Prayers Are Needed!

We have been working really hard the last couple of weeks on a new unit -- Holidays Around the World. I have taken many pictures and had plans on posting them, but then tragedy struck. So instead I am asking you to pray. Pray for the students, faculty, and family in Newtown, CT. Pray for the families that have lost their precious little angels. I am so heartbroken right now. Take some time this weekend and remember those families that have had their lives turned upside down.

A Silhouette Christmas!

I have seen many teachers online blogging about a Silhouette CAMEO, and I can't help but envy them! I would love to have one for my classroom. I have been viewing the products on their website, and I came across a Silhouette giveaway! Three lucky winners will receive a dream Silhouette package. Oh, how I would love for Santa to bring one of these and place it under my tree for Christmas. This would be a perfect Christmas and birthday present (my birthday is on Christmas Eve)! So Santa, here is my letter! Bring me a Silhouette CAMEO!

Turkey FREEBIE!

Tomorrow is our last day before Thanksgiving break and I found this book in my Listening Station books before leaving school today.

I had forgotten to read this book to my students earlier. So we will read it tomorrow and continue our focus on beginning, middle, and end. Here is a free worksheet if you would like to use it in your classroom. It is also posted on my TpT site.

Letter Writing

This past week the students and I worked on letter writing. Students wrote a letter to our Veterans and thanked them for the service and dedication to our country. Students also made soldiers out of construction paper. We have also been reading Thanksgiving books, so students wrote a letter to Farmer Brown and tried to persuade him from eating them (they are turkeys). The students also wanted to create turkeys for our hallway!

Things in the Sky

I finally got around to taking pictures of student work from our unit Our World. We spent three weeks talking about the sun and the moon.

Students created a sun mobile. They included three facts about the sun. One fact on each star.

When we were finishing up the sun, students completed a quiz where they wrote three sentences with facts about the sun.

When we were finishing up the moon, students completed a quiz where they wrote three sentences with facts about the moon.

Election Time!

The Presidential Election is almost upon us. My students and I will be reading election books this week and creating a mock election in the classroom. Students will be creating a campaign poster for their candidate. Since first graders don't really know much about the candiates running, I have decided that our candidates in the classroom election will be characters from Framer Brown's farm (books by Doreen Cronin). Students love drawing and writitng about their favorite animal - especially the ones from Farmer Brown's farm. I have created a campaign poster and voting ballot and posted on the TpT site if you would like to use for your classroom.

Fluency Practice

I was researching online and found myself looking at a great blog site www.fun-in-first.blogspot.com. At this site, a very talented teacher named Jodi decided to create a morning work packet and she added fluency on the back for her students. She has created a packet for teachers with morning work and fluency practice on the website Teachers Pay Teachers. I already have morning work prepared for my students, but I loved her idea on fluency. I took her idea and created something that I could use in my classroom. I have uploaded what I am doing next week so that you can get an idea. We have a specfic word list of high frequency words that we use at our school. This fluency packet is differentiated for students and this would be great for my students that finish their morning work early.

Pumpkin Freebie

We have been busy exploring our community and the things in the sky. I don't have any pictures to post, but I will soon. We have four days left until fall break! Yay! My team and I decided to do fun fall activites this week. On Tuesday, we are having Pumpkin Day. Each teacher chose a pumpkin activity and we are rotating our classes every 25 minutes. The kids have so much fun. I am planning on using pumpkin seeds. Students will try a pumpkin seed and then tell me if they like it. We will graph our results. Here is the activity sheet that I created. You can download it free.

             

David Shannon and Bucket Filling

I have a very challenging group this year. I have been focusing on making good choices. We read many of the David Shannon books. We talked about being a Peacemaker or a Peacebreaker (great idea I found on Pinterest). Here are our charts:

We also read the book about being bucket fillers and not bucket dippers. My class has really enjoyed filling someone's bucket each day. I am hoping that this will encourage positive behavior and a positive attitude at all times!

More Classroom Pics

Artwork created by former students

Artwork created by former students

Writing Station

Schedule -- I had to replace the frames I created earlier. They would not stay on the magnetic board.

Cafe Board

Guided Reading Area...I love my crates!

Word Wall

Frogs to label the tables

Our class pet --- Hoppy

I use this photo slideshow to take pictures of the students modeling appropriate Daily 5 behavior. That way they can see the pictures as a reminder.

My Classroom is Finally Finished!

It took longer than expected, but I am pretty much finished setting up my classroom. Being team leader has caused more meetiings and little time to devote to working on things in the classroom. School began last week so I was still working on things during my little free time. Plus I lost my assistant due to the high numbers in kindergarten.

A plastic mailbox for our school mail! Only $10 from Lowe's!

Divider to sort students' papers

Lunch Table -- Students choose their lunch and place their lunch stick in the appropriate cup,

Reading bins for Cafe and Daily 5.

Daily 5 Math -- BUILD

Math Bins

Birthday Board! This is a cool idea I found on Pinterest! Students decoarted an idex card with the day of their birthday. Then I took group pictures of each month with the students holding their cards. The students loved doing this!

                                                                             

Six Traits Writing Board

Owls (School-wide Respect and Responsibility System)

                   

                Birthday Bags -- I create a bag for each student. When it is their birthday, then they get to choose one bag. I fill the bag with a pencil, birthday book, birthday bracelet, bookmark, and some candy. It saves time for me by doing these over the summer and then just taking down a bag when it is time.                                                               

Guided Reading Crates

I saw this idea on Pinterest and wanted this for my classroom. I made six crates for students to sit on. You need to purchase the following:

6 plastic crates (3.47 each at Wal-mart)
3.5 yards of fabric ($15-20)
Spray adhesive (5.97)
Heavy duty staple gun (7.88)
Ribbon (1.97)
Plywood (half an inch deep - around $9)
Foam (9.97)
Staples ($2.88)

I went to Lowe's and bought a 2' x4' of plywood. The gentleman cut it to fit perfectly at no charge. I only used half of the plywood that I bought. I also took a crate into the store for him to use for measuring. I cut out the foam to fit on the plywood. I sprayed the adhesive on the plywood and placed the foam on top. Allow it to dry for two hours. Cut the fabric so that a few inches are present all the way around. Staple the fabric to the plywood. I cut a piece of ribbon and looped it and stapled it underneath the plywood. Place you seat in the crate. You can also use the crates for extra storage. Simply use the ribbon to pull the seat up. I have also seen images where people have shaped the ribbon across the seat. It can be an expensive project but I really like them and look forward to using them!