Working in my room, Planning for the year and a FREEBIE!!!!

So I've been working in my room this week and let met tell you it needs LOTS of work!!!

I spent most of Monday just cleaning out manipulatives and sorting them.  You see,

our math manipulatives did not come in until about five weeks into the year so even though 

I used them every day I never really had a good storage place 

other than the cardboard box that they had come in last year.  

I also got another bookshelf this summer for a total of four sets!!  This makes me super

excited because I can spread out my classroom library.  Our school doesn't have a 

school library.  Different huh?  Yes, no school library at all because they believe that books should be in the classrooms where they are accessible to kids every day.  SO.....

I have LOTS of books on a variety of levels in order to accommodate all of my students.

Well that was way more information than you needed to know wasn't it?  On with 

the pictures.......

YAY!!! A schedule!!! I was so excited today when our principal gave me the times for enrichment, recess, and lunch.  My schedule is finished now and no, that isn't a typo for two different times for reading.  I teach two different types of reading so we have it at two different times during the day.  The first section is strictly to teach HOW to read and the second reading time is for reading comprehension skills, language, and spelling as well as center time.

My calendar is all set for August!  Geez that seems so far away but it's only 2 weeks from tomorrow.  The purple paper is for the school's monthly calendar and the orange 

paper is for the lunch menu for the month.  Another project finished!!!

I've debated all summer about my alphabet train and where to put it/how to use it.  I've seen all the cute ideas on pinterest where they place the alphabet side by side with ribbons hanging down to make a word wall.  Well, ribbons don't look right hanging from the bottom of a train.  BUT....my poor train doesn't fit across the front of my room right over my white board because my room is narrow so..... I've decided to put it on a side wall and use it as my word wall header without the ribbons.

That's all the room pics I have for now.  The only reason you can't see the ground in any of my pics is because you can't see the ground in my room just yet.  lol....it's definitely a work in progress but it's getting there.  

While at home, I'm busy planning what to teach each month and how to cover all of the standards that need to be covered as well as adding in some rigor to my lessons.  I also want to be able to chart what each student has mastered as we go through the year.  I need to know where every student is at in their journey to second grade and I would like for each parent to know where their child is as well.  Therefore, I created a document listing all of the common core standards for first grade with a box on the side named "Date Mastered".  This will help me keep track of each skill that a student has mastered and it will be a great addition to send home with their report cards for parents to see. 

You can grab my checklist for free at my TPT store until tomorrow night.  If you download it please leave feedback!  THANKS!