Browsing Bags

      Every student in our classroom has a Browsing Bag.  The Browsing Bag has books that are on each student's guided reading level.  These are books that have already been worked on in our guided reading groups and have been taken home to read with family.
       The Browsing Bags also have a Red Word ring which are high frequency words that the student needs to know how to spell by the end of first grade.  One or two Red Words are added weekly to the ring.  The yellow Browsing Bag word ring is a ring of sight words that the student needs to be able to read quickly by the end of first grade.  Five words are added each week to this ring.
   The students use these Browsing Bags every day during our Daily Five literacy block.  The students use these bags during the Read to Self portion of Daily Five.  Often our Word Work activities will focus on our Red Words too.  I love these bags because it helps keep us organized and I know that every student has materials that are appropriate for their reading level. 

Word Rings

My son brought home this darling Cat in the Hat from school the other day.  I just thought it was too cute!  I also love having a little guy to get ideas from his great teachers.  My mind has been lacking in creativity lately!







I also tried to add up the other day the cost I spend on those little rings you can buy at the store.  I use them for word rings, vocabulary rings, math rings, etc.  They keep all of my student's words organized and words can be added and taken away as needed.  The students keep the card rings in their Browsing Bags so when we have our quiet reading time the students are not only reading their browsing books but also the card rings.  I have seen a really nice improvement in sight word recognition because the students are practicing them daily.

Over the Rainbow Treats

I gave these little rainbow treasures out on St. Patrick's Day to each of my students.  The students loved these licorice rainbows.  I got this great idea off one of my favorite blogs it is what it is.  The licorice is placed in a pretzel bag with gold coins placed at the bottom.  These little treats sure were cute and fun to eat!

Handprint Fishies

I love these little handprint fishies!  The students each painted a fishbowl first and decorated it with colored rice.  I then painted each students hand to make a handprint.  Each student then decorated their fish with an eyeball and a little extra paint. These fishbowls make a great keepsake.

Dr. Seuss Week

 We had a great week learning about Dr. Seuss.  I found some Dr. Seuss hats at the local teacher store and then attached them to photos of my student's faces.  The sample at the right actually shows my cat Socks.  My students now think that the Cat in the Hat lives at my house!  The funnest activity of the week had to be when we made our Cat in the Hat snacks.  They turned out so cute!  The students layered marshmallows and red frosting on top of a cookie.  This snack was so simple to make and the kids LOVED it!

President's Day

We had a great time learning about George Washington and the students all created a portrait of our very first persident.  These art projects made our hallway look very bright and patriotic during the month of February.