Right now all of our heads are spinning as we try to navigate this digital world.  We are making changes to our teaching and using materials we have probably never used before. I'm here today to hopefully shed some light on how these goodies can be used in the classroom when we go back...hopefully sooner rather than later. 

One of my struggles as a first grade teacher is time on task and students all finishing at different times to complete the same activity. Although many parts of my day are differentiated, we do have parts of the day when we do work as a whole class. I'm going to share a few helpful tips to make transitions more effective using different digital tools. 

When I come to school in the morning, the first thing I do is set up my transition activities. They are not worksheets or center activities, they are open tabs on my computer.  I typically open 4-5 tabs that relate to the skills we are learning. They may be phonics, reading or math skills. I don't usually get to them all but they are ready to go. Here are a few examples of the things I open. 

Yes you read that correctly. We complete Google Slides together on the SMART board. My students learn early  how to navigate the side bar and tap on the next slide. This is completely student led. When I have about 8-10 students finished, I send them up to the board. I pick a student to start and then they begin. After they complete their slide, they have 3 seconds to call on the next friend to come up. During this time, I am walking around the room to help the other children finish their activities. Read more about Google Slides here. 

My students LOVE Boom Cards. They are similar to Google Slides except they provide immediate feedback. You do need a membership for Boom but the price is minimal in comparison to the benefits it provides. They love to hear the ding when they are right. The instant feedback is great.  You can try out a FREE Boom Deck here!

There are so many wonderful phonics songs and activities out there for your students to watch that can coordinate with your curriculum. My favorites are Vowel Bat, anything Jack Hartmann, Geraldine the Giraffe, and The Phonics Dance by Ginny Dowd. 

I have created songs for all of my comprehension strategies. We glue the songs in a marble composition book. Sometimes I send the children up to the carpet with their marble books. I pick a student to begin the songs. They take turns choosing another friend when they are done. I have all of my songs on a Powerpoint slides with a clickable audio link. They get to pick the song to sing. Singing and learning go hand in hand in my room. This might be their favorite. Grab a song here and try them out in your room for free!

I love Epic books, and it is free for teachers. They have amazing "Read to Me" stories that are completely independent and the students just listen and enjoy the story. I can't say enough about this site. Check out Epic Here!

Here's to staying healthy, working harder, and enjoying all the family time we are having right now. 

 "Look on every exit as being an entrance somewhere else." -- Tom Stoppard

Megan Mitchell First Grade Roars