Today was our 100th day of School and WHEW  - I have survived! I truly feel like a superhero when I make it to the 100th day of school. With the daily craziness that comes with being a primary teacher it is very easy to become overwhelmed, the enormous pressure to make HUGE changes in the lives of our students with very limited resources and support is daunting. So my teammates and I like to pause on the 100th day and have a little fun because that is what first grade should be about!

So...here is what we did today!

 My first grade team of teachers dressed up like 100 year old ladies today! WOW! We are stunning, right?! HA!  The kids were so excited when they saw us shuffling out to pick them up together this morning, they were LOVING it!

 I work with an amazing first grade team of teachers and and we frequently have the students rotate through classrooms for holidays or special events. The teacher stays in their own room and our students visits the other teachers, they are in each class for about 20 minutes. Here is a little run-down of what we are planning for each classroom:

Classroom 1: 100th Day Mystery Picture from First Grade A La Carte (This is FREE!) Great activity to practice even and odd. 

Classroom 2: 100th Day Dice Toss from Made for First Grade only $1!

Classroom 3: 100th Day Snack - I created this FREEBIE, click here to get it! 

Classroom 4: 100th day books (here are a few of my favorites)

Classroom 5: 100th day Glasses (sorry don't have the link for these but there are TONS on TpT)

I also got the idea from EduKate and Inspire to create 100 year old pictures. This app is called AgingBooth and it is only $1! This is a little before and after of my beautiful daughter.  

Too cute right? 

I printed my kiddos picture onto this template so they can write about life as a 100 Year Old. 

To help them, I provided them with the template:

When I am 100 years old, I am going to be _______ and _______. My favorite thing to do will be _______________________ and _______________________. 

You can grab this free page here if you want it :) 

That is all I was able to fit in for the 100th day of school because we are crazy busy preparing for Science Night next week. I will be back this weekend to share a few of our MLK activities. 

Cyber SALE!

I made my own button for the Cyber Sale! YAY! I always have hopes that I will get one made and then...life happens. The graphics for this button are from JWIllustrations - I LOVE her!
(Feel free to grab this button for your blog but please link back to my blog.) 

 I am totally prepared for this sale, my cart is stocked with new items and I can't wait until Monday! 

My Kinder and First Grade CORE math units will be on sale for 28% off!
You can click here to read more about how these units have helped teachers implement new CORE math standards. 

Or perhaps you need a little something to prepare for teaching 3D shapes?

Maybe some practice with non-standard measurement? 

OR...if you don't use my CORE math units and your students could use a little help with problem solving then check out these - Kinder and First Grade Math Journals! Each journal has over 170 pages of word problems for you K-1 students!
     

Can you tell I am a little bit of a math geek??? 

I am looking forward to purchasing some more clipart from MelonHeadz and Krista Wallden at Creative Clips for my next FREEBIE extravaganza coming soon!

AND... I LOVE me some Kathy Law and I can't wait to try her new Math and Literacy Picture Puzzles. I already have all her monthly Color by Codes and my kiddos love them!

What are you looking forward to purchasing?

First Grade CORE Math Units

Have you re-downloaded the REVISED first grade CORE math units?! I am so excited about how they turned out! I had several teachers ask me to change the font from D'Nealian to a more traditional font AND... I got a little carried away making a few improvements. These units have been totally revamped and renewed!

These first grade CORE math units include:

A daily math journal with word problems (perfect for math warm-up time)

 A daily lesson plans with all printables (flashcards, math mats, gamecards,etc...)

A daily guided practice page and independent practice page

Vocabulary Cards for your math word wall

 and unit ASSESSMENTS! 

For the first grade units, I have also created a quarterly pre-assessment so parents, students, administrators and teachers are able to see the amazing growth that students are making!

Not sure if this product will work in your class? Here are a few comments from teachers who use these CORE math units in their class: (quotes taken from TpT)

"Angie, you are spot on with the common core! Thank you for sharing all of your activities!"

"Thank you for putting the lessons together to match up with the CCS. Your time and efforts are so appreciated."

"My kids and parents love it- thank you!"

"Have purchased all the first grade units and couldn't be more pleased! Loving that our expectations are higher and that curriculum mapping is a breeze!"

"I have purchased all of the Common Core packets that are posted and they have been wonderful. These packets are WELL worth the price!"

"My MAP test scores were through the roof - thanks!:

"My kids are really enjoying your units. The hands on activities are perfect and I love the review on the practice pages."

"You make me smile! Thank you!"

"Super thanks for working hard so I can reap the rewards!"

"Excellent! Professional quality! You are very talented! Thanks!"

Read more comments by visiting my TpT store. Download the preview to see a yearly Scope and Sequence.  If your school is interested in purchasing multiple licenses please contact me (fallintofirst@gmail.com), I offer discounts on large purchases!

Meet the Measurements!

Introducing - Mr. and Mrs. Measurement! 

It is finally finished! I am so excited to share this new product with you! I just finished my nonstandard measurement unit for K-1! If is a huge packet with tons of activities for your students to work with measurement. 

I have created Standard/Nonstandard Posters with Mr. and Mrs. Measurement, a tool lesson and printable for students to sort standard/nonstandard tools, Measurement Vocabulary Posters for height, weight, and length and a vocabulary printable page for students to use, several activities that would be PERFECT for math stations, measure the room activities, comparing weight printables, a Mr. and Mrs. Measurement Craftivity and much, much more!  I have spent so much time on this unit that I am now seeing Mr. and Mrs. Measurement IN MY SLEEP! AHHH!

 If you are currently using my Kindergarten CORE Math Units all of these activities will be part of Units 12-16. If you are a kinder teacher who is not using my CORE units, WHY ARE YOU NOT!? 

Here is a comment that was posted on TpT just this weekend from a teacher who just tried my kinder math units:

"Absolutely love this, my school has no curriculum and I have an hour and 15 minutes a week for a break. This is a life saver. I just found it so I will be starting it in the middle of the year. No more staying up until 3am. And no more 10hrs of weekend time at school. Thanks:)"

I totally understand the frustration and stress that comes along with being expected to implement new CORE standards with little to no curriculum support! That is why I have been creating math units for K-1 and the feedback has been AMAZING! If you are still unsure, click here to take a look at the comments teachers have been making!

Hershey Kisses Addition Unit

Its FINISHED! I just posted my Hershey Kisses Addition unit to TpT! I am so glad that I am done with this unit, it has not been good for my diet. As research :) for this unit, I bought several bags of Hershey Kisses and have quickly been devouring them as I have been working. For every few pages I finished I rewarded myself by eating a few kisses, I know it is so bad, but I could not help myself!

Anyway, the unit is packed full of addition materials. I did not make it Valentine related at all so that it can be used throughout the year but I did include a cute little craft and I have to say this little guy would make a perfect Valentine bag for your kiddos. Simply glue him onto the front of a paper bag and DONE!

Some activities that are included in this addition unit are:
The adorable craft mentioned above
Ten Frame math mats, manipulatives and practice pages
Number Bond math mats and practice pages
Number line poster, math mats, practice pages, mystery messages
Kiss Hunt Addition Game
Sums of 5-9 printables
Sums of 10 Mini-Book
Grab and Graph Game
Roll and Color Game
10 page Kisses Addition Math Journal
Concentration Game
and a few fun extras!

Time to have a giveaway! Follow my blog and TpT store and you could be a winner! Simply leave me a comment right here telling your favorite type of chocolate :) and don't forget to leave me an email address! I will randomly pick three winners and announce them on Wednesday! 

The winners are Pauline, Lori and Bridget! Thanks for following my blog I just emailed you the unit! 

3D Shape Fun!

As promised I am back to share my newest 3D shape product. WOW! I feel like I have been working on this packet FOREVER! One reason this took so long to create was because I took my first leap into creating clip art because I was not able to find any cute 3D shape clip art. This resource has TONS of cute stuff and I am so excited to share it with you!

This 36 page 3D Shape Fun packet includes 6 posters to teach 3D shapes and one 3D shape attribute poster to help students with the vocabulary terms.

A 3D Shape/Color BINGO game with calling cards and 7 different BINGO boards.

 A student book to learn about the 6 3D shapes, concentration game, 3D Shape Sort with Data Analysis and an "I Have, Who Has 3D Shape Game" WHEW! Stop by my shop to check out this fun packet!

Kindergarten CORE Math Unit

I posted in June that my teammate and I would be working on creating CORE Math Units for KINDERGARTEN and we now have the first unit posted! We will be creating 4 units/quarter. 

 Each unit contains a teacher lesson plan with black line materials, a problem of the day workbook (pictured above), a guided practice page and a daily spiral designed review page and finally a unit assessment. 

  Units 1-4 are designed to be taught in 1st quarter.
Topics covered in this unit are:
-Number 1-10 identification/writing
-Ten Frame
-Counting objects to answers "How Many?"
-Comparing objects in a group to identify greater than/less than
The Kindergarten CORE standards addressed are:

K.CC.3, K.CC.4, K.CC.5, K.CC.6

I created these units for first grade last year and had AMAZING feedback, so many first grade teachers were so excited to use these materials in their class and I am so happy to be creating materials for kinder. If you know any kinder teachers spread the word! I will have Unit 2 posted this weekend! 

Happy Fourth of July!! 

First Grade CORE Math

Celebration Time!!!! It is 11:37 p.m. and I have FINALLY finished the last of the First Grade CORE Math Packet! YEAH!! They have been a major project this year and a lot of work but I so appreciate all of your support and encouragement. I have had just an outpouring of positive comments and words of appreciation from other first grade teachers! To celebrate this very exciting event I am having a 20% off sale! The sale will last until Monday so stop by this weekend. 

In case you do not know about my math units, there are 16 units, 4 units per quarter. Each unit contains everything you need for 10 days of instruction. Each unit targets specific CORE standards but the units are spirally reviewed so students don't lose previously mastered concepts.

All 16 units begin with a CORE Standards page, so you know exactly which standards are being taught during the unit. Some of the standards are new and some are review from prior units.

Next, you will find a problem of the day. Students use their Math Journal to collaboratively work out the problem of the day. 

Then it's on to calendar time! Before creating these math units I HATED calendar! I found myself rushing through it because the kids were not engaged and it was monotonous. With students all having their own Calendar Companions they are engaged and learning and I LOVE IT! There are many versions of Calendar Helpers and Notebooks but I was not able to find anything specifically geared to the new CORE standards, so I created this.

Then we move into our daily mini-lesson. These lessons usually take between 10-20 minutes and are engaging and interactive. The lessons vary, they may be games to practice previously learned concepts or lessons involving the use of manipulatives or technology to keep kids excited about math.

Finally I have created a daily Guided Practice/Review Page. This is a worksheet to be copied back-to-back. The front page we do together and students complete the back independently. The back of the worksheet is always review and this helps students retention of concepts. Here is a sample of a daily worksheet. 

Each unit has a Unit Assessment, so students are assessed every 10 days. 

I have had several teachers ask me if I know anyone who creates these types of math units for kinder or second. GOOD NEWS! I am teaming with my former teammate and friend to begin working on these packets for kinder. I taught kinder for 7 years and my colleague has been teaching kinder for the past 14 years, together I think we can create something amazing! If you have colleagues that teach kinder and you think they may be interested, spread the word!

Hi Ho, Hi Ho, Its BACK to Work I Go...

Its official Spring Break is OVER :( Time to return for the last quarter of school and I am so looking forward to keeping my little firsties super busy. 

We are jumping right into a math unit on measurement and the finale of this ten day unit will be the Measurement Olympics! I am so excited, I will be sure to post pictures soon. This measurement unit is part of my Unit 13 CORE Math Standards for First Grade. 

 Next we will be learning all about fractions. I just posted a Fun with Fractions Unit on TpT! I love food so I themed the entire 2 week unit on PIZZA, so we can have a pizza party after finishing the unit! I am sure I will somehow tie good behavior into earning this pizza party because lets face it, fourth quarter gets a little hairy. 

Here is a little sneak peak at some of the activities in the unit. 

Stop by my store to find out more.

 If you purchase my Math Units, 

these activities will be part of Unit 14 that is COMING SOON!!!