CELEBRATE Teachers!

It's once again time to CELEBRATE our fantastic teachers from all around the world!  I am having a sale at my store click on the picture to go there.

I have a new mini-unit just in time for Cinco de Mayo!  We will be having tons of fun tomorrow learning about Mexico's culture.

Have a great week everyone!  I know for most of us we are winding down so enjoy May!  I know I will be super busy with track, graduation, and plenty of birthdays to celebrate!

Fantastic First Grade

#teacherspayteachers

Amy's Fantastic First Grade

Amy Jordan

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

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

#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

RECESS Time!

I am so excited!! I have another new product posted in my store! Click on any of the pictures and it will take you to my store! Please check it out!

Happy Day Everyone!

Amy Jordan

#NoWorksheetWednesday "The FINALE"

I am saddened that March is almost ending and we will no longer be linking up for this wonderful concept.  But that's ok because I have continued to use less and less worksheets in my classroom.  This has been an enormously busy week for me.  I'm glad you came to tag along and see what we've been up to in my classroom.  First, we are finishing up our nonstandard measurement unit.  The students had some fun using rulers and measured items in our classroom.

 The students worked on reading our nonfiction story together.  They are doing a super job recognizing the differences between fiction and nonfiction.

 We finally finished "Mr. Popper's Penguins" (Seriously, I thought we were never going to finish) and have begun reading "Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle", I love how she is very silly and adores the students in her neighborhood.  The students worked on visualizing while I read and they drew a picture of what they thought the upside down house looked like.

 We are working on o-e in phonics this week so during work work, the kids used stamps and play-doh to make words.

 Last, the students looked at their accelerated reader chart.  They needed to write down how many more quizzes they thought they could take before Easter.  As you can see, we have lots of bananas hanging out on the 10 and 20 books vine.  This idea came from First Grade Critter Cafe, this lady is fabulous and I am happy to know she lives in Ohio also!  We have tons of great teachers in our state.

 This is our adorable music program titled "Barnyard Moosical".  Those adorable chicks are my first graders.  They were amazing.  We had a lot of first graders with speaking parts and they had to memorize a lot of tough songs.  Best program yet!  We are very fortunate to be able to go to the high school and perform on a stage. By the way that adorable wallet you saw at the top is where the students store their "money" that they earn for different rewards.  Almost all these chicks earned $1 to put in their wallet.  That is their first $1 that they have earned and they were glowing when they received it.

 This is the fabulous Mrs. Box, my favorite music teacher.  She is one amazing music teacher!

 Happy Days Everyone!
Amy Jordan

This one's for the BIRDS!

Well I've created my 2nd product! Yeah me! G-O Go Amy Go!(That's the cheerleader in me!)  I am exited that I have created this product because it reminds me of all those gorgeous birds that have been flying around in my woods!  There's one particular bird that I've been trying to get a close-up picture of, but he never comes close enough.  One day I will be successful in taking your picture Mr. Pileated Woodpecker!

I swear you can see him!  This was taken during one of those numerous snow days!  This winter was harsh!

Click on the picture and find this little gem in my brand new TPT store!

Happy Sunday!

Amy Jordan