1st Grade Sight Word Practice Pages

I have finished another one!!!

Here are the Sight Word Practice Pages for the 1st Grade list.

Just print these and start handing them out. They are great for homework or independent practice.

Not sure if these are for you? Grab this freebie to try them out!

Enjoy,

Mrs. Conte

Rocking Chair Refurbishing

The other day I was at the Goodwill with my grandma shopping like we normally do on a Saturday. I stumbled upon a rocking chair. At first I thought do you really need it Kendra. I walked away then came back. I realized it was only $5. Then I realized furniture was 50% off!! Making the rocking chair only $2.50.

I showed it to my grandma who told me to definitely buy it. Always listen to your grandma!

So happy that I made this purchase. Since I already had the paint at home this project only cost me $2.50.

Number of the Day

Number of the Day or Today's Number is a concept that has been around for a while. I recently made a poster for my students to start participating in this concept during their independent math center.

I quickly realized that I needed a way for my students to write down their answers. Notebook paper's lines are too small. I didn't want them filling up their notebooks that we use for other activities. Soooo I made this! Check out this Number of the Day printable on my TPT store.

CHAMPS Charts

WOW! This week has been crazy!

It was the first week back to school and while the students were only there Thursday and Friday I am exhausted!

Like all teachers do at the beginning of the year, I have been working to set up my rules and procedures. This year my school has adopted CHAMPS. For any of you who do not know, CHAMPS is an acronym that stands for Conversation, Help, Activity, Movement, Participation, Success. This helps teachers really think about their expectations for various activities so that students understand how to be successful.

I started my first CHAMPS Chart on a whim because we had some down time before a first drill. I quickly realized that though my students and I have all done fire drill for a very long time, I hadn't thought in-depth enough about what I wanted to write on the CHAMPS chart that would be explicit. That afternoon, I still struggled to get the right verbiage (probably because I was just over thinking it) so I googled "CHAMPS Charts" and found some phrases that I like. I even realized some my original thoughts were right on track.

With knowing that I would be making a lot more of these CHAMPS posters, I wanted to create a bank of CHAMPS phrases so that I could be consistent in the language I was using with my students. I also wanted to map out my CHAMPS charts before I started writing them. So here is what I did!

I went on Excel and create lists of phrases and behaviors for each of the letters in CHAMPS. Then I made drop down lists on a different page so that I could choose from the lists. Now, I simply open up my excel spreadsheet and copy the wording onto my chart paper. My students are learning how to be successful in all school activities and they don't have to learn new wording every time.

You can download my CHAMPS Chart excel document on my TPT store. It provides a great starting point for anyone trying to develop CHAMPS Charts.

Upcoming TPT Sale - August 22nd!

Primer Sight Word Practice Pages

I just finished my first set of Sight Word Practice Pages!

Sight Word Practice Pages - Primer Sight Words is now available in my TPT store!

Feel free to also download the Freebie version!

Any and all feedback is appreciated!

Back to School Word Search Freebie

I just uploaded a Back to School Word Search on my Teachers Pay Teachers store. Go download it when you can!

While your there, check out the other items in my store.

Teachers Pay Teachers Sale!

Hello Everyone,

In honor of my very first sale on Teachers Pay Teachers, I am throwing a sale on my Number Talks Bundles!!

I currently have a Kindergarten, First Grade, and Second Grade Bundle available!

Go check it out at my store!

Pegboard Tutorial

In my classroom, I have a lot of materials on rings. Sight words. Fluency sentences. You name it, I probably have it on a ring! But I didn’t have a way to put them out. They would sit in a drawer and the students would rarely use them.

While scrolling on Pinterest, I saw a picture that triggered an idea! I started to describe it to my (amazing) husband and his response was “That’s easy. We could do it now if you want.” Of course, I said (or maybe shouted) “Yes!!”. 

Side Note: It amazes me how my husband’s brain works. Watching him work always reminds me that going to college doesn’t make you smart. My husband got his G.E.D. and then went to Motorcycle Mechanics Institute (a trade school). The way his brain can figure things out simply by looking at it is amazing! I remember this as I have conversations with my students about what they want to be when they are older.

Okay, back to the project!

I am going to explain this more as a tutorial so that if any of you want to recreate this, you can. 

First, we went to Home Depot and bought the following:

• 2- 2X2X8 pieces of wood

• 1- 1X4X8 piece of wood

• 1- 4X2 piece of Pegboard

Note: My husband already had wood glue, a miter saw, and a nail gun with both nails and staples.

Second, we built the frame that would go around the outside of the pegboard. We took one of the 2X2X8 pieces of wood and cut it in half (creating a 2X2X4). Then we took the other 2X2X8 piece of wood and cut it to fit between the two 2X2X4 pieces. (Sorry, you’ll have to measure that cut.)

There are two extra small cuts
in this picture because I made
two Pegboards.

Third, we took our four cuts of wood and made the frame. We put wood glue between the two pieces then used the nail gun to nail them into place. We did this four times to create a frame.

Fourth, we created the legs that would hold the pegboard at a slight angle. We took the 1X4X8 and made two legs. On one side of the leg we made a 45 degree cut and on the other side we made a 22.5 degree cut using the miter saw.

Using the leg pieces we just cut, we placed the 45 degree side against the frame and the 22.5 degree side on the ground. After checking the alignment, I applied the wood glue on the 45 degree side of the leg and pressed it onto the frame then my husband used the nail gun to finish attaching it. We then repeated these steps for the leg the other side.

We let the frame sit for a bit so that all the wood glue dried.

Optional: After the frame dried, I decided to paint the frame before attaching the pegboard. I used a gray BEHR Satin Exterior paint.

Finally, we attached the 2X4 piece of pegboard. With the frame standing, I held the pegboard onto the frame while my husband used a nail gun loaded with staples to staple around the edge (so that the staples went through the pegboard into the square frame).

My husband decided to use staples instead of nails when attaching the pegboard so that the nails didn’t go through the pegboard.

Here is how it sits in my classroom

I am waiting for my peg hooks to come in so I can hang stuff on them. I'm so excited with how these turned out!

Number Talks: First Grade

Number Talks: First Grade Bundle

I have finally completed the slideshows for the first grade skills!!

I loved the idea of Number Talks as it was introduced to me last year. When I received my copy of Number Talks by Sherry Parrish I jumped right into it. I quickly realized that there were a lot of great, already created Number Talks but no way to display them without having to write it all out again. Bummer!

For anyone that knows me, they know that I hate writing. I much prefer to type things or generate them on the computer. I simply have horrible penmanship!

With that being said, I quickly jumped into creating PowerPoint shows with the number talks provided in Sherry Parrish's book. Using the book Number Talks by Sherry Parrish and these PowerPoint shows, you have everything you need to incorporate Number Talks in your classroom!

Here is a link to the book on Amazon if you are interested!

Number Talks by Sherry Parrish

Teachers Pay Teachers Store

Hi Everyone,

I have started uploading documents into my Teachers Pay Teachers store.

Feel free to take a look!

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Its-A-School-Day-Hooray

Thank you,

Mrs. Conte

Hello Everybody!

Hello Everyone,

My name is Kendra Conte also known as Mrs. Conte to my students. I teach a third through fifth self-contained mild/moderate special day class (SDC) in a low socioeconomic area. I have been teaching for four years and love every single day. Hint the title of my blog "It's a School Day, Hooray!". For most of my students, we are together for three years. There are always students that move to town or move away and I also will receive students that are just being put into a SDC class. Though it is a special education class, we use the general education content. At times, it is the content from a lower grade level. For example, a third grade student working on a first grade math workbook.

Enough with shop talk. Let me tell you about myself outside of work.

I have been married to my husband, Tyler, for two years. We have been together for eight years (Yes, you did the math correctly. We are high school sweethearts.). At the end of 2016, we bought our first home and have been slowly fixing it up. While, as many of you know, owning a home is hard work, it is a great feeling coming home and knowing that it is yours! We have two dogs. One is a 70 pound lab mix and the other is a 15 pound dachshund mix. They love the yard at the new house!

I hope this blog serves as a resource to both general education and special education teachers!

Thank you for reading,

Mrs. Conte