Name Caps

Save your water bottle caps! Those little guys can be used to make fun center activities! You can write numbers on the top of each cap and have the kids put them in order--I call it the "number order caterpillar". So far my number caps go all the way to 100, but you could try different variations: counting by 5s, 10s, etc. The newest idea I have found for bottle caps is to put student names on them! I love the way they turned out, and they were quick and easy to make--started and finished them during Emma's naptime! You could use these for beginning of the year games, the kids can practice putting the words in ABC order, make 2 of each child's name to create a matching game, or put them in a sack and choose a name for times when you need to pick a helper.

Study Like a Scholar...

"Look at your grades. Now look at mine..." Too cute!

Anchor Charts

As the first day of school approaches, I have been looking through some of my beginning of the year files, and trying to prepare for our school/county reading foundation for the year, called "The First 20 Days." In those first 20 days, we focus on building classroom routines and stamina in reading, and daily modeling of procedures and expectations during the literacy block. As we introduce the procedures that are ultimately responsible for the success of the literacy block, we develop anchor charts to hang on the walls to serve as a visual reminder for the kids to remember station choices and behavior expectations.

These are few of my anchor charts from last year.

Favorite Books Scrapbook?

As I was going through my closet this morning, I found some of my college projects and binders. It felt strange looking back through all the things I had written and created before I truly knew what teaching was all about! I found one of my favorite projects from my Elementary Literature class. The assignment was to create a Newbery books scrapbook (yes,teachers, the front cover happens to be spelled incorrectly)! Anyway, I thought this same concept could be used for my first graders, but I will ask them each to choose any favorite book and make a page for a class scrapbook! I think it could be another fun way to get kids to share wonderful books with each other!

Here are few examples from my Newbery scrapbook. I left this near my classroom library when I taught 4th grade. It was a huge hit! The kids loved reading my "homework"! If you are just feeling crafty, you could make one yourself!

Labels, Labels, Everywhere!

I went to work in my room today with my little helper, baby Emma! Today my job was to try to label everything with my new first grade friends' names. Here is what I have done so far:

First week name tags! I like putting them into plastic ID badge holders--they last all week. The dots match my new bulletin board border.

Helper Owls! I have two new helpers each day, one boy and one girl.

Birthday cupcakes! When one of my students celebrates a birthday, I attach the cupcake to a sentence strip, and they wear it all day as their birthday crown!

Book bags! (These are new!) Books that the kids choose to read from the classroom library will go in these colorful book pouches!

I Love Cute Fonts.

Okay, something you should know about me: I am a little obsessed with cute fonts. I wish everything I write could be written in "scrap swirl" or "doodle dots". A few of my teacher friends have asked me about the fonts I use, so I thought I'd share where I have gotten some of my favorites! Just add fonts to my growing list of favorite things.

A great site to find cute fonts and cute clip art is DJ Inkers.
I bought this font CD for $29.95, and have been very happy with it:
DJ Inkers also has single download fonts, so you can pick and choose some fun ones and it doesn't cost as much as the entire CD!

I have also just stumbled across the wonderful blog, Kevin and Amanda. Amanda is a southern "Martha-Stewarty" girl who has an entire list of scrapbooking fonts that you can download for free! Just warning you--you will need at least an hour or so to look around her amazing blog. Try to find photos of her scrapbooking room. It's pretty amazing. She is also the queen of organization! Unfortunately my house will probably never look as great as hers! Ha! My house may be a mess, but at least my classroom is organized!

The Daily Five

The Daily Five (or literacy station time) is one of my students’ favorite times of the day! During this time, each child is independently engaged in meaningful literacy activities. These activities are research-based, and in addition to increasing student achievement and success in reading, the children also develop a love for books! We begin our ninety minute reading block with explicit whole group instruction, each day focusing on phonics, comprehension strategies, and vocabulary skills. The students are then assigned to“travel groups” and they travel with the same group throughout station time. During the Daily Five, the kids read and write independently while I provide focused, intense instruction to small groups of students. The students move to new stations every 12-15 minutes.
The Daily Five station choices in our classroom:
• Independent Reading
• Writing about Reading
• Buddy Reading
• Listen to Reading
• Word Work
The first 20 days of school we will work on building our reading and writing “stamina,” learning the routines and behavior expectations of the Daily Five, and building our classroom community. I will also spend time learning about my students’ strengths and needs as a reader to ensure their success. During the first 20 days, we will review how to pick “Just Right Books” or books each child can read independently. During literacy stations, the kids will spend a majority of the time reading books they enjoy and are interested in, which research supports as the number one way to improve reading!

Rule Breakers

My first grade teacher Mrs. Callahan used to call words that didn't sound the same way they are spelled "rule breakers"...I guess because rule breakers are words that don't really follow the rules we teach in phonics. Last year I noticed that my students were having difficulty spelling the words was and get, so I decided to reintroduce those words as rule breakers--and we stuck those words in jail!!! They loved it! I think the visual of seeing the word behind the little bars stuck with them like it did with me so LONG AGO! After that, every time they came across a word that wasn't spelled the way it sounded, they would say, "OOOOH! Rule breaker! Let's put it in jail!" So thanks for teaching me about rule breakers, Mrs. Callahan. Maybe my students will remember it forever too!

The Sound Muncher

This year we will be feeding the classroom sound muncher objects with the phonics pattern we are learning for the week! On Monday, I ask the kids to look for items around the classroom and at home to feed to the sound muncher the next day! The sound muncher is a great way to review phonics skills, and I like to put him at the word work center for the kids to draw and label the objects they find inside! To get your own sound muncher, visit the kids hamper section at Target!

Below is an example of the center page that would go with the Sound Muncher. The kids would fill in the cloud with the sound of the week, then they would enjoy pulling out the items their friends brought in to go with that sound. They sketch the object, then they label it, trying their best to spell the word. I like for my kids to underline or highlight the letters that make the sound we are learning for the week.

Hi Parents and New First Grade Friends!

If you are one of my new first grade parents, welcome! I am so excited to be your child's teacher this year! Your child will be going on many learning adventures in the first grade, and I am looking forward to meeting each of you at "Meet the Teacher" on August 9th from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Don't forget to bring your supplies! Tell your first grader that they get a desk to put their supplies in this year! Fun! Also parents, I have a little homework for you! Don't worry--it's not hard! I would love it if you could write a letter telling me anything you want me to know about your child--things that might help me get to know them better, some of their characteristics, and your hopes for this year. I will have a mailbox for the letters at "Meet the Teacher." The letter can be as short or long as you'd like! I hope you will visit the blog frequently to see wish lists, photos of projects and learning activities, and reminders about special events! The beginning of first grade is just around the corner, so enjoy the rest of the summer, but remember to read, read, read! Please leave a comment below to let me know you visited! I'd love to hear from you! **Remember, what you post can be seen by others!** You can also contact me through email: scooley@shelbyed.k12.al.us

See you soon!
**Mrs. Cooley**

Pictured below is a very excited teacher who just found out the names of her new students:

The Perfect Pointers

One of my most popular activities at literacy stations is "read the room"! I like it because the kids are actively engaged in reading, there is always something new on the wall to read, and they are allowed to move around freely--which helps get those wiggles out. For "read the room", I store fun pointers in the metal bucket pictured above. The kids love picking out a special pointer, and I frequently add holiday themed pointers for some variety. To make your own pointers like these, visit Hobby Lobby or Michaels. Look for the painted wood pieces (only 67 cents!!!), and wooden dowel rods, add some hot glue, and you're all set!

Here are a few of the most popular pointers:

Birds, Trees, and...Postcards!

I usually base my classroom theme around a book. In the past I have done "Where the Sidewalk Ends", "Oh, The Places You'll Go!", and "The Dot". This year I really wanted to tie in the birds from my Starry Eyes cards, so I decided to do a bird/outdoor type theme--but I'm kind of sad I don't have a book to go with it! Any suggestions??? I already have my outdoor wicker furniture and outdoor umbrella in the reading area, and I found this adorable tree mural at Target for super cheap:

It looks like I painted it on the wall! I LOVE it!!! It came with a few owls, a squirrel, flowers, and cute little mushrooms. I also found these precious little owl cut outs at the Parent Teacher Store:



I will post pictures as soon as I start putting up all the fun decorations! I love giving my classroom a yearly makeover. On a side note, I can't wait until tomorrow! I find out the names of my new kiddos, and get to send out my postcards!

The Paper Mountain...

If you're a teacher, you most likely have stacks of papers everywhere. Your desk is a mountain of copies, things to be copied, plans, notes from home, turned in work, and work to be graded. My wonderful mentor teacher last year showed me her solution to organizing her week: labeled storage drawers. They are perfect for organizing the paper mountain! Each drawer is labeled with a day of the week, and in each drawer I keep copies for the day and/or things I need to copy that day, picture books I will use, notes to go home, and other random things that I will need to give out or complete. I just open up the drawer, and everything I need is right there!

My First Blog Award!

Wow! I am WAY excited to have won an award from Sarah at "Confessions of an Untenured Teacher!"

To accept my award, I must first thank the person who nominated me...so, thank you very much, Sarah!!! I love awards.

Next, I have to sum up my blogging philosophy, motivation, and experience in/with five words: Ideas, sharing, creativity, imagination, learning

Choose ten other blogs I consider to have substance:

*Chalk Talk: A Kindergarten Blog
*ABC and 123
*Katie's Literature Lounge
*The Activity Mom
*The PlanetEsme Plan
*Beginning Reading Help
*Creative Literacy
*Joyful Learner
*Little Learners Lounge
*Excuse Me, Mrs. C!

Meet Richard

This is Richard, our class mascot! I found this little guy at Starbucks my first year of teaching, and my class at the time decided his name should be Richard--kind of funny, but I think it fits him perfectly! Richard is a weekly award my students can earn. I tell them that he watches for new friends who do the right thing, who are responsible and finish work, and he especially loves friends who are kind to others! On Friday, Richard "flies" to a well-behaved student, and he stays on that child's desk all week. I have seen kids read with him, put him close to their papers (I guess he helps out), and he definitely gets lots of hugs. I used his picture on our Starry Eyes cards (see Starry Eyes entry below), and he was even the inspiration for our end of the year class awards! One of my first graders last year told his mom, "Mrs. Cooley talks to this bird named Richard--I think she thinks he's real..." Too funny!!!

One of our end of the year awards:


Here is a poem I wrote to go with him:

Line Up Sing Alongs

Teacher tip of the week! I am always looking for new ways to encourage great line and hallway behavior! Over the years, I have found several hallway songs that I thought were adorable, but I would always forget the songs when the time would come to line up. To keep all of my songs in one place, I made a "Line Up Sing Alongs" book! I found cute cardstock, printed my favorite line up songs on each page, then put them on a large ring that I hang on the door handle. My line leader gets to pick the line up/hallway song of the day! Good songs, good times, good line.

**Update** Here are some of my faves for those of you who wanted some of the songs! Think "disco era" for many of these!

Brain Sprinkles

**For those times when your brain needs an extra boost!** Although I try as hard as I can to make my lessons exciting, there are still those moments when the kids stare at me and it's like, "Bueller? Bueller? Anyone? Bueller?..." Well, for those moments, I use brain sprinkles. I'm not sure where I found this idea originally, but the kids love them! I took an empty spice container, created a cute label, then filled the container with beads and glitter. When the kids look at me like I have lost my mind, I shake the container over their heads, and...boom! They are revitalized. I'm serious. I think they magically work. Sometimes I use them on myself. I love to give everyone brain sprinkles right before a test. Some even ask if I can shake a little extra sprinkles for them! So cute! (Sorry for the blurry picture--it was the best I could do.)

Brownie Points

My starry eyes chart is one way I keep track of behavior, but I also think using incentives for positive behavior is a wonderful way to motivate students to do the right thing. The system I use to reward the entire class for positive behavior is called Brownie Points! I attached magnet strips to the back of a small metal pan so it hangs on our white board. The students earn brownies by getting compliments for great behavior from other teachers, working together as a class on assignments, hard work from all students during literacy or math stations, or just any other thing they do as a class that shows great first grade behavior! When the pan is full of brownies, the kids get a party to celebrate their hard work!

{If you would like to use the Brownie Points reward system in your classroom...click the sign above!}