Watch Me As I Grow: A Collection of Self Portraits/Writing Samples Throughout the Year

Watch Me As I Grow

First Grade is a huge year of growth for first graders.  Each year I do a scrapbook for my kids with lots of pictures throughout the year.  In this packet I am including the “main pages” that I put into my scrapbook.  Each month we do a number of different things that I hold onto to share with my first grade parents at the end of the year.  I start with the cover.  Each month I have the kids do their self portrait.  This is the first page of their monthly collection.  I then have them do a name writing sample and they write as many words as they know how to spell.  I then include a class picture and a couple snapshots that I have taken throughout the month.  I put this book together month by month so that the first grade parents can see the progression that their child has made throughout the year.  I sometime add random journal entries in these books, or whatever else I have collected throughout the year.  Have fun!

Clip Art From:  Creative Keepsakes & Scrappin Doodles

You can purchase all 40 pages at my TPT store by clicking on the link:

http://classic.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Watch-Me-As-I-Grow-Collections-Throughout-the-Year

Parent Information Night: Guided Reading Idea

It's been a busy beginning of the school year and I am loving my class.  We have been sooo busy learning about each other and how to work well together in our classroom.  We have learned rules, routines and we have been learning each other's names.  To top all lf that off...we had our Parent Information Night last night.  One of the areas that I talk about is Guided Reading.  We play a game (from Mad Gab) where I give each person a card.  I have them try to read the words and make sense out of them.  Most people cannot figure out what is on their card or what the words mean.  I tell them that this is what kids sometimes feel like when we hand them a book to read.  For most of our kids, the words are foreign and really don't mean anything.  I then tell them that we need to teach kids strategies to figure out what the words mean.  I have them try to say the words slowly and think about what makes sense.  After reading the cards, some parents are able to figure out what their words mean.  This is so much what like reading is like for our first graders.  They need to learn to use strategies, such as looking at picture clues, re-reading the words, asking what makes sense, etc.  Finally, I have leveled books (a 3, 8 and 16) to show what the different levels of books look like.  I am downloading the cards that I put out at PIN for the parents to read. 

                                                                Click here for picture cards