Five for "Friday": Shamrocks, Interactive, & More!

Well, it was Friday a few hours ago!

I'm linking up with Kacey for a recap of my week!

5. 

My first-ever Donor's Choose project was fully funded this week!!!

AND the first shipment arrived two days later!

What did I request? Since my students' needs require customized materials to maximize learning, I go through cardstock, laminate, and ink like it's going out of style. I also ♥ chubby pencils for little learners. This project is specifically intended for creating independent math stations, so I also requested a life-time supply of pom-poms (best math manipulative EVER) and a Common Core 1st Grade Math resource book. Thank you so much to my generous donors and Donor's Choose for helping teachers support their students!

4. 

Above are some snapshots of the awesomeness that is "Power Hour." It's not actually one hour, but instead 45 minutes of reading intervention. The first picture is actually a corner of an empty classroom we turned into an intervention space for pull-out sessions. This corner is for my first grade small groups and if I spanned the rest of the room, you would see other "corner classrooms" set up. I'm thankful for this space this year...previously I've taught in closets, hallways, & the cafeteria!

3.

The picture above is a sample from a HUGE LIFE-SAVER activity I purchased from Little Giraffes! Somehow Ms. G has magically visited my small groups and knows exactly what they need. The entire pack coordinates with each other, so I was able to print out all of it and assemble a phonics scope & sequence. I only wish I had found this TPT Treasure sooner!

2. 

I brought out the Shamrock Sentence Builders this week. Yes, I know it was early, but I really need March to arrive in a hurry! All of my sentence builders packs include two activities: 

Wipe & Read sentence cards with HFW & picture supports

and

Scrambled Sentence Builders (5 sets)

There's also writing paper options, or a wipe board works, too!

I use these seasonal/holiday sets in my small groups and/or as independent stations. I usually have half of the group doing one the Wipe & Read while the other half works on the Scrambled Sentences Builders, then we switch. My students ♥ working on these!  Here's a preview of the set I'm using now:

Each themed set is only $2.50 and lasts a minimum of one month. Just print, cut, and you're set!

1. 

Interactive Notebooks!

O.M.G. - I'm in total awe of all of you who implement interactive notebooks! I'm so intrigued by these creative activities! Unfortunately, I haven't really used them because time is SO extremely precious for my little friends - the majority of my students are still below grade-level and already missing crucial classroom time for related services. We need every spare moment to work on essential learning. However, I know in my heart these application activities are developmentally appropriate and also lend themselves for assessment of their learning. I've been trying to find a solution and this week I gave it a shot! I found a tiny pocket of time on Fridays when I can meet with a small group to review/reteach the week's skills. If we're all caught up on assessments, I will be using this time for some type of 

interactive "project." 

This week, we started place value in the general education curriculum. I selected From The Pond's "Show Me the Number" interactive booklet to assess how my students were understanding the concept.

(BTW, another true TPT Treasure.

I highly recommend this product!)

Here's how it turned out!

LOL, that's what our table looked like when we had to stop and line up for lunch! Although the above scene made me cringe, here's what my students were saying throughout the activity:

"I love math!" (So do I!)

"Please pass the glue" (manners, yay!)

"This is the best day ever!" (Yes!!!)

Seriously? It was magical mayhem. My students were able to show what they know about place value and what they still need to work on with following directions ;)

Following directions is an important IEP objective this particular group is working on, so this activity really helped support them! Now my job is to figure out a procedural routine to make the implementation time-effective. I went on a purchasing spree at TPT and managed to buy 10+ mega files of interactive notebook activities. I'm going to go through each one to match up with Common Core and our school's scope and sequence for math, phonics, and ELA. I plan on selecting one per week to provide a reteaching "wrap-up" on Fridays. I'm really excited about making this work!!

If you have any amazing ideas to help me implement interactive "notebooks" (we won't actually be using notebooks), please share! My firsties have IEP goals/objectives in early literacy (phonics and comprehension), early math literacy, expressive & receptive language, and occupational therapy. My routines and procedures will be carefully prepared to provide exposure and opportunities to practice these skills, as well as the content area of the project. Thanks in advance for any help you can provide!

Have a super Saturday!