5 Things Ms. Dwyer Says…

Hi, Friends! How are ya? In an effort to make myself blog on a more regular basis, I’m jumping back into Five for Friday with Kacey at Doodlebugs Teaching! This week, I’m sharing 5 things that I find myself saying daily. You know, those little things that are a spoken language between you and your littles. The language of love that develops and binds you together as a little family.

Number 1…

We sing this little diddy. When I notice a friend has forgotten to begin a sentence with a capital letter, I start singing “Every sentence….and because we do this every.single.day…the class joins in and finishes the sentence….begins with a CAPITAL letter! Fun! And the guilty party  or parties usually go back, erase and write their capital letter in!

Number 2…

{Self explanatory!}

Number 3…


My one expectation for the completion of student work is that they always give their absolute best! There’s no slackin’ in Room 171; we make stuff happen! Knowing that, not everyone’s work will look exactly the same. Each student brings to the table a different personality, a different perspective on the world. I want them to understand their work is a reflection of them. How they complete it is how they present themselves to others that might see it.

Soooo, when we complete projects you will rarely find any copied patterns in our classroom. You’ll rarely find a color sheet. More often than not, what you will find is students beginning with a blank sheet of paper. A blank sheet of paper is a representation of endless possibilities. It’s a representation of them having the freedom to be creative. It’s a representation of them being able to uniquely express themselves. It’s me trusting them to show what they know in an organized way because I’ve taught them how. So, when I’m asked…do I have to use this color? Can I draw with a pencil or crayon? My response is…..you have creative control.

Number 4…


We use this phrase during writer’s workshop A LOT! One sentence does not a story make! =P It usually leads to other questions too, like what is the problem in your story? How do the characters feel? How did they solve it? What details in your picture help to tell the story? Which leads to….

Number 5…


Writing is rarely ever complete. There’s always more than can be added to tell a great story!

What are some of your favorite phrases?

Five for Friday {First Week Back}

Hi Friends! How are ya? Did you have a great first week back at school? My kiddos and I had a busy week of review and catch up! We were all a hot.sick.mess during the weeks leading up to Christmas…..so we had to use our first week back to review.review.review and CATCH UP! And by golly, I think we’ve done it!

I’m linking up with Kacey at Doodle Bugs Teaching to share our faves from this past week.

We skip counted through the week in math! Notice the typo on the 5’s chart? Ugh! Not sure what we were thinking…thank goodness for my eagle-eyed team mate! It’s all fixed scribbled over to say in instead of is now. When you teach syllabication in the morning, and skip counting in the afternoon…..BEWARE….you may end up with big words on your math anchor chart! =)

Simply [rote] skip counting is of days past. Now, our standards call for skip counting sets of objects….the day we worked on counting by 5’s we each traced our hands and lined them up across the carpet to count sets of 5 little fingers! Kiddos loved how long the line was and were utterly amazed when they discovered how many fingers there are in our classroom! After we counted them, 3 students worked together to label each of the hands in order beginning with 5 before I hung them up to use as a reference.

This week, Smart Art began on Thursday. What we were going to do, would take some time….so it just couldn’t wait all the way until Friday.

I absolutely LOVE using the book The Apple Pie Tree by Zoe Hall to teach how the changing seasons effect plants. After reading it and discussing what happened to the apple pie tree during each season, we worked to illustrate what we had learned. As much as I love sharing an awesome book, I love tying in art even more…

On Thursday we worked to cut, glue, and draw details to illustrate winter and spring. On Friday, we flipped our little foldable over to illustrate summer and autumn.

The wonkiness of kids’ work adds character. No patterns were provided. I like seeing their personalities shine through their work. Each kiddo started with a blank sheet of paper and a model projected on the whiteboard as a guide to get started. Though we were all illustrating the seasons, each and every tree, leaf, and apple are unique because they were given creative control of the work they’d produce. Lots of happy smiles were seen among the mess of clips and snips of paper all over the room!

Wanna peek inside? After giving summer and autumn a little time to dry, we opened them up to prep for next week. One of our performance assessments is to observe and record the weather over the course of a week. Last week….seasons. Next week….weather. We’ll use our little foldable to record the weather and relative temperature each morning. On Thursday, during our normal science lesson, we’ll read Gail Gibbons’ Weather Words and illustrate the vocabulary. Lastly, students will illustrate their favorite type of weather!

Creating a display type foldable added a little novelty to our work. Foldables shouldn’t have to always be flat! I love using them, BUT I don’t want my kiddos to get bored with them by continuously using the same kind all the time. They watched me prep this one for them and absolutely couldn’t wait to get their hands on it!

Will your little meteorologists be making observations about the weather soon? Click HERE to grab the mini-pages we’ll be using. Check out some of the books and resources we’ll be using below!




Happy weather watching!

Five for Friday~Routines, Routines... & Making 10

Hi, Friends! How are ya?! Another Five for Friday has rolled around….and we’ve officially survived the first two weeks!!  Whooo hooo! Sit back and stay awhile….check out these 5 happenings from our TODAY!



Routines are taking shape! My little crew of firsties and I are getting to know one another and meeting expectations has become the name of the game!



1 of our classroom expectations is knowing how to use an appropriate voice level. Sometimes you also just need a little space for yourself to get your work completed. With the switch to {round} tables this year, there’s no space for big, rectangular privacy folders. To gain a little privacy students learned to divide their tables into 4 individual spaces by placing their book boxes on the table extending out from the supply caddy set in the middle.



After taking time to learn procedures for showing what we know….students earned their first crack at smart art! Smart art is our weekly reward activity for meeting expectations during Daily 5 throughout the week. Our story this week was about pals, so students worked in pairs and used verbs to tell things that friends or pals do! Turn & talk, reading response and art all rolled into one….=)



Having a classroom library that students are allowed to access for good-fit book choices requires organization. Last weekend, I had my [personal] kids return all of the books back to the library bins because….let’s face it….I was just too exhausted to have the class do it for themselves! This week….however…I knew that it was important to teach this routine and hovered just a bit to ensure each student neatly returned their “good-fit” books back to the correct library bin by matching the sticker or letter on the bin. They did a great job!



I posted this picture earlier today onto the FB page and it’s gotten A LOT of attention! {Thank YOU to all!} We started this lesson by viewing a quick video clip about different ways to make 10 on DiscoveryEducation.com. The title of it was The Making of 10 (Math Monsters). We discussed what the little monsters were doing to create groups of 10 as we watched and then used this little activity to review the week by showing the pattern found in creating the same number different ways.

We worked on 2 or 3 of the little rectangles together and then…..I asked the class to stand and pretended that I couldn’t remember the next combination that would come in the pattern, sent them to talk about it in small groups and to build it using their own set of cubes {for each group}. They were charged with the task of holding up cubes that would be an example of the next combination needed…FIRST….THE FASTEST….and it involved a “clip up” action for getting it done! Engagement, movement, good behavior….all in one!

A little friendly competition makes things fun and interesting too! =)

After working to create the needed combination, the class was called back to the carpet and we completed additional squares together. Students making wise choices were chosen to record the numbers for each part to be joined to create a group of 10. Oh, how wonderfully a firstie will sit in order to get their hands on one of the teacher’s FAVORITE markers!

It took a couple of times to go back and forth before completing the chart and our room was a little rowdy, BUT the kids really enjoyed the lesson and it was a great wrap up to subitizing, spatial patterns, counting in easy ways and counting in hard ways, etc… It was so much fun to watch them challenge each other!

ANNNNNd guess what?! All I did was put the chart together and facilitate the discussion…the kids did EVERYTHING else! Score! ANNNNNNND, little did they know…..as soon as they were off on their way home, the chart was laminated and placed in a bin for math stations next week! No excuses about not knowing what to do because… guess what?! They created it! Extended practice……deepening of understanding…..here we come! You can see the blank poster that was set into stations by visiting the FB page.



Before ending the day, we settled down and settled in to routines for writer’s workshop. Today, we completed the assembly of our folders and began to write across 3 pages for the first time. Because it was our first time, I simply stapled 3 blank pages together. No copies. No wasted ink. 3 blank pages of printer paper. Students used their pencils to draw a line across the page from the middle staple to divide their paper in half. Illustrations went above the line. Words/writing went below the line. We use that same routine in our morning work journals. It saves pages. =)

Reference resources are kept on the prongs that run down the middle. So far, we’ve added our heart maps and a mini-poster to practice the path of motion for forming our letters. Each student also has a personal word wall that is kept in the folder. The pocket on the left houses writings that are still a work in progress. The pocket on the right houses writing that is complete.

I searched all over and couldn’t find green and red coding dots….soooooo, instead we incorporated color coding plain white labels as part of our discussion about the use of our folders! Glad I never found them….

Well, friends…..that was our Friday. There’s been so much happening on the homefront since school started that I’d loved to share! One day that I don’t come home and collapse…we’ll play catch up! Until then, keep visiting…more fun stuff to come! Click the pic below to grab a little freebie for Making 10. Next week….beginning addition!



My favorite thing that has happened so far this year? One of my shy guys walked over and quietly asked…. “Is it ok if I put your name on my heart map?”….{heart melted}. It’s been just 9 days, but……..I think they like me!!!!!

Five for Friday~Sneak Peek

Hi Friends! How are ya?

It’s been a busy last couple of days as I finally got my hands on those golden keys! With August having rolled in….the only thing on the brain has been unpacking and getting set up. After 3 days of unpacking, sorting, organizing and finally decorating…I’ve got a little sneak peek ready for ya! Wanna have a look see at what our little home away from home is gonna look like this year?

Come on in! It's time for...Five for Friday!

I’m about 99% done……-ish! =)

I love inspirational quotes. Words have power! As my kiddos enter our classroom, I want them to always see a little something that will inspire them to learn and be the best they can be. I’m going to add the word ‘create’ to the board as well. Being a clutter free gal kicks me in the rear every now and then because when I looked for another set of letters to use, I didn’t have any more! No biggie…I’ll whip up a little something.

Lockers have been numbered. We won’t go totally without student names. As we create activities throughout the year, they’ll have the opportunity to display work with their name on their lockers for all the world to see!

Beginning Day 1…..I want these two words to guide the beliefs of our classroom climate. I can……and I will be successful! Please ignore the “leather like” paper. It’s not as wrinkled as it appears….and will be covered with student work soon. I’m still giggling a little because I didn’t realize the roll of fadeless paper that I purchased didn’t have a matte finish. It really does look like I decorated our boards with leather!

Looking for pretty prints to add a little flair to your bulletin boards? Try gift wrap! It’s inexpensive, comes in any design you can think of and easy to hang! That chevron paper is from leftover Christmas wrap!

Got wiggles? Students who struggle to sit still? Do you teach 1st grade? If you answered yes to any of these questions….then these fun chairs are for you! Since I brought them into the building, every person that has walked into my room has fallen into them and bounced out with a smile! My son sat and watched an entire movie in one, so I’m guessing they’re pretty comfortable. I’m going to be trying something new with seating this year that I’ll share a little later….these two chairs will be one choice of several student options.

Thanks for stopping by to peek in our room….

Are you trying anything new this year?

Fun with Friends {Giveaway}

Hi, Friends! How are ya? Did you hear it? Did you hear the mighty rush of wind last night as the calendar swooshed past July right into the FIRST day of August! Say what?! The summer has come and GONE! But, don’t fret! There’s still just enough time left before heading back to school for some fun to be had!



This Five for Friday is gonna be all about classroom prep and fun with friends!

I started the week with a bite from the decorating bug and made a few pretty changes to my home work space.

…then made sure to grab school supplies during Walmart’s Teacher Appreciation sale. Can I just admit, that makes my teacher heart take a big leap looking at all those supplies? My mommy heart, went……WHOA!!! LOL!

 

Being creative also spilled over into classroom prep. I had been working on a simple display for my work on writing station in the classroom for the last few weeks. This week…I finally wrapped it up and was so excited to get it laminated, cut and prepped to roll out in the classroom! 

Want a quick easy way to display student work? Check out the clip above! These little clips will house labels for different writing types that we’ll do throughout the year. They’ll also provide an easy way to “clip” student work to the board as they complete excellent work!

My awesome team got together for the first time to throw around ideas and lots of yummy food. Before we knew it, 5 whole hours had rolled by! It’s gonna be a GREAT year!

I’ve also been in the midst of doing a little planning with my virtual firstie friends too! How about a little GIVEAWAY FUN? That should make that quick calendar change a little easier to bear. Check out the details below and don’t forget to head over to our FB fanpage to enter!

Enjoy these last few days! August is HERE!

Are you ready for a HUGE giveaway? I have gathered together with some AMAZING teacher bloggers and we have put together a fantastic set of prizes for you. We have 42 bloggers participating, so we are giving away a prize pack of 14 products each to 3 winners! :) You can enter on the Firstie Friends Facebook Page, and you can earn a LOT of entries. Go to the tabs under the header picture and click the tab that says "Giveaway". The giveaway will end on Sunday, August 4th at 8pm CST. At the bottom of this post you will also find links to ALL of my Firstie Friends' stores! :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you so much for reading! Good luck in the giveaway!

Setting up for Success~Math Stations

Hi, Friends! How are ya!

Have your summer days been flying by at the speed of light, like mine?! I mean…really….next Friday’s post will be written on the first Friday in August! YIKES!!!! It’s time to get busy! Sooooo, in the spirit of all things prep and get ready, I’m linking up with my pal Kacey from Doodlebugs Teaching for Five for Friday. No better way to get back in the swing of things!

With preparing for the new year in mind, I thought I’d share with you the tentative plan for implementing guided math. Did I just say that? Small groups…IN MATH?! Big changes are coming, but the more I think about it, the more excited I’m getting! I think its gonna benefit my firsties and help us both to grow as better mathematicians as we fully walk through new changes to our state standards.

Remember those freebies I posted not too long ago?

Well, this is how they’ll be put into play in a few short weeks….3 to be exact. I have to be back at work in 3 weeks!!! Did I say that already?

Math journals and interactive notebooks will be housed in the top two bins. On each label are reminders of behavior expectations that we’ll implement together. Math journals will be used daily as an independent learning choice for math writing. Interactive notebooks will be used in small group and to complete whole group review, as needed. 

You can read a quick blurb by clicking HERE that gives a little further explanation. You can also grab the labels if you like ‘em in that post too! I printed the math journal and interactive notebook labels at 80% in order for them to fit the size of my bins. The remaining slides were printed at 100%.

Bins 1-4 will house independent “Math with Someone” {work station} activities. Two will be review. Two will be games or station activities on our current unit of study. Students will check into Math Daily 3 in the same way that we check in for Literacy Daily 5. 

We’ll talk about that a little more in a sec….

Inside each bin, students will have everything they need to complete the activity. The metal bins will hold small game pieces, crayons or pencils….whatever the activity requires to be completed. Under each bin, will be an ‘I Can….’ statement that outlines the standard students are practicing (in kid friendly terms), then….the activity itself. The number on each bin will designate the area of the room, students will take the bin to work…

Here’s  a closer look….

How will we manage all of this…..? Each day, just as we do in Daily 5 for literacy….students will use the interactive whiteboard to choose where they will work for each of 3 rounds. We will begin our math workshop by completing a mini-lesson, check in for small group….and repeat twice.

Mini-Lesson 1: Introduce, model and think aloud for the concept of the day. I do…students observe and follow along.
Mini-Lesson 2:  A short continuation of the 1st lesson, with students participating.
Mini-Lesson 3:  Students will practice the concept on their own or with a partner.

Following this pattern daily will allow for a gradual release of responsibility and will make sure our lesson length coincides with current brain research. In the Second Edition of The Daily 5, the two sisters indicate current research  suggests…..The average number of years our children are in age parallels the average number of minutes they are capable  of maintaining their attention on direct instruction.

So my friends, we’ve got to make every minute count and fast!

Up next on the list….can you guess what I’m wrapping up? Stay tuned….if you’re not following on FB yet, you may want to! There will be some give-away fun going on as soon as I put a bow on this baby! Then, on to morning work for September….after all, in just 3 short weeks, it’ll be time to put it all in place for a brand new batch of firsties! It’s gonna be a great year!

Like the Math Daily 3 Check-In? Click the pic to grab it! It is saved as an image because I don’t have access to Mimio software at home. To put it to use in the classroom, copy and paste the picture to your interactive whiteboard software program, add text boxes for student numbers (over the gray squares) and save for use. Students will choose the area of math they will work in for each round by moving their number to a box under the designated area. If they are moving to small group, their number will be moved to the "teacher table". There are 4 rounds saved in this file because one of my co-workers is planning for 4 rounds and requested an additional slide. My firsties and I will only be doing 3 each day. The last slide is blank without graphics for you to edit to your taste of graphics and fonts. I will also be adding an interactive timer to the bottom right corner, once I have access to my school laptop.

Enjoy these last few weeks of freedom!