February Fun!

Hello Everyone!

January flew by! I am finally seeing a lot of progress and maturity in my students! This is the time of year when they just take off. 

Even still, I'm not gonna lie that I'm looking forward to Spring Break already! But, since February stands in the way, we may as well have some fun with it!

I have a few new February products on TPT. They are all Valentines and President's Day themed Place Value games.

President's Day Guess My Number! Place Value Game

Students describe 2-digit numbers using place value 

Valentine's Adding Tens and Ones

Students practice counting 2-digit numbers by tens and ones

President's Day Coin Value Recognition Games & Activities

Students recognize value of coins, count mixed coins, connect knowledge of the U.S. Presidents to the coins

Each game is $3.00 but you can get all 3 products for $7 with my combo pack:

February Place Value Combo Pack

Happy February! Hang in there, Spring Break is just around the corner!

Dylan {The Savvy Schoolteacher}

Anchor Charts: The Best of Both Worlds

Hello Everyone! 

Its been a while since I posted- it was a hectic first half of the school year! 

I wanted to share a system I came up with this year for Anchor Charts! In the past year I've really increased my use of anchor charts in my class. 
I love creating them with the class because they reflect our class' understandings and serve as a resource that students can refer back to.  
The problem I have is that my "on-the-fly" anchor charts tend to end up messy, disorganized, and fairly non-asthetically pleasing (not acceptable in today's Pinterest world).
So to marry the benefits of creating anchor charts with my class and pre-making neat, organized charts, I started this system: 

Step 1: Find an anchor chart example on Pinterest. I chose this one, the origins of which have been tragically lost to the Pinterest black hole, but you can see on my profile here: 

Step 2: Print that anchor chart on regular paper and glue it to the back of your anchor chart paper (points for recycling by using old posters from your mom's college art school projects). 

Step 3: Set up the poster by drawing the basic outlines and visual cues you will want on the front of the poster. By doing this ahead of time, you will be able to take your time and plan out the organization of the poster. 

Step 4: Laminate the outlined poster (with the Pinterest version on the back). 

Step 5: Use a dry erase marker to fill out the rest of the poster with your students. Get as many of their ideas down first. Refer to the Pinterest version on the back to help drive the conversation or to add anything your class might need on the poster. 

Step 6: Leave the poster up for as long as needed. At the end of the year, you can wipe off the class' ideas and store the poster for next year!

So far, this anchor chart system has worked great! I can take my time to plan ahead but I can also engage my students in the creation of our class anchor charts!

Also, if you are looking forward into January and February, please stop by my TPT store for President's Day and Valentine's Day themed Place Value games!

        


Thanks for stopping by and I wish you and your family a happy and safe holiday!

Dylan {The Savvy Schoolteacher}

Stations: Choices for Students, Choices for Teachers!

Hello! 

As Fall finally settles here in south Texas (70 degrees at night counts, right?), my kids are starting to get the hang of stations. The hardest part for them is working independently of me. Not being able to ask me questions drives them crazy! 

I use my own version of the Daily 5 model and I usually find resources for stations online at TPT or other blogs. I love finding stations I can change up to keep my kids interested and to reinforce things we are learning in class. I made this Open-Ended & Adaptable Literacy Activities & Resources  pack! 

It comes with differentiation options for teachers.

The pack includes eye-catching Writing, Word Work, and Reading station options.

This Boogle game (similar to Boggle) allows you to change out the letters based on the phonics skills your kids need to work on. 

This is part of the Silly Stories writing game. The pack comes with options for character (seen above), setting, editing/revising, and genre. Use all together or mix and match!

The thing I love most is that the activities use resources in the classroom (i.e. LESS teacher prep work!). These might include anchor charts, classroom books, word walls, etc.  You can add/change cards and posters to keep your kids interested and challenged.

Take a look and let me know what you think! I would love to hear your feedback!

Take care, 

Dylan {The Savvy Schoolteacher}

Be Brave Enough to Try New Things!

Hi everyone!

I hope your school year is off to a great start! I finally have time to be 

brave and try some new management strategies.

I have always had my desks in teams. The kids get to come up with team names (usually named after Minecraft or Frozen). This year, I added stickers to each desk. At first, I put a different colored sticker on each desk of the team. That way I could call all the “Purples” to get supplies for their whole team. I love that I can disperse papers, supplies, etc., faster while also turning over some responsibility to the kids (empowering kids is a huge plus!).

Then I got to thinking, identifying colors is easy for my first graders. Maybe I can use this system to help reinforce/preview concepts. So I replaced the colored stickers with labels that have "doubles" number sentences.

Now I can call the “fours” and any child with 2+2 written on their label will have a turn. I love that the kids have to think about it and discuss. 

The first time, some kids with 4+4 tried to go, but their teammates stopped them to discuss what their sum would actually be.

By the time I introduce doubles for a few weeks, my kids will already have seen doubles for a while and hopefully, doubles will already be automatic! As we move through the year, I might change these to shapes, verbs or adjectives, soil types, or any other concept I want to reinforce! Note: If you do teach Kindergarten, the colored stickers are probably more appropriate for review- you can use whatever your kids need!

The other thing I want to show you is my new shelving system. Like I said, I’ve always organized desks into teams. In the past, the teams were made up of 4-5 kids. This year I changed it to 3 teams of 6 or 7. Having fewer teams seems to allow for more space to move around.

I put a small set of shelves at the end of each team. 

This is where teams can keep a set of manipulatives, sharpened pencils and any other supplies we use regularly. 

So now, I can have the “twelves” get all the Unifix Cubes for their team and no one gets in anyone’s way!

So far both of these systems have worked great! Let me know what management systems you have tried or have always wanted to try! I love hearing new ideas!

Best, 

Dylan {The Savvy Schoolteacher}

Travel-Themed Classroom

Hi everyone!

Now that I am a little more caught up on sleep after the first week of school, I want to show you more of my Travel-Themed classroom!

 I got these colored parasols from Goodwill- brand new!- and the small trunks in the corner are from an antique shop in the Texas Hill Country! I'm just a little proud of both these finds!

 Over the summer I started collecting maps of all kinds and used some as backgrounds on my little shelves. I think its the details that make a room! I stuck them on with sticky tack so I can easily change them out (if I change my theme again). 

These suitcase and passport labels are from my World Travel Theme Pack. I use the "suitcases" as name tags and the "passports" number the hooks so my kids know which hook belongs to them. 

I covered boxes with crumpled brown paper to look like leather suitcases. I just use them as display above my cubbies. I will use the laminated butcher paper transportation posters to display academic vocabulary words. 

The Alphabet Pennant is also from my World Travel Theme Pack.

The city signs and clocks are from my Pack as well. I attached a cardstock ring to the back of the clocks to make them pop from the wall. 

                    

Again, I love details! I printed out a couple different compass roses off the internet and put them in various sized embroidery hoops as sun catchers. The mini hot air balloons are from a tutorial in my Pack. 

In the past I've had a hard time finding places to display the anchor charts I make with my class so this year I decided to give myself a whole wall! And of course, I added a Dr. Seuss quote to the hot air balloon. 

Up-close of my number sign. 

Whenever we leave the room, my Location Leader moves the clip to the appropriate box.

My Leader-Themed Jobs Chart FREEBIE.

This behavior chart is travel themed and uses some of the language from The 7 Habits of Happy Kids!

A bonus, non-travel themed area: My Birthday Chart! In the past, I've struggled with having all the goodies ready to go for my kids on their birthday. This year they are all packed and ready to go! I can just take the child's bag down and hand it to the them!

It was a long post but I wanted to share everything! I hope school started/is starting well! 

Dylan {The Savvy Schoolteacher}

Superhero Hallway

Hi Everyone!

Now that school is starting up I, like you I’m sure, have been spending tons of prep time in my classroom. It’s definitely a labor of love and I think it’s worth every unpaid, unglamorous minute! I will be posting pictures of my travel-themed classroom soon, but first I want to show you the hallway outside my room!

Our school-wide theme this year is Superhero. This is an awesome theme and our campus is really getting into it! Instead of full bulletin boards, the school has two narrow strips of cork board to hang student work.

Mine has a lovely fire extinguisher in the middle of it. But hey, safety over aesthetics, right?

I printed these cute comic book icons for FREE here.

I hot glued a clothes pin to the back of each one to easily display students’ work.

Have a great rest of the week and don’t forget to REST!

Dylan {The Savvy Schoolteacher}

TeachersPayTeachers Back to School Boost Sale!

Hi Everyone!

TeachersPayTeachers is having another {one day} back-to-school sale! My whole store will be 20% off. This is a great opportunity to stock up for the year! Click the picture below to go to my TPT store.

I hope your back-to-school preparations are going smoothly!

Dylan {The Savvy Schoolteacher}