Sunday Rewind - Meeting The "Sisters" at the California Reading Association Conference

When I first found out that two of the people that changed how I approach teaching language arts in my first grade classroom were going to be the keynote speakers at the California Reading Association Conference, I knew that I had to go.  

It was all I had hoped for and more.  It seemed I was just in the right place at the right time over and over again throughout the conference.  Along with my teaching partner Jinny, we had personal time with The 2 Sisters—teachers Gail Boushey and Joan Moser- authors of The Daily Five and Cafe books.  No less than three times we crossed paths and it was a mountaintop experience for a first grade teacher. 

Their new edition of Daily Five answered many of the challenges that I had been working through with my own class of 6 year olds.  

 ... and yes we had a photo op. Here I am in between two of my idols in the realm of teaching.

Chit chatting with the ladies before they begin their keynote address on Friday night.

 The Sisters presenting about the changes in the Daily Five and 

the new edition of their book

Judy Lynch, well know local literacy coach and reading recovery teacher,
 sharing how to incorporate CCSS into your literacy lessons.

 Me - all smiles.

While I am still pinching myself today to make sure it wasn't all just a wonderful dream, I will be working on implementing the changes, albeit minor, in my Daily Five routines.  I learned so much in such a short amount of time that clarified both issues and concerns about areas that weren't going that smoothly or that I knew needed something a little different.  I just didn't know what.

Now I do!

I remember whispering to my first grade teaching partner 

that I felt like we were in the presence of royalty.  

It was a magical and inspiring weekend of networking with other teachers, being mesmerized by 16 different children's authors, and being introduced to the idea that you can use music to inspire kids writing. We got to collaborate with some of the best minds today regarding how children learn.

David Schwartz - Children's Author

Author's Meet and Greet with David Schwartz, author of How Much is a Million and many other nonfiction texts.  

Mean Jean, The Recess Queen

Children's Author - Alexis O'Neill

And now the most important part of any mountaintop experience, the return to the valley with new ideas, energized and ready to get crackin' on them before they evaporate.  

I can't wait to get back to school on Monday and dig in.

~ Clara @Teaching 365

Sunday Rewind - Back to School Planning

Like most of you, I have been getting my classroom ready for the new school year. I moved into a portable classroom and the storage options have been challenging to say the least.

Finally, I have bulletin boards up (thanks to my handsome hubby) with clean, crisp, new fabric.  I know, I know.  Many people use paper, but I just love the fabric - no ripping and it can be used more than more year.  If I find a fabric piece I love I keep it in the rotation.

This year I went with an owl and chevron theme.  While not everything will be covered in owls, I do like to include a little cuteness to start the new year.  I went with a color theme of shades of blue with a little green and yellow thrown in for good measure. I am hoping for a calm feeling in the room for my 24 firsties (and me).

One plus of the portable classroom is that it is more of a rectangle than a square.  I have 3 distinct areas in the room for great learning to occur. I love the gathering area with a new colorful literacy rug (yes my administrator came through and purchased a new one for me) where we will spend lots of time learning together. I love the smell of new carpet.

The second area, the middle of the classroom, is a desk area.  I have the desks in long rectangles that will mimic tables. This allows each student to have a personal space with room for their many supplies and belongings.  It is also where direct instruction takes place and I can use the document camera and presenter to model concepts and provide demonstrations for my kiddos.

The third area is a small group, intervention area with a reading table and my teacher's desk.  Last year I didn't have a desk but decided to bring it back to use for storage.  It is also a place where I can stash all my teacher goodies, laptop, purse, etc. This back corner of the room also houses my bookcase filled with binders and teaching manuals as well as my filing cabinet.

I am looking forward to the new year and am blessed to return to the job I love.  Here's wishing all of you a great start to your new school year.

Pictures coming soon:)

~ Clara @ Teaching 365
First Grade Sunflowers and Ladybugs

Sunday Rewind - Organize Now - Less Frustration in the Fall

Like most teachers, I have been reflecting and planning for the next school year.  Even though I have taken some time out to enjoy leisurely breakfasts out with the Mister, I still manage to work on at least one little "ol project each day.

This week I have been prepping a set of fall math centers from Reagan Tunstall.  She is amazing and makes creating Common Core aligned centers a snap.  This packet is called Back to School - 10 Math Centers.  If you want to check it out, click HERE.

If you aren't following her blog, just stop and do it now.  Tunstall's Teaching Tidbits.  

The thing I wanted to share is how I organize my centers to make them kid ready and easy to access when I want them.

Like most teachers, I print, laminate the pieces, and then cut them out. No mystery there.  The awesomeness comes in... Ta Da... with the great poly envelopes to organize them into.  All the pieces fit in and it is ready to go.  I can even add copies of the recording sheets if there is one.

Easy to see what is inside because they are clear.

An added bonus is that they will fit into my filing cabinet sideways.  I can store lots of prepped centers this way.

This fall I am moving into a portable classroom with limited storage, no cabinets, etc. (That is another whole blog post.) so this will give me a way to keep them handy but out of sight.

If you would like to try them, I ordered mine mostly from Amazon.com but they can also be found in most office supply stores.  The second piece of goodness is that they can be cleaned if needed with just a baby wipe or other damp towel.  (Sticky kid fingers:)

It's the little things that help make our teaching days go more smoothly, right.

Here is one math center ready to go for fall.

All put away ready to file

~Clara @First Grade Sunflowers and Ladybugs

Sunday Rewind - Daily Five Work on Writing

Work on Writing is a very important part of Daily Five.  Rewind - In retrospect, I need to provide more choices for this component of Daily Five.  For the majority of this past year, the kids wrote in their journals for Daily Five.  While they did show a lot of growth in their writing, it would have been even better if they had more choices about different types of writing to choose from. 

I Can Write a from A Cupcake for the Teacher

I plan to use the forms from this great resource from A Cupcake for the Teacher to make a writing bulletin board in our writing center. I found her Writing Center Starter Kit on Tpt. It has everything I will need to get started. You can check it out here Writing Center Starter Kit. Having some fun stationary, postcards, letter templates, cards, and notes is sure to add some life to the Work on Writing component of Daily Five.

With the implementation of Common Core Writing Standards this year, I am thinking that I will also need to have another writing time during the day to teach the different genres to my first graders.  I love teaching writing but sometimes struggle to get in the direct instruction and mini lessons needed for the kids to be successful. I am hoping to do a better job of backwards planning for writing time in my lesson planning this year.

What will you need to get started with Daily Five in your classroom? Mel D from Seusstastic has a great set of materials you can use to begin Daily Five I charts (I for independence) with your class and they are free.  Check them out here Mel D's super fantastic freebies. She is one of my favorite bloggers and shares amazing materials - many for free.

There is a great book study going on now in Blog Land around The Daily Five 2nd edition.  It is a quick read and will answer your questions about the how, when, and why of Daily Five.  Join in and reap the benefits of other teachers' insights and experiences.  

The  Freebielicious blog site is a great place to begin with lots of links to other teachers' blogs to share in this journey.  I would love the hear how you use the Daily Five and Work on Writing in your classroom.

~ Clara - First Grade Sunflowers and Ladybugs

Teaching 365

Sunday Rewind - Daily Five Revisited - Read to Self

I have just finished my first year back as a first grade teacher and my how things have changed.   I taught 3rd and 4th grade for the last 12 years.  Returning to first grade has been a goal of mine - it was where I began my teaching career.

On to Daily Five - Right away I knew I needed some way to provide authentic reading and writing experiences to my kiddos.  Daily Five was just the thing I had been looking for.  The results are in and as the saying goes - The data shows the results.  The kids made amazing progress both in reading and writing.  

And now for the rewind - All across Blog land, I have been reading along with others the new Daily Five, 2nd edition.  It has just confirmed what I had discovered on my own this past year.  IT IS FLEXIBLE!!!  As the beginning of the year, I tried to stay true to the recommendations and teaching in the first edition... But.. I found that my class needed some modifications to be successful

I began with read to self.  You can read my original post here - Read to Self.  The thing that has stayed the same is that this is a must do everyday.  No exceptions.  In the new edition of Daily Five this is addressed nicely as the sisters restate that Read to Self is one of the required dailies.

My experience was such that there wasn't enough time most days to have 5 rounds.  On a great day we might have 4 rounds.  I am happy to hear and have validated that it is "officially" okay to have only 3 rounds a day.  After the kids build up their stamina, that equates to about a 90 minute literacy block.  Within that they complete 3 rounds of Daily Five in addition to the
whole group mini lessons I sprinkle in.

Here is one of my little cuties
sitting in a hula hoop with her
book bin totally engaged:)

Book Bins

A sure fire tip for success with Read to Self is having a book bin for each child.  This eliminates the need for "book shopping" daily.  They have 5-7 books, sometimes more, in their book bin.  I developed a rotation for "book shopping" which allows each child to have a day designated as their book shopping-book exchange day.  No one is assigned to Friday so we have a built in make-up day for anyone that missed their turn or just needs more books. There are aways exceptions if a child truly has read all of their books - several times - and needs new ones, they find a time to shop.  If they are finishing quickly, that is a signal to me to start them reading easy chapter books and
introduce them to Accelerated Reader.

Over the next few weeks I will be reading along with the rest of Blog land the new Daily Five, 2nd Edition and sharing how The Daily Five has impacted the teaching and learning in my first grade classroom.

Happy Reading Everyone!!!

Daily Five 2nd Edition

~ Clara @First Grade Sunflowers and Ladybugs
Teaching 365