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First Grade Teachers Chatboard

What are your favorite picture books?

by Lisa

Nov 14, 2012

I'm working on a project with picture books, but I own hundreds! I'm trying to prioritize. What are your favorite picture books that you use every year for teaching? I'd love your feedback. Thanks!

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Who handles "accidents" at your school?

by Colleen

Nov 16, 2012

We have a new nurse this year, and she refuses to deal with wet or messy pants. She says this is not a medical issue, and someone else can deal with it. Who takes care of these things at your school?

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Jessie Children who have bathroom accidents were sent to the office where the nurse handled the situation. Parents were called to inform them of the accident, and if emergency clothes were not available the parent was requested to bring them to school and/or to pick up the child. I disagree with your school nurse's statement. The child having the bathroom...See More

Nov 17, 2012

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jo/ma I agree with everything Jessie said. We do exactly the same thing. Unfortunately, we only have a half-time nurse. When no nurse is in the building, we call the parent and ask what they want to do. If the child is also sick, they must go home. If not sick, the parent can either bring clothes, take the child home or allow the child to change themselv...See More

Nov 17, 2012

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IPADS

by ruth

Nov 21, 2012

If you are using IPADS in first grade or wish you could have IPADS in first grade, how would you use them?

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winkie On 11/21/12, ruth wrote: > If you are using IPADS in first grade or wish you could > have IPADS in first grade, how would you use them?

I use them as a center using many of the practice apps for reading and math. The students use the Educreations app to write, then record, themselves reading their word sort words. I also use the came...See More

Nov 24, 2012

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Common Core, Reading Comprehension and Much more

by Dan Hoffman

Nov 24, 2012

This website is updated every day and often twice a day. You will discover many tools and ideas to assist you in teaching. Many videos are presented allowing you to quickly and easily grasp what is in front of you along with examples. If you are using an iPad in your classroom you will find a button to assist you with many apps to support you. The ...See More

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Polar Express activities, links, music, crafts, BEST YET!

by Teachers.Net Gazette

Nov 30, 2012

You will want to bookmark the page linked below. Please share the link far and wide!

[link removed]

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holiday ideas

by roundstanley

Dec 2, 2012

For those of you who have run out of holiday ideas...Scholastic.com has some easy to less-easy activities at [link removed].

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Is teaching any better outside of our county?

by Erica

Dec 5, 2012

My husband just resigned from his teaching job. He was the technology teacher for an elementary school. He got burned out and needed a change. He's not sure if he's 100% burned out with kids or just our school system. He's wondering if other school systems across the country are any different or if he needs to leave teaching completely. Our school ...See MoreMy husband just resigned from his teaching job. He was the technology teacher for an elementary school. He got burned out and needed a change. He's not sure if he's 100% burned out with kids or just our school system. He's wondering if other school systems across the country are any different or if he needs to leave teaching completely. Our school system is a 3 ring circus. It's one of the largest in the country (#32) and it's ridiculous. They need to split it up into several districts, but it's too expensive. We have scandelous affairs on the school board, the buses can't seem to pick up or drop off kids on time, and they can't decide whether schools should be community based or diversity based, so parents are given a choice of what school they want, but then sent somewhere else. Kids here almost never get to stay in the same school that they started kindergarten, because the county is continuously shuffling kids to even out populations. Some kids spend well over an hour on the bus getting to their school across the county. But what my DH hates is that there is no accountability for kids. There are absolutely no consequences allowed for discipline. One of his coworkers got written up for her "tone" with a student. You can't even speak firmly or in a scary voice to a kid. The schools revolve around kids who are failing, so average kids get no attention. And yet, they refuse to retain anyone, so there's no consequence for not doing well in school. You can be absent half the year, not lift a finger to even try to learn, and they'll still promote you. Instead of teaching kids to follow the rules because it's their job, time is wasted on stupid expensive programs to bribe kids into behaving. Parents are well off and can volunteer and help with supplies, but they baby their kids and won't let them make mistakes or hold them accountable for their behavior. I used to be a teacher here too and I got out when my kids were born, but my husband has stuck with it until now. He finally hit his final straw and had to get out, even if it was to work at Walmart. He wants to know if it's any better elsewhere? Maybe in more rural districts? A lot of his coworkers said they were jealous of him for resigning because they want to leave too. Any advice?

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SM On 12/05/12, Erica wrote:

Of course it's better in some places but worse in others - I've taught in the inner city and that poses challenges much greater than what you're describing.

I taught at a charter school for years - it was bliss. Wonderful parents, great kids, super principal, great colleagues -no huge problems for the mo...See More

Dec 5, 2012

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Dec 5, 2012

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Question--no more basal

by R

Dec 6, 2012

I'm a first year first grade teacher looking to move away from using our basal reader in my classroom. We are not required to use it. To those of you out there who do not use a basal series in your classroom, how do you structure your lessons? How do you know where to begin planning, selecting books, and meaningful corresponding activities? Any and...See More

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Carol The first thing you need to do is find out each student’s reading level. Then from there you can group them into groups of 4-6 according to instructional reading level and find the appropriate leveled books to use for guided reading. An excellent place to start is by going to the [link removed]

n 12/06/12, R wrote: > I'm a first year...See More

Dec 6, 2012

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AnneCT Don't throw out your basal. Keep a couple of copies if you can. Some students respond well to that type of approach! Especially keep the scope and sequence pages. Use those to help guide your choices on the web sites mentioned and in the programs mentioned in the other posts. Individualizing for everyone with these programs is difficult until you g...See More

Jan 14, 2013

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MMH Wonders and CCSS Reading Street programs

by mimi lolo

Dec 6, 2012

We are in the process of adopting a new reading series. Does anyone have any input on either MMH Wonders and CCSS Reading Street programs. I know the MMH program is new, but maybe someone is piloting it. I have heard of reading street but don't know anything.

I have seen some of the components but would like to hear the opinions of those ...See More

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Carol I have used Reading Street for Massachusetts and my opinion is that the producers of the program created a curriculum of where they think students “should be” or where they want students to be and developed a series around that philosophy. The problem with that is that the students are not quite “there” and throwing higher levels at them wi...See MoreI have used Reading Street for Massachusetts and my opinion is that the producers of the program created a curriculum of where they think students “should be” or where they want students to be and developed a series around that philosophy. The problem with that is that the students are not quite “there” and throwing higher levels at them without teaching the basics they need leading up to those points just breeds frustration and ineffectiveness. The Reading Street does not have the proper phonics and word work that students at this level need. Their phonics jumps around with no rhyme or reason, and almost void of short vowel words for spelling. The leveled readers are difficult for students to read independently and students are often frustrated when trying to read them. The first grade teachers often borrowed the Kindergarten leveled readers and the second grade teachers borrowed the first grade teachers’ readers, which worked for a while, until the students progressed and needed the higher levels toward the end of the year, but by then the books were all over the place. However, if you are fortunate enough to get the deluxe package, there are a lot of great things about Reading Street, namely the songs and big charts that are catchy, students love, and therefore learn. Most of the stories in the basals are interesting, however the readability and instructional level is geared more toward second graders. They do have a CD that reads along with the book, which is nice, but students often “drift off” and listen instead of reading along with the words. Reading Street does have an additional program titled “Sidewalks” which is geared toward the students who are not yet ready for their grade level version; however I have not used this program. The consensus among the first grade teachers when we first adopted this program is that it is imperative that authentic, first grade phonics be supplemented for a large number of students. We prefer Wilson, others have used Bradley. I think once a teacher learns to navigate their way through the program, and adapt parts of the program to address for the needs of his/her students, Reading Street can be successful. Hope this helps! Carol

On 12/06/12, mimi lolo wrote: > We are in the process of adopting a new reading series. > Does anyone have any input on either MMH Wonders and CCSS > Reading Street programs. I know the MMH program is new, but > maybe someone is piloting it. I have heard of reading > street but don't know anything. > > I have seen some of the components but would like to hear > the opinions of those who have used them. > > TIA > > > > > > mimi lolo > > > > > > >

Dec 6, 2012

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