Christmas in July: Part 3

For Part 3 of my Christmas in July Sale I will be discounting my #3 best selling item: Sort it Out: An Addition and Subtraction Key Words Word Sort.

I use this word sort to help students learn the key words to look for when solving word problems.  I usually let them sort them in teams and then we go over the words and their meanings as a class.  After we have sorted a few times we make these cute little creatures and glue the key words all over them.  There is no template for these guys (since it's not my original idea) we just make them out of construction paper, but they're really easy to make.  I got the idea to make these cuties from A Year of Many Firsts.  Click here to see how she uses them a bit differently. 

Then we hang them from the ceiling so we can reference them if needed.  We also add them to our interactive notebooks but I'll post about that when we work on it again this year so I can post some student samples for you.  I hope you enjoyed the Christmas in July sale.  Check back often or follow me to see more of my resources and future posts!

Christmas in July:Part 2

For Part 2 of my Christmas in July Sale I will be discounting my #2 best selling item: Polka Dot Nameplates/Name Tags. 

This Set comes in 10 different colors that you can use year after year!  To see my post on how I use them click here.  To pick them up while they are on sale click on the picture or link above.  I'll be back on Wednesday to post about part 3 of my Christmas in July sale so check back then!

Christmas in July: Part 1

I've decided to step up my blogging game and join in my first ever link-up.  EEK!! It's very intimidating linking up with such great TPT sellers and all of their amazing products when my store is still so small but I guess you have to start somewhere right?  I am linking up with all the amazing teachers over at Blog hoppin for a little christmas in July sale.  I don't have nearly as many products to offer as all the others so I decided to put my top 3 best sellers up for sale for 4 days each during the sale.  My first product up for sale is my #1 selling chevron nameplates/nametags.

Here is a picture of the black and white version.  The file comes with 20 different colors so you can pick and choose the ones you want to use or use them all!

Here is a picture of my students desks from the first day of school last year with their name tags.  I have a colorful classroom so I use them all.

All you have to do is print and laminate and you're ready to go!  You can print them on card stock for added durability if you would like.  I usually just print them on plain paper and laminate them but that's mostly because I'm not sure if we're allowed to put card stock in the one and only color printer we have at school and I would hate to be the person to mess it up.  I don't like to tape them down to the students desk because I like them to be able to take them with them when they need to use the math helps on them.  In the past I just set them on their desks but they always get knocked on the floor and do usually need to be replaced half way through the year.  This year I am going to try Velcro on their desks so they won't fall off but will still be removable.  The best part about this purchase is that you can use these nameplates year after year unlike the ones you have to re-buy at the store every year.  To pick up these super cute nameplates while there on sale click on the picture or link above by Friday.  I'll be posting about my next sale item on Saturday so check back to see my other top selling items and pick them up on sale during this fun Christmas in July sale!  

2014-2015 Pacing Guide

Well hello again blogging world!  My goodness it has been a while since my last post.....AGAIN!  I just don't know how all you bloggers do it but I am trying hard to make it more of a habit.  I love sharing my ideas since I am constantly getting inspiration from so many other teachers but man it's hard to find the time to do it.  We'll give it another go this school year and see how I do.

I just finished updating my grade levels pacing guide for the upcoming school year so I thought I would go ahead and share it with you all and tell you how we use it.  Here is what it looks like:

 This is a screen shot of the entire spreadsheet.

Here is a close up of one of the first page so you can get a better look at it.

My grade level team and I use this as a guide to pace out our year.  It is color coded by term and includes a column for the week #, Dates, Holidays, assessments, our science/social studies units, Phonic/Language Focus, Reading/Listening and Speaking Standards, Writing, and Math.  Our units are based off of the Next Generation Science Standards and our states social studies standards.  The Phonics/Language Focus Column is based off of  Houghton Mifflin Spelling.  We use the spelling that came with HM in my grade level, but have some differentiated lists we use that follow the same spelling patterns as HM.  When it is a review week or writer's workshop week and we have no phonics focus we cover other Language standards that we haven't hit and that don't get hit with our spelling lists.  The reading/listening and speaking columns are really just a guide.  We don't hit all those standards during the same week or at exactly the week it is listed on the pacing guide, but try to make sure we hit all the ones listed for each term by the end of the grading period so that we have consistent grades.  Usually we're focusing on the same standard at the same time but sometimes have to stagger ourselves so that we can share resources.  The math columns just got changed.  Next year my school voted to follow the Engage NY math curriculum so I went though the pacing guide that came with that and added it to the math column.  It is supposed to take exactly 180 days if you use every lesson, which is every day of the entire school year!  So ,obviously we will have to do some modifying along the way.  I'll post more about that as we work our way through the program this year.  I got the idea to create this pacing guide from a former 1st grade teacher that I worked with.  I love how it puts the pacing for every subject in one place, so much easier than looking at a bunch of different pacing guides.  I simply print it out, glue it together and hang it on the bulletin board above my desk for easy viewing.  I also have it saved on dropbox for easy viewing when I'm away from my desk (like when I'm doing my planning at home).  If you would like to modify this for your own classroom click here.