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Are your Kidlets ready for "Lotsa Learning?"

Good Morning, Blog Hoppin' buddies! 

Kerri B from Teacher Bits and Bobs here! I know many of you have started school already, but I still have 5 glorious days of freedom until I report back on Wednesday. Well, I call it freedom, but you know I'm gonna be in my classroom every single day until then. Right?? :)

I wanted to share my latest creation with you...my "Back to School...Lotsa Learning Math and Literacy Games!" 

I created these for my littles to be able to use when they finish their "Must Do" activities in either Language Arts or Math, and these games are PERFECT for your Kinder kids throughout the year, or your Firsties at the beginning of the year as review. Here's a little sneak peek of each game (that I finally got laminated, cut and ready to use in T minus 10 days!)...
I put each  game into a large laminated manila envelope with the game cover, including the directions , on the front of the envelope. All of the games are store in this magazine file, so the kids can grab whichever game they'd like to play.
 Here are all of the games laid out to see...











I also plan on using these games as introductory centers the first couple of weeks of school, so they kids know exactly what to do when they play the games with a partner later on, so I included "show what you know" worksheets as well!



Thanks for taking the time to check out these games with me!
Don't forget to check by my blog Teacher Bits and Bobs to see our sparkling new blog design, and to enter our giveaway for one of these bad boys (or girls as the case may be!)...
Holy Moly!! She's PINK!!
Thanks friends!!

XOXOKerri B

The Ultimate Back to School Writing Bundle!


Hey Blog Hoppers! Hope King here from Second Grade Shenanigans! It is time for the B2S craziness! I can't believe that summer is over, but no worries...it will be back before we know it! :) Now it is time to focus on a new set of kiddos and making this your best year yet! 

I know that time is precious during this hectic time, so I wanted to share my latest writing bundle that might be able to save you a little bit of time during the B2S madness! 

I had lots of great feedback from my End of Year bundle, so if you liked that...you are going to LOVE this....

{Aligned to CCSS}


This bundle is packed with resources and activities to start your year off strong in writing!













And for my younger friends, along with regular lined paper, I have also included handwriting lines. 



Click {HERE} to check this unit out in my TPT shop and it will be 28% off since TPT is having their HUGE B2S SALE!

And if you haven't already snatched the freebie....

A little surprise awaits you under my Fan Freebies tab


Hope y'all have your best year yet! 

STOP! It's about that time...BTS Sale!!

Good Afternoon Blog Hoppin' Buddies!!

Thank you Amy Lemons for the ADORABLE button!!

Did you hear the great news?? Teacher Pay Teachers is having a GINORMOUS Back to School sale this Sunday and Monday and all of us Blog Hoppin' Girls are joining in the fun!!

All of our stores will be 28% off (with TPT's discount code BTS13). You can visit all of our stores by clicking on the "Our Stores" button  at the top of the page!

Now, go and fill up those carts, friends!! We already have ours filled to overflowing!

Teacher Week 2013: Tricks and Tips

Hi! I am Lynda from Curls and a Smile! We have had a wonderful week here at Blog Hoppin and I am very excited to be working with Kerri to share with you some tricks and tips that have worked for us! 


I think one of the most important aspects of having a successful school year is building great communication with my student's parents. I am known for giving my cell phone number to parents. Now, I realize that this is not for everyone and I have been very lucky that parents have been super respectful about how and when they contact me. But guess what? There is a way to text your parents or students without having to give your personal number to anyone! Remind 101 is something that I simply can not live without! 



It's super easy!
Here's what you need to do to connect using Remind101: 
 
1. Create a free account on www.remind101.com
 
2. You will then be prompted to create a group. You can create as many as you would like!
 
3. Each group will be given a unique code. This code is super important! Remind101even creates a generated letter with your special code that can be sent home to your student's parents. Simply print and copy! 
 
4. Once parents receive the code, they will text the number provided and be prompted to use the special code to join your group. They will receive a message that they are registered and now you are connected! Text away! 


It is important to know that this is one way texting, so parents will not be able to respond through the Remind101 system. 

Ok, seriously, if this wasn't already cool enough, the best part is...there's an app for that! It is available for both Apple and Android devices! You can also follow Remind101 on Facebook and Twitter and they are awesome about answering any questions you may have about using this amazing resource! 



This has to be one of my fave ways to communicate with my kiddo's parents. It's easy, quick and effective! 
 


Hi there, Blog Hoppin' Buddies! Kerri B here from Teacher Bits and Bobs!!

I am soooo excited that I get to share my very favorite teacher tip of all with you today. It is a pretty simple tip, but it literally is the backbone of every thing that we do in our class... and the tip is called "Student Work Folders." Exciting, right?? :)

 TADA!! My beloved student work folders!! I used to use paper ones that I made all cutesy and then laminated, but the laminate ALWAYS peeled off and the folders split, so I switched over to poly folder and they are plain, but they last all year long!
I will explain the stickers and behavior charts in a moment. I had to put them on top of the folder because my durn camera WOULD NOT take a picture of this yellow folder!! WEIRDNESS...


Here's how it works in my class...all of my students are given a work folder on the second week of school that is color-coded to the group they have been assigned to. I have 4 color groups in my class, and these color groups are heterogeneous, meaning the kids are grouped by mixed ability, behavior, and work habits. 

I also group my kids into another group based on the their AR reading level after they take the STAR reading test, so when we have our weekly Literacy Station Rotations and Reading Groups, all of the kids are about the same reading level. The kids know what reading group they are in based on the sticker I give them on their folder. Last year, I used Woodland Animals, but I think I'm going to use sea animals this year. 
It doesn't really matter what sticker you use, as long as they know both their color and animal groups. I switch kids in and out of the different reading groups during the year based on my assessments, so if that happens, I just peel off the sticker and give them a different one. The color groups are more set in stone, so I make sure that I have totally balanced groups so the kids can work well together.
Aren't these too cute??


Okay, so color  and animal groups have been established. Now let's get into the IMPORTANCE of the work folder. My kids know that their work folder is their very bestest buddy in first grade, and MUST travel with them whenever they go to math centers, literacy centers, whatever. ALL of their work is put in their work folder, and inside the work folder there is a sad faced side and a happy faced side...




When they finish their work (warm-ups, math worksheets, center stuff, ALL OF IT), it goes on the happy faced side. If they don't finish it, well pooh! Guess it has to go on the sad faced side until later. They HATE having work on the sad-faced side, peeps!! H.A.T.E. it, and it SUPER motivates them to get all their work finished, just to be able to put it on the happy faced side! 
Each and every paper they complete goes in their folder, and not one single paper is allowed to be shoved on their desk, or Mrs. B will find it, and ooooohh, they are BUSTED!

On the sad faced side, you can see a sticker chart. Here is a close up of the ones I will be using this year...





Lindsay blogged all about these stickers and sticker charts over on our blog yesterday, and you can read all about it here. These sticker charts are SUPER important and must stay in the folder all year, otherwise of course they will lose them! My kids treat the sticker charts like GOLD, and I constantly see them counting their stickers up. When they fill up their chart, they get a new DIFFERENT one, and OH. MY. WORD. You would've thought I gave them a new puppy, they are SOOOO excited!

Also on the sad-faced side is their behavior chart, which they color in each day based on what color their clothespin is on on our big behavior chart. I send these home at the end of the week...

At the end of the week, their folders are full of all their completed work, and in order to earn Fun Friday, they have to turn their folder in to me with ALL of their work on the happy faced side, otherwise they get to finish it while all of their friends are having a grand ole time the last 20 minutes of the day. 

When I announce Fun Friday time, they have to get their folders, get in line, and their ticket to all the FUNNESS is handing in their folder to me which I put in this "Fun Friday" box...
This box will have a cute, laminated sign on it soon. I promise!!
Let me tell you, they are DEVASTATED if they lose their Fun Friday time. This really helps my pokey kidlets get their work finished, and these work folders help all of my students learn organization, time management, and responsibility. 

Here's the best part of all...filing their papers is easy peasy because a big ole stack belongs to each kid, so it takes nothing to file them away. I use hanging file folders and send the papers home once a month...
Also, if a kid forgets to put their name on their paper (happens ALL.THE.TIME. Am I right??), I can always tell whose it is when I am looking over their work because all of their other papers are around it (does that make sense?)!

Well, that is my Number One Teacher Tip for all of you. Work Folders are the BOMB, and I can't teach without them!! Hope this was helpful to you. Make sure you link up with our Teacher Week button!!

Teacher Week: Taming the WILD!


Hi friends!  It's Katie and I am sharing a few ways that I plan on managing behavior this year.  

There have been times when I have caught myself only addressing behavior when it was negatively impacting our productivity.  This year one of my big goals is to Praise, Praise, Praise. 

I plan on doing this 3 ways- individual, small group, and whole group!  I will rely heavily on all three ways in the beginning of the year so my students are very clear on my expectations.  

I will be assembling my clip chart this weekend after a trip to Staples (if you are a reader of my blog you know we are in the middle of a move and I am yet to reunite with my printer!).

I found these adorable paint buckets at Michael's and will be using them with pom poms as table points!
Aren't they just the cutest?!?! Don't worry- I will add my signature ribbon as well!

And last but not least, I can't wait to recognize my cuties for their excellent hallway procedures, cafeteria behavior, and so on! 

You can snag all three of these behavior goodies in my TPT store.  Just click on the picture below:



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Hi, this is Karen from Mrs. Stamp's Kindergarten.  One of my favorite ways to support my students' behavior is through our classroom economy!  Each of my kiddos has their own piggy bank to collect their money (that they can earn through good behavior!).  I love using these sliding pencil cases.  We start the year using only pennies and then add nickels, etc as students learn more about the coins and their denominations.  Our classroom jobs are also tied into our economy... and students can earn a nickel for successfully completing their job for the week.  Of course, what fun would earning money be if you didn't have a chance to spend it?  Every few weeks we have a class store where students can purchase all sorts of fun items (donated by our wonderful class families).  

Last year I also used a Behavior Ship as a way to track behavior.  Students started on the green ship and earned a spot up in the crow's nest for demonstrating "purpleicious behavior"--a term coined by my kiddos!!  Everyone who ended the day on the purple part of the ship added a "gem" to their treasure chest. Unfortunately, poor choices could also move a student's treasure chest to the yellow or red dingey.  At the end of each day, students noted their behavior color in the agenda portion of their EAGLE notebook.  

For whole class behavior, we love Behavior BINGO!  It's a great way to encourage great behavior choices and practice essential math skills as well.  Students can earn numbers for hallway behavior, encore class behavior (music, art, PE, library, computer lab), cafeteria behavior, etc.  Once we earn 10 in a row--it's BINGO!  Students vote on our reward during weekly class meetings.  

Class meetings are a great way to CELEBRATE positive behavior choices and discuss ways to correct any unfavorable ones.  We have our meetings every Friday morning.  After celebrating our friends' "great news," we take time to talk about any problems (without mentioning classmates by name).  Then we problem solve together... even acting out scenarios to practice.  This role playing truly makes such an impact in class behavior!


OK, now it's your turn to share your best classroom management tips!  Don't forget to use the button below and link up!!