Witch "craft"

Ok, I've been working on this cute little witch "craft" for the past week and we finally finished it today.  I'm so excited to show the final product because I LOVE the bulletin board display.   Maybe next year I will have a Halloween pack that will include this whole thing, but I'd have to start working on that :)

Maybe I'll just keep it up all year long ---- the witch could always wear a Santa hat or a green top hat for St. Patrick's Day!!!!

Wishing everyone a Happy Halloween!!!

Biography Pack

I just uploaded a new product - a Biography Pack for intermediate grades.  It is free for a limited time.  If you like it, I'd love to hear what you think.  Also, message me if you have any questions about it so I can improve my products for you!

Click Here to get it

I will be working on a Biography Pack for primary grades as well.  If anyone has suggestions, I'd love to hear them!

Math About Me

Now that the school year has settled in, I am finally able to sit down and blog a bit about some fun ideas for Back to School.  This post is dedicated to all things MATH!!  

I'll start with the title of this post and show you this new FREE item I posted on TpT.  This is a super fun activity for students to complete those first weeks of school and to hang up for Open House.  It's a twist on All About Me and instead uses numbers to tell about themselves.  

Math About Me

Here is what it looks like hanging up right now outside my classroom.  Although I used it as a Back to School activity to hang up for Open House, you could really use it at any time of the year.

***Update*** 

Since writing this post I've updated this FREE product with an adorable poem to introduce how numbers are all around us.  

Number Collages

The beginning of the year in 1st grade is dedicated to lots of review and assessing where students are after a long summer break.  This booklet that I have students create is a great way to see what children know about numbers 1-20.  It includes collage pieces for number words, tallies, dominoes, tens frames, dice, and base ten blocks.  I do a quick review of each one as we add them to our books and I also direct students to where they can find some resources around the room for help.

Number of the Day / Daily Math

Building number sense is all about making math meaningful and interactive.  Here are some math activities that will help you improve your students' number sense each and every day.  I start out the routine of Daily Math right from the beginning.  I make a different packet for each month and we do a new number everyday.  There are a variety of pages included to keep it interesting all year long including: 100 charts, tens frames, base ten blocks, money, and so much more.  There's even pages to document the weather and TONS of reference pages to keep in a folder or binder for them to use throughout the year. 

Number Bond Books

Making these Number books is another great ways for students to see a number for all the ways you compose and decompose it.  We take a lot of time creating these and tie them in to our Number of the Day too.  The kids love making the number bracelets and using them to find ways to make each number.  These books can be used with or without making the bracelets.  

Math Centers

And of course, I needed some common core aligned Math Centers to use during my math time.  These can help your students practice Common Core with some fun centers and activities.  This first set of "SWEET" centers are perfect for those first weeks of school.  They are basic centers that require minimal direction, but the skills are perfect for the beginning of the year.

These Common Core Math Centers are my go-to throughout the whole year!  There is a ton of variety so you can use and reuse these all year long to keep practicing these crucial skills.

    

I hope you found some fun ideas you could use in your own classroom.  If you liked ALL of these products, then you should definitely check out this BUNDLE that includes almost everything you see here but at a discounted price.

(The bundle does not include the Sweet Centers and the Math About Me freebie which are available in my store separately by clicking on the pictures above) 

Thanks so much for stopping by!  I hope your school year is going well so far :)

My FIRST blog post!!!!

If there is anyone out there in cyber space who is reading this ------- WELCOME to my blog - First Grade Smiles!!!!  I'm excited to enter into the world of blogging.  I've been following blogs for quite some time now and have always been in awe of the "Master Bloggers" out there.  Their ideas, the way they put ideas into words, pictures, and SO much more!  Clearly, I am a first timer and have a lot to learn.  I will try to make this a place for other teachers to come for great ideas, a laugh or two, and products that can be downloaded or purchased.

If you are looking for a few things to check out that I already have out there, go to my store:

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Melissa-Machan

Otherwise, I'd love to hear from anyone out there searching the web and landing right here!  I hope you follow me and go on this adventure with me.  We'll see where it takes us :)

Have a great Wednesday!