100 Followers!!!! Thanksgiving Freebie!!!

My week has been MADE!!!!  I have officially hit 100 followers on my blog!!!

As a "thank you", please download this "Color By Sight Word" Thanksgiving freebie by clicking on this picture:

Thank you so much for everything --- I appreciate each and every one of you sooo much......

God bless!

1 away from 100!!!!!

I know I've been a little MIA lately,,,,  I've had a LOT of things going on in my personal life (and we all know school is ALWAYS busy this time of year)....  Over the past 10 days, my grandfather and my stepmother have both been in the hospital...  My father also had a medical procedure done at Vanderbilt....  So, not only have we been occupied with hospitals and doctor appointments, but I am still learning the art of "not worrying" when things go wrong....  Things are starting to look up and everytime I check my blog, it makes me smile... Thank you for your kind words and for being so gracious to follow little ol' me!!!

I never dreamed I'd have 100 followers to my blog.....   I am 1 away... and as soon as I hit "100", I have a "Color by Sight Word" Thanksgiving freebie ready to post!!!  Tell your friends - spread the word - just in time for Thanksgiving week!!!!!  =)

God bless!!!!!!!!  

Giveaway from one of my FAVORITE people!!!

One of my secret weapons in my first grade classroom is a set of DVDs that I am so excited to FINALLY own!!!  I found Heidi on YouTube last year and fell in love with her concept of teaching using a multi-sensory approach - music & movement!!!  If you haven't had the pleasure of seeing her in action, check out her website by clicking on her logo:

Now, what kid does not love to get up, dance, sing, jump around and move?  And what teacher does not love to see students laughing and learning in a way that just STICKS!  The kids don't even realize they're learning while they're singing and dancing along with her!  

Heidi is also a teacher and she does a wonderful job teaching sight words, phonics, numbers, shapes, and SO MUCH MORE in a way that is so engaging for students!   My favorite part is that Heidi (thank GOODNESS!!!) does all the work for us...  I would be way too clumsy and uncoordinated intimidated to sing the songs and dance by myself but I find myself singing & flopping around dancing right along with Heidi and the kids!!!!!  ;)

Not only do I feel like she's right there in my room,,, helping me teach my firsties,,, but she is also GRACIOUS enough to offer her "services" to you as well!!!!  We are teaming up to offer you a $20 credit to her website so you can get a DVD of your very own!!! You can choose anything you'd like on her website!

It's so easy to enter....  and there are MANY ways to enter!!!! All you have to do is use the Rafflecopter widget to enter!!!  We'll award the winner of the giveaway on Black Friday!!!! What more could you ask for??? a Rafflecopter giveaway

Phonics & Phonemic Awareness Common Core Assessments

So I can't believe that we are already at the end of the first nine weeks...  This year is FLYING by!!!! You start school, blink, and it's fall break and parent-teacher conferences!!!

When my team and I starting taking a look at our report cards and pacing guides for this quarter, we realized we were needing a more concrete way of assessing parts of the Language Arts Common Core...  So, I designed an assessment packet to help us cover the following standards:

I have included the following assessments to correlate with the Common Core Standards for first grade (RF1.2a, RF1.2b, RF1.2c, RF1.2d, & RF1.3a): 

•short vowel/long vowel discrimination 

•letter naming assessment 

•letter sound assessment

(includes blends & digraphs) 

•pseudoword (nonsense word) assessment 

•initial, medial, & final sound assessment 

•sound separation assessment

I hope this helps you out in your own assessments...  It's the perfect packet for RtI progress monitoring data for reading.  For a sneak peek, here's one of the assessments from the packet...  Just click here & let me know what you think!  ;)  

God bless!

Jenn Oyler

CAFE Pensieve Linky Party

Last year was my first year to implement Daily 5...  TOTAL LOVE at first sight implementation!!!  (ha ha)...  I could see how much more valuable it can be spending those valuable minutes doing things that actually make them better readers and writers versus spending that time doing things that occupy them while I try to have guided reading groups centers!!!  I also enjoyed working with students one-on-one or in (very) small groups but had trouble keeping up with the management of it all....

Enter CAFE & the PENSIEVE!!!  =)

I have just created my Pensieve and started using it but would LOVE to hear from you all on your tips, "do's & don't's", and successes and failures with your own experiences....  That's why I have created this Linky Party to house a resource for us all to help support (especially us newbies like me!) the use of our Pensieve!

I have also attached my documents that I adapted from the 2 Sisters....  Grab your free copy by clicking on the pictures below!!!

Please be sure to link up and SHARE!!!!!!!



Thanks so much & God Bless!!!

Me on a Map

We do a unit on maps when we read the story, "Me On the Map" by Joan Sweeney... It is in our Houghton Mifflin reading series a little later in the year.

One of my favorite projects is to make our own "Me On a Map" booklet.  I have just placed the packet  in my TPT store..  Here's my example that I use to model for the students:

Cover Page

Page 2 and Page 3

Page 4 and Page 5

Page 6 and Page 7

Another activity that we do beforehand is this freebie I am offering.  This is designed by my teammate, Stephanie, and it offers us a perfect way to get accurate street addresses before making the booklets.  I place the street address above the house.  Click on the picture to get your own freebie!  

If you're interested in making the "Me on a Map" booklet shown above, visit my TPT store!  

 If you have any questions, don't hesitate to let me know!!!!!  ;)

Personalized Chevron Monogram Freebie!

As a small "thank you" to those of you who come and take the time to check out my blog, I'd like to offer you a free personalized chevron patterned monogram like this:

I made myself and my team one for the cover of our CAFE Pensieve (our Conferring Notebooks)... I can choose the color of the chevron pattern (white & your choice),  the oval background, your monogram, and the black borders!  

Just leave a comment below of the colors you would like (chevron stripes - purple; inner oval - hot pink), your monogram (in order as it should appear on the monogram... for example, in the monogram above you would list it as LCS), and your email address that you would like your pdf sent to!  

Thanks again for visiting!  I hope you can find a good use for them.....  I think they would even be cute in a frame!!!

How Much Is Your Initial Worth?

We have moved from counting 1-120 to place value in Math.  One activity that we did today (which was a LOT of fun!) was to figure up how much our first initial was worth using base ten blocks!  We used this activity that I have posted in my TPT store.  I was very pleased with how well the students did with it!

The only thing that I wish I had noticed sooner was the grammar of the sentence frames when students use one long or one cube (1 ten are worth 10. <-- pet peeve).

Next time I do this activity, I use will the sentence frames as a reference, but will use the page without in case students use 1 long or 1 cube so we can sneak in integrate a mini-lesson on grammar during this activity!!!!  I also updated it in my TPT store.

I hope you like this idea and check it out for yourself!!!

God bless!!!

Sight Word Mega Pack!

The beginning of first grade is always full of assessment.... Finding out where my kiddos are and how to best move them forward....  As usual, we need lots of work on sight words, capitalization, and punctuation....  I wanted to come up with some activities where they could practice these skills without it being simply "busy-work".  I created a HUGE packet over the weekend that consists of 5 different parts: "Fix It and Draw It" at two different levels, "Letter Boxes", "Cut and Paste", and "Color by Sight Word".... I used the first 100 Fry Instant Sight Words in creating all of these activities.  For "Fix It and Draw It", students rewrite the sentences (each of which contains the sight word) with correct capitalization and punctuation and then illustrate the sentence to determine whether or not they comprehend the sight words!  For a challenge, I also included the same sentences in the same format, but the sentences must first be unscrambled before rewriting and illustrating them.

Easier Version

Challenging Version

The second set of activities are letter boxes which are perfect practice for visual learners... They can SEE the shapes of the words.  

The third set of activities are "Cut and Paste".  Students cut the letters out and paste the letters in the correct order - another great activity for kinesthetic and visual learners.  

The last set of activities is my FAVORITE set....  I created 10 different pictures, each containing 10 Fry words to look for and color based on the sight word....  Students LOVE these and it is wonderful practice recognizing and distinguishing between the different sight words!

You can purchase this entire Sight Word Mega Pack in my TPT store by clicking here:  

You can also simply purchase the Color by Sight Word pack as well!  

I am offering my Color by Sight Word packet as a giveaway.  

Become a new follower on my blog and comment below and I will draw one person on Friday, September 14th, at 3:00 to receive the Color by Sight Word packet FREE!!!!  ;)  

Good luck and thank you for visiting!!!!  ;) 

God Bless!

1st grade - NBT.1 & sight word activities

We are back in full swing at school and we have been hitting counting from 1-120 hard since we've been back - especially focusing on 100-120!  Some of my little guys and gals have done a great job with this and some of them have struggled with aspects of it....  I created several activities for us to use during our whole group math time and our math centers and placed them in this packet on TPT:

The activities in this packet have helped the students practice counting in different ways to help support them in building their number counting fluency!  You are able to differentiate your instruction depending on what each child may need!!!  

We have also started off working on our Fry Sight words! One of the first things I want to do at the beginning of the school year is to see where each of my students are.  We assess each student to see what words each child needs to work on.  Then, I create word rings for each child so they can work on those words at school and fluency folders so they can work on them at home.  We all know what research says about how important it is to know these words automatically... 

I am now offering my Fry Sight Word packets in my store on TPT.  It contains the first 300 Fry Instant Word Lists in a format that you can print, laminate, cut, and place on rings for students to practice! I make sure students can successfully recognize the word THREE times - and hole punch the word card each time along the bottom graphic - before removing it from their word rings.  I have a "star" hole punch, but any hole punch would be sufficient.  I have also included a letter to parents and a standard word list that I include in students' fluency folders that go home each evening.  There are three different styles right now:  

 Movie Stars, Pirates, & Monkeys!  

If there are other themes you would like to see, just comment below and I'll do my best to get them posted for you!!!  

I have many more ideas ready to blog about - stayed tuned for more!!!!!  God bless!!!

 

The first 3 people who link this post to their own blog will receive their choice of the "Cut & Paste Numbers 1-120" set or your choice of "Word Rings"...   Be sure to leave me your contact information so I can email you your packet!!!!  

My First TPT Product - First 300 Fry Word Rings

I am so excited!!!  I just posted my very first item on TeachersPayTeachers!!! I don't know where I would be without this site and I am excited to be a contributor!!!!  Check it out and get your own copy!!!!

Are you looking for an easy to manage your students' sight word knowledge?  The packet I just posted includes the first 300 Fry Instant Words in a format to print, laminate, and place on rings.  It also includes a letter to parents and words in a list format to place inside fluency folders that can be sent home each evening.  Students practice words at home and at school and as they are tested, you can "hole punch" the graphic at the bottom of each word card.  Once students have 3 holes punched, the card can be removed from the word ring!  I have a "star shaped" hole punch that I use, but any hole punch will suffice!

Check it out and let me know what you think!!!!