Wednesday, August 20, 2014

Back to School Math Freebie

Well we have made it through our first two days of school!  This afternoon we were looking for a math center that the students could do on their own and decided to make a Back to School Roll, Add, and Color worksheet.  We are going to use it with our 1st graders tomorrow.  We found some great large foam dice at the 99 cents only store to go with this math activity but any dice will work!  If you want it you can grab it here!  Hope it makes your day a little easier!

Thursday, August 14, 2014

Classroom Book Freebie

Thank you so much for stopping by. We have been busy getting ready to start school. Just a few more days.  If You Take a Mouse to School by Laura Numeroff is just one of the many books throughout the year that I read to my students and use to create our "class edition". We have a great set for sale on our TPT for Back to School that are definite read aloud favorites for those first few weeks while everyone is getting to know each other. 

If you would like to download this freebie please follow us, click on the image, and have fun making a class book with your students. 

We would love to hear back from you when you do the activity in your classroom. Or even better, share with us in the comments what your favorite book is to read aloud those first weeks Back to School!
Grab this freebie HERE!


Another one of my favorite books to read those first days back is First Day Jitters  by Julie Danneberg. Along with the story and classroom book, I make a batch of "Jitter Juice" for the students to sip to help them get rid of all those butterflies. They absolutely love the story and the the treat. Works Every Time!! I have found it is the perfect way to get their minds off of their parents and the tears that seem to show up those first days in Kindergarten. Helps them disappear like magic. I use a recipe of my grandmother's "Momma Myrl's Bubbly". The trick is to use ginger ale and lime sherbert. Sounds interesting...but delicious!




Wednesday, August 13, 2014

A New Journal Idea!

If you are like us you can't stand having your students write on newsprint.  It looks messy, rips easily, and is the wrong size to bind into a journal.  We have always photocopied paper and then bound it into a writing journal!  This year we found another way to create fabulous writing journals!  We found these primary writing journals at the 99 cents only store!  They have 160 pages and a place for our students to illustrate their writing.  They also have an alphabet printing guide on the inside cover.  We didn't like the covers so we covered them with contact paper.  It was really easy!! We cut the paper to 9 1/2" by  6 1/2" and covered only the cover so our students could use the printing guide if necessary.  We are using these journals for our Weekend News so we printed some "Weekend News" labels and our journals were complete!

Saturday, August 2, 2014

Back to School Freebie

We have been spending most of our time at the beach, lounging in the sun, but we finally finished our Daily Language Practice for first grade!  To celebrate we wanted to give you this freebie! This freebie (only available on our blog) is a sample of our Daily Language Practice.  Days 3-5 are included in this freebie and you can grab it here.  To get the rest of the first week for free click here or visit our TPT Store.  If you like the freebie, we have days 1-45 in our Daily Language Practice Packet #1 for purchase. You can visit our TPT Store: www.teacherspayteachers.com/store/malibu-mutts-kthru2inmalibu or click here

First Grade Daily Language Practice is a short, daily, language instruction and review.  We like to bind the pages into a journal and have the students keep them in their desks.  Another way to use it  is to send pages home daily or copy a 5 day packet and send it home weekly with corrections. 

We use these journals as part of our daily independent center work.  At the beginning of the year, we spend time teaching our students in a whole group how to use the journal.  We teach them proper editing marks and show them the correct way to re-write the sentences for the “Fix the Sentence” section. 

This journal is aligned with the Common Core Standards and becomes more challenging as the year progresses. It is a fantastic way to engage your students in practice and ensure that you are meeting the standards. We have included an answer key for each day! 


We have broken the 180 days into 4 different packets.  Packets 2-4 should be up  by the end of September.