend it if you're looking for a place within walking distance of everything, but out of the hustle and bustle of the boardwalk.

It's a good thing we had all that sun and warmth at these two places because since we've been home, it's done nothing but RAIN.  Sunday our high temperature was 68 degrees!  We haven't been able to go in the pool since the end of May.  Surely hope this weather pattern turns around soon.

Anyway, now that I am rested and refreshed (because I literally did no work while we were gone), it's time to get back into the creation mode.  I'm linking up with Chalk One Up for the Teacher for her two for Tuesday sale.
                            
I've started working on a morning work series.  I know there are a ton of them out there, but none of the ones I tried weren't quite what I was looking for.  After much fiddling, I came up with a format that I really like, and I'm designing the activities to go along with our first grade math and language arts curriculum.

 I'm really pleased with it, and I would love for you to try it out and see what  you think.  I have made the first week of work available as a free download in my store.  You can find it by clicking on the picture above.

In addition, I finished the first 4 weeks, and it is currently available in my store for 50% off, only $1.75, for Two for Tuesday today only.

You can find this great deal by clicking on the cover above.

I've also revamped one of my earlier products that is perfect for back-to-school.
                                   

Here are some samples my daughter is working on finishing up for me. It includes a bulletin board header

The pieces to make a mini-me display, including a girl head, a boy head, or a blank head for your children to draw their own hair.  It also has the pieces to make the All About Me newspaper.

 It also comes with four follow-up worksheets, one that is a meet-your-classmates activity, and three math tallying, graphing, and data analysis activities.

I use it with my kiddos every year to make a hall display for the first open house of the year.  It's perfect because it incorporates math, writing, and social studies into the first few days of school before you jump into the meat of your subjects.  Depending on the grade you teach, you may have to walk your kiddos through the tallying and graphing activities, like I do, or older students will be able to do the activities independently.

I print the graph out at 185% to make a chart size graph, and we complete that together, with each child coloring a square in the appropriate birthday month. Then we go through the data analysis sheet together, with each child filling in the information on their individual sheets, and me filling it in projected onto the SMARTBoard.

This item is my second Two for Tuesday offering.  It is on sale for only $1.75 for today only. You can click on the cover of the resource to see it in my store.

I hope you are having a great summer as well, resting, relaxing, and starting to feel refreshed and recharged for the upcoming school year!

Be sure to check out what other stores are offering for Two for Tuesday! Click on the button below to visit Chalk One Up for the Teacher's blog and scroll to the bottom of the post.

Hi Friends!  Throughout the summer, I am going to be joining up with my sweet friend, Chalk One Up for the Teacher, for a Two for Tuesday linky party.  I (and many other sellers) will be offering two resources for that Tuesday only at a discounted price.

Here are the two items I am offering at 50% off today.

                        Read on to find out more and see how  you can get a free sample!

This week, I am offering my newest resource, Nouns, for 50% off.

This is a great, comprehensive resource for teaching everything about nouns to first graders.  It would also make a good review for second grade.  It covers the definition of a noun, singular and plural nouns, common and proper nouns, and possessive nouns.  There are 27 interactive activities, review sheets, centers, games, and assessments to use in this unit, including a put-it-together anchor chart.  (You can learn more about that anchor chart here, and also get a free download of the pieces to make the anchor chart yourself.)

My second offering, at 50% off, is my Father's Day booklet and coupon booklet.  It makes an endearing keepsake for Dad, one that he will look back on and laugh.

Two great resources at 50% off!  Now that's a Two for Tuesday!  If you'd like to check them out, click on the Two for Tuesday picture below to visit the custom category!

Back-to-School with Anchor Charts for the Artistically Challenged

Recently, I was putting together a nouns grammar resource, and I wanted to include some kind of anchor chart because I see all the beautiful ones on Pinterest all. the. time.  But whenever I try to actually draw one, it's a dismal failure.  The one I actually did make for nouns was really not helpful because the kids really had no idea what I drew.  Being the beginning of first grade, adding a label was not helpful for every child because not every child could read the label.

 

 

So, in the noun resource, I decided to include all the pieces necessary to construct an anchor chart with the children.  It is super simple to do.  First, print out the pieces, cut them out, and have them ready for the  lesson.  Then, gather the children around the chart paper.  Tell them today you are going to answer this question (glue on the question "What is a noun?"  Read the question to the children, then read it together.  As you say "A noun is a word that names..." glue on that phrase.  Then add the just the words in four spaces under the beginning phrase.  Be sure to leave space to glue the two pictures to the chart.  So you will glue on "a person", "a place," "an animal," "a thing" in different places on the chart.

Then you display the pictures of the nouns.  Have the children name each picture, then let them take turns putting the pictures under the correct definition of a noun.  When it is finished, it will looks something like this.

Please excuse the poor printing.  My inkjet printer was having "nearly out of ink" issues at the  time that I printed this out.

So, now you have built an attractive anchor chart with recognizable pictures that you will be proud to display in your classroom for your students to use as a reference.  Your children have gone through the process of building the chart with you, and they even had a chance to interact with the building of it, so hopefully the meaning of noun will be embedded for life so when they go to 2d grade, they don't give the 2d grade teacher the "deer in the headlights" look when she asks, "What is a noun?"  Instead, every hand will shoot up, and the 2d grade teacher will say, "Wow, your first grade teacher did a FANTASTIC job teaching you about nouns!"

Since the idea of an anchor chart is something you want to build with the kids each year, there are two ways to approach this.  You can either A.  Print out the pieces each year and build a new chart, or B. laminate the chart paper first, then add Velcro to the laminated chart and the back of the pieces.  That way you can remove the pieces and redo the chart each year.  Oh, I thought of C as well.  You could use foam board, add the Velcro, and make the chart on the foam board.  Which actually would be an awesome idea for me because then I could lean them against my walls since we're not allowed to hang anything on the new paint. (insert frowny face here).

Anyway, if you would like to try this anchor chart for yourself, you can click on the finished anchor chart picture below and download the pieces to experiment with over the summer.

If you'd like to check out the larger Noun package that this came from, it's available in my TpT store.  Just click the preview below to get there, and be sure to download the free sample in my preview!

So there you have it!  I hope you find this idea useful.  I'm sure I'll be creating many more of these Anchor Charts for the Artistically Challenged, so keep your eyes open for them!

Have a great day!

Launching Off with Educents!

Have you heard the news!?  Educents is opening their MARKETPLACE!  What does that mean?  That means that besides the already AMAZING deals they offer on a daily basis, you can now purchase items from sellers stores, also on a daily basis!  WHAT!?  That’s right!  Over 500 sellers have already created stores in the Educents Marketplace, so you are sure to find some money-saving deals anytime you need them!

To LAUNCH the whole thing, several of the sellers are joining in to bring you a sneak peek at a FREE product offered in their new sale, as well as hosting a giveaway for $50 worth of Educents Credits.  You can buy a LOT of educational materials with that kind of money!  And, there are several groups of bloggers who are joining the LAUNCH, which means multiple ways to enter.

Here is a little information about my FREEBIE.   It is one of my favorite items that I use every year to help my firsties master short vowel sound

                 

click the picture above to find my freebie in my Educents shop!

I love these five short little stories that tell stories incorporating the sounds of the short vowels.  I laminated them and hung them by my reading table for the kids to use as a quick and easy reference when trying to remember which vowel has which sound.

I also have this great freebie available in my store

This one is a free resource!

It's a sample of a much larger companion pack I made to go along with my Short Vowel Stories.  There are games, interactive notebook pages, flip-flap booklets, and so much more in here to go along with each vowel to help your students master the sounds!

And, of course, I have the complete Learning the Short Vowels bundled resource available in my Educents store as well!

This one is not a free resource!

Leave a comment below for a chance to win the paid resource "Short Vowel Stories Companion Pack Bundle:  Learning the Short Vowels"!  Let me know what the best thing YOU have found on Educents has been (past or present!).

Be  sure to enter for your chance to win $50 in Educents credits!

Educents Marketplace $50 in Edubucks Giveaway #6 - First Grade Stores

And finally, be sure to follow the blog hop around the circle to visit other great Educents shops and claim your freebies!  Next up is Mrs.  Thompson's Treasures.  Click on the picture below to get to her blog.  If you get lost, look for the Link Up at the bottom of the page to get to the next blog and the next freebie!

                                             

An InLinkz Link-up

Have a great day!

Show and Tell Saturday on iTeach First!

Hi everyone!  I just wanted to let you know I have blog post up on Show and Tell Saturday on the  iTeach First collaborative blog.  Today, I'm show and telling about my social studies resource "What is a Community?"

Click the picture to visit iTeach First and read about how I use this resource!

Be sure to check it out and get the free sample I'm offering!

Whoa! Dig Into Digraphs Mega Bundle Giveaway!

Do you teach digraphs to your kiddos?  If you do, you NEED this huge bundle of digraph resources to help your students learn digraphs.  It's got everything, from small group work

games make great small group work and give you the chance to do formative assessments as you monitor and guide the children during the game.

 to centers

find the hidden word pages make great centers.  Before laminating the picture, cut off the bottom  recording sheet.  You can copy two recording sheets per 8.5x11 sheet of paper to put at the center with the laminated picture and a few magnifying glasses.  Kids LOVE using the magnifying glasses to play "word detectives."

to assessments  and/or interactive components!

Include this page in an interactive notebook or use as an assessment.  

This huge bundle of resources was created in collaboration with  Teacher's Toolkit, The Fun Factory, and Practice Makes Perfect.  We put our over 80 years (gasp) of combined experience together to come up with activities that will engage, excite, and challenge your students.  Take a closer look in the video below!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck!  If you're too anxious to own this great megabundle of digraph awesomeness, it will be on sale for the next 24 hours at 50% off, for only $15.00!  After the first 24 hours, it will be on sale for 20% off until 11:59 Friday, March 27, 2015.

Click here to visit my TpT store and purchase this bundle!