Reading Tic Tac Toe Menus

Hello everyone!  It's Jayme from Teach Talk Inspire.  I hope you are having a wonderful week and are adjusting to the time change and post Halloween sugar rush!  I am talking today about a new approach to homework that my first grade team and I have been using this year that has been great for our students.  We have always sent book in the bags home for students to read with an adult for additional practice that matches their reading level.  But, while our reading logs were coming back completed, we wanted another way to hold students accountable for their reading at home.  Enter the Reading Tic Tac Toe homework packet!

On Mondays, my team and I send each student home with a leveled book and a reading tic-tac-toe menu that accompanies each story element skill that we're currently focusing on.

Each tic-tac-toe menu has a variety of activities that the student can choose to complete using their leveled books.  They have a choice of similar activities each week but have to complete at least 3 activities before Friday for their homework.

Each menu has a word hunt option for students to hunt through their books to find and record words that match their sort for the week.  This can also be used for a class-wide phonics or spelling pattern.

There are several options for students to respond to their reading by sequencing story events, comparing and contrasting characters, describing the setting of the story, and designing a new cover for their book.

One of the most completed options has been drawing and writing about their favorite part of the book.  Not only does this help keep students' accountable for their nightly reading, it also is a meaningful way for them to get additional practice with skills we're learning in school.

These tic-tac-toe menus can be used during school as well for follow-up activities, center work, or story maps in response to read alouds.

Grab these menus in my TpT store here for a discounted price for the next 3 days!  I hope you enjoy them!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Jayme

Handy Helpers!

Happy Sunday friends!  It's Jayme from Teach Talk Inspire here and I am so excited to be sharing a fun resource that has become a very helpful staple in my classroom.  This year, I started a new way to display and organize student jobs in my classroom.  In previous years, I would limit the number of classroom jobs that I provided my students.  Which led to almost half of my class without jobs for an entire week.  I knew I needed to get my entire class involved in our classroom community and keeping our classroom environment safe and clean.  My Handy Helpers display has been the answer!

I created numerous classroom jobs to hang up in my classroom to get the entire class involved in our daily routines.  Each student has a clip that is placed on their job for the week.  Jobs that students can have include technician, teacher's assistant, pencil monitor, paper passers, line leader, caboose, calendar helper, etc.

There are five students who do not have jobs hanging on our display because their job for the week is very important.  I created five table captain cards to leave on student's desks who are in charge of their table for the week.  As table captain, they are responsible for passing out and collecting all writing workshop materials for their table, keeping their table clean of scraps and other materials, and encouraging positive behavior from other students at their tables.  This has been a welcomed responsibility for my students and they are really proving that they can handle it!

If you're looking to change up your classroom jobs display, my packet of EDITABLE, did I not mention that before?! My packet of easily editable classroom job cards will be on sale for the next 3 days for just $1.50 in my TpT store here!  I hope you'll be able to use them!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Create a Positive Classroom Environment From the Start!

Happy Tuesday sweet friends!  It's Jayme from Teach Talk Inspire and I am so excited to be posting here on Teacher Deals and Dollar Steals today!

Is everyone having so much fun with the Teachers Pay Teachers Love Back to School Sale?!  I know I'm personally pressing submit WAY too much.  That Wish List that was overflowing is now somewhat empty.  YIKES for my wallet, YAY for my students!

Today I'd like to share a back to school resource that I'll be using with my students right from the start!  I LOVE brag tags! They're something that I tried with my first graders mid-year last year and my students fell head over heels for them.  Not only do they encourage positive and kind behavior but they also give student's a real sense of pride.  My littles loved going home to their parents and sharing the brag tags that they earned that day.

This year my students will be earning brag tags right from the first day of school.  I created this new resource, Brag Tags Starter Kit: Back to School Edition to get my students excited and inspired as soon as they walk through the door.  

This Brag Tags Starter Kit has several different tags for the beginning of the school year.

In the packet, you will find two versions of brag tags for:

-The First Day of School

-I Know My Address

-I Can Say My Numbers

-I Can Write My Name

-5 Star Listener

-Quiet Hall Walker

-Happy Hand Raiser

This packet also includes one version of brag tags for:

-I Made New Friends

-I Love School!

Are you new to using brag tags?  I found these fantastic dog tag necklaces at Party City to display my student's tags on.  

You can order them online here for $5.99 per pack of 12.  My bulletin boards are getting a HUGE overhaul this summer, so I'll be sure to add the finished pictures of my Brag Tags board on my blog later on in the summer.

My students are able to wear these brag tag necklaces to assemblies and other special area classes in order to "brag," about their kind and cooperative behaviors.  This sweet face is so excited to show off her hard earned tags!

If you're interested in using brag tags from the start, you can get my Back To School Brag Tags for LESS, YES, LESS than $1.00 during the TpT sale by visiting my store HERE!

If you would like to check out my other brag tags packet, Operation Character Classroom you can click on the image below.  It is also on sale for 28% today and tomorrow!

I hope you all are enjoying your last few weeks of summer and are having a blast with the Teachers Pay Teachers sale!

Thank you so much for stopping by!