Desk or no desk? - that is the question.

After many weeks of trying to make a final decision, I did it.  I got rid of my teacher's desk!!!  

It was a huge old school desk, metal, with 13 years of use.  I wanted to gain space for the

munchkins and boy did it.  This year in first grade, each class has 24 students.  

I need all the room I can manage for students to use, and move, and create, and learn, and grow. I will replace the desk with a reading table that was already in the room and voila, 

at least 30 square feet more useable space.  I converted two of the drawers in an existing cabinet to "desk drawers" to store my school supplies such a paper clips, etc. 

 I added a small book case behind my new work area to organize my daily bins, 

teacher's manuals, read alouds, and things I normally would keep on my desktop.  

I am so excited to try out the new arrangement on Monday.  

How do you arrange your work area in your classroom?  Do you have a table or desk you use?  I will post before and after pics soon.

Daily Five - How is it going?

Read to Self - 20 minutes - whew we made it.

Work on Writing - nearing 15 minutes.  The kids love their journals and have made amazing improvement in their writing already.  I am amazed.

Word Work - Surprise, surprise - going well!

 After rereading the sections in the Daily Five book multiple times, long discussions with my teaching partner and gathering materials, we dived in. My awesome partner made cards with the spelling lists for the kids to use for Word Work.

Some of the materials at the word work center are:

Rainbow Write with Mr. Sketch markers

Magnet Letters 

Scrabble Tiles 

Alphabet Stamps 

Wikki Sticks
Alphabet beads

After trying two other systems that were not effective, efficient, or kid friendly, I bought a set of bins with clip on lids that can both house the materials for storage and 

can be moved easily by kids to their work spots in the room.  Can you say happy teacher?

Listen to Reading - After many challenges to get this going, I can finally get the listening station going using the IPads in my classroom. I will download audio books onto my Mac and then sync it to the IPads using Dropbox.  By using a Belkin Rockstar headphone splitter, two students can listen at the same time. Whew... Magic! You can attach up to 5 sets of headphones to one IPAD.  Woohoo:)

Read to Someone is the last part of Daily Five that needs modeling, practice, and stamina building. Who knew that choosing partners could be so challenging for six year olds? We have a long ways to go on this one for developing independence.

How does Read to Someone work in your classroom? I could definitely use some insight.

By the end of this week, I will have all five parts of Daily Five going and it is only October 13.  Definitely cause of a mini celebration for this milestone in first grade.

Classroom Setup 2013

We just finished our third week of school.  Finally my firsties are beginning to settle into the routines of first grade.  How many times a day can a six year ask if it is lunchtime yet or if it is time to go home yet?  I smile and say that I will tell you when it is time.  It is a huge transition for our kids from our half day kindergarten program to a full day in first grade.

My classroom is starting to feel more like home.  I only moved across campus but it might as well be another country with the differences between fourth grade and first grade.  The good news is that I love it even more than I thought I would.  The amount of materials in first grade to be stored and organized for ready use is a little overwhelming at times.  I consider myself an organized teacher, but I have done and redone some things a few different ways before it felt right.

I have an awesome team of first grade teachers to work with.  All different - all talented - all helpful.  I am truly blessed.  I also have the privilege of working in the same grade level with one of my teacher friends for the first time and we are having a blast figuring out first grade together.

Here is my classroom.  It is a moving, breathing organism as I try different things and experience success and challenges along the way.  Enjoy the before and after tour.

 Clean floors and furniture all in the room

 Table groups arranged.

Empty bulletin boards ready to be covered with fabric and decorated.

My plan was to come into school one day a week for the summer and ease into the new year.  That was a no go as my room was used for storage while carpet was installed and other cleaning was being done in the first grade pod.  Then the wet wax... yadda, yadda, yadda.  So I couldn't begin until a few days before school began.

My boxes have been moved to my new classroom.  I have started unpacking in this pic and every surface is covered with my boxes and books.

 Endless piles to sort through.

Books, books, books.

Handsome hubby came and helped cover the bulletin boards with fabric. The colors are teal and purple.

Picture books sorted into themes.

Using the vertical space above the cabinets for the book bins.  I plan to rotate the bins into the class library.  My current plan is to have 12 bins out at a time.  12 is the magic number because they will fit nicely into the space I have for classroom library.

Calendar Bulletin Board

Teacher Area - Needs a little more work.

Cubbie labels - Binder clips with names added
This sure makes adding new kiddos easier.  Just move the clips and voila - done!

Welcome to first grade banner for the window using Eric Carle letters and animals

Caterpillar mobile to compliment the Eric Carle theme thanks to helping husband for helping me pull this one off.

Ready for the first day of school.  Whew... barely made it. View from front of classroom gathering area

View from doorway


Here's hoping for an awesome year of
Growing, Changing, and Learning in First Grade!
I welcome your comments below.


Teaching 365 with Sunflowers and Ladybugs in First Grade

~ Clara

Daily Five Part 4- Read to Someone

Read to Someone in Chapter 5 of The Daily Five by Gail Bushey and Joan Moser, The Sisters, offer step by step guidelines.  If you haven’t yet read the book, get it and read it.  I am sure to keep it close by for ready reference as I begin first grade this year.

There is a tremendous amount of information in the book beyond what I am blogging about here. 

The purpose of Read to Someone is to increase the amount of time kids spend hearing fluent and expressive reading by others.

In order to be successful with these two dailies, the kiddos have to be able to:

1.  Listen carefully to their peers

2.  Offer appropriate assistance

3.  Share materials fairly

Focus lessons for these dailies include EEKK, Voice Level, and Check for Understanding.

EEKK – Teaches the kids to sit elbow to elbow and knee to knee to share a book they will read together. The kids may be reading the same book or two different books.

I will use this chart to help reinforce EEKK with the kids.

Voice Level – As any teacher that has tried partner reading knows, noise levels can be problematic. It is important to train the kiddos to use soft voices.  A quote from page 64 of the book states that “the loudest voice in the room is the one that regulates the noise level.” Model, practice, repeat!!! Using soft voices is important to the success of Read to Someone but can be very challenging.

Check for Understanding– Good readers retell what they read. This lesson helps the kiddos check for understanding of the book they are reading. The listener asks questions such as Who or What.  They may retell the story, “I just heard you read…”. This holds both students accountable for the reading and increases comprehension of the story.  Some teachers make a check mark with the questions on it as a visual reminder to the partners to read and listen carefully.

I love this graphic from http://kuieck.edublogs.org/files/2012/09/photo-21-11igawn.jpg. I plan to make something similar for my class to use during Read to Someone.

How do you handle Read to Someone in your classroom?  I would love to hear tips for success as well as challenges.

This week my goal is to sort my classroom library books and get them ready to go into book bins so the kiddos will have books to choose from for their Read to Someone time.

~ Clara @ First Grade Sunflowers and Ladybugs

Please leave your comments below.

Daily Five - Word Work

Here is an update on Word Work in my classroom.  The kids are loving the materials and I am loving how much they are practicing their Words to Learn.  The Words to learn in my classroom are 10 beginning spelling words plus 5 new sight words each week.

The kids are practicing their spelling words and having fun at the same time.  They take it very seriously.  Have you implemented Daily Five in your classroom?  I would love to hear how it is going for you.


Daily 5, By Gail Boushey and Joan Moser.  

Step 1 - If you don't have the book, get it.  I have read it through twice now and it has changed my perspective on how I will implement literacy centers in my first grade classroom this fall.  If you are at all interested in The Daily 5, get it, read it.

Work Work - Fun ways to have the kiddos practice spelling skills.  "The Sisters" in the book Daily 5, explain the importance of Word Work for reading and writing development.  Some of the goals of Word Work are:

• Experimenting with words for learning and practicing a spelling pattern
• Memorizing high frequency words
• Generalizing spelling patterns
• Adding to our knowledge and curiosity of unique and interesting words

                                   (The Daily Five, page 85)

Materials:  A key consideration for Word Work is identifying the materials students will use for their practice.  While there are tons of choices, The Sisters recommend selecting materials and then keeping it consistent for the year.  This supports their proposition of providing authentic reading and writing experiences for your students.  If the materials keep changing, the kiddos may become focused on the novelty of the materials rather than the Word Work.

A list  of materials I am working on for the kids to practice Word Work includes the following:

• Whiteboards
• Magnetic letters
• Scrabble tiles
• Wikki Stix
• Letter stamps
• Mr. Sketch colored markers
• Tactile letters, Foam letters, Upwords game (perhaps as one rotating activity)
• Just added:  alphabet beads for stringing their words

I plan to use the process outlined in the book, Daily 5, to introduce Word Work.  The Sisters make the point that the kids will need time to "explore and play" with the materials for Word Work in order to use them for tools for spelling practice.

Now that I have gathered the materials for Word Work, I need to have a kid friendly storage system that allows easy access to the materials but also keeps them organized.  The kiddos should be able to set up, work with the materials, and clean up independently.  A tall order...

My amazing teaching partner has made cards with our Words to Learn for each week.  Let the fun begin!

How do you organize your materials for Daily 5 Word Work?  What materials have been successful for use with the kiddos?  I would love to hear your thoughts.  Please leave your comments below.

~ Clara @ First Grade Sunflowers and Ladybugs