Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Daily 5 Update and OLW *Freebies for Both*

Oh. My. Goodness. Gracious.

Wow.

I'm tired.  My legs are tired.  My brain is tired. 

My kids WEREN'T tired.  I thought they would be, but they weren't.  They entered Room 8 rarin' and ready to go.  I quickly aborted my word study plans and went over our class rules and expectations instead.  We read our class pledge and then on a whim {because you know that's how I roll} I pulled out my Mimio and typed in the middle "I will do my best" and had each kid come up and write their name {for practice - it was the first time any of them had worked with an interactive whiteboard}. I wish I could say the rest of our day was blissfully calm....

They were just so darn excited about their trips to Grandma's, playing with cousins, opening up a 3D Nintendo DS...how could I hold it against them?

Tomorrow?  The bear is comin' out of the cave...

Daily 5 is still going really well.  I love how I'm managing it and thank my friend....{can you guess?}...Barb and her colleagues for helping me out with this.  Not sure if you remember, but I don't ring bells or keep track of time {Other than what time we start and what time we end}. I really have taught my kids to listen to their "body signals" and when they get ansty, start fidgeting, "pretending to read" it's time to make a different choice.  I don't know if all groups of first graders could handle this or if it's because this group is so awesome they really take ownership and do such an amazing job switching when their body tells them to. 

One "bump" in the road I encountered was that, while I released some of my "inner-control-freak" by letting them make choices at will, I still found myself wondering where they have been and what they've done on a particular day. 

Thank goodness for colleagues because those girlies {Barb's teamies} created a handy-dandy graph {that I tweaked} to have the kids use to record what they've done in Daily 5 for one week.  Each day, I have the kids pull out their graphs before making a Daily 5 choice day.  We talked about making sure our graph is "balanced" so if we have already done one of the activities one day, the next day we'll want to find something different. 

You'll notice that this graph does not have read-to-someone on it.  I wrote about that {HERE} in case you're interested in knowing why.

Pick up your copy of the graph by clicking on the picture below...

Clipart:  Scrappin Doodles
Helllllllooooo......I'm way down here!!!  I tried putting two graphs on one page and for some reason I could not make that happen.  Strange.  Word was being all glitchy {or maybe it was me and my tired self}.  Sorry!

On a different note...

OLW went so well today!!!!!  I'm pleased as punch to read your comments about it!!!!  My firsties got into it and one girl knew her word right away and almost gasped when it came to her.  So darn powerful!!! 

Barb {I think you probably feel like you "know" her by now} is doing this activity with her first graders too and did her own bit of tweaking of my desk tags and plans on sending the extras home. I loved that she's not only going to have them put them on their desks, but by their coat hooks out in the hallway too {So it's one of the first things they see each morning - clever!!!!!}. 

Okay, I did get awarded the Versatile Blogger Award by Lisa over at A Teacher's Bag of Tricks, which makes me one happy blogger-girl, but I'm going to have to fulfill those duties attached to getting such a prestigious award another day.  I'm barely hangin' on and I've GOT to get to reading just a few more chapters so I can head over to The Best Endings to blog about that!

Oh good golly I just noticed that I have 250 followers!!!!!!  Which means....it's time for another giveaway {as promised}.  Darn, how the heck am I going to sleep tonight - my wheels are going to be turning trying to think of what to do.  Will have to get back to you on that one...hang tight!

Over and out...

10-4 Good Buddy...

Peace!

Oh, one more thing {shoot} if you leave a comment, you'll notice that the pesky "word verifier" is gone...poof!  Thanks to Rachelle over at What the Teacher Wants.  Click {HERE} if you'd like to get rid of yours.  She promises  thinks it will get more friends to comment on your blog.  Let's see if it works...

Holly

16 comments:

  1. My kiddos were wound up today too. I loved you OLW stuff. Thanks for the great ideas always. Congrats on the award.

    2B Honey Bunch
    The Best Endings

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  2. I am anxiously awaiting to see how my kiddos act tomorrow! I am already planning on going over the rules again tomorrow to refresh their memories! I hope that I can be as successful with the Daily 5 as you have been.

    Miss Klohn
    Adventures of a 6th Grade Teacher

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  3. yay for making it through your first day back!!!
    and whether or not I have to verify I am happy to comment on you!!

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  4. I wish I could do Daily 5. Or some variation of it. I feel like it's a crime. But LUCKY you!!!
    A Teeny Tiny Teacher

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  5. I am also doing Daily 5 in my room and can't wait to go back tomorrow and review all of our anchor charts!

    I also removed the "word"! :) Thanks Rachelle!

    I can't wait for your giveaway!!

    Sweet Times in First

    Sandra

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  6. We went back on Monday and I wasn't feeling too bad, but yesterday, I was a walking zombie and could barely keep my eyes open when I got home last night. I think the second day after a long break is always the worst. Hoping that is not the case for you :)

    Jodi
    fun-in-first.blogspot.cm

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  7. I am glad that you had a good day back. I'm going to be stalking your posts today (sick child, while he naps) about Daily Five. I started on Monday and am really excited, but would like to read more about what works, what doesn't and other variations.

    I hope today is great!
    -Megan

    http://firstgrademagic.blogspot.com

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  8. Alrighty...I have stalked you for most of the morning....you rock!

    I have gotten so many awesome ideas that I can barely stand it! I especially like the reader's tool box and the clean desk friends. So much easier and cheaper than treats!

    -Megan

    http://firstgrademagic.blogspot.com

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  9. yay for surviving!! I'm glad your OLW went well! :)

    ♥ Jen Ross
    The Teachers' Cauldron

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  10. Hello there,

    I nominated you for The Versatile Blogger Award. Please stop by my blog to pick up your award.

    Congrats!

    Tanya
    A Class Act

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  11. I gave you the Versatile Blogger Award. Come on over and check it out!
    Ms. McBee’s Kinderbugs

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  12. Hey Holly -

    Thanks SO much for creating the templates for OLW. I used it yesterday as a launch with my staff and then shared your template with them in case they wanted to use it with their kids . . . and I did see a bulletin board with them posted this afternoon . . . YAY! I'm posting the bulletin board i made in tomorrow's post at the Corner. Thanks again for sharing; we're using your stuff in Texas!!

    Barbara
    The Corner On Character

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  13. Are you able to make one with all the five choices of Daily 5?

    I also gave you the Versatile award so please stop my blog to check it out.

    missnguyensclass.blogspot.com

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  14. After a year and some change, I still look back at this blog post and think "How does she do it?"

    How do you teach your students to "self-regulate?"

    I tried it this year with my *literally* perfect class...but it was a total failure!

    Email me?

    The Frizz
    thefrizzinfirstgrade@gmail.com

    The Frizz in First Grade

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sent you an email! Gotta tell you something you already know, but I'll say it again to make you feel better. What works for one person, doesn't necessarily work for another. Sometimes I think kids can sense our comfort level with things...if it feels too loosey goosey to you, your kids can probably sense that. Do what feels right...but fire away with any questions that you might have! :)

      Delete

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