$100 Teacher Appreciation Giveaway!

Give me a T! Give me an E! Give me an A! Give me a C! Give me an H! Give me an E! Give me an R! What’s that spell? TEACHER! Hooray! Hooray! Teacher Appreciation Week is almost here, and just when we all need it the most! Let’s face it, the end of the year can be exhausting as it’s often filled with extra activities, events, grading … and dare I mention the never ending testing?!? With all this on our plates, no wonder we sometimes start to feel overwhelmed and underappreciated. Here at iTeachFirst, we can relate because we’re in the same shoes as you. We know that first grade teachers wear so many more hats than just their “teacher” hat, especially towards the end of the year. In fact, we wrote a silly poem about it to share with you. Here goes…

We hope our humor helped lighten your load and put a smile on your face. To show you even more appreciation, we want to continue celebrating by giving away $100 worth of gift cards to the places we love to shop at most. 

You can enter on the Rafflecopter below from April 26th to May 2nd. On Sunday, May 3rd we’ll announce and celebrate our four winners here on the blog and via email to kick off Teacher Appreciation Week! 

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As always, happy teaching!
The iTeach First Team

Fun Sight Word Font Discrimination Activity Pack!

Hello everyone! I'm Yara from the Sea of Knowledge. I'm so excited to be a part of this new group of amazing teachers! 

I run the Sea of Knowledge on TPT and I work with a range of students from K-2. I specialize in ESL endorsement at all levels and most of my resources cater for this group. :)

  Anyway, I am constantly amazed at TPT and how it has saved me when I am looking for something specific - it never fails. Even though, not so good for my wallet! =P 

Anyway, I'd love to share a sample freebie from my most recent activity pack which I use with my ESL students. I made this mainly to focus on sight word reading and identification. My ESL students sometimes feel overwhelmed when I give them a text to read *too many words on one page* really makes them just shut down! So I needed to tackle this by boosting their confidence and combine independance with reading basic sight words as well as avoid the 'coaching word for word' which students seem to dislike. 

This is a fun activity pack that my students just loved, the best part is that they got to take these home and get some more practice - best of all there is absolutely no hurry to get them all done! Each student works at their own pace. 

Click on the pictures to grab the sample:

Click here to check out the full pre-primer activity pack HERE, and the primer activity pack HERE.

Thank you for stopping by and I hope your students really enjoy this activity. :)

Yara
Sea of Knowledge Blog.

Parent Appreciation

Hi there!

  

Today I'm going to share how we celebrate our parents at the end of the school year!

So, every year we invite our moms and dads to our classroom to say, "THANK YOU" for a wonderful school year.  We started off just moms, and then when my youngest son was in first grade, he asked why we didn't invite dads. So, the tradition changed, and I'm so glad it did!

We decorate our sweet little classroom, and have two different times for parents to come.  Students create a book for mom and a book for dad.  We also do a small craft for mom (the flower with their cute little thumb prints as bees) and we (I) create a video of our year together for dad.  I always make extra DVDs for families that are no longer together, so that mom will get one as well. Obviously the DVD is treasured for many, many years.  I show a shortened version (about 8 minutes) during our Appreciation Day, but I give them the extended version (usually about 30-45 minutes long).  

HOW IT WORKS!

The parents come in and the students direct them to their spot. Then they read their special little book to their mom and then their dad.  The poster board (on their chair) is full of their writings throughout the year.  Usually the students decorate this on the first few days of school, as a time filler, but this year I'm waiting until a few weeks before our appreciation day.  I think they will come out a little better now that they've had a school year to grow and take pride in their work. Yep - just a little OCD.  Students also serve their parents punch and snacks (usually mini-muffins), while parents enjoy our school-year video.  **Show the video several times to the students before this day - or else they will be shouting out something about every.SINGLE.picture. (Learned that the hard way! :)  They just can't contain their excitement.

Last year we did flowers, but this year we are going to do a candle inside the mason jar with their thumb prints in yellow.  We will attach a saying, "You light up my life".  

   CRAFTIVITY!

Here's the craftivity that we create as well. (I'll put the link to TPT once product is complete with new clip art.)  This year my mom and dad faces will look a little different.  I have a new clip artist that is creating a mom and dad specifically for this product.  I can't wait to see how they turn out.  Suggestion:  Always read the final written product (even though you've read the "sloppy copies" many times!)  One of my students decided to change up the wording on their final copy.  Need I say more?

Here's the new craftivity for this year.  A sweet friend designed these faces for me.  The dad has with and without glasses.  (Click on the picture to see it in my store.) Here's the real reason we've decided to switch images - check out dad's teeth in the above image.  I didn't realize that until the child's mom brought it to my attention many years later.  The student that did the above is now in 7th grade, and I had her little brother last year. (That's when mom commented on the teeth... YIKES!)  

ALL ABOUT MOM & DAD

Here's our 5-page booklet.  Many moons ago we did a 10-page book.  HAHA!  I still laugh when I think about that.  We are now down to 5 pages, and I'm sure a few co-workers would like it to be The Best 3 things! ;)  Even though this book takes a while to do, I know that this is a keepsake for many years to come.  I still have mine.  Anyway - this booklet has a cover, then a poem for the inside cover (A poem for a girl to give to dad, a poem for a girl to give to mom, a poem for a boy to give to mom, and a poem for a boy to give to dad).  There's also a back cover that has some funny things to write about mom and dad.  (height, favorite foods, weight...) Yep, weight is on there, and that's always priceless!!


Anyway - I hope you've enjoyed my little SHOW-N-TELL Appreciation Day Celebration!  You can click on the picture to see these two products in my store! (Five page booklet and craftivity are old separately!) 

Just a Primary Girl Teacher Tips for Successful Summer

Hey guys! It's Aly from Just a Primary Girl! 

Learn a bit more about me by reading here! 

I am on my countdown until summer - how about you?  We have just about 40 days until we say goodbye. Last year, I created a handout that I put in with my report cards. Let me tell you how many emails I got over summer!!! I probably got 12-15 emails. Yes, I know - who wants emails over summer? Not this girl - unless they are the ones that I got! They were THANK YOU EMAILS! Thanking me for giving tips to them that would help keep their kids successful over the summer. 

I wanted to provide meaningful feedback that pinpointed a strategy or concept that their child may have struggled with. I was also able to add fun comments and smiley faces where students were doing great. 

I thought I would let you try the reading page for free to see if it is something you can use in your first grade classroom. I hope you love it as much as my parents did! 

If you are interested in the remaining pages that go with this freebie - visit my TPT store. You can search my store with "Teacher Tips", or you can click this link. 

Visit my other pages by clicking on the icons below.
Thank you for stopping by!
Alys 

End of the Year Memory Book and Awards Pack!

Hi, again! It's Kristen from Primary Pals! It is so hard to believe that the end of the school year is so close! For Win-it Wednesday, I thought it would be fun to win something that could benefit you with the end of the year coming up! Or even for next year! I was even feeling super generous and decided to make it a double win!

The FIRST part is an End of the Year Memory Book! The great thing about this is that there are pages for grades K-5 AND there are color and black/white options for many of the pages! You also can choose between handwriting lines and regular lines! I love finding things that give me choice!

How I usually do my memory books is with a binder and sheet protectors, but you can just as easily print out the pages and bind them together!

There are cover choices for all grades in both color and black and white:

There are a ton of pages to summarize the year. Kids from past years still come up to me telling me that they LOVE reading their memory books!

I also tell my buyers that I take requests, especially with things like this that are SO personalized! So, you can always e-mail me with any changes or personalization you might want!

I love to take pictures throughout the year so these next pages are awesome because you can print your pictures and just attach them and they always look adorable! If you don't have pictures, you can always have your kiddos draw a picture in the space provided! :)

The second awesome part is my End of the Year Awards pack! There are OVER 60 individualized awards in both black and white and color options! There are also blank awards that can be used for any award you would like!

I am going to have THREE winners for this giveaway! Make sure you enter below to try and win!! Thanks for stopping by!

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EOY Device Clean Up

Are you lucky enough to have a set of iPads (or other tablet device) for every student in your classroom?  Perhaps you have a class set that is shared between multiple students.  Or, maybe you only have a few iPads that are used within your class by individual students.  Regardless of your set up, I am willing to bet that you, like me, dread setting them up for the new school year at the end of the summer.  Why not take some of that stress off now and prepare your iPads BEFORE SUMMER BREAK….or at least get them close to ready!

Even if you are not using an iPad in the classroom for the first time, it is probable that your class set has become somewhat cluttered.  By cluttered I mean this.  You set up your iPads just exactly how you want them.  The photos are empty, the apps you are certain you will use this year are all set up in their perspective folders and the wall paper is set to one you have deemed appropriate.  And THEN….THEN…the school year happens.

I have had the luxury for the past three years of having a 1:1 iPad classroom.  The first year I was so overwhelmed that I most definitely did not set my iPads up properly to begin the year.  

You have downloaded apps throughout the year that you saw on Facebook or Pinterest or even in a workshop for technology in the classroom.  You tried it, used it for a bit, and then it fell by the wayside.  However, chances are you didn’t delete it because you might want to use it again.  So, in this process, your iPad’s screens have become cluttered with apps that are collecting dust.

Another thing to consider, the PHOTOS!  Your students have been taking photos, with or without your permission, and they are all right there for you to enjoy at the end of the year.  To be honest, this is probably one of my favorite things to discover because it gives me a glimpse into their world and, it is always interesting to put a time and date to the picture and know exactly what we were working on when my tiny humans took a picture of their nostrils.  

“Back to School” are three words that most teachers love and hate at the same time.  Add to that the stress and time that is involved in resetting all your digital devices for the new school year and it is enough to make a teacher scream.

However, if you want to make your life a little easier, here are a few tips that I have picked up along the way to help prepare your iPads for the upcoming school year.  Now is a good time to start…as the year draws to a close, and you will be a happy teacher when you get your devices back and they are ready to go.

1. Check your remaining storage.

     

To do this, go to Settings, General, then Usage.  Running out of storage is a headache that you will want to avoid now.  Go through the camera roll and delete pictures that are stored on the device.  Make sure to delete or back up the videos on there as well.  Now, go through the list and delete all those apps that you “tried” and didn’t really like.  Chances are you aren’t going to use them again.  Apps that you do keep, organize them in folders by subject, grade level, or however you can keep up with where they are.

2.  Clean out your iPad Backup.

This never occurred to me at the end of the first year.  All you get free from Apple is 5GB of iCloud storage.  Now for the normal single iPad user this shouldn’t ever be an issue however, if you are using multiple devices on a classroom Apple ID (thank you Apple for finally making this so simple) then you are probably hitting your limit.  Delete the things that don’t really need back up.  

iCloud back up is critical for certain things but for others it is just redundant.  Back up is very important if you ever have to restore your device or get it replaced.  However, most apps do not necessarily need all their data backed up since they are already backed up in the cloud….example:  Evernote.

3.  Saving Battery Life.

This little tip was such a life saver for me this year.  Sharing 10 iPads between 4 grades (yes hate me now since my largest class was 10 students) meant that I needed that battery to last ALL DAY!  Sure they might get 10-15 minutes of plug in time between classes but that wasn’t really doing me a lot of good.

Make sure that at the end of each session with the iPads your students have learned how to CLOSE OUT THE APPS that are running.  Double-tap the home button and swipe up.  CLOSE THEM OUT COMPLETELY each time to help save battery life.

4.  Prepare for the new iOS Update!  

That’s right folks!  If you haven’t figured out yet, Apple tends to roll out their new iOS updates in the fall….right around BACK TO SCHOOL!  This means that apps need to be updated, and most of all you need storage to install the new iOS update!  So delete what you need to insure that you have about 2GB of storage to download and install the new iOS.  

Now, following these steps are no guarantee that you won’t still have some work to do setting up your iPads at the beginning of the new year but, you will have a lot LESS work.  The best part of doing this at the end of the year…your students can help you do it.  My tiny humans (yes even my first graders) had become so iPad proficient that I could give them instructions and they could follow along and get most of these steps done with me in one little session.  

In August, when you get your devices, you will be happy that you don’t have to “clean them up” before you can “set them up”.  With the newest iOS 8 set up and automatic download of apps and setting up folders through iTunes it can be so simple to set up a master iPad and then push out the set up to the remaining iPads in your class.  Thank you to Apple for that feature!

Do you have anything to add to this list?  Do you have a special routine you follow at the end of the year to prepare your technology for the following school year?  Share your ideas in the comments below and help a fellow teacher out!  We are in this together!  

Science Fun and Flower Rings

Hi There,

I'm Sarah Tharpe Winchell from Teaching Resources for the Classroom.  I am so excited to be part of this amazing group of people that care about teachers and children.

I love teaching science and integrate it as much as possible into our school day! Some days we have those great teachable moments that seem to be getting rarer during these assessment driven times.  This is one of those times! Here in North Carolina it has been raining quite a bit recently. As soon as the rain stops we head outside looking for any place we can play. Well of course rain makes puddles and as long as there are puddles.....kids will play in them! The bigger the rock, the harder the throw.......check out the picture. A nice little lesson about force.

Rain also help flowers to grow! One of our favorite things to do is to put these little buttercup flowers under our chins to see if we like butter.  I'm not sure how this all started. It is one of those passed down traditions.  The sunlight bounces off the little yellow flower onto the bottom of your chin and you see a yellow spot on your chin. No yellow....well you don't like butter! It doesn't work in the shade.  Since this is a Make-It Monday post I'm going to show you how to make a little yellow buttercup flower ring with your kids if you don't have any flowers. Then your children can see the sun reflect onto their chins. Get them to use their inquiry skills by testing the flower under different conditions such as classroom light, shade and bright sunlight. The children just love the magic of it all! It also makes a lovely Mother's Day present!!

 

You can find the pattern to make the flower ring here.  Flower Ring Pattern Print the pattern on the color of paper you want. I used yellow because I wanted buttercups. Each flower needs two flower pieces. Glue the flowers together with a glue stick. Use the hole punch to place the holes in the flowers. Closer is better. After the holes are punched, thread the ribbon through so it makes a loop on the back and then tie in the front. You can also make a bracelet using the same method just make the ribbon longer. I hope you do have buttercups but if you don't you can still have a sunny day and keep a folk legend going for a whole new group of children!

Cheers and sunshine,
Sarah from Teaching Resources for the Classroom

Riddles for Math

Hi, Teaching Friends!

This is my first post on iTeachFirst - I'm glad to be here, and so happy that you stopped by today! I'm a retired teacher from NJ who (as expected!) found it just too hard to simply walk away from teaching! After 26 years of teaching (first grade, Reading Recovery, Basic Skills K-8), I'm now having a great time creating new classroom resources, blogging, and staying in touch with the world of primary classrooms that I love! It's a delight and a privilege to be able help teachers and their students around the world!

After all those years teaching I can say for sure, and I think you'll agree - nobody in any other job gets to laugh as much as first grade teachers do in a day at work!  A good part of that, of course, is the fact that our little guys are so cute, sincere, lovable, literal, and more. But I think a lot of the laughter comes from the fact that firsties are always ready for a good time. No matter what you're doing, if you call it a game, to them it becomes a game!

I think that's one of the reasons that I got started creating riddle sets. Riddles are fun!  Of course, they're also great for teaching inference, using key details, solidifying concepts and vocabulary... but to our kiddos, they're Fun with a Capital F!

Teaching our students to sort through clues, to come up with possible answers, discard those that don't fit, and continue the process of integrating the new information at each step ... all of this is higher order thinking for them! But since they see it as a game, they beg to do more. "Well ......, if you really want to, sure we can do some more!"  :)  If you're happy and you know it, solve a riddle!

I have a lot of riddles in my TpT store. You can see them all here. But today I want to share with you a free set of riddles that you won't find there.

One of my most popular resources is a set of math riddles. It includes a riddle for every number from one to 100, making this set very useful for calendar activities like counting the days of school. It's also fun for the 100th Day!

So, your freebie for this Sample Sunday is ... just to give you a little taste of the big set ... this brand-new sample set of a dozen riddles! 

Here's a close-up of one of the twelve riddle cards in this set. You can see how the possibilities narrow with each clue that's given, and how these riddles will really keep your little learners thinking as they consider and discard possible answers right down to the very last clue.
.

I hope you'll enjoy using them! 

Thanks for stopping by iTeachFirst ... Happy Teaching!

Leader Of The Week!

Hi everyone! This is Alisha from Missing Tooth Grins!

A little about myself: This is my fifth year teaching. I taught second grade for three years and this is my second year in first grade. First grade is definitely where my heart belongs. I love it. I am also recently engaged and we have two furbabies, Jasper and Sadie. 

Today, I'm going to talk to you about my Leader of the Week table. I think it's really important to make students feel special and one way I go about doing so is highlighting them as the Leader of the Week. 

Here's a picture of my Leader of the Week desk:

We used to have one of those giant exercise balls instead of the chair, but it kind of deflated from each kid bouncing on it so much. It got a lot of use out of it though! They loved that thing! This desk sits by my guided reading table (which I also use as a desk when I need one). 

To make my banner, I used the KG font, A Little Swag. Then, I just cut the letters out and glued them to bulletin board paper and laminated! Also, I should point out that this picture was taken at the beginning of the year. That's why it looks so clean and bare :) Don't worry, I have things on the wall now. :)

I announce my LOTW every Friday. I decide based off of behavior for the week. Every child in my room has been LOTW by now and some have been twice! 

They get a special treat on the desk every Monday when they are LOTW and a certificate. You can click on the picture below to get the certificate!

They also get special rewards throughout the week like picking the gonoodle video, using markers instead of crayons, tracks our class goals, etc. They also get to take home something special to bring back and that I hang up in the hallway!

They get a One Smart Cookie pack and bring back an about me sheet with pictures! Then it's put on our One Smart Cookie part on our door. You can find that pack by clicking the picture below:

Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it and it helps you implement a LOTW if you are interested :)

You are a WINNER...All About Me!

YOU ARE A WINNER!

This is an attitude we try to encourage each and every day in our classrooms.  It has been proven over and over that confidence is built through successful experiences creating the attitude "I am a winner"!

There is no better way to encourage successful experiences then to discover what our kiddos like and what they feel their strengths are.  

Many educators use "interest inventories" to find out about the individuals in their class.  This packet is filled with these types of ideas you can use throughout the year.
A favorite is the "backpack" idea.  Perfect for the 1st of the year.  Students can fill their backpack with all their favorites.

I love this too.  Kiddos make an "all about me" cube.  With a partner they roll and share about themselves.  Great for "Speaking and Listening" with the Common Core Standards.

The packet also contains a variety of posters for students to "brag" about themselves.  These are wonderful for displaying on lockers or a bulletin board.

 

There is also a mini book in the packet for kiddos to fill in some of their favorites, their strengths, and other interesting "tidbits".

Writing skills can be enhanced by writing about themselves.  There are graphic organizers, pre writes, and final writes for different leveled writers.

The final activity is a craft where kiddos write about themselves and then they make a "student" to hang. Aren't they cute?

Our days get so busy with curriculum, testing, teaching...BUT we must take time to encourage self esteem.  This is needed before our kiddos can be successful at any of the above.  

At the beginning of the year.  At the middle of the year.  Throughout the year.  Include these activities!

Here is a 'bright idea'!  Have your class complete one of these activities and share them with their teacher for next year.  As the next year's teacher is preparing for their new class they will get a little "heads up" about some of their new students.

Now you can be a winner!!  

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I am cheering for each and every one of you to win!!
I will choose 5 winners.  


Now a minute for me to BRAG!!  My brand new puppy!  7 weeks