Lesson Plans

Guided Math Lesson Plan Freebie
Alright,I a m attempting to upload my first freebie! Since our county switched to the Common Core Standards this year, I had to totally revamp the way I plan. After MANY trials and scrapped ideas, this is the lesson plan format I created and use for guided math. You can find out more about guided math by going here and reading Debbie Diller's fantastic book, Math Workstations. While you're at it, check out her other lifesavers, Spaces & Places, and Making the Most of Small Groups.  She has many others, but I recommend these for first grade teachers, especially!  Be aware that you will probably need to download two fonts to make this plan look just like mine: smileymonster and annoying kettle, both of which can be grabbed over at Kevin & Amanda's.
 Tell me what you think and how you use it!


Guided Math Lesson Plan
 for 1st Grade

Giving Thanks.....

So it occurred to me on Tuesday that I really needed to stop and talk to my kiddos about giving thanks.  Sometimes I think that I spend too much time teaching pilgrims, mayflowers, and turkeys and not enough time modeling thankfulness. All month, I have had students take a fall leaf cutout from the writing center and write down something they are truly thankful for. We have been adding the leaves to the fall tree on our door. I noticed recently that most of the leaves named mom, dad, and toys as things they were thankful for. I thought this was a great start, but it seemed like students just couldn't think up any other things they were thankful for, because all the leaves were beginning to look identical!  I wondered if my kiddos were struggling to understand the idea of being thankful, so as a little experiment, I decided to make an anchor chart of the things that I am thankful for.  I started with our assistant, Mrs. Evans. We discussed all the ways Mrs. Evans helps us each day, and we talked about how we could thank her for all she does for us. Some suggestions were simply saying, "Thank you!" more, making her cards, and just remembering to use our best behavior when she is taking us to and from specials. I really think that going that extra step and having them brainstorm ways that they can say "thank you" for the things they are thankful for helped them see that they have SO many things to appreciate. 

Welcome!

Welcome to my teaching blog! I am eager to share my adventures in first grade with ya'll!  Hopefully, I can share some of the resources I have created as well. I have been so inspired by the amazing blogs out there that it only seems fair to "pay it forward"!  Hope you enjoy!