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Sunday, August 18, 2013

Karate Sight Words

Gosh, the first week of school went by so fast!  It was probably the smoothest first week I ever had!  No one cried on the first day at all.  That has never happened to me.  I usually have one or two firsties that cry for the first week.  Apparently one cried at home, but then the next day she made a friend and all was right in the world again. 

I scrambled to get this packet down before the start of school and I finally uploaded it to TPT this morning.



I wanted a way to track the students' sight word progress a little better.  I did track their progress before, but it was on a un-cute spreadsheet with boring font and no borders.

In Karate Sight Words, there are 8 levels - white, yellow, orange, blue, purple, green, brown and black. As students pass the tests, they earn their "belt."




The white through purple belts are the Dolch Sight Words, arranged by pre-primer, primer, first, etc.

For the green through black belts, I used the first 300 Fry Phrases.



Students can track their progress by coloring on this sheet.



Teachers can track the students' progress on this sheet.


Included in the packet are Dolch words and Fry phrases that you can print off on cardstock.  I'll be printing mine off on colored cardstock to match the different belt level.



Karate Sight Words will be on sale through Wednesday.  I'm extending my BTS sale a little.  :)


Button by Krista Wallden

Friday, August 16, 2013

What's On Your Wishlist?

It's Back to School time on TPT!  I was wondering when the sale would be this year because I have a ton of items I want to buy!  It was finally announced that sale is August 18-19.  Time to get shopping!

Button By Krista Wallden

I decided to link up with Collaboration Cuties linky about my top two wishlisted items from my store and my own personal wishlisted items.


My top 2 wishlisted items are Landforms Mini Unit and Landforms Posters.  


It includes a landforms dictionary which helps students identify and learn the different types of landforms.





There's also a matching game and ABC order cards that are perfect for literacy centers.



Click HERE to add it to your TPT wishlist.

My second most popular wishlisted item is Landforms Posters.


Landforms included in this packet are island, mountains, volcano, canyon, desert, hills, valley, plain, river, lake, and ocean.


I also made a set of black and white posters in case you want to save on colored ink!


Click HERE to add it to your wishlist.

Now about my personal wishlist......it's way too long!!

I'm one of those weird people that wishlist free items too.  I'll find something that it's perfect for a unit that I'll be teaching in a few months and I don't want to forget about it.

However, I have item I know I'll be buying at the BTS Sale!


I'm required to have an Emergency Sub Tub and let's face it...I never do a super job organizing it because I'm such a control freak that I run up to school when I'm sick (which is rare) and I don't like to take days off.  But last year I came down with the stomach bug overnight and I literally could not stand up.  This would have come in handy!  I love that there are lessons for the beginning, middle, and end of the year.  You know firsties grow so much and what you do at the beginning of the year is completely different than the end!

Click HERE to check it out!

Tell me something on your wishlist!  Is there something I just HAVE TO HAVE that I'm missing out on?


Thursday, August 8, 2013

Throwback Thursday: Pencils + Freebies


I've officially met all of my new students and I'm excited for Monday - the first day with students!  



I wanted to share this little gem of pencil management as teachers are either back at school or almost there.  I used this for the second half of last year and it worked wonders!  No pencil issues = one happy teacher.

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January 15, 2013
I know I'm not alone when I say pencils drive me all kinds of crazy in the classroom. I feel like there should be a course on the different ways to manage pencils when you are getting your education degree!

Last year, for the life of me, I could not figure out what was going on with the pencils.  They were breaking left and right and no one ever seemed to have a sharp pencil.  I didn't let the students use the pencil sharpener because I knew it would open the flood gates even more. It got to the point where the students had to check out a pencil.  I was trying to track and see if I could figure it out.  If I could only teach my lessons....

One day, I overheard a student say "I have 5 specks.  How many do you have?"  I asked her what specks were and she looked a little guilty, but she showed me.  They were collecting the lead in their pencil boxes!! On purpose, people.

Whatever you do, don't give them mechanical pencils because you are tired of sharpening pencils and your pencil sharpener overheats. Not my smartest moment.

Then I found this little goody on Pinterest.


It is life changing, I tell you. You can read all the details about how Ms. H uses it in her classroom HERE. It's a free download on TPT!

Here's how I use it in my classroom.

I bought these plastic pencil holders at Target, The Dollar Store, and Walgreens.  In a perfect world, I would have gotten colors that matched my theme. But considering it's mid year and finding enough for my class required me to go to three stores. I'm sure I could have gotten them online somewhere, but I wanted them ASAP.


I'm also giving my students six pencils a week, instead of eight. Honestly it was because my hand was so tired of sharpening! Their reward for having all six pencils intact on Friday is a Star Dollar (this is based off of my management system.) They store the pencil boxes in their table basket.


I started this system after Christmas break on January 3rd.  I have had ABSOLUTELY no problems with pencils. I don't have to stop a lesson to sharpen someone's pencil and there is no more "I don't have a pencil!" I only sharpen pencils one time a week instead of every. single. day.

Has anyone else tried this system out?

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I made a few quick freebies this week.  Click the pictures and it will take you directly to my TPT store.





Saturday, August 3, 2013

Five for Fraturday & Currently

It's back!


I enjoy this linky party because during the school year it is so hard for me to blog during the week.


1. I decided to do two linky parties in one post, so my August Currently can be crossed off the to do list. 





2.  We now have a no candy rule at school.  



Of course this comes after I make birthday treat bags (the first year I've ever made such a thing) with a pencil, starbursts and skittles.  Guess they will be getting a pencil for their birthday!  I also had planned to make this.



I already bought the Blow Pops, but hadn't made the labels for it yet.  

Right now I need a back to school gift idea that is not candy related AND cheap, especially since I already spent money on the other stuff.  Any ideas?

3.  I am one folder short for my Rise and Shine folders.  The max number of students for our class changed and I had already made an entire class set of the folders.  I cannot find a blue plastic folder with brads anywhere.  Plenty of orange and red, but no blue!  I think some of the public schools must have requested blue folders. It's ridiculous that I can't find a single one!  


4.  I wanted to figure out how to track sight words better in my classroom.  Enter Karate Sight Words!


I'm putting the final touches on it today and hopefully will have it posted tomorrow.  I divided the sight words into belt levels (ex: When students learn the Pre-Primer list, they earn a white belt.)  I also included the 1st 300 Fry Phrases because I know I'll have students that already know all of the sight words and I want to be able to challenge them.

5. I'm really hoping to rest some today  - it is Saturday after all!  My brain is going a mile a minute thinking about all of the things I have to do.