Five For Friday January 8, 2016

1) Freebie - Editable Lesson Plans

I'm starting my first blog of 2016 with some gratitude. I feel so blessed to be on this TPT adventure.  It is incredibly time consuming, exciting, and there is a great collegiality among the teachers, authors, and bloggers I have met.  Here are some sample lesson plans as a freebie.  I always love to see how other teachers organize their day.  I included the products that I'm using in my class right now.  Almost all of the products in my store are products that I use regularly in my class. That is why I update them and add to them so often. Kids change and with the change the curriculum needs to change too!   Hope it is helpful!
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Freebie-Editable-First-Grade-Lesson-Plans-With-Sample-Plans-2297832

2)  The Jack and Jill Marathon

I'm so excited because my word for 2016 is balance.  I'm doing something just for me, which I haven't done in awhile (at least on this scale).  I was sitting next to a friend while watching my daughter cheer at a game and she was telling me that she just signed up for a marathon. She showed me pictures and in an instant I knew I had to do it (totally not me -I'm a planner to a fault).  Although I'm an avid runner,  I've never travelled anywhere for a race. I've always thought it too expensive, and I haven't even done a race in years because I just couldn't justify the expense.  I can't explain it, but I just knew this was right.  I've also kind of felt like I've been in a running rut.  My one and only marathon was 16 years and 2 kids ago. It scares me a lot, because I know the time it takes.  To be honest, I don't know where I'll find it, but I'm not stressing it.  It's not about times anymore for me.   I'm so excited, mostly to challenge myself mentally and physically. 

3)  Balance

I don't know if anyone else feels it, but sometimes I can totally get out of balance.  I was lucky enough to have 3 weeks off.  My district goes back really early, but we do have longer breaks in between.  I found balance during the break physically with yoga and running and mentally with organizing, slowing down, and actually making my family nice meals!  I really hope I can keep it going at least a little bit more than I had been doing in 2015.  I need it for 2016!

4)  Text Features!

Before break I gave my kids some assessments and I really thought they had a good concept of text features.  But, I was wrong.  They had some easier ones down, but I needed to do something different to get the information to them in a fun way and still cover material I need to teach.  So, I created a Martin Luther King Jr. unit that focuses deeply on showing kids how to navigate text features in informational text.  Below is the link if you are interested. I'm excited to use it when we get back! https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Martin-Luther-King-Jr-Close-Reading-and-Writing-Unit-with-Text-Features-2272644 

5)  Fun Math Game!

The pic below shows my students having fun with a Make a Ten Game that is easy and almost no prep (if you have 10 frame cards).  Here's how to play:

Each pair needs a stack of 10 frame cards (20 or so)

1)  Mix up cards.

2)  The first player turns over 8 cards facing up, leaving a pile facing down.  Player 1 tries to find as many combinations to make 10 as possible.  (For example:  2 and 8 make 10 or 2, 3, and 5 make 10).  They can take the cards that make up 10 and keep them.

3)  Player 2 adds any cards to the face up that were taken by using the pile that are facing down. Player 2 tries to make as many combinations of 10 as possible.

4)  Play continues like this until all cards are gone.

5)  Player with the most cards at the end wins.