Sunday, September 29, 2013

Sunday Night Shopping!


What are you looking for?
We all have things we need for our classrooms, right? 
How long do you spend looking on Pinterest, Teachers Pay Teachers, and Teachers Notebook?
Do you know what you need and just can't find it?
If you do, let us know....
We can help! If you know what you need, we can make it for you.
Check out our store on Teachers Pay Teachers to see some of the things we make for First Grade...Pictures of some of our products are also displayed on our Facebook Page. Check out our past blog posts to see what our philosophies work ethics are. cdiorio.blogspot.com
If you teach first grade and see something on our store that you like, but would like it a little bit differently...we can do that too!
We will stand behind any product we make! You won't be disappointed! Give us a try. We can do it!

Email us at dioriocl@gmail.com if you have something in mind! 


Monday, September 9, 2013

Here Comes the Fall!

What are you doing this Fall in First Grade?

Check out our Fall Centers!
In this Zipped file, you get all the materials to complete a 4 station Fall Celebration. We use these centers as our culminating activity to our Properties of Matter Unit for our Science Curriculum in our First Grade Classrooms. But, these centers can be done as individual activities with your class in Kindergarten, First, or even Second Grade. We use our learned property words to identify and describe different things in fall. We use our sensed to describe and compare as well. The four centers are: Comparing and Contrasting Apple Juice Vs. Apple Cider, Comparing 3 different types of apples, Pumpkin Observations, and Changing Matter through changing the appearance of white frosting. All Centers have follow up recording sheets to describe each with property words. The graphs for the Apple Juice vs. Apple Cider and Apple Comparisons are available on hard copy or on the Smart Board. There are 17 files altogether. Directions and materials needed are also included in the preview file. Banners for display are also included. It's a great way to incorporate fall study into your curriculum! 

It's a great time to start teaching story elements!

Check out our Main Character and Setting Packs!
In this zipped file you receive everything you need to teach a Common Core Unit on studying the main character in a first grade classroom. 

There are seven different lesson plans set up in the Reader’s Workshop Model of minilesson, meeting, connection, teaching point, active engagement, independent reading, conferencing, and share. The lessons can be used from a 2 – 3 week period and done over more than one day.

There are lessons for interactive read alouds to introduce and practice engaging students in the main character of the story.

There is a list of mentor texts we have found success when studying the main character.

There are anchor charts already created for you that are colorful and engaging. The anchor charts are in a Smart Board File that is editable if you have a Smart Board. There are also hard copies of the anchor charts that can be tile printed pdf posters that you can put together and write on as you see fit if you don’t have a Smart Board. These can be posted in your classroom. There are also copies of the anchor charts in an 8 ½ by 11” format if you’d like to reuse them in small group instruction or copy packets for your students to keep with them. There are three different anchor charts for different lessons. The first describes what the main character means and why it is important to tell about it. The second is a chart that tells the criteria students can use to help identify the main character. The third is a discussion chart for using past mentor texts. The next two pages of the Smart Board file are large copies of the graphic organizer to model for the students. One they can use as a model for themselves. You can use the large poster version also to write on and post in your classroom for support. The last chart is the rubric used for the Main Character organizer. There is a lesson on how to use this effectively to teach students to begin looking at and assessing their own work. The rubric can be printed in both 8 ½ by 11” or tile printed as a poster to hang in your classroom. 
Also included in this file is a banner to display of student work and a poster that states the chant used to help students remember what the main character is. 
What’s great about this pack is it almost a ‘blank’ format for students to learn the content through. We have similar things for the other story elements so once the students learn this type of process, you can filter the content through.

The goals for this unit is for students to identify the main character of a story using specific references to text. The Common Core for first grade focuses on students being able to go back to the text to cite specific evidence that helped them draw their conclusions. This unit focuses on and practices that skill. They start whole group, then it filters down to small group and finally independently. Some students may be able to do the more intricate independent work at this point, but the unit differentiates itself so all students are successful. This is the beginning. We are giving students a lesson in how to organize their thinking. We are teaching them how to show they understand text. We tell them to show they understand. This is one way for them to experience success at showing they understand.


In this zipped file you receive everything you need to teach a Common Core Unit on studying the setting in a first grade classroom. 

There are seven different lesson plans set up in the Reader’s Workshop Model of minilesson, meeting, connection, teaching point, active engagement, independent reading, conferencing, and share. The lessons can be used from a 2 – 3 week period and done over more than one day.

There are lessons for interactive read alouds to introduce and practice engaging students in the setting of the story.

There is a list of mentor texts related to fall and Halloween we have found success with.

There are anchor charts already created for you that are colorful and engaging. The anchor charts are in a Smart Board File that is editable if you have a Smart Board. There are also hard copies of the anchor charts that can be tile printed pdf posters that you can put together and write on as you see fit if you don’t have a Smart Board. These can be posted in your classroom. There are also copies of the anchor charts in an 8 ½ by 11” format if you’d like to reuse them in small group instruction or copy packets for your students to keep with them. There are three different anchor charts for different lessons. The first describes the setting and how to tell about it. The second is a T chart of where words and when words for you to build with your students. The third is an actual T chart to use with a mentor text or read aloud to chart the where and when. The next pages are blank setting organizers that you can use to fill out as a model or a whole group read aloud. The blank setting organizers come in three different versions. One with no lines for writing, one with one line for writing and one with 2 lines for writing. It’s differentiated for you to choose which fits the needs of your students best. There is also a rubric and a lesson to teach your students how to begin looking at and assessing their own work. The rubric can be printed in both 8 ½ by 11” or tile printed as a poster to hang in your classroom. There is also a copy of it in the Smart Board file.

Also included in this file are two different banners for display of student work. One tells what the setting is and one tells how students tell the setting.

What’s great about this pack is it almost a ‘blank’ format for students to learn the content through. We have similar things for the other story elements so once the students learn this type of process, you can filter the content through.

The goals for this unit is for students to identify the setting of a story using specific references to text. The Common Core for first grade focuses on students being able to go back to the text to cite specific evidence that helped them draw their conclusion. This unit focuses on and practices that skill. They start whole group, then it filters down to small group and finally independently. Some students may be able to do the more intricate independent work at this point, but the unit differentiates itself so all students are successful. This is the beginning. We are giving students a lesson in how to organize their thinking. We are teaching them how to show they understand text. We tell them to show they understand. This is one way for them to experience success at showing they understand.

These are the anchor charts that come in the Smart Board file and are editable. They also come as 8 ½ by 11” pages and tile printed pdf posters that can be used if you don’t have a Smart Board. The hard copies can also be printed to hang in your classroom if you have a Smart Board and want to post your anchor charts.


























Sunday, September 1, 2013

Phonics Word Jumbles!


This set of Word Jumbles are a supplementary set of materials designed to give students a fun way to create and build words. Similar to Boggle, our Word Jumbles are grids of words that students can use to create targeted sounds and chunks. Each Jumble has a targeted skill, but also enables students to build their own words as well. It is naturally differentiated. When building short vowel words, students are asked to build nonsense words as well.
There are 21 files in all; short a words, short o words, short i words, short e words, short u words, short vowel words with ch, short vowel words with sh, short vowel words with th, a mix of short vowel words, a_e words, ai words, ay words, o_e words, oa words, i_e words, u_e words, ee words, ea words, and a mix of vce words.

The 21st file is a Smart Board file. The Smart Board file is 20 pages long and has a page for each of the above Jumbles. There are highlighting boxes on each page for teacher demonstration or student interaction. It can be used whole group, small group, and partner practice as well. The possibilities are endless!