Addition Rock Stars

My students were struggling (and I mean struggling) with their basic addition facts. It was to the point where I would ask a quick addition fact and I had 2 blurters and 17 blank faces. (Ya feel me?!?) I knew I had to do something to get them excited and get them motivated to learn their facts...and FAST! Hello, they can't go to 2nd grade not knowing their addition facts! YIKES!!! 

So, my kids (along with all Bieber lovin' kiddos) LOVE to sing, dance, and "shake it like Beyonce" as we say in our room. Not to mention, they all think they are the next big Rock Star...so they were my inspiration for this unit! I mean, why crush their dreams?!? If they want to be Rock Stars, I'm going to let them be! {Even if it is under false pretenses!!} 

Ever since we began Addition Rock Stars my students have been begging to practice their math facts (and to tell me how long they practiced them each night)!! Makes my heart smile! 

Here is how it all started. I knew that the ONLY way to get this to work was to get a buy in from the parental units. So, my AMAZING Title 1 Faciliator and I developed a Parent Workshop and invited all the parents and the kids in after school. (So I sent home a flyer with the title "FREE BOOKS AND FLASHCARDS!" Anything FREE brings them in...well that would bring anyone in!) At the workshop I gave them the hard DATA about addition, the importance of practicing facts each night and how addition is the foundation for all things math. It was basically the "BIRDS and the BEES about ADDITION." 

Parent buy in....check! 

Next up was the student buy in. I put the bulletin board up that is complete with inflatable guitars and microphones. "MISS LANE....WHAT IS THIS?!?!?!?!?!?!" They all begged. I told them that if they practiced their facts then I would put their picture up and they would be Rock Stars.

Student buy in....check! 

First week of the unit...Strep throat HITS our class and hard. I was out for an ENTIRE week. (Well I came to school on Wednesday but was sent to the nurse and sent home!) I had an average of 8 students out per day. YUCK. So we postponed. More time for them to learn the FACTS! 

Finally, the Level 1 Assessment Day was HERE. The kids were so excited. I prayed for NO TEARS. I prayed for 100's. I prayed that I would have enough buttons. I prayed that they practiced! Well, PTL because my prayers were answered!!!! I had 13 out of 19 pass the first level on the first try! WHOOOP! Those nuggets were so proud to wear their buttons and parade around school like ROCK STARS. 

The next week, I had 11 out of 16 pass the second level (we had a few sick nuggets that day). Now, EVERYONE'S picture is on the board. So, when they make a 100 after Level 1, they add a star with the date on it. I'm thinking parents will love to add this to their scrapbooks! 

Here are some pictures of my nuggets, I mean ROCK STARS in ACTION!

I put all of the resources I am using into one packet just for you! This is the perfect too to get your kiddos moving in the right direction! Inside this unit you will find everything you need to create your own addition rock stars! The unit is up and ready for you in my TpT shop and it's ON SALE for tonight and tomorrow! 

I really want to give away this unit, so enter below for a chance to win!! I will announce the winners on Wednesday!!!! 


a Rafflecopter giveaway


I hope everyone has a great Sunday. 4 MORE DAYS until SPRING BREAK!!!!!!

Resolutions and Camp Lane

I am so happy that Amanda over at Teaching Maddeness is having a New School Year Resolutions linky party! With moving to a new school and starting a new year has really allowed me some reflection time! (All I can think of when I say reflection are all those reflection papers in Grad School!) So after careful thought here are my resolutions...

Resolution 1: Don't Sweat the Small Stuff

Ok, sometimes it is NOT that serious. I tend to take things way to personal and care about what others think. So as long as I'm doing what is best for my little nuggets and giving it 110% then I will be happy and won't stress!

Resolution 2: Use my time more wisely (aka QUIT CHIT CHATTING!)

Y'all...I could talk to a brick wall. Seriously, I love to talk. Sometimes if I'm home alone with Rudy I will talk to him (embarrassing I know...). I love getting to know people I work with and chit chatting with them before school, during planning, recess, and even after school. I have stayed at school until at least 5 or 6 just chatting with others! As much as I love talking to more co-workers I need to work hard this year on getting comfortable in my school and being able to go home at a reasonable hour! I have a puppy I need to take care of now, oh, and Nick, too! I want to be able to spend quality time at home with them, not working on school work =).

Resolution 3: Work Ahead of Schedule

This was something my teammate really helped me with last year. I was the QUEEN of procrastination. I think I've worked my way down to "Princess Procrastinator." I have already started on lesson plans (which usually I was throwing together like a day before school started!) and finished my long range plans.

I think I'm going to keep it at three reasonable, very do-able resolutions. I'll let ya know in November how these are working out! =)

TOMORROW I can finally get into my NEW classroom and get to work! I have a stockpile of things that I need to take in to the hot mess that is my room right now and tackle it! I'm hoping that 3 straight days of 8-5 with no break will get it done and allow me to enjoy my week away with Nick at the beach. He's been planning this for awhile and his job is stressful so he's in need of some serious R&R. Let's hope I can relax, too!

I wanted to share some pictures from "Camp Lane." I was so sad to pack up all my camping gear (NOTE: I DESPISE actually camping but I love the cuteness of it in the classroom!) and say goodbye to that classroom!

A Few Extra Pics...

Reading Tent and Math Manipulatives

One of my best friends painted the Totally Terrific Work Pond and Word Woods Tree! 

My desk area next to Camp Reading Tent and Vocabulary Picnic Bulletin Board

Ok, time to get everything together to and relax before I turn into "Hurrican Sarah" tomorrow! 

Don't forget to stop by my TpT store today. It's the last day of July and the last day of 20% off EVERYTHING! 

Star Student, eBooks and My First Linky Party

Hello Friends! I am finally back from a LONG hiatus from blogging! This has been a crazy few weeks that included a mini-vaca to the beach (soo fun!) and some trips to visit the sweet little girl I nanny for in the hospital (she's ok now, thank goodness!) and keeping her sisters while the parents spent countless hours in the Children's hospital. Needless to say, they have taken up much of my time that I was more than happy and willing to give them!

However, I'm back and FULL of ideas, new resources, and some new anxieties! Does anyone else get really anxious at this point in July... too much to do, too much to think, not too much time left! Time to get crackin'! Ok, here goes my randomness of ideas from the past few weeks!

Star of the Week Unit

The past few years I have used a "Camper of the Week" for my student of the week. Well, this year, that won't work! So, I changed everything to just "Star of the Week!" I figured this would be the most generic and easiest to use so I won't have to change it each time I change themes. (One of my new mottos's: Work Smarter, Not Harder!)

I have finally added Star of the Week to my TpT store! You can pick it up there to jazz up your "Star of the Week!" It has different certificates, signs and parent letters to choose from! I have even added some black & white choices since I will be on a tight color printing budget this year!

I have new love...Teacher's Notebook! I know, I know, I've been living under a ROCK! I have added tis unit to my Teacher's Notebook store. I am working today to add some more items to the store for you to check out! 

eBooks!

I went to this awesome training on eBooks the other morning! I want to share some amazing FREE resources that I learned about in this class. Before you read this, everyone has feelings about eBooks. I think that eBooks are a great resource to use in the classroom, especially for read alouds (now everyone can see if it's project on the interactive white board!) but NOTHING can ever replace an actual book! eBooks are just another way to engaging and immersing students in literature! 

Storyline Online 

This awesome site features your FAVORITE read alouds by some awesome celebs, including BETTY WHITE! (Takes me back to watching Golden Girls with my Grandma! :)) These books open in You Tube and you can play for your students. 

Pixle of Ink 

This AMAZING blog give you the daily deals for eBooks for your Kindle, iPad, Nook, etc! Sign up for the daily e-mail or facebook message to find bargains (and free) books for you and your kiddos. 

*They had different blogs for each level (adult, children) and the children's blog is broken down into age groups! 

We Give Books

This is my new favorite site! This is brought to you from Pearson Publishers. On this site, you can download and read the book on your computer or tablet. This site has different literacy campaigns and for each book you read, Pearson will donate to the campaign of your choice! This is a great way to promote giving back and literacy all in one! I smell a service project for my little nuggets. I'm thinking this year we will create a weekly/monthly goal of books to read and donate! 

Project Gutenburg

These books have been scanned by volunteers for Project Gutenburg. These are thousands of books that are available for FREE! 

Linky Party

With all these wonderful eBook resources out there, it made me wonder (this is dangerous!) what other eBook resources are out there! With the popularity of interactive white boards and tablets in the classroom, I want to know how you use eBooks in your classroom and where you download them from! So I am joining the linky party craze at The Ultimate Linky Party hosted by Teaching Blog Addict and hosting my own PAR-TAY! Join in on the eBook fun!

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A Little Dose of Economics

Happy First Day of Summer! Even though my summer really started June 7th! I wanted to share one of my favorite units that I have taught in my three years. This year the district I was teaching is started our focus on Project Based Learning, so my teammate and I decided that our First Grade Economics Unit would be a great place to experiment with some PBL. I was so happy how well my students did with their projects. Here's the breakdown of how the unit worked in my classroom!

Week 1
LOTS of front-loading with Smartboard Lessons and thinking maps. (FYI: I am HUGE on thinking maps and have seen amazing results from using them in every content area!) We discussed and analyzed the basic needs of humans, compared and contrasted needs vs. wants, goods vs. services, and finally consumers vs. producers. We even included a few BrainPOP videos after our lessons to solidify and review our new material! The kids ate up the material and loved learning the new information. But...they were ready to get their hands busy! On Friday, the kiddos shared the results from the person they interviewed about family economics. It was so precious to hear the students discuss how their parents make decisions and explain what their real families wants and needs are! (The kiddos discussed how they didn't need all the toys from the toy aisle and they need groceries more...hopefully this stuck that weekend when they made their way to the store with the parents....)


Week 2
The second week brought a little bit more front-loading to determine why and how to save money and to also evaluate the best ways to make a family function economically. Once the students were STUFFED FULL of knowledge they were ready to APPLY what we had been learning. The students were put into groups of 3 to make their "First Grade Family." We brainstormed a list of ways to earn money in first grade (so their family could earn an income) and then determined the value of the service. Within the family, they had a checklist of what was expected of them from their project.

Their task - create a product and market it! They created a  product that was either a good or a service that would meet the needs and wants of their consumers. They were SO excited to be the producers. After they brainstormed their ideas, they worked together to use materials they needed to create their products. Once their product was complete, they designed a poster to display in their "store."


PROJECT DAY
The day was finally here for my class to sell their products to the other first grade class. (They were working on the same unit!) The little nuggets did a wonderful job explaining their product (like a mini-commercial) and marketing them to meet their consumers wants and needs. The students made jewelry, lemonade, lollipop bundles, bookmarks, and magnets. After our class was finished selling their products, we took a little field trip to the other first grade classroom and took on the role of consumer. The "families" worked together to make decisions on what to buy based on how much money they had saved. What a great, hands-on project! Everyone worked so well together and I was SO impressed by the conversations I overheard about decision making!

After our busy day of buying and selling, we took some time to reflect on the choices they made in the store. The students worked together to discuss and evaluate their purchases and their decision making.

Take a look at the students in ACTION! 

Buying/Selling Lemonade

Their Magnificent Magnet Store

Explaining their Luscious Lollipop Store (a BIG WANT!)

I'm not sure who loved this more...me or the kiddos! If you like what you see, you can head over to my TpT Store to purchase this unit! Please comment below, I would LOVE to hear how you incorporate PBL in your classroom! 

Happy Teaching SUMMER!