10 Simple Gifts for Teacher Appreciation Week

This week is National Teacher Appreciation Week.  What have you done to appreciate the teachers in your life?  If you are an administrator, PTA/PTO officer, parent or fellow teacher, here are 10 simple ideas to show those special teachers how much you appreciate the hard work they do each day. 

These 10 chalkboard tags can be downloaded by clicking on this link: Teacher Appreciation Gift Tags.  These tags can be used with a variety of small gift items that you can pick up at your neighborhood Walmart, Target or grocery store.  

1.   It is so REFRESHING to have you as a TEACHER! 

Soft Drinks, Water, Sparking Water, Juice

2.   Thank You to a TEA-riffic Teacher!

Bottle of Tea, Bottle of Water and Crystal Light Package of Tea, Mug or Teacup with a few Teabags, a Box of Fancy Tea Bags, a Package of Loose Tea and a Tea Ball

3.   You are all that and a bag of CHIPS!

Small or Large Bags of Chips

4.   Thanks for Being such a SWEET Teacher!

Cookies, Cupcakes, Candy Bars, Jars or Container of Candy 

5.   Thank You for the EXTRAordinary Things you do!

Extra Gum

6.   Thank You for Helping our Students BLOOM!

Flowers, Flowering Plants

7.   Let us give you a HAND. You're one of the Best!

Hand Soap, Hand Sanitizer, Hand Lotion

8.   Thanks! You're the Balm

Any type of Lip Balm

9.   An Apple for the TEACHER

Red EOS Lip Balm

10.   Thank You for all that you do! You're the Best!

Any Gift Card

Click below:

HAPPY TEACHER APPRECIATION WEEK 

Until Next Time...

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Earth Day Hats

Friends~I am so excited to share with you my Earth Day hats!  I love making these super simple hats with recycled materials! 

All you will need is 1 large-brown paper grocery bag (I let my kiddos decorate the bags with crayons and markers first.)

Check out the directions below!

*I also use old tissue paper or recycled grocery bags for the flowers!  

Click the video below to watch a quick tutorial on the hats!

You can check out more Earth Day fun over on my blog by clicking HERE!

Spring Break Freebie

Hello everyone! I'm Angie from Teacher's Big Helper and it's a pleasure to be part of this wonderful group of colleagues! This is my first time sharing some of my ideas with you and I look forward
to sharing much more with you in the future!

Spring Break is over for some of us and just starting for others. Hope everyone gets enough rest and comes back to school recharged and ready to end a great school year! I rested...a lot. I slept in, I shopped, I had lunch with family and friends, and I enjoyed every minute I had at home with my kids! Now, it's time to get ready to go back and listen to all the wonderful stories our little ones have to tell us. Although I know we love to hear all of their stories, we don't have have time to hear the long version from 22 kids. So, here's a little Spring Break Freebie to help your students tell you everything they have to say about their Spring Break.

Spring Break Freebie

Hoping everyone had or is having a wonderful, restful Spring Break!

Angie

Responding to Text {Opinion Writing}

The students in my class have been working on opinion writing by responding to a given text (we listen to a story.) Here is a freebie and a lesson plan to use in your kindergarten or first grade classroom to help facilitate opinion writing.

The topic of this opinion writing lesson plan is seasons. Students listen to a story about four friends who disagree on their favorite season. 

After students listen to each reason, they sort the season cards. This will help students recall information from the story. Read the sentences for each of the seasons, or have the students read them to you. 

Let the students group into partners to discuss with one another what is their favorite season. Walk around the room and encourage/facilitate conversations among partners. 

Students are to write a response to the question "Which season do you think is best?" by citing examples from the text, as well as, adding their own opinions and details. 

I have added a sample rubric that is CCSS aligned to this pack to help first grade and kindergarten teachers assess their student's writing abilities. 

I hope you have enjoyed this fun and simple opinion writing freebie!

Creative Classroom Storage Solutions

Hi there! Today I (K's Classroom Kreations) am going to let you all in on a little secret....I have an addiction to containers! That's right. I just love shopping for baskets and boxes and whatever other little containers I can get my hands on. Problem is, I can easily end up with a few too many (and buying new each year isn't a realistic possibility). I'm going to share with you some creative storage options that fill my need to organize and store, without breaking the bank.

The first type of storage you will find in my classroom consists of recycled food containers. Sometimes I use them to store manipulatives like my Base 10 blocks in the giant Animal Cracker container. Other times I use them as inspiration and storage for simple centers. The Pringles can is holding my Munchin on Punctuation writing center. I also found this adorable popcorn container (bottom left) at the Dollar Tree. I think it could work perfectly with my popcorn counting math activity (but the recycled popcorn box is just as cute!)

I'm sure if you search Pinterest you will see dozens of other ideas like using baby food jars to hold small items or an empty frosting container to organizer bulletin board border in. What I like most about this type of storage is that it adds excitement to the learning. Plus, I am always looking at food boxes now and getting inspiration for future classroom games. Next up on my list will have to be something with Popsicle sticks and a Popsicle box....

As teachers, our brains have a hard time shutting off from the classroom. This is evident in the next ideas where everyday household items take on a new purpose.

First up, the Kitchen aisle! I have used the plastic sink bins (bottom left) for years as open storage to hold books, notebooks, and my "New Kid on the Block" box. This year, after some more Pinterest-ing, I learned about the drying rack option for technology. I am waiting to get my iPads back from over the summer but I plan on standing them up in the rack as a charging station. Best part, the cords won't tangle! Next, I found this sturdy teal laundry basket to keep all of our recess toys in. Items like this are on sale now for College Back to School season (and it matched...and I have an addiction to storage..so I had to have it). Lastly, the toolbox! There are dozens of versions out there to download. I kept mine pretty simple with colored paper, ocean themed stickers, and mini address labels.

Of course I can't recycle and reuse all the time- sometimes (my favorite times) I just need to buy things! I love plastic containers from Dollar Tree for my library, manipulatives, and center materials. Little tin pails have been all the rage at Target this summer - I am storing reading trackers in this little guy (googly eye on popsicle sticks, drink stirrers, highlighting strips). These cardboard banker boxes have been some of my best purchases. I am able to store materials (special books, lessons, decorating supplies, etc.) by season and topic. These were a bit pricier but have held up extremely well for cardboard. Lastly, baskets. I use these for sorting activities mostly but the storage possibilities are endless.

 Last type of storage in my room requires getting a bit creative! I was able to get these milk crates for free a few years ago. I originally covered them in Duct Fabric but redid them in this teal vinyl this summer. Last year I stored my kid's morning work and small group activities inside of them. The bench is simply 3 crates screwed together and spray painted. I like the final look but do not suggest spray painting...black works fine and is a lot less of a pain. You can now find the crates in different colors too. The bench is by far one of the favorite places to hang out in my classroom.

 Just a few more Dollar Tree finds (geesh, I should get a commision for how often I suggest them)! I snagged these little sandwich holders and snack boxes earlier this summer. I plan on using the sandwich containers to put a deck of cards, dice, or other small center activity in. Just the fact that it has Minions or Spiderman on it will make it an instant favorite. The snack containers could be used for the same thing but I plan on using them for behavior. Last year I implemented a token system for a few of my challanging students (read more about it here). I used velcro to stick a plastic cup to each desk but they would still get tipped over. These little containers will hold the tokens and again, the theme makes it even more exciting!

Last up is my pirate themed treasure box. I bought this a few years ago at a craft store (with a 50% coupon of course!). I used it to store materials for my Pirate day at the end of the year. It could also be used as a prize box or simply as storage.

Hope you were able to find a few new storage and organizational ideas. Setting up a classroom this time of year can be overwhelming, especially finding a place for everything. Good luck and have a great year!

For other ideas be sure to check out my blog, K's Classroom Kreations. Thank you!

Want to remember these tips for later? Pin here:

Spring Fun

Its been a long winter and we are so excited to welcome Spring this week!
One thing that has helped my firsties this very long winter in New York has been Go Noodle!  This website is amazing!  We exercise along with Maximo several times a day.  This keeps my class excited and full of positive energy.  If you haven't tried this yet you must!  Check it out here:

To help with some great Spring activities I made this Spring Printable Pack which is full of more than 50 black and white activities all common core aligned.  These are perfect for morning work, centers, homework, small group, whole group, re-teaching, enrichment and more!
Here are some examples of activities you can find in this pack:

To purchase this pack click on the picture or you can click here.

 

I also like to help my students master the difference between real and make believe.  Here are two fun packs to help your young learners have fun while learning this important skill.

 

Another fun activity is Inferencing.  This pack includes several Spring Inference Cards that I promise will have your students enjoying this challenging skill.  Plus the pack includes templates for students to create their own!

These activities will definitely help bring excitement into your classroom this Spring!

Thank you!

Jenn Wiggins

 

For more activities visit my TPT Store by clicking here.

 

 

 

 



Top 5 Tips for Close Reading with Emergent Readers



 

Hello Readers, I’m Marcie from Sunny and Bright in First Grade and I am so happy to be here today!  I am currently a first grade teacher but I have spent many years teaching kindergarten and pre-k as well.  I am all about the little learners! 

Today, I want to talk about close reading with the little guys.  I LOVE close reading with my students and I hope you do too!  It makes me so sad when I hear primary and/or early childhood teachers complain that close reading isn’t appropriate for emergent readers.  I could not possibly disagree more!  I think the problem is that most of the training on close reading seems to focus on intermediate grades.  So, I’m here today to share my Top 5 Tips for Close Reading with Emergent Readers!

Photo Credit: Fishy Face Photography

Before you jump into close reading with primary students, ask yourself: what’s the point?  Why is this important?  How will this impact my students as readers? 

The primary purpose of close reading with young readers is to teach students how to interact with a text.  We want to teach our students that we are reading with purpose.  Each time the student interacts with the text (usually 3-5 times) there needs to be a specific purpose.  The purpose might be vocabulary investigation, answering text dependent questions or developing higher order thinking skills.

Make sure that the learning goal is clear to both you and your students.  If you are simply “going through the motions” it will be miserable for everyone involved!  The purpose for close reading is to teach students that the text is a resource and that the answers to all of their questions can be found by "digging deeper" into the text.

Please, do not feel like you need to choose a text that matches the reading level of your emergent reader!  You are going to teach your students to “dig in” to complicated texts with your close reading lessons.  That is nearly impossible to do with a basal reader or an emergent guided reading text.

Close reading, in the primary classroom, can easily be done through a read aloud.  (This also solves the “I have 18 students and only 3 copies of the book” problem.)

For beginning readers, close reading is being used to teach students to look closely at rigorous texts. This can easily be done with a text that is read out loud to the student.

Spend some time studying the text before introducing it to students.  This gives you a chance to plan your text dependent questions but, just as importantly, it gives you time to predict how your students will interact with the text and stay ahead of them.

 

Try to predict the vocabulary that will need to be explored, what questions students will have and what new concepts you can introduce with this particular book.  I wait until students hit a “roadblock” with vocabulary to add the word to our exploration list… If they don’t seem to be hitting the roadblock with a word I know I want them to work on, I “set them up” with my own think aloud or discussion prompt.  When I know what they will have difficulty with, I can better prepare to make the most of our close reading lesson.

 

 

I think the reason I love close reading in primary classrooms SO MUCH is probably because of the deep discussions that these young students are capable of having about literature.  It gives me goose bumps every time!

I build lots and lots of conversation into my close reading plans.  Over the course of a week, I usually have my students “turn and talk”, talk in small groups, and participate in whole class conversation circles.  These discussions are so rich and give students so many opportunities to interact with the text, while developing their speaking and listening skills.

As with everything you do in your primary classroom, close reading will be more meaningful and enjoyable if you have systems in place.  In my classroom, this includes introducing the learning goal and essential question and reviewing expectations with every. single. lesson.  This sets the stage for learning and saves me more time and frustration that I can measure!

 

 

I also give my students a lot of visual support.  This includes learning goals on our focus wall, pictures of conversation “talk moves”, visual sentence starters, “talking turn” cards and much, much more.  These systems keep our learning (and my sanity) on  track.

  

 

Get the Talking Turns Freebie HERE

 



The most important thing to remember about close reading with emergent readers is that it should be FUN!  Choose rich, engaging books that you love!  Share your excitement about the “special book” and teach your students to be text detectives.  Plan your lessons carefully, but don’t forget the magic!  Close reading with primary students should be exciting.  It should nurture the curiosity of your young students while giving them the tools to find answers to their questions. 

I hope some of these tips will help you and your little learners to fall in love with close reading!  I have developed some products that may support your close reading lessons.  These items dig in much deeper to the tips that were shared here today and give you ALL the resources you need to get started with close reading in your primary classroom RIGHT AWAY!  These products are all available in my TPT store: Sunny and Bright in First Grade. 

Conversation Circles in Primary Classrooms HERE

 

The Complete Guide to Close Reading in First Grade HERE

 

The Complete Guide to Close Reading in Kindergarten HERE

 

 



 Text Dependent Questions for Close Reading ANY BOOK - Kindergarten & First Grade HERE

 

 

Thank you so much for reading! 

www.sunnyandbrightinfirstgrade.blogspot.com