Spelling Activities

Each week the fourth graders get a list of 25 spelling words. These words go along with our stories that we read through the Treasure's Reading Program.  On Monday's, Miss gives the students a pretest to introduce the words.  We then check our words and write each one we misspelled three times each and do a worksheet over the words.  On Tuesday and Wednesday's, we review our words and do word sorts and talk about their meanings.  On Thursday's, we review our words by doing a fun spelling review game,  such as "Sparkle",  or Miss Firley will bring in shaving cream for us to spell our words in.  Each night we practice our spelling words at home with our parents.  Miss Firley sent home a "Spelling Homework" sheet that gives us twelve activities to choose from.  On Friday's we do a quick review then take our test.  We love doing these activities and do very well on our test on Friday.

We also have a Spelling Center that we can do throughout the week to help us practice our spelling words.

Using shaving cream is always a fun way to practice our spelling words and it also helps clean off our messy desks.

First day of school activities

During our first few days of school we did several activities to get to know each other and our new teacher, Miss Firley.  Some of the activities we did were talk about the type of teacher we expect each day.  We also talked about what each of us need to do in order to be successful this year.

Here are the six questions Miss Firley had us answer on the first day of school.

It's always exciting to see what kind of teacher we want!

Back to School

I can't believe it's already here! The 2012-2013 school year begins this Wednesday, August 15th!  I have been busy setting up the classroom and making last minute preparations for the first week of school.  Here is a virtual tour of our classroom and some of the things that will be happening this year!

         

This is our Birthday Board. It will be completed the first day when we are able to take our pictures holding the dates.

This is the Morning Meeting/Calendar Area.  Each morning we will take attendance, do calendar, and do some math problems to get us thinking.  This is also the area where the daily jobs will be posted.

Our lockers are located in the back of the room.  We also have a writing/conference table.  Along the back wall you will find reference posters for math, reading, and writing.

Boggle is a great game to help learn our spelling words or review previous ones.

Part of our classroom library! We have all types of genres to pick from and will be adding more throughout the school year!

With these clocks students will never have to ask when specials are! 

Everyday when the students arrive, they will place their name by the lunch they will be eating.

I hope you enjoyed touring our classroom.  Be sure to check back throughout the school year for more updates on life in the fourth grade!

Classroom Procedures & Expectations

Classroom management is very important in order for the students to have the best learning environment.  I am a big fan of Pinterest and have found most of the materials that I use in the classroom on there.  Here are a few things that help the students remember the classroom procedures and expectations.  

The behavior clip chart is a friendly reminder for the students throughout the day.  The student's clips will start on green, or "Ready to Learn".  They can move up or down based on their behavior.  If they end up on red, or "Parent Contact", we will work together to fill out a parent contact sheet to inform the parents of what happened and for the students to understand their actions.

The Noise-O-Meter helps the students know what level their voices should be at throughout the day. 

Student's often forget to write their name on their papers.  Stopping and highlighting names before turning them in helps with this problem!

Welcome to Leyton Fourth Grade!

My name is Brittney Firley and I am the fourth grade teacher at Leyton Public Schools.  I am also new to Leyton and am very excited about the upcoming year at such a great school.


I am a graduate of Deshler Public School in Deshler, Nebraska and attended Wayne State College in Wayne, Nebraska.  I majored in Elementary Education and Early Childhood Education.  Throughout high school I worked as a Teacher's Aide in the first and second grade rooms.  I loved working one-on-one with the students and listening to them read.  Throughout college I had several opportunities to work with children of all ages.  I completed my clinical experiences in first and fourth grade classrooms and taught about Nebraska's history and Thanksgiving.  This past semester I completed my student teaching experience at Wakefield Community School.  There I taught first graders for ten weeks and then taught fourth, fifth, and sixth grade social studies.  I enjoyed doing several hands-on activities with the students throughout this experience.  Some of these activities included: making homemade butter, creating online bulletin boards, creating polar bears and penguins, and creating Oregon Trail Journals.  I also enjoyed helping out with the After School Program for an hour three times a week.  During my summers, I help out with the Deshler Summer School Program.  There I am able to be the lead teacher in the preschool room.  I also tutor a few students and babysit for family friends.


I look forward to teaching fourth grade and have several exciting activities planned for the upcoming school year!  If you ever have any questions or concerns, please feel free to call or send a note or drop in.  Please visit throughout the year to check out some of the fun things happening in the fourth grade room!