Suffixes and Pumpkins, Oh My!

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I am taking it easy this week with lesson planning and making activities for my classroom because report cards are due on Thursday and I need to Literacy 1st test and give the Title I Math test. I'm actually kind of excited about the math part, because I think my firsties will rock the test - I love teaching math (even though I was never a big math person in school myself!) I looked over the test on Friday and it is sooo simple compared to most of what we've been doing in class! Basically just comparing numbers, addition and subtraction with a tiny bit of place value. Our scores should be great! (Watch now they'll all bomb the test lol!)

The part that worries me in the Literacy 1st test and the report card. Since this is my first year teaching first grade and I don't even have a reading series, I'm not altogether sure of the order to teach things and what exactly to teach (our pacing calendar is not much help!). My firsties are doing well on their spelling words (at least those who bother doing the homework) and they seemed to grasp the concept of plurals easily enough, but some of them still struggle with vowel sounds and reading cvc words! On the other hand, I have a handful who aren't even challenged by anything we're doing! This is the first year I'm required to have actual grades, so I am struggling with setting my standards and assessing everyone. I think once I can get through this first report card it will be easier, but the newness is worrying me for now.

Basically this week will be a lot of review, using centers from our previous themes, while I pull students aside for Lit. 1st testing. The testing itself doesn't take very long, maybe 15 minutes per student, but we are also having Firemen come with a smokehouse on Monday during our planning time - it's up to us whether we want to give up our planning time to go through the smokehouse with the kids, because the music and PE teachers will be with our classes, but I can't imagine missing out on the experience with them! Plus, who's going to take pictures if I don't go?!  Plus I'm giving up my Tuesday planning time for a meeting, and the Friday planning time for a Food 4 Kids fund raiser. Which does not leave me with a whole lot of time during the week to be preparing for lessons! Short, simple and sweet seems like the way to go this week!

I did make one game for this week - it's to help my firsties learn to add the suffix ing. Most of the cards are for words where you just add ing, although I did throw in a few where you have to double the final consonant for my advanced kiddos. Check it out below and let me know what you think please! I'm also linking this up to Ginger Snaps Halloween-spiration linky party. Click the button above to see some great ideas!
ing Pumpkin Game