WHO'S ON FIRST, WHAT'S ON SECOND

This fall, I face a very interesting challenge of teaching a first and second grade bridge class!  Some districts call them "combo" or "multi-age" classes. I'm going to have 1/2 a class of first graders, and 1/2 a class of second graders. It's going to be a great adventure!

Part of me thinks it will be a piece of cake! I've taught first grade for 11 years, so that part is easy. I've spent a great deal of time this summer preparing for second grade, so that part isn't so bad either. The hardest part for me is figuring out "HOW" it's all going to work. How will I work with one grade at a time on the important things like Math and Reading, and how can I combine things like Writing, Science and Social Studies to meet both grade level's needs. I have spent much of the last few days thinking about it (ever since I found out about this new adventure!), and I have some plans in my head about how it's going to work. I'll try them out once school starts and make adjustments as we go. I am a big planner, but I'm also flexible enough to try different things, and work to make things better. It's going to be interesting, that's for sure.

I've heard from several people who have taught in multi-age classrooms, and I observed quite a few during my college days. Those teachers all state how much they enjoyed it. I have one friend in California who will be teaching a 2nd/3rd combo class this fall.....with 38 students (yes, you read that right!). That makes me count my blessings that I will only have about 20!

So the focus of my blog is shifting from my journey into Second grade, to my journey into a 1st/2nd combination classroom!

Here are some things I have done already to keep myself organized. I color coded my binders for the Pacing Guides (aka Scope and Sequences), and the Curriculum. My district's curriculum is all online, so printing it is very helpful!

I also decided to color code the Take Home Folders. First and Second graders will have different homework, so this will make it easier on me to manage it all.

After I made these labels, I decided to go ahead and make labels for everything, particularly all the folders and journals the students will use.  The students will have journals for Math, Reading/Writing and Science. Having labels will make it easier for them to find the right one.  Since I am using an owl theme this year, I added a cute owl to each label.

                                                                 

I put the labels on my TPT page (click on the blurry picture above for a better view). Oddly enough, I used Comic Sans font to make it easier for the students to read, but the jpg of the file shows a different font! No worries! The font is saved as a .doc, so it can be changed to whatever font is available.

So, thanks for coming along on my new journey!  I'd love to hear tips on how to run an effective/organized combination classroom.  Feel free to share tips, or share where to look for tips!  Thanks!