Many people have asked me what I use from my store and when I use it. I thought it would be helpful to send out a monthly newsletter to let you know what I have been working on and what I am doing right in my room. But first, and always first, I will share a little update on my family.
Family
It has been a busy year with a freshman in college, a junior, 4 freshman, and one in preschool. Sometimes our driveway looks like a parking lot…I can’t imagine what it will look like in 2 more years.
It has been an adjustment for all of us, especially missing our oldest on a daily basis.
My freshman triplets went to Chicago and performed in the holiday parade. It was definitely a proud mom moment. They love being in the marching band and I’m so glad they had a community of friends at the beginning of their new high school journey.
Charlie is progressing with her speech and beginning to play more with her peers. She is so strong willed and determined. The little things we take for granted can sometimes be difficult for her. She loves going to the park but even walking up the steps to the slide is a struggle. She is a constant reminder to all of us to never give up and to not take anything for granted. For Halloween we were Mommy Shark, Daddy Shark, and Baby Shark. (Yes I have an amazing husband who would do anything of her and all of us!)
What have I been working on in the TpT world?
I have been busy working on a new math series. I have always used the acronym MASTER math in my room. I finally found the time to make exactly what I wanted for the standards and my acronym. (M-manipulatives, A-apply skills(games), S-small group, T-technology, E-enrichment, R-review) I currently have 6 units done out of 15. I am bundling them into groups of 5. When they are all done, I will offer a complete bundle for all of the 1st grade CCSS. They take me FOREVER because there are so many components. My students are especially loving the technology pieces and manipulatives. The bonus to all of it, my students love it, and their math skills are AMAZING.
I’m throwing a little mini celebration because I finally finished my small group leveled reading series. This project has taken me almost two years to complete. It has been a game changer in my classroom for planning and differentiating my small group guided reading lessons. I now have levels A through O. It is a huge span but that is my classroom in a nutshell. The levels vary that much in first grade.
I have also found time to do a mini unit or two. I’m really looking forward to sharing the story Pig the Elf, and completing the activities to go with it. If you haven’t read any of the Pig books, I highly suggest them.
This month
Whole Group Guided Reading
We will begin this week with two weeks of Gingerbread Fun! The last two weeks we will be reading some of my favorite holiday stories in my Christmas bundles. Throughout the entire month, we will be learning about different holidays. We will spend two days on each holiday and then compare their similarities and differences. We will also learn about reindeer and spend the last day having a fun reindeer day.
Word Work, Phonics, and Technology
In word work and phonics we will begin to learn about the long vowels. Next week we will learn about CVCe words. Then we will spend a week on each of the following patterns ee & ea, ai & ay, and oa & ow. We using my SPELLING UNITS as our main focus but we also do some other fun activities too.
In my reading intervention binders, I have games, more practice and a fun little book craft that goes with each sound pattern. We will definitely be making all of those and working on some of the sorts. as assessements.
Bank it is one of our favorite games to play. It is a digital powerpoint or pdf that I project on my SMART board. We divide into two teams, I assign a banker and we begin. The goal is to have the most money in the bank. It is fast paced, and no one is ever eliminated. They LOVE it and bet to play.
Boom Cards are a favorite for whole group on the SMART board and on the Chrome books independently. Our focus in Boom with be the Turtle out the word activities although I am hoping to add more.
We are also learning to use Google Classroom too. So I will be sending these activities out to them in Classroom. We have been playing Google Slides together on the SMART board all year long and will continue to do so.
Math
In math we will begin Unit 5 this week working on place value. Then we will move into Unit 6 which is comaping numbers with the <, >, and = sign.
Seasonal Freebies
Here are a few of my seasonal freebies! Make sure to click on the picture to grab them.
If you would like to see daily ideas from my classroom, connect to my Facebook and Instagram accounts. I love to share in my stories on Instagram and they do link to Facebook as well.
From my family to yours… I wish you a wonderful holiday. Thank you for your continued support. I’m so thankful for your following and all of your kind words and feedback.
Happy Holidays!
Megan Mitchell
First Grade Roars
