Happy New Years Eve...Eve!!

Hey, hey,  hey!!!

I hope all of you have had a nice, RELAXING break thus far-you all deserve it!! :)

In our team planning right before we went out for break we were talking about the new year and new goals for our kiddos.  Every year we do my little New Years glyph (free in my TPT shop) but this year, we wanted to add more MEANING behind it. 

We plan to do the glyph except this year instead of the kiddos just picking any New Years Resolution (b/c besides let's be honest...how many 1st graders REALLY get the importance of "eat healthier" or "exercise more"!?!? HA!) we are going to tie it into our unit of study for writing workshop.

Our fabulous Language Arts coach sent us this link to a blog post that really helped inspire me...
https://chartchums.wordpress.com/?s=new+year.
If you read that post it can give you new, fresh ideas for the new year in your classroom. 
There were several ideas/quotes/perspectives in the post that really stuck out to me. 

In our mini-lesson when we get back we will spend time reflecting on ourselves as authors and ask ourselves "What is something I can do, as an author, to improve my writing?"

*This craftivity may take us a few days in order for us to really get the meaning, importance and point across to our students, but THAT'S OK!  We want them to understand that real authors set goals for themselves, and what better time to do that than in the NEW YEAR!!

As the teacher you will model your goal during the mini lesson and then allow them to go back to their seat to brainstorm their goal(s).  You can allow the students to meet up with their partner to share their goal(s) and even use their partner as a resource to help make their goal(s) even better.

Be sure to stop throughout workshop time to praise students with great goals.  This not only lights up that kiddos world, but it also gives ideas to other students who may need that extra little "push." 

When the students have completed their glyph, we plan to share them, praise them, and hang them out in the hallway for others to admire :)  Directions for the glyph are provided in the download!

OH!  And to add a little flare...you could buy those little party blowers from Party City or even at the grocery store and tape them on to the mouth of the face each child will create with the glyph because we need to CELEBRATE our new writing goals and our next step in becoming better authors!! :)

Enjoy the New Year friends--it's going to be a GREAT one!!!!

Elf on a Shelf EXTRAVAGANZA!!

Hi there!!

I'm a tad late on starting my North Pole friend in our classroom but HEY better late than never!

In our classroom we don't do an Elf on the Shelf, but rather we write a letter to the North Pole and just ask our friends up there to send us any friend to watch over us to ensure we are all being good boys and girls :)  The North Pole has sent us a GINGERBREAD GIRL this year! Yippeee!!! 

Monday will be our first day and I am so excited for our "Winter Wonderland Welcome Party" that all my firsties will walk in to tomorrow.  If you haven't started a North Pole friend yet, IT'S NOT TOO LATE!  The 2 weeks before winter break seem to be a tad more...challenging per say in regards to behavior so this gingerbread girl is going to solve all of my problems ;)

Below is a calendar I made for these next 2 weeks before we get out for winter break, PLEASE print it out and use it if you need any ideas on things for your guy/gal to do in the classroom!  On the calendar you will also find that I tried to list the items you would need for each day.  If you would like a further explanation on each day keep reading...

WEEK ONE:

Dec 8: "Winter Wonderland Welcome Party"-This is the first day our friend from the North Pole arrives so we have to do it BIG!  Above the classroom door will be a banner that says "Hi Kids" that I have made and hung, and fake snow will be on the floor leading them into the classroom.  On each table pod there will be a "snowman" (I made these by taking a tooth pick and putting two large marshmallows on it, draw on a face with a Sharpie and VOILA- snowman).  I will also have our gingerbread girl sitting on my back table with a letter from the North Pole introducing her along with some "treats" she brought straight from Gladys, Gingerbread Mama, up in the North Pole.  PS the treats are mini marshmallows that I will put in a Ziploc bag for each kiddo to take home and enjoy with mom and dad...IF they have been good, of course ;)

Dec. 9: Shelf Reading-We have built in shelves in our classrooms (you cold do this on any book shelf though), so our Gingerbread Girl will be sitting on a stack of Christmas/winter books and on top there she will be reading my favorite How the Grinch Stole Christmas By: Dr. Seuss. I will have a little index card note that says "To Mrs. Uselton's Class Love: The North Pole" and there will be a wrapped present.  Inside will be a new Christmas/winter book for our classroom library that we get to read at the end of the day :)

Dec. 10: "Be Good"-In our classroom is a large student work wall so today our friend will take down all the student work and replace it with a big sign that says BE GOOD LOVE, ______.  Our classroom flag poles are right above this wall so I will place the Gingerbread Girl up on top with a Sharpie marker...very guilty :)

Dec. 11: "Bananas for Band aids"-How much do your students love to put band aids on?!?! I sure hope it's not just my class! Well, today Gingerbread girl found the band aid bucket and will be sitting right inside/next to it and she will have band aids all over her and I will put some around the surrounding area with the wrappers every where *GASP*

Dec. 12: "Stick with Me"-We have a small little treasure box in our classroom that houses all of our fun stickers that the students earn.  Today, Gingerbread Girl will be sitting INSIDE and have stickers all over her and (if I can remember haha) will have a new pack of Christmas/winter stickers for each kiddo in the class!

WEEK TWO:

Dec. 15: "Sweet" Friend-Today Gingerbread Girl will be on the back counter in the classroom with an empty bag of Christmas color M&Ms and she will have spelled out "be good" (or any message you choose) in the M&Ms. 

Dec. 16: "Let it Snow"-In Texas, we RARELY see snow {unless it is a Christmas miracle} so Gingerbread Girl will bring it to us!  For today you will need to have made snowflakes using q-tips.  I use 3 q-tips and just hot glue in the center, make an X with 2 of them and then glue the 3rd going horizontally across...snow flake!  I will put some random q tips around her because it is always more fun when she makes a little mess ;)

Dec. 17: Spying is Tiring-Gingerbread Girl is worn out from all of her spying and flying back and forth from the North Pole each night, so she needs a nap.  Gingerbread Girl will be stuffed inside the tissue box and you can make a little pillow out of tissues for your friend too :) *P.S. A tip for noise control today..."Sh...Gingerbread Girl is sleeping we need to make sure we are using our whisper voices today ;)

Dec. 18: Sack Race-EEEK! This is a first time for me to do this and if all goes as planned, this may just be my favorite! I have little stuffed animals in my classroom sitting on the window sills so I plan to pick a few of my faves, along with Gingerbread Girl, and each friend will be put in a brown paper lunch sack on my back counter.  I am going to scatter them in a horizontal line as if they got bored during the night time/after the students left and had a SACK RACE!  I think the students are just going to die over this one...so is their teacher!!! :)

Dec. 19: "Sweet Treat before I go..."-Today is our last day before we get out for winter break so it is Gingerbread Girl's last day with us.  Today we will have a letter from her that reads "Dear 1st Graders, Today's my last day, I must say goodbye.  Tonight I must go, to the North Pole I'll fly.  But Santa will be here with gifts and good cheer, And I will be back the same time next year.  So be a good boy and girl, And smile with joy.  Remember the fun times with __{insert North Pole friends name}__, OH BOY!  I will miss you!  Love, ____"
Gingerbread Girl will have an empty box of candy canes and a note taped on it that says "I brought you a candy cane before I go...but you have to find it :)"  You can tape these all over the room and students can go and find one for each of them to take home! 

Wow!! SO much fun!!  I hope you and your class have the best time with your friend from the North Pole!!! I would love to see/hear any ideas you use in your classroom!  You can e-mail me at keluseltonATgmailDOTcom.

Up Close & Personal with Conferring!!

Hi!!!
I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday!  The hubs and I spent the holiday in New York with my sweet family and it was exactly what I needed to refuel my heart :)

I am so excited about the post today...all about conferring!  This morning during our PDR meeting the Language Arts team discussed conferring and how to work with those lower readers (A-D/E) and how to have more meaningful conferences focusing on things other than word work.

Our fabulous instructional coach showed us a webinar by the infamous and amazing Kathy Collins!!  I had the opportunity to hear her a couple of times while studying at the Teacher's College at Columbia University in New York over the summer-she is hilariously awkward yet brilliant!!! If you ever have the chance to see her in person {or on a webinar}...DO.IT!  She is also the author of two great professional texts, Reading for Real and Growing Readers, both have helped me grow so much as a reading teacher...Kathy Collins just gets it!

Ok...soap box about Kathy Collins done.  Moving on...Here is a link to the webinar that we watched this morning...

https://twowritingteachers.wordpress.com/2014/09/24/writing-tool/

*This webinar is about 45ish minutes long but I promise you it is worth it!!

If you don't have time right now to watch the webinar keep reading and you can read some of the highlights from my notes during the webinar :)

What I loved most about this webinar was it targeted those readers who have read the little books in their book bag a gazillion times...I am the first to admit I need help with those kids!

The topic was all about Re-reading and Re-thinking in the following ways...
-Use a storyteller's voice
-Notice something new
-Talk about the book
-Pay close attention to pictures/study the pictures to figure something out
-Act out the story

In the webinar Kathy Collins also gives conference snippets or scenarios and that really helps me to hear the "lingo" and better apply it when working with my own readers. 

I love how the teacher, when approaching a student for a conference, asks WILL YOU pick a book to read with me?  That helps give the student that control, great way to start things off! 

Then more ingenious stuff...after the student picks the book the teacher says "Good choice!  I'm curious...Why did you pick that book out of all of the books in your book bag?" What a great way to hear the reasoning from the student while still giving  you, the teacher, the opportunity to better understand and aim your instruction.

And then continuing on with the conference by giving the child choice again..."Great reason! Ok, how do you want to re read this book today?  Do you want to re read it ___(insert one way)___ or ___(insert second way)___?"  LOVE.  Choice to the child, direction from the teacher-YES!

Kathy Collins gives other scenarios/snippets in the webinar if you want to hear more/read more!

Last thing I want to share with ya'll is about the "What might they think or say?" activity...

In the link where you find the webinar, you will also find a link to the think/talk bubbles and these are GREAT for helping students "be" the character and help to give them a voice or mind.

I don't know about you, but in my literacy library we have some great titles for the lower levels but they are the list type books so it is hard to help those books come alive since they don't have dialogue...WELL NOT ANYMORE!  Bring on the think/talk bubbles!

It is so easy to make these!  You can print out the page from the link (I suggest printing on CARDSTOCK), laminate, and then hot glue them on a popsicle stick.  I put the thought bubble on one side and then on the bottom of the other end the talk bubble.  Students can then add these to their book bag after you model how to use them the correct way :)

One of the sweet mamas in my class is making FIFTY of them tomorrow for me...bless her!

I am using a level D text called Sandcastles and here is how I used the "talk bubble" with one of my readers today...
I was working with a sweet little girl and we decided to "be" the girl (side note: when I asked her which person she wanted to be in the picture she said..."uh, girl...boys are weird."  Oh, of course, sorry, silly me!) 
We read the words and then she had to go over and say something that the little girl would say.  Just like Kathy Collins said, the little girl tried to narrate instead of "being" the girl.  She said "The girl is proud of her sandcastle."  So I modeled and said, "OH!  So the girl would say 'I am so proud of my big sandcastle!"  After modeling that my sweet pea started picking up on it in future pages-YAY...SUCCESS!!

 

 

If your reader says something completely unconnected from the text, direct and guide them to use the picture clues to help aim closer to what would actually be said or thought.  

 

I know that was a jam packed post, but again, I can't say enough good things about the webinar.  I hope this post and/or the webinar leaves you with something new you learned and plan to try in your classroom!!

 

Have a great night!!

Fun with FICTION!!!

Good Morning Sunshines!!

This past week we have been wrapping up our "Fun with Fiction" unit and "spying" on our fictional characters.

We made several anchor charts throughout the past few weeks to go along with character traits.  Something we really focused on was inside and outside character traits.  We practiced that the outside character traits are the things we can see on a character (i.e. brown hair, blue eyes, tan skin, smiling, thin, large, crying, dancing around etc.) and sometimes the outside traits can help us infer the inside traits (i.e. happy, excited, sad, etc.). 

We used mentor texts throughout this unit to really spy on our character.  We chose to use Kevin Henkes' books like Owen, Lily and the Purple Plastic Purse, Chrysanthemum, Sheila Rae's Peppermint Stick, Lilly's Chocolate Heart, Julius, and there are so many more wonderful titles by Kevin Henkes that are so helpful during a character unit. 

We read a different title each day during our IRA {Interactive Read Aloud} and then referred back to it during our reading workshop mini-lesson when making an anchor chart.

During the last 2 weeks of this unit we wanted to help the students write about their character so I made a couple different handouts to practice inside/outside traits and then after they were strong in identifying those things, we practiced writing down the "evidence" to prove the inside trait.  These student recording sheets are part of my "Fun with Fiction" unit in my TPT shop :)




*Students drew a picture of the character they were spying on in the middle, and then identified the inside/outside traits*

*Then once students mastered identifying the inside/outside traits they picked 2 of the inside traits of one of their characters wrote it on the left and provided evidence on the right*



 

Then during the last week in this unit, the learning really CAME. TO. LIFE!  WOAH!

I made a letter to send home to all parents introducing a "Book Character Day" assignment that the students would do at home for homework.  {The letter to parents and character day assignment are also part of my "Fun with Fiction" unit in my TPT shop!!}  The students absolutely loved presenting on their book character and dressing up to match :) Some of us teachers even got involved...!  Enjoy the pictures below from our Book Character Day...PS these are just  a FEW!!

 

Mrs. Uselton aka Mrs. Twinkle was ready for the day!! :)

One of my amazingly "FANCY" teammates...dressed as Fancy Nancy!

The Pigeon from The Pigeon Wants a Hotdog-LOVE!

 David from David Gets in Trouble-AWESOME!

Animal from Put Me in the Zoo-So FUN!

FLY GUY!! P.S. His mama made those wings from wire hangers and panty hose...can you say CREATIVE!?

 



 

WOW!  Sorry for such a fictional filled post friends, but I just wanted to share it all with you!!! If you are looking for some resources to implement with your character unit don't forget to stop by my TPT Shop for my "Fun with Fiction" unit!!

 

HAVE A GREAT DAY!!

Management Monday...or Wednesday!?!?

Hi Friends!!!
Sooo...Management Monday quickly turned into Management Wednesday!  Yikes!  I'm sorry!

I am excited to share some of the management ideas I have implemented in my classroom and look forward to hearing fabulous new ideas from all of you :)  I would LOVE to hear from you!!

*Individual Incentive Program*
This year, on our campus, we are doing something different in first grade and we have departmentalized.  I teach reading/writing and my fantastic partner teachers math/science/social studies.  It has been an adjustment, but we all seem to be getting in the swing of things now :)

One challenge that we faced at first was ensuring that our individual incentive program stayed the same between both classes so it was unified and expectations were clear for both sets of students.  This year we are using "behavior bucks" that I created.  We chose to do "behavior bucks" instead of tickets because we wanted to integrate a math skill...always looking for another way for real life application ;)  You can grab your free copy of my behavior bucks HERE!

The students are LOVING to spend or save their bucks!  Below is a picture of the reward chart I made for my class and it is so neat to hear FIRST GRADERS have the conversation about the importance of saving and not spending right away *music to a teachers ears*!  You can make your own using any amounts/prizes that fit your classroom! 

*Whole Class Incentive Program*
In addition to an individual positive reinforcement system {the behavior bucks} I also have a whole class incentive program called BEHAVIOR BINGO!!  I heard about this fun idea a few years back and the students love it each year!!  You can grab your free copy in my TPT shop HERE!!

*Bathroom Breaks*
I don't know about you all but we do not have time for whole class restroom breaks.  I know a lot of teachers that use the crossed fingers in the air and as much as I would love for that to work for me, it just DOESN'T! *sigh* SO, I implemented the hand sanitizer bathroom system and it has been a life saver this year!  How it works: When a child needs to use the restroom {during the appropriate times you have discussed beforehand} the girl/boy grabs the designated bottle of hand sanitizer and places it on their desk.  This gives me a visual for who is out of the room AND students grab a pump of hand sanitizer when they get back {just in case my little sweetie didn't wash with soap and water...you just never know...}before they put the bottle back in it's "home."  My ADORABLE bottles were made by a fellow teacher at my campus and she makes them for lots of teachers.  Her work is flawless and she is amazing to work with-I would recommend her in a heart beat. If you want to order one of her products you can reach her here: https://www.facebook.com/MadeByMissyGiftsandMore.

I mean look how cute these stinkin' bottles are...*swoon*

WOW!  You made it to the bottom!  I look forward to posting more Management tips in the future...I hope you were able to gain something from this post!  Remember, e-mail me {keluseltonATgmailDOTcom} with your super ideas!!

Have a great hump day ya'll!!

BOO!!!

Hi friends!! Oh, how I've missed you so!

Things have been...well...a little busy and crazy around our house lately!!  Doing WHAT, you might ask!?  WELL....

Brian and I are expecting our first little bundle of joy!!!  We are over the moon excited! :)
The love and support we have been shown has been absolutely amazing!!!

Photo Credit to my sweet friend Erin :)

 

 



ANYWHO....TOMORROW is Halloween and it's FRIDAY...our little monsters will be in rare form!

 

We have been learning about Compound Words so we decided it was time for a little craftivity...

 

I went to my go to place...TPT, of course, and searched "candy corn template" and you can choose one that you like best...I used this one (click on the picture to take it directly to the fabulous creator's TPT shot for this FREE download).

 

 

 

You can break the compound word apart and put it in each section of the candy corn...for example: cup in the top, cake in the middle, and cupcake in the bottom :) 

 

If you feel like getting really crazy you could give students little black slips of construction paper, fan fold them and have them glue arms and legs to the candy corn and now you could have a Class of Candy Corn Compound Words...might be a cute little Halloween/Fall display in your classroom!!

 

There is so much you could do with a candy corn template if you aren't studying compound words.  Some other ideas are: Nouns-put a person, place, thing in each section; fact families-put the 3 numbers in the family in the top and then addition sentences in the middle and subtraction sentences in the bottom, 3 different ways to make 10 or any number you are working on, the list goes on... :) 

 

Enjoy your Friday and remember...if you can't beat em'...join em' ;) HAVE FUN and Happy Halloween!!

 

Drop back by on Monday for my first "Management Mania" post!  I am so excited to share some classroom management ideas!!

 





Small Moment Writing!!

Hi Friends and HAPPY SUNDAY!!

I am excited to share this post with you all about small moment writing!!  My first grade writers have been doing such a great job generating ideas and putting them down on paper, so now it is time to "zoom in" and teach the children to take their big moments and narrow them down to something smaller. 

Now...I had every intention to bring the introduction of this unit to life by using a watermelon so I made my anchor chart  using watermelon pictures... 

 ...BUT that didn't work out! 
Did you know that watermelons are now made SEEDLESS!?! Ah-I didn't get that memo and don't they know I need the seeds for my small moment unit!!
SO, what's a teacher to do after visiting FOUR grocery stores and still not finding a watermelon with seeds... TIME TO IMPROVISE...PUMPKIN IT IS! :)

We talked about how the pumpkin is the big moment, like going to the beach.  So many things happen at the beach so we talked about making it smaller into a slice.  Then we went even smaller, into a seed. 

The visual of the pumpkin really helped them to understand the true meaning behind this unit. 

Then, it was time to WRITE!  The students worked in partnerships and I made a planning sheet for them to use to help organize their thoughts :)

*Click on one of the pictures and it will take you to my TPT shop to download your FREE copy*

There are some great things happening in first grade and I love the e-mails I am seeing from you guys!! If there is something positive happening in your classroom I would LOVE to hear about it!! You all are amazing and are making such a difference in the lives of children!!!

Have a great day!!

GRAND OPENING!!

Hi there!!!

Our long awaited grand opening of our library happened this past week and boy, oh boy, was it a SUCCESS!  The students were welcomed on Monday morning with balloons at the front door and in the library...

Then our sweet and amazing counselor came in to "cut the ribbon" and partake in the festivities. Her excitement really helped pump up the kids even more :)

 

 

After the cheering we said goodbye to Mrs. Baker and it was time to book shop! I am still working on my reading testing to find each kiddos level so this was such a great time for me to sit one on one with each child to help them find their "just right books."  We use the 5 finger rule in our library to find good fit books.  I was also able to introduce our book shopping cards! I love this time of year when we are able to foster their love for learning and help mold them into the best independent readers they can be :)   If you are in search of a "just right books" book mark or a set of book shopping cards head on over to my TPT shop HERE and get your copy for FREE! 

 

 

Have a great day!!



Library is ALMOST opened....

Hey Ya'll!! Happy Friday Eve!!! *Whew*

My students have been working SO hard on building their stamina during independent reading and we are SOOO excited to open our library on Monday!!  Our sweet assistant principal is coming in to "cut the ribbon" and the students are going to *love* it!!

During the summer our campus had Dave Burgess from Teach Like A Pirate out...and boy, oh boy, if you have never had the opportunity to hear him speak, DO. IT.

In an effort to bring up the engagement level in the classroom we have been doing little "surprises" for the kiddos leading up to the grand opening of the library.  Today, a mysterious green bag appeared!  I acted like it wasn't there but, of course, the "What is that?" "I think it's ____" started buzzing!  Mission accomplished.  I finally let them open it and it was NEW BOOKS!!  They LOVED it!!
I also gave them an index card with their name on it and allowed them to decorate it.  No one really wondered "Hm...why are we coloring an index card?!"  Until I made them turn it in.  They wanted to keep it but mean ol' Mrs. Uselton told them I wanted to keep it until tomorrow ;) After some moans and groans they wanted to know WHYYY!!  I told them they would have to wait until tomorrow...WHAT?!? A whole night not knowing...!!!  *Spoiler Alert* We are going to use the index card on their NEW BOOK BAGS they will get tomorrow!! They are going to go b-a-n-a-n-a-s, BANANAS!! I decorated a box with some bows tonight before I left and it will just be sitting on the table when they come in, just waiting to cause some more buzz in our first grade classroom!!

P.S. You know you have accomplished the element of surprise/engagement when a kiddo goes home and I hear from his mama that he can't wait to see what the surprise at school tomorrow is!!

In honor of libraries on our campus opening and soon to be opening...I am loving the way my sweet friend's library came out in her fabulous new 4th grade class ...

 

 *primary and intermediate book bin labels as shown here can be found in my TPT shop*

I love how inviting and put together it is!! The teachers on my campus are seriously unbelievably talented!!  I will be posting pictures next week of my class library, our Grand Opening and all the festivities that will go along with that...stay tuned!! :)

Have a great weekend ya'll and HAPPY FRIDAY {tomorrow}!!!

FIRST post...FIRST week!

HI EVERYONE!

I can't tell you all how excited I am to be posting on my NEW, FABULOUS blog!!  I started this blog not only as a way to document the day to day life we all go through as teachers, but also to *hopefully* help or inspire someone a long the way! 
 

I’ll start by introducing myself and then take you on a little tour....

I am beginning my fifth year teaching, all of my years have been spent in first grade and in the best place ever…Katy, Texas.  I am a wife to my sweet husband Brian and a mother to our 2 fur babies Benny and Riley.  A few of my favorite things….1.) shopping at Target {you know when you only go for ONE thing and come out having spent $100…*sigh*} 2.) spending time with my incredible family and 3.) CREATING!  I absolutely love taking an idea and seeing it come to life!!

Now for a tour in Mrs. Uselton’s first grade classroom…

These pictures are taken AFTER our first week...and I must say, I am pretty proud of our class because, for the most part, everything is still in tact *you teachers know EXACTLY what I mean*

 

 *P.S. how CUTE is that Mrs. Uselton sign by my student work board?!  A mom MADE that for me last year...so fortunate to have such amazing parents that spoil us at our campus*

We have a Pirate theme this year and we are all "Teaching Like a Pirate" and LOVING it!!

 



*Side note...I do have my classroom library CLOSED! WHAT!?!!? I know!  We did this for a purpose!  At Meet the Teacher we closed it down and students couldn’t believe they were limited to only the books on the TABLE {ugh} while mommy and daddy filled out the oodles and oodles of paperwork, BUT this caused such a BUZZ in the classroom!  The kiddos CAN’T WAIT for the “grand opening” of our library {you know…after procedures have been introduced ;)}. I can’t wait to post about our GRAND OPENING celebration {balloons and official ribbon cutting included}!!  If you have never done this before…DO IT!  You can grab a FREE sign in my TPT store….  Get your Grand Opening Sign HERE!

Head on over to my TPT shop for more great items and FREEBIES!

Thanks for stopping by today and I look forward to taking you on this journey with me!  OH, and don't forget, if you have an idea and want to see it come to life don't hesitate to e-mail me...I am always here to help!!