My First 100th Day of School!

   Now, I have celebrated the 100th day twice before at my internships, but this is different because it is with my students. I came prepared for this day because I knew it was coming and wanted to get things done beforehand instead of last minute like I have been doing with all of the holidays. 

   I had my parent volunteers help me make my 100 counting mat for the snack and the 100 crowns way in advance. I am just so pleased at how to crowns turned out. I had a moment of doubt that I wouldn't be able to make them, but I did and was very proud of myself. They took so work on making them, so I think next year I will do things differently. 

We made crowns just like these that can be found at A Spoonful of Learning.

  I was going to make a banner of the students entering the classroom, but then decided I wasn't going to and then on the day of I changed my mind. I was crazy running ll over the school trying to get it done in time and the students really ended up liking it. I of course kept it, so it can be used next year. 

Overall the students really seemed to have fun and enjoy themselves that day and it made me feel really proud. Also I hate to admit this, but I felt the others teachers were a little jealous of the crowns. 

Easy, Simple, and Cheap Literacy Centers

 

   I don't know about other teachers, but as a first year teacher I am trying not to spend a lot of money, though this can be difficult. While doing reading groups it's important to keep the other students engaged and learning independently. 

   Since becoming a teacher, I am constantly searching for new activities and ways to do this while not becoming bankrupt at the same time. I only keep a game or activity out for two weeks at a time or else students become bored with it. 

   I have found some really great and cheap games that I wanted to share with teachers, especially new teachers. 

Typing

For this activity you will need some computer keyboards. I had some extras lying around in my house, but you can always go to the thrift store and get them cheap. All students do is practice typing their sight words. 

Play doh

There are so many things you can use play doh for, so spending a little bit of money will go a long way. Students can use it to make letters and words, but can also be used for math. You can find free mats for making sight words and letters(click on the links for the ones I use). 

Game Boards

There are a ton of game boards for students that you can find for free to build students skills. Here are some ones that I have; magic e, cvc words, sight words, and beginning sounds. 

Clip Cards

Again just like game boards, there are lots of clip cards and all you need is clothes pins that you can get a big bag of them at Walmart for a low price. I have rhyming, vowels  and beginning sounds. 

Sensory Bottles/Shakers

For this you need empty bottles, some type of sensory, and printed words. Students search for words in the bottles/shakers, read and write them. I made a recording sheet that you can get for free here.  

Write/Read Room

Reading and writing the room. Students walk around the classroom looking for words that start with a certain letter or they can look for words they know how to read. You can make this more fun by giving students pointers, wands, or even fly swatters to help them search. 

Popcorn Words

You can get popcorn containers from the dollar store and I just took construction paper to write the words on. Then just crumple up the words and place in the container. Students then take one out, read the word, and write it down. Click here for free recording sheet. 

Go Fish

I found this fish cut outs at the dollar store and knew right away what I would do with them; sight word go fish. Though they can also be used for other skills too like word families and the alphabet. 

Telephone

I found this idea from Kidscount1234. Students pretend to call their partner and give them a sight word to write down. There is a free recording sheet from the website. 

Winter Sensory Table Activity

   I don't just want the sensory to be something to play in, but also a learning tool for my students. I actually use it as one of my centers that the students go to through out the week. During this month of January in my sensory table I have placed snowballs. My students absolutely loved them. 

   I was searching on Pinterest different and fun activities that I can do with word families when I stumbled across this great idea. Though I don't have the students toss them. Instead they have to just search for one, read the word, and then place it into the correct bucket. I did 11 words for each word family. I did some four letters words for my more advanced students.     It was so simple and cheap and something I could use until the end of the month and just add the different word family when I taught it with the others. I bought the same ping pong balls that the website suggested and there was a lot, so I didn't use them all. I am sure down the road I will think of different activities that I can use them for. 

   I got the buckets really cheap at Walmart from the after Christmas sales, but even so they were only 97 cents to begin with. Also on the buckets I wrote on duct tape and placed on the bucket so I can reuse the buckets for other things and activities.