It's a New Year and a New Blog SALE!

Welcome to my new blog design! I was so thrilled to work with Megan at A Bird in Hand Designs. For me, it was love at first sight for anything she designed for me! It was a match made in bloggin' heaven! Thank you Megan :) A cute, modern and trendy blog design calls for a - what else? - a SALE. Everything in my TPT store will be 20% off until January 3rd. This even includes my bundles, so there is a TON of money to be saved! Simply click on the "My Products" link above to visit my store. Happy Shopping!

Canada Day in October?

I cannot believe that two months of school has come and gone! It has been a whirlwind in my classroom having fun with Apples in September, and learning about Canada in October. I change my theme monthly for my classroom, and at the end of the month I always have a fun day or theme day to end it. Do you do this as well? I find that it creates excitement about what we just learned, and it is also a way for the parents to participate and have fun in the classroom.
At my school we don't celebrate Halloween, so yesterday we did our "I am Canadian" party...and I was too busy having fun with the kids that I didn't take any pictures! It was a day complete with "I have, who has" featuring Canadian Symbols and landscapes, a how-to video on maple syrup from Quebec, a snack of pancakes, berries, whipped cream and authentic maple syrup, a SMART board Wheel of Knowledge game for review of everything we learned (they loved this so much we did it twice!), and a funny read-aloud called Up the Creek. It was a busy, but incredibly fun way to end our unit on Canada!! Next month our theme is Community Helpers and I have a wonderful plan for my wrap-up party already...but you will have to wait and see until the end of November!!
Today is the first day of November, so it is only fitting that my Write About It! November Keepsake Journal is posted today.

 It is part of a growing series that is definitely a labour of love! What makes it all worth it is when I hear comments like: Journal is the BEST time of the day! I actually get cheers and that makes me a happy teacher!

Making it Stick {Fun Activities for Short "A" Word Families}

Alright folks, I am back! It's been a while, but I have been busy building my little TPT store and teaching a batch of Grade 1 students. I am only a few weeks away from my next little group and I am here to share a product with you that is invaluable for my first few months in Grade 1. First, let me tell you why I decided to put these ideas together. I, like any teacher, love the concise nature of a worksheet. It allows direct practice of a skill and provides assessment for us to file away. I also know that worksheets cannot be the "go-to" method of teaching. Over the past few years in Grade 1, I have slowly built up my own ways to make practicing certain concepts much more active. So, let me introduce you to my new product...

Making it Stick includes 6 games and activities that provide TONS of practice reading and identifying word families. As teachers we are faced with the reality that our classroom holds an array of different learning styles. Some students learn best through words, pictures, kinesthetic, music, interactions with others and many other experiences. It was my goal in this product to reach as many learning styles as I could. You will find activities that involve words, speaking, body movement, music, talking and interacting, and pictures. As a result, you will find your students to be motivated and excited when you pull out a Making it Stick activity! Cheers can actually be heard from my classroom when it is time for Word Family Jam!

Here is a closer look at what is included!
For each activity I have written a letter to you, the teacher, detailing the activity, offering tips and suggestions and the steps needed to set it up.

1. Read n' Circle
Students will flip through cards contained on a ring. On each card they have to look at the picture and circle the correct word. They can be combined to include all the short "a" word families on one ring, or can be broken up into separate word families.

2. Peanut Butter SLAM
This is a simple card game that includes getting up and moving while playing. Don't worry, there is lots of reading to be done, but it is broken up with activity and will keep your learners active.

3. Sticky Pics!
This is an interactive reader, but in reverse. Students will read the page and find a picture that will complete the illustration. They glue it on and then colour the page. Many of the sentences are kind of silly, which just adds to the fun!

4. Real or Nutty?
A PB and J take on Real vs. Nonsense word sorts.

5. Word Family Jam
A music and dance driven game that encourages students to identify rhyming words. The round picture cards are spread around the room. Then you turn on the music and dance. Whenever you stop the music, hold up a word card. Students need to find a picture that rhymes around the classroom. It is a bit of chaos, and a whole lot of fun! I think chaos, in the name of learning, is allowed ;)!

6. Snack Attack
This is a pocket chart game that has students working in teams to read words. If their card has a Snack Attack behind it, they can sneak a card from the other team! This is a fast-paced game that encourages interaction between your students.

Each of these activities are FUN, ENGAGING and VALUABLE! There is so much practice reading word family words and these activities will get them to STICK quick! This product is available in my TPT store now, and will be on sale for 20% off for the Back to School Boost Sale! On August 20th, use code word BOOST to get an extra 10% off - that's 28% off this product and everything else in my store. I know I am going to do some shopping too!!

COMING SOON:
Making it Stick! Short "E" Word Families
Making it Stick! Short "I" Word Families
Making it Stick! Short "O" Word Families
Making it Stick! Short "U" Word Families

Here are some of the other great products available in my store at 28% off for the sale!

 Happy Shopping!

Pen Pal Pair Up 2013

Getting up early before church to read some of my favorite teacher blogs was worth it today because I stumbled across this exciting event!  

 

Last year I really wanted to get a pen pal class, and I signed up for some website and it wasn't that easy to follow and I had to do the choosing myself, which I found daunting! Anyways, Kelley over at Teacher Idea Factory is hosting this Pen Pal Pair Up, where you submit a form with your basic information and then SHE will do all the work partnering classes together. She is fantabulous for taking on such a big project! I am eagerly anticipating who my teaching pen pal will be, as I am sure we will become fast online friends :) If you want to join up with your very own pen pal class, you can head on over to Kelley's blog post and read all about it!

Alright, it's time to pull myself away from teaching blogs and get ready for church!

TPT Here I come!

Summer Vacation is here and boy, did that year go fast! I had such great plans for what I wanted to do with blogging and Teachers Pay Teachers, but the year got the best of me. I REALLY want to do much better this summer and this year to share my ideas and adventures! Today I uploaded my first product to TPT and it so very exciting!! I made Pocket Chart Words for Writing: Fall Edition.

 There are tons of adorable vocabulary cards that your students (and you) will love. I display these in a pocket chart that is at the front of the classroom on my board. They stay there so that the students become familiar with these words, and can feel comfortable adding them to simple sentences in their journal, or when they are working at writing centers. The picture cards are also very effective for pre-teaching concepts and vocabulary for those students who are on Learning Plans or IEP's (special education plans). Here's a closeup of one of the cards:

Click here to head on over to my TPT Store. You will be able to download these for FREE for the first couple days since they are my first product!

Turkey, Teachers Pay Teachers and Silly Faces

Happy Thanksgiving! Here in Canada we had the day off today for our Thanksgiving. I had an absolutely wonderful weekend with both sides of my family. As we all know, a teacher's work is never done and so I did go into the school today for a few hours. This week is going to be out of the ordinary with Grade Testing and Interim Reports due, so I decided to do a unit on learning our colour sight words. I am super passionate about early literacy and I want my kiddos, especially my Grade 1's, to feel success when they are reading. They can read so few words at this point, but colours are "big" words that add so much to a sentence...so I really want my kiddos to know them! I created a unit that has tons of repetitive activities so that there can be quick mastery. I want this to run like clockwork, and it will perhaps (FINGERS CROSSED) allow me to do some reading assessments as they work. Our Guided Reading program, and literacy centers are starting quickly and I feel like I need more information before I can do my reading groups!

For my colour unit I am using tons of great resources I found on Teachers Pay Teachers, and some of my own. Let me just take a moment to GIVE THANKS for TPT...I know that's a funny thing to be thankful for, but this teacher is so thankful! My class of 29 Grade 1/2 students who range in level from Pre-K to Grade 4 (I KNOW!!!) take A LOT of planning, preparation and differentiation. (I LOVE AND AM SO THANKFUL FOR THEM THOUGH!) I SO appreciate Teachers Pay Teachers and their wealth of "FREE" activities, which allows me to download pre-done activities. Today I also found out that there is a new blog called "Freebielicious", which has tons of great contributors always posting freebies...LOVE THIS!! I can't wait to start downloading some of these great activities. YAWN...I am sleepy, so I best call it a night as 5:30 am comes EARLY!

Oh, I do want to end with some hysterical pictures from a let's-make-silly-faces marathon with my niece and nephew...I just love them!

 

 

 ...and a nice one of me and my hunny!

Love,

Classroom Reveal...a month late :)

Well it has been a long time coming, but here are just a FEW pictures of my classroom. I will let them speak for themselves, but honestly the classroom already looks different. There is artwork up, my behaviour clip chart and the desks are in rows (my kiddos are learning how to listen!). It is a work in progress, but I have to say that my long days are made bearable by my colourful, polka dot room!!

Here is what I walked into at the beginning of the summer...an empty room!!

I got this desk FREE off of Craigslist! It was a 1960's teacher desk. Sam sanded it down and we stained it with a much darker stain, I just LOVE it!! 

My door out to the courtyard...it was in desperate need of painting! 

I painted out all the green and maroon black. Lots of people had doubts, but I had a vision in mind and I was determined to see it through!

My empty wall, ready for all my Morning Meeting stuff...

 

 

I still need to add my number line at the bottom and my Canadian Coin posters. This is my Morning Meeting/Math Focus wall.

This corner already looks a little different, but you get the idea. The bins hold my toys, and the yellow bench was made by Sam. My kiddos wait with anticipation every morning to see who Mrs. Bell chooses out of the bin to sit on the bench for the day.

Our rules, which are the Whole Brain Teaching rules, are posted on the wall and we recite them, with actions every day!

My word wall...which will soon be filled with sight and spelling words.

 Library and Supplies corner

 

Each month we will focus on a different characteristic of God...this month, to match with our Apple theme, we look at God as Creator. I need to frame this out still, but it works for now.

The cloakroom, it looks so much better in black. Next year I will tackle the inside and benches.

My clip chart hangs under the tissue paper flowers right now. I will post later about my clip chart and the WONDERS it works in my classroom! Do you see all the curriculum books...too many lol :)

Hand-in buckets, centers, games and puzzles.

My desk...it is much cleaner, organized and cuter now!

Well, there it is! I will try to share more photos of the updates, but my life as a new Grade 1/2 teacher is as busy as ever :)

Love,