Five Great Habits to Start Now!!

Hi guys!! Jessica here from Tech and Teachability. How is your new year going? I hope everyone is getting off to a great start!

Tournament of Books: March Madness for the Classroom

Hello, friends!

It's Christmas break for me and I'm taking a few minutes to plan ahead for the new year!  Last year our first graders hosted a Tournament of Books and it was a huge success so we're getting ready to host one again this year!

The first thing I did was put up this huge bracket in the main hallway of our school.  It generated a ton of buzz around the school, especially before we shared any details about what we were actually planning!  The Brown Bag Teacher has bracket printables free on Teachers Pay Teachers.  They are perfect for getting your bracket ready.  To build the bracket, I started from the middle and worked out on each side, using black duct tape for the lines.  It wasn't a quick project, but it turned out perfectly!

10 Tips to Recharge Over Winter Break

Woohoo!  It's almost here!  As teachers, we give our all to our students and sometimes, we just need a minute to take a breath so we can bring our best every day.  Winter Break is the perfect time to get this must needed rest to recharge and come back in the new year refreshed and ready to go!  Here are 10 of my favorite ways to do just that.

Parent Presents, PART TWO

HI, Friends!! It's Erin, from Very Perry Classroom again!
 Last year, I shared what we made in my classroom for our parent presents from students.. Since I am teaching first grade right now, and have many of the same students this year as last year,  I needed to make something different. A lot has been going on, and I started to worry that we weren't going to finish our presents (or even DECIDE on what to make) in time! Then, I went to Michael's.... Which is dangerous for any crafty teacher in December, but, lo and behold, there was a SALE! :)
I found packs of six of this style of ornament for 50% off....

(P.S. I wish I had seen this one before! What a cute idea!)

Using Sticky Notes for Interactive Read Alouds

Do you love sticky notes as much as I do?  I have them in every color, every size, lined, unlined, tabs and extra sticky.  You name it, I probably have a sticky note for you to use.  One of my favorite ways to use sticky notes is for Interactive Read Alouds.  Read on to learn how I use them and for a freebie!

Hey there, this is Paige from Our Elementary Lives and this is my FIRST blog post on the Primary Punchbowl.  I just recently joined this fabulous group of ladies and couldn’t be more excited.  You can read more about me on my blog here!   

Interactive Read Alouds are one of my favorite things to do in my first grade classroom.  It is an activity that teaches many standards and they are fun.  You can read more about WHY you need to be doing them on my blog here.  Like I said above, one of my favorite ways to use sticky notes is for Interactive Read Alouds.  When I’m planning an interactive read aloud, I use my editable sticky note templates to type on, print and stick into the book that I’m using as an Interactive Read Aloud.  

Writer's Workshop Story Starters

My little friends can spend an entire Writer's Workshop just thinking of story ideas. Does that happen to your class also? I am not a fan of staged writing prompts from the teacher, so getting them to pull from their own experiences can be difficult. That is why I send home a special letter at the beginning of the year. Read on to learn more and grab it for free!

Hi Friends! Sarah from Mrs B's First Grade here today!

Writing is *probably* my favorite time of day with  my firsties. However, when I have one friend that spends the whole time not even writing a word, I get very frustrated! Please tell me I am not alone...

I encourage my students to be "Writing Factories" and turn out page after page during our workshop time. I do not give my students single pages of paper. Instead, they get several pages stapled together so that they are encouraged to write more and more. Does it work? Yes!

So, how do I help those friends that do not know what to write? Well, one way is to have my parents help me at the beginning of the school year. I hand out a letter during our Meet the Teacher night and ask parents to list 12 story titles that their child could turn into a story. I always love reading what they come up with.

It's Our Birthday! {A Blog Hop and Giveaway!}

The Primary Punchbowl is celebrating our first birthday and we have a ton of fun in store for you!

You can grab fun celebration freebies from many of The Punchbowl contributors.  Click here and head over to The Tales of a Sassy Teacher to get your next freebie!