Hooo-Ray for the 100th day!

When is your 100th day of school?  With all of our snow days, I don't know if ours will ever get here!  Right now it looks like it will be late February, but I am already planning.  This is one of my favorite days in first grade!

Each year I try to find new activities for the 100th day of school.  Last year we made these adorable 100th day crowns.  It is so much fun for them to see how much they have learned.  You can pick up my freebie for these crowns at my TPT store and read more about it on my blog post from last year.

 This year, I am hoping to try out the 100th day Superhero capes.  I can't wait.  The look so cute!  Have you seen them?  I will post pictures of ours when they are finished.

I am always on the lookout for new ideas so this is the subject of my new freebie linky.  If you have a 100th day blog post or freebie, be sure to link it up in my new linky below!  Just click on the picture.  Maybe you will find lots of great ideas too!!

Fluency Folders for the Littles

Today you will definitely want to take a trip over to Literacy Land because yours truly is sharing a fun post all about adapting fluency folders for the littles!

I am finding this strategy as one of the most beneficial for my firsties in the "fluency driven world".  It seems that so many assessments are based on fluency these days.  So many administrators expect these fluency assessments to be what drives instruction.  Is fluency important?  DEFINITELY!  But it is also a VERY difficult skill for firsties, when we are still learning basic decoding strategies.  However, I found a way to build fluency and make it beneficial for my kids.  And they actually LIKE doing it!

Want to know my secret?  Head over there now!

Winter Spot and Jot

I finally have my Winter Spot and Jot finished and posted!!  Woo hoo!

This activity is similar to the I Spy activities out there, but has a little twist.  I have 4 different fun ways to record your answers!

These activities are great for centers.  I have three sets available to you, each containing 100 words!  They cover the first 300 words on Fry's sight word list.

Plus, if you would prefer to get all three, you can check out the BUNDLE version of it at a discount!

You can click on each of the pictures below to check out each of these fun packs.

Each of these activities are 50% off in my TPT store until tomorrow night at 8:00.  

I hope that your students love these activities as much as mine do!

Number Puzzles

Today I wanted to share with you my number sense puzzles. I created these for my kids to use during math centers.  There are two different types of puzzles to practice putting numbers in order to 100.

The first is simply a 100 piece puzzle that I picked up from the Dollar Tree.  I actually got a few puzzles for this center.  When the puzzle was together, I flipped it over and numbered each piece 1-100 on the back.  The puzzles I got are conveniently 10x10 so it looks just like a 100s chart!  Now, when the students are in math centers they can pull a puzzle and try to complete the puzzle by only looking at the numbers on the back.  When they flip it over, they get to see the completed picture!

The second set of puzzles are hundreds charts that I cut into several different "puzzle" pieces.  The kids have to put the hundreds chart back together in the correct order.  It forces them to think about where the numbers go in relation to each other.

With each of these puzzle centers, it is so interesting to see how my students' minds work.  To see the way they begin with one and work their way across the whole first row of numbers before they realize that they can make connections going down the chart as well. With many students it takes them a long time to get that first puzzle.  But once they get it, the "get it."  They learn to sort through every other puzzle that much faster.  They learn to recognize the patterns within the hundreds chart and the relationship among the numbers.  It is a great learning tool!

How do you like to teach number sense to your students?

Literacy Land

Have you been over to our new blog yet? 

There are 20 of us, all specializing in literacy, ready to share a variety of resources and materials with you!  If you follow us this week and enter your email into our rafflecopter, you will receive an exclusive pack of literacy freebies from us!  You don't want to miss this opportunity.  Materials range K-5 with some middle school grades and bloggers are coming to you with over 200 years combined experience!  Plus, by entering the rafflecopter, you will have the opportunity to win one of FOUR $25 TPT gift cards!

You can also check out our Facebook page here!

By following and entering, you will get the opportunity to receive my exclusive freebie, my phoneme segmentation pack.  This pack is just a small sample of one of my larger packs available in my store. 

It includes lots of great resources for students to practice phoneme segmenting: push, say, and sort, graphing, and fluency!

Trading Spaces Tuesday

Hi!  It 's Andrea from Reading Toward the Stars!

It is another edition of Trading Spaces Tuesday, and I am excited to be hanging out with Jessica, a fellow Virginia blogger, from Hanging Out in First!


Not too long ago, I was reading a book with a funny word in it, and I had to laugh ~ logographic print.  What is that?  It is just a fancy word for environmental print.  Some of the first reading that children do is from the world around them.  I remember the first time my son realized what was around him.  He saw a sign for Hardee's and said "Eat some!"  He was only 18 months old, but he knew that the sign meant it was a place to eat.  Wow!  Children are such sponges.

When my kindergarteners come to me, many of them have not been to preschool nor have they seen words at all.  BUT, they have seen the world around them. How many kids know what the "golden arches" mean?  They all know it means McDonald's, right?!  When we go to Target, they know that the bullseye means Target.  It is amazing how much children know!

Therefore, it is important that we build on our students' knowledge as we get them.  By using logographic print (I love that word!), we can build up students' confidence.  This helps them to feel comfortable with reading as they progress.

So, as I start out my year with my kindergarteners and first graders, I  have created and played two games to help with environmental print.  One is called "Where Shall We Eat?" which focuses on restaurants.  The other is "Shop 'Til You Drop" and focuses on places to shop.  The games include the game boards and cards.  For "Shop 'Til You Drop" you may want to print two copies of the cards or just reuse the cards.

And for stopping by, you can grab it for free.  My students had a lot of fun playing it too!  Just click on the image below to grab your copy!

Thank you, Jessica, for letting me "hang out" with you today!  Em from Curious Firsties is back at my blog today with some fun information on helping students understand they are writers through writing celebrations.

Also, don't forget to head over to Adventures in Literacy Land to meet four of the authors and enter for your prize pack!  You don't want to miss it!

Your Adventure is Awaiting!

It's here.  It's here.  It's finally here!  It's been over two months in the making, but today we announce the launch of our new literacy blog…

Twenty bloggers with a specific interest in literacy (reading specialists, reading coaches, literature teachers, etc.) have joined together in this effort.  I'm so excited to reveal the authors!

• Amy from Eclectic Educating
• Andrea from Reading Toward the Stars
• Bex from Reading Writing Read Head
• Carla from Comprehension Connection
• Colleen from The Rungs of Reading
• Deniece from This Little Piggy Reads
• Em from Curious Firsties
• Emily from The Reading Tutor/OG
• Erin from I'm Lovin' Lit
• Jana from Thinking Out Loud
• Jennie from JD's Rockin' Readers
• Jenny from Luckeyfrog's Lilypad
• Jessica from Hangin Out in First
• Kylie from Ripper Reading Resources
• Lauren from Teacher Mom of Three
• Lori from Conversations in Literacy
• Melissa from Don't Let the Teacher Stay Up Late
• Stacy from The Rungs of Reading
• Wendy from Read With Me ABC
• Wendy from Ms. D's Literacy Lab

This group represents more than 250 years of teaching experience in the field of literacy.  We plan to share information on the best practices in literacy, keep you abreast of current trends, and provide you with excellent teaching resources.

Stop by Adventures in Literacy Land each day this week to meet the authors of this blog and read their introductory posts.  Be sure to enter the Bog Launch Giveaway for a chance to win one of four $25 Teachers Pay Teachers gift certificates.

EVERYONE who enters will win an exclusive prize pack.  Please join us on this new journey!