Vacation Note

 

7.2.08: Just a note to let everyone know that I'm taking some R & R out of town on summer holiday.  I am taking a break from website building and responding to website questions.    I will be return on Aug. 15th.

Mrs. Meacham is Back

 
http://www.jmeacham.com/ 

 

Teach Time Tech-Style

http://www.time-for-time.com/swf/myclox.swf

 

Follow this link for a cool way to teach time!

Math Games & Activities

http://www.mathwire.com/standards/standards.html

Mathwire.com | Math Standards via kwout

 

Dolch Sight Word Program

 

Foss Web Science Masters

 

There is a wealth of information on the FossWeb website - www.fossweb.com, and a link to the duplication masters for the K-2 modules are linked below as well as on the Science page and the Class Books page.  3-5 masters are there, too, as well other resources and links to the computer games available online.

 

Duplication Masters for Foss Science Units

Summer Reading List

Due to high demand, I have created summer reading lists for the parents and students in my classroom.    I wrote parents a note and included links to a summer reading list which I created on Scholastic Book Wizard.com, and you can create, too, as well as a summer reading list for Rising 1st Graders exiting Kindergarten who will be entering first grade in the fall.    You can read the full note and access the lists on the homepage of my parent/classroom website at

www.hellomrsjones.com

 

Fullscreen Timer

http://www.online-stopwatch.com/eggtimer-countdown/

Online Egg Timer via kwout

If you're a teacher that uses an LCD projector in your classroom, and use an overhead countdown timer, this is the same thing, and free.  Try it, it's easy.  Great for presentations and workshops!

 

Number Fluency Website

http://www.superkids.com/aweb/tools/math/

SuperKids Math Worksheet Creator via kwout

 

For the last 25 days of school, we will be working diligently on number fluency.   This is a great website that allows you to create math worksheets ideal for number fluency assessments, aka, timed tests.   What I do is a create file folders labeled +0, +1, +2, +3, +4 and +5.   Since the second grade benchmark is 10 problems in a minutes, the students will get 2 1/2 minutes for the 25 problems.   They must pass +0 before moving onto +1.  

 

ABC Art Book

Abbey's ABC Art Book

 

Chicken Sunday

Chicken Sunday by Patricia Polacco is the new book for which I have written an Enrichment contract.   During the first and second reading of the book, before I give them the contract, the students are practicing the comprehension techniques of Reciprocal Teaching: Questioning, Clarifying, Summarizing & Predicting with each other per page.    The sheets will be posted tomorrow. 

Responding to Math

 

With the CGI Math Journal, I've started to do a lot more writing during math time this year, Marilyn Burns has talked about it for years and there is so much research to support higher order question stems along with text based classroom discussions.     The first one I created was for the book, Jim and the Beanstalk, a fiction story with a mathematical twist.    Read it to your class, discuss the questions together (which is not an easy first grade skill-discussion) then send children on their way to respond in writing.   You will be amazed, shocked, disgusted, all of it, and what they can do, can't do and what you thought they understood about measurement.      Click here for the response sheet.   The lines are made with the font, Primary Lined. 

New from ReadWriteThink

 

Family Math Challenge

 

 

I discovered a website this weekend that I am going to use as homework enrichment.   Every week or two, "Aunty Math" writes a math challenge for students to solve.   So, I created a Family Challenge Recording Sheet, originally created by Amy Swan, to conduct the problems.   The website can be found below.  I also have a link on the Parent Connections page.  Thanks Amy, the great idea of linking home enrichment with a great math site. 

 

 

 

Science Notebook Sample

 

100 Ways to Praise

For teachers to use with students

For students to use with students

For parents to use with students

For students to use with teachers

For students to use with parents

 

Click here for 100 Ways to Praise Sheet

 

Games for Cognitive Skills

Click here to find games on the market to improve cognitive skills like Auditory Discrimination, Processing, Divided Attention, Short-Term Memory, etc.   These games/skill matrix is provided by Learning Rx.

Science Writing Resources

Found this on the Internet today - we don't use GEMS science kits, but the topics are very similiar to FOSS and Carolina Science. 

 

Science Prompts and Quick Writes

Open Court Resources

 

As Requested...an Updates Page

http://fun2teachandlearn.googlepages.com/updates

As I update my website, I will post them on the Updates page.

 

Phonics Site

Fun with Letters was voted the 3rd best phonics website on the Internet by the Int. Reading Assoc.   Check it out.    Or, click here to read IRA article about phonics websites.

 

http://www.meddybemps.com/letterary/index.html

Fun with Letters via kwout

 

Readers Response Log Pictures

Reading Response Logs

 

I took some pictures from my students' Readers Workshop Reading Response Logs today to give some insight into the different ways to respond to text related to the comprehension strategies.   I spent a bit of time up front modeling different thinking maps and charts that could be used, vs. running of sheets of blank responses sheets - I would rather teach them how to create it IN their logs so they know why they are using one over another depending on the text, the strategy and the purpose of the response. 

 

Spell with Flickr

        Make any words using fun letters at Spell with Flickr

 

 hBead Letter ELLO

Kindergarten Class Blog

 

Mrs. Gamache's Kinderkids

 

Thinking of starting a class blog?  This one is inspirational. I like it because it features all the lastest free technology available for use in the classroom including:

www.weebly.com

www.voicethread.com

www.bubbleshare.com

 www.podomatic.com

Phonological Awareness 

I've added a PA link on my Literacy and Language page that is full of free lessons and activities, resources and research.  

New Mathematics Standards - NCSCOS

 

The state of North Carolina has revised the K-12 goals and objectives stated on the Standard Course of Study for Mathematics. 

The primary difference in the 2008 revision of the North Carolina Standard Course of Study is not the addition of new objectives, but the increased depth and complexity of the objectives.  In addition, a problem-solving strand has been added to the K-8 standards.  The problem-solving strand illustrates the connections among mathematical ideas and illuminates the reasoning and communication skills necessary for success in the 21st century. 

 

Mathematics SCOS

Classroom Snapshots

Click to play Classroom Snapshots
Create your own slideshow - Powered by Smilebox
Make a slideshow - it's easy!

 

Scholastic's New Leveling Site

I recently emailed the customer service department at Scholastic out of frustration because I could not find the levels of many of their own books listed on thier book orders, and I was happy to find out they have a new link just for teachers who are looking for book levels.  It's easy to use and can be found here:

 

Scholastic's Book Wizard

 

Scholastic Book Wizard Audio Tour

Valentines Day Scrapbook

Click to play Valentines Day
Create your own scrapbook - Powered by Smilebox
Make a scrapbook - it's easy!

 

Curriculum Maps

The monthly curriculum maps located on the Teacher Planning page are the contribution of the entire first grade team at my school.  We created them this year to help the five of us stay organized and on the same page.  We have several sets of twins and a set of triplets in first grade this year, so want parents to know that all are children are receiving the same curriculum at or around the same time. 

 

Monthly Homework Calendars 

Beginning this February we did away with weekly (low level thinking) worksheets for homework and began a new form of homework - a monthly homework calendar.    In an attempt to design more relevant, meaningful, higher level thinking homework, save paper and give families more of a "pick and choose" style of completing homework, in one week, it's received rave reviews.  Check it out on the Homework page.

Classroom Photos Added

 

Read-Alouds Online

I stumbled across this one tonight while searching for an activity to go with A Bad Case of Stripes.   It's at:

 

www.storylineonline.net

 

It takes a minute or two to load, but it's streaming video of SAG actors reading children's literature.  There are great downloadable pdf activity guide to go with each story.    Check it out!

 

Science Notebooks

Beginning in January, we will start our next science unit, Solids and Liquids.  This kit from STC, is a hands-on, inquiry based science unit that not only teaches science content but thinking process skills with cooperative learning and scientific investigations.   The Solids and Liquids cover is on the Class Books page.   More pictoral examples of science notebooks can be found at www.sciencenotebooks.org.

Class Books

 

Well, the website is not new, but this gal has some great stuff on her site.   I haven't even had a chance to really dive into, but the page that I love is the Book It page on the Teacher link.   There are at least 20 different ideas here for having your students turn their writing into wondeful books.    Check it out here!

Permission to Reproduce-updated

I have absolutely no problem with you downloading, using and reproducing documents I have created and published on my website for use in your classroom.  If you have a website, and use a document, link to a document or use it to get ideas to create your own document,  give credit to the creator of the document and the site of the original source.  If you, however, "copy" or "borrow" a document created by someone else, and call it your own, that's plagiarism.

 

Snippets Poems

Posted 11.1.07 - As we begin the strategy instruction for Visualizing and follow the Debbie Miller book, she refers to the poems from Charlotte Zolotow's book, Snippets, but the book is out of print.   I wrote to Charlotte last year and her granddaughter wrote me back and told me how to get a copy of it.    However, I have re-typed the four poems here that Debbie uses with her class.    The link in on the Literacy page or you can click here.

Website Info.

I hope you check back to my website often because I am constantly adding things.   And please email me if any questions. 

 

Please click on the links to the left to find documents, pictures and web links to in each subject area.     Please feel free to email me with any questions, I may not reply right away, but I will try my best. 

Also, a lot of my documents I have converted to pdf's because I use my own fonts that I have bought or downloaded from the Internet.   If you don't have the exact font that is in the document, and you open it as a Word doc, the text will most likely be jumbled and in your computer's default font, like Courier, or something plain.    So, I try to use pdf's as much as possible.  If I have it saved as Word doc., I will put it there, too, if it's not listed, just a pdf, then I don't have it the doc. version.   

 

Free Products from Vista Print

Click here to view the free products I just ordered from Vista Print.  There are usually 5-6 free products each month, all you pay is shipping.   It's a great deal and they are professional. 

Website Builder

If you were like me, you wanted a create a website site, but didn't know how to make one.   Then I found this site called Google Page Creator at www.pages.google.com

It's free and drop dead easy.   After creating my website, I then went to www.godaddy.com and bought a domain name for about $7.00 a year.   It was that simple.  

Another free website host that seems to look neat and easy to use is at www.weebly.com.   I am not going to switch mine over to it, but the layouts are a little more colorful, and there are a few more options for design elements, that's about all I know - and it's free.  

pdf 

 You, too, can convert any document to a pdf yourself, free, without buying an adobe writer program.  If you don't mind a 5 second ad, that's all there is to it.   Free to download at pdf995.  You need to download both the free pdf995 Printer Driver and the free Converter, takes about 2 minutes.  Have fun pdf-ing away!

Fonts

Speaking of fonts, if you like the fonts I use, you can purchase or find them on the Internet.    Here are some links to fonts:

 

Creative Lettering Combo CD

 

Lettering Delights

 

Provo Craft Hug Club

 

DJ Inkers

 

Free Thematic Fonts - (click through the ads)

 

Free Fonts for Kids

 

Font Freak website

 

Cool Text Fonts

 

 

Clip Art

Most of the clipart used on my site is from www.pccrafter.com.   They do have freebies, including the cute bugs at the top of this page, so check it out and grab some of this Lollie and Friends clipart for yourself, or join the clipart club and download tons of cute stuff for about $5.00 a month.  

 

Parent Website

 Please feel free to take a look at my other website, that is just for parents of students in my classroom, it's at www.hellomrsjones.com.

 

 

 

 

Swift Creek Elementary

 

 

Swift Creek Elementary is a North Carolina School of Excellence

and a Professional Learning Community (PLC)

Swift Creek Elementary Website