More School Food!

We have a new manager in our school cafeteria and every week we have new foods added to our school menu. This week I added pictures of Turkey & Cheese Pita, Chicken Filet Salad, Toasted Cheese Sandwich (not grilled cheese) and I corrected the Taco Bites picture. It looked nothing like the picture I had chosen.Click here for the new document. If you have printed everything so far, you will only need to print the last page to have the updates.

My First Reading Log

I whipped up a Reading Log that helps track what type of reading students are doing at home. Are they being read to, reading with help, or reading to someone independently? It also gives a place for children to rate their book. I left a blank on the left edge for hole punching in class you use your reading logs in a folder or binder.

How to Get More Volunteers

Have you ever heard the expression "Ask and ye shall receive"?  Well it applies to getting volunteers too! I teach in a Title 1 school that has been his hard by the economy. We are very racially diverse, economically diverse, and in my 10 years at my system I have never had a year where I could not get parents to volunteer. In fact some former volunteers are now my closest friends! (HI GUYS! I know you are reading this!)

So, how do I get them? Well, for one I try to be approachable. Teachers can be intimidating! We are on our own turf, we know the ins and outs of our school, we are highly educated, and most of the time, children are just drawn to us like we have  milk and cookies pumping through our veins. That can be intimidating. It's a delicate balance between being approachable and keeping your professionalism, but if we are all business we can shut down parents who aren't as educated, who don't dress like us, or speak like us....and we need them. 

Secondly, I ask!  I am attaching the word document for the letter I send home asking for volunteers.  The document is getting a little wonky in Google Docs, but I didn't want to make it a PDF so that it can be altered for your specific needs. Parents are busy and even if they want to volunteer, it's often hard to find the time to volunteer, especially if a teacher is dead set on a certain time. If I can be flexible and creative in scheduling volunteers, then usually we can find a time that works for both of us.

Lastly, I make it fun. No parents wants to come to a class and sit at a table and staple things or cut out lamination while their child is in another group participating in a fun activity. They WANT to be involved. That's why they are there! They want to get to know their child's classmates, and see their child in action. They will gladly do your stapling and cutting, because they want to help, but it doesn't give great motivation for coming back. Ultimately, they are there because they love their child, not you. :) Let them enjoy the thing they love! Try to keep the things that can be done at home, for the parents who truly can't come into a classroom but want to contribute!

Now, I'm very excited to meet my next bunch of volunteers! Yippee! 

School Food in Pictures

It's so hard when children think they are ordering chicken nuggets like mom makes, and then they go to the cafeteria and they end up with something very, very, different. Or maybe they've never heard of a "rib meat sandwich". Having a picture, especially for young children and new students, to show what your school food really looks like helps kids make the best choices they can make. This file includes 48 food choices, most of which my school serves regularly. Click here for the file.

SOME TIPS:
1.  I made lunch choice cards for as many of our regular school menu items as I could remember. If you want to use these and your chicken nuggets look really different from ours, I would make a new card so your students are not surprised, or disappointed.

2.  I used the free font KG Seven Sixteen from dafont.com. 

3.  Be careful and try to make sure your images don't show side items. Some kids might make their decision based on the side item in the picture, and be let down when they are served cooked carrots with their sloppy joe instead of french fries. 

4.  If you teach with me at CES and can think of something I forgot, let me know and I'll add it!

Oh the Job of all Jobs!

I report to pre-planning....NEXT WEEK.

I moved and crammed my classroom into my new classroom in a couple of hours back in May and I haven't been back to work....

I have the job of jobs in front of me, and of course I am racking my brain trying to come up with a way to get help...threats, bribery, begging....there's no shame in this game.

I will have 22 five year old helpers in a short matter of time, so I made a huge list of potential jobs for my job chart. I use a pocket chart with their names. In front of their name is their job, and behind their name is their Trojan G.O.L.D (tokens for our school wide Positive Behavior System).  Kills three birds with one stone and changes out super easy. Click HERE to get this UPDATED freebie.

I would not suggest introducing all these at once, but slowly. I just made a whole bunch because I really don't know what I'm going to need. :)

If you think of a job that's not listed, let me know!

How to Make a Valentine AND a Friend!

 

I have no input on how to get a valentine date or what to buy for valentine's gifts...but I do know a little about how to make a valentine. Aren't homemade valentines the best!? We were focusing on informational writing so I had my students write a procedural "how to" story...write it like a first grader who has never, ever made a valentine is going to read it and make a valentine.

We talked about sequence words, the sequence of the procedure, transitioning from one step to another, and being descriptive in our directions. We can't just say "cut out a heart", we have to describe HOW to cut out a heart. It really got their gears turning!

They worked VERY hard on this project, and their reward was joining up with a first grade class, making valentines with them, and giving the valentines to a local radio station to give to kids who need a little extra love on valentine's day. They worked so well with their first grade friends, and on the walk back to class they were already thinking of "directions" we could write for a St. Patrick's day project with our new little buddies. My students have such big hearts!

Here is a graphic organizer to help with this project.

powerful , printable, quotes

Lettering Delights (major love) is having a dollar days sale, but they have a lot of stuff for FREE! Here is a set of free quotes/posters perfect for the classroom, or for the teacher ;)

Fact/Opinion and ROLL TIDE!

 

Being in the SEC and being an Alabama gal teaching and living and Georgia, football is the current hot topic in my classroom. I introduced fact and opinion on Friday with a fun powerpoint I found for free on TpT that focuses on High School Musical. They were so motivated and giggled the whole way through the presentation. It encouraged me to use more topics that my students are interested in.

The nice part about this, is I secretly get to try to indoctrinate my Georgia Bulldawg students into a Crimson Tide way of thinking  <<insert evil cackle>>. It's a freebie you are welcome to, please say thank you by posting a big ROLL TIDE in the comments..even if it hurts a little ;) Link to file.