Friday, April 17, 2015

Daily Five: Work on Writing


It's once again time to share how I use #WorkonWriting!  I can't say it enough, I LOVE Daily 5!  For me, Work on Writing is the last thing I introduce in Daily 5.  I really don't even incorporate it into the rounds until around November.  I still only allow a select group to go to Work on Writing because a lot of my kiddos just can't handle building a lot of stamina.  We already have a block of writing built into our day but those kiddos that do get to go to Work on Writing get an extra dose.  What I love about writing is that it can be so open-ended.  I have been giving the students a choice to write on whatever they would like.  Some students are great at this, while others just can' get anything written down.  Which in turn, they begin to whine about not knowing what to do or as one of my students told me today "You didn't give me enough instructions." (This little guy is the King of Whining)

PUMPKIN PLANTS

We planted our pumpkin seeds that we saved from the fall.  These plants are growing so quickly that I don't think we will be able to wait until Mother's Day. Seriously, I had no idea they would grow like this (Plants on Steroids haha).

PUMPKIN OBSERVATIONS
Kiddos are writing what they observe when they check on their pumpkin plants.

GRAPHIC ORGANIZERS

Graphic organizers, jeez, I truly thought they were good at this, but alas they still need to work on them.  Yes, we are still studying Black History in April.  It was a looong winter.

WORD WALL
Spring Word Walls,  the students love having words that they can actually use when they are writing.  They are always unsure if they have spelled a word correctly.

One more thing, I am superexcited to be going to watch my favorite football team tomorrow!



Happy Friday Everyone!
Amy Jordan
Fantastic First Grade





Thursday, April 9, 2015

Daily Five: Word Work



Who doesn't love to use Daily Five? I am so excited to share some of the Word Work options that we use.  I used stamps early on in the year and found out the hard way that a lot of the kiddos weren't ready.  Seriously, I had one girl that ended up with  blue ink all in her blonde hair!  Needless to say, I put away the stamps.  I finally brought them back out and am now using the stamps with play-doh. (Not as messy, in my opinion)
I also went to the dollar store and bought cheap photo album booklets to use for word work.  This one is reviewing specific blends.  I just use old pictures from Saxon and other pictures that I have collected.

 Wiki Stix!!! Love using them to practice our sight words.
I have this posted with my word work supplies to remind the students various ways they can make words.


I have many other things I use for word work like keyboards, magnetic letters, stencils, BOGGLE (probably the classes favorite), play-doh, bulletin board letters (took a lot of work to laminate and cut out but they are cute), foam letters, the list is endless!


Enjoy all!
Amy Jordan
Fantastic First Grade
@fantasticfirstgrade

Sunday, April 5, 2015

#BookDeals Galore






Happy Easter everyone!  This was one busy week for me and am I glad we have a few days off to rest!  We don't get a spring break but we do get Friday and Monday off.  Even though I really wish we would've made a day up on Monday.  Anyways, I wanted to share with you one of the best places I have found to get books for a steal.




#GOODWILL  That's right everyone!  I have been perusing the local Goodwill's and have found over 80 books for around $25!  Now that's what I call a BARGAIN!  I even found a book with the author signature!  So start checking out your Goodwill stores, you will be amazed and what you can find there!

Hoping you have a wonderful day!
Amy Jordan