Vegas Sessions

Well hey again! If you are reading this post, then there is a good chance that you were in one or more of my sessions today and I am so glad that I got to spend time with you! I am going to run through some of the highlights from the sessions, include a freebie from each session and also give you the links for all of the products that I mentioned in the sessions today.

Anything in my store will be discounted 20% today. Anything that is linked that is not a part of my store may or may not be discounted, but at least you will know where to find it!

The sessions today were BUILD math, Literacy stations, Behavior/Classroom Management and Jump Start to the new year. If you are only interested in one of the sessions that you attended, just find the picture of which session you attended and the information that you need will be right under that.

In this first session, I talked about BUILD and how I implement it in my classroom. We talked about different ways to organize the stations and different activities that can be used throughout the year. I am not 100% complete with the entire year but I should be by the end of the summer! September, October and November are still in the works 🙂

Here is a freebie activity to get you started with BUILD centers starting in August. It’s a game that my kids love playing. I always slip it in to a page protector on a colorful page of card stock.

Like I said before, I have most of the year done with BUILD centers. I am working to complete the rest. If you want to get any of the BUILD units that I mentioned in my presentation, just click the picture below and it will take you to where you can find all of the BUILD units 20% off today. You have to scroll down just a smidge to see these units…but they are all there 🙂

I also talked today about how my kids use Math Spins as part of their math stations, especially at the beginning of the year. You can use them from August to May if you would like!

I also talked briefly about these two skills that I practice with my kids throughout the year and use in math tubs.

Another skill that my 1st grade team told me that students needed to learn before they came to first grade is equal parts. This is not a skill that I would introduce at the beginning of the year for more than one reason. The main reason being that it is extremely difficult for students to grasp. If you go slow and allow students a lot of time to practice (i.e. math tubs…) then it will help them be more prepared for first grade!

After math, we moved right on to literacy stations. This has been a great way for me to meet with small groups and to have students practice skills that have already been taught.

This was on of the stations that we talked about today. The students rainbow write their sight words across the rainbow. If you click the picture, it will take you to where you can get it as a freebie.

The station cards are how I organize my centers. They are specified so they give the students a little bit of an idea of their task.

I shared a lot of different centers that I love using with my kids. One of them is a typing station.

I also shared about how I have my kids use a dictionary and this unit has the entire year worth of activities.

I also have a station where kids build words with magnetic letters. They use a baking sheet and magnetic letters (from Lakeshore) and build sight words and record what they built.

I have a few other units that have more than one literacy stations within them.

I also talked today about how I love Deedee’s “Listen Up” stations. You can find them here…

I also mentioned Kathleen’s ABC centers for the frugal teacher. I also mentioned these stations in my “Jump Start” presentation. I have the link under that presentation at the end of this post!

For the behavior and classroom management session, we talked about topics from routines to great programs. This is a “think sheet” that I send home with parents after they have had a rough day at school. It’s way for parents to talk to their child at home if they had a difficult day at school. It also helps students know that parents and teachers are on the same team. I sit down with the student and we discussed what happened and why they are having to bring home a think sheet. You can click on the picture to get your own copy.

This is a question/comment sort that you can also download for free.

I love this unit from Deedee about getting organized for the year. There are a ton of resources in here for you to use with your students.

If you are someone that wants to have a clip chart for your students, but you don’t want it for everyone to see…you should try out Rachelle’s mini-behavior charts. I love this idea!

I also use these early finisher drawers in my classroom and love them!

There were also a few other ideas that I mentioned in the sessions today.

These are posters that I have in my room as visuals for my kiddos to help them with the different between b and d. It seems to help them and they start to say it in their head

Here is the unit with all of the color day activities from all of the books that I mentioned in my presentation.

Here is the assessment packet that we use at the very beginning of the year to assess letters, sounds, rhyming words, syllables, numbers, counting, etc…

More activities for the beginning of the year. All of the stations for the beginning of the year, book responses, differentiated emergent readers and math activities can be found in this unit.

We played alphabet football today. If you would also like to play with your kiddos, you can recreate it yourself or you can buy it ready to go.

This unit is filled with activities for the beginning of the year…mainly before kids start school. These are practice pages that you can do with your students before they head out to Kindergarten.

This is the unit for all of the Dust Bunny activities.

Last, but certainly, not least…oral presentations. These start the first month we are in school and we do one a month until May. I also have a set for first grade. 

Like I said, I can’t promise that anyone else is having a sale this week, but I do want to share the link for Kathleen’s ABC Centers for the Frugal Teacher. I love these centers for the beginning of the year!

Whew! I think that’s all!

If you have any further questions, please leave a comment and I will try to get back to you as soon as I can!