Anchor Charts & Organization

As a dual language teacher, language is being built every day.  At a training I attended last year, we were encouraged to create designated spaces in our classroom to hang anchor charts from each subject area for the students to refer to.  While this strategy is excellent for second language learners, it would be valuable in any classroom.  I used laminated butcher paper, die cut letters, and borders to create these  spaces in my classroom.  Here is what it looks like:

This has also helped me to organize my classroom, which I love because I am a type A personality to the max.  What do you have on the walls of your classroom?

V is for Valentine

Valentines Day is tomorrow, and we have been celebrating all week using activities from my Peace, Love, and Candy Hearts Unit.  {You can find it in Spanish here}  As a bonus, this unit is half off right now in case you need some last minute ideas for tomorrow!

We started off the week with our Kindness Craftivity & writing.  After making the craft, the students wrote about how they can show kindness.  The writing turned out really great since they planned it with a graphic organizer.  I have been forgetting to take pictures as of late, so this is my sample of our craftivity.  Their work turned out super cute, & the teacher next door told me that one of her students even added armpit hair to his globe person.  Wow, talk about imagination!

We also talked about the sequence of mailing a letter yesterday.  We put the steps in the correct order together, and then the students wrote out the sequence on their own paper.  Tomorrow, the kids are going to write letters to their parents and we are going to send them in the mail.

Today, we read Clifford's First Valentines Day {in Spanish}.  Then, the kids filled out a graphic organizer about what Clifford saw, did, thought, and felt.  This is such a cute story and the kids laughed and laughed.  

I wish I had taken more pictures, but this is all I got.  We also made bags to collect our Valentines in, and will be doing some of the Valentines math activities tomorrow as well.  In case you are needing some Valentines card ideas, here is a link to some Valentine's Card from you to your students.  Just attach them to some cereal in a baggie and you are good to go!  I also found these SUPER cute Valentines in Spanish from Spanglish Baby.

I hope you & your students have a FUN day tomorrow.  I would love to know what you are planning to do in your classroom!  Happy Valentines Day :)

TpT Super Bowl Sale & Valentines Unit

Hello bloggy friends!  I am looking forward to this Sunday's Super Bowl sale and am already eyeing some clipart to purchase for the unit I am creating.  I have lots of items on my wishlist, what about you?  Feel free to take & use the graphic below on your blog, Facebook page, etc. to help you promote the sale in your store.  {Thanks to Tammy Ferrell for these cute & free graphics!}

Valentine's Day is coming up soon, and I would love for you to consider using my Valentine's unit!  Here is a link to see it in English and Spanish on my TpT store.  There are some grade literacy activities and math activities, including 2 craftivites. 

I'll leave you with one last thought...

A little of this & a little of that

 My class is SO sweet this year.  I really don't want this year to end and we have been able to do so many fun things.  Here is a chart that we made today to activate prior knowledge about winter.  Students wrote one thing they know about winter on a post it note, shared it with the class, and then stuck it to the chart.

During small group reading, I love to use white boards.  I got them cut at Lowe's my first year teaching for really cheap.  Such a great investment!  After reading a decodable reader, I assigned each student to write/ draw about one of the following on their white boards:  setting, characters, problem, and solution.

On Tuesday we finished our money unit and reviewed with a game that the kids played in partners.  Each student had a "piggy bank and a bag of plastic money.  They chose 10 coins to place on their piggy bank.  Then, the students took turns spinning the spinner.  If they had the coin on their piggy bank, they covered it with a bean.  If not {or if it was already covered}, they passed the turn on to their partner.  The student who covered all of his or her coins first won the game. 

I hope your week is going great!  It's Wednesday, which means 2 more days until the weekend :)

Compound Word Quilt

I don't know why, but this year has started off to be SO busy!  We have been out of town on and off and have just had an overly booked schedule, but I think it is finally settling down some.  Thank goodness :)

Last week, we did an intro to compound words.  This was a new concept for my firsties, so we started by making an anchor chart together.  Then, they worked in partners.  I gave them the two base words to put together and make a compound word.  From there, they wrote down the word and illustrated it.  We put all the words together and the finished product is a Compound Word Quilt.  I think it turned out cute!

How has your year started out so far?  Have you been able to keep up with your goals & resolutions?

Product Swap-- Late!

I am so excited to be participating in the Product Swap with Jessica Stanford.  I was out of town with no internet access this weekend, so I apologize that this post is late!

I was able to review a product from Sonja D from Grade One Fun.  It was great to "meet" her and be able to pick a product from her store to try out.  You should definitely check out her blog here.

I chose her word bird game, which you can find at her TpT store.  I teach mostly Spanish speakers, so I  was able to spend some quality time with my English speaking student playing the game with her.  It was lots of fun!  What I love about this game is that students are learning beginning sounds of words, but are also using strategy to win.  It was great practice for my student to practice beginning sounds and I found it especially helpful for her as an English Language Learner.  The goal is to make a pair by matching two cards with the same beginning sound.  The person with the most matches before all the Word Birds are in their nests wins.  She really got into the game, and ended up winning by a landslide.  Here are a few pictures of us playing:

Thanks Sonja for letting me try out your product-- hopefully some of my blog followers will try it out as well!

New Year's Goal Setting Craftivity {English or Spanish!}

Is 2012 really almost over?  To be honest, this year has been good but has definitely had it's share of challenges.  I am ready for a fresh start in 2013, how about you?  I like to start out the school year by setting goals with my firsties, so I created this New Year's Craftivity to use with them.  I plan on saving their work for student led conferences in the spring so that they can show their parents their goals for the new year.  Included are:  the craftivity pieces to make a boy or a girl, a graphic organizer for brainstorming, and several choices of writing paper for primary or upper grades.  I would love for you to check it out in English or Spanish on my TpT store!  Here are some photos for you :)

What are your new year's resolutions/ goals?  I would love for you to leave a comment and share!