Important Stuff

I ordered a fairy door from Amazon. Thankfully I was able to open it BEFORE my children or husband came home. It's important. I'm a first grade teacher.

Then my husband asks why I have to run to school on the weekend.

Important stuff, of course!!!

Three Characters Your Students Will Love

Picture books are my jam. I don't know if it is cool to say that anymore, but there it is.

My firsties adore picture book time. I make sure to do a quick GoNoodle to get everyone's attention. (Think Fresh Start, Quantam Zapp)

Then we settle in for a great story. Character voices are a must!

You may already know about Scaredy Squirrel by Mélanie Watt. He is a fantastic character who may relate to several students you may know or currently teach. He enjoys order, routine, and always has a plan. Well, Chester, again from the amazing brain of Mélanie Watt is a fantastic character who doesn't like to play by the rules. Again, relatable to many! My firsties LOVE him. They BEG for more Chester books. (There are three in case you fall in love too.)

Betty Bunny by Michael Kaplan and Stephane Jorisch is another character my first grade friends love! And I'm pretty sure I'm raising her. She's a handful but almost always learns her lesson...maybe.

I Stink. Well, it's Friday night and I probably do. But this is a fantastic book by Kate McMullan. I use my best New York accent when I read this book. I grew up in New Jersey so the accent is comforting and you can't really say "Puppy Poo" in school without the accent.

I tried to link the titles right to Amazon. What are a few of your favorite read alouds?

Year 16

Year 16 is off to an awesome start!

I have a fantastic group of scholars and a rocking team!

I'm also blogging on my phone because apparently that's a thing now.

I am looking forward to MANY good things this year! Hope you are either off to a good start or ready and relaxed. 

Chicks, Balloons, and Superheroes

They are so adorable and NOISY! We love our little chicks. Right now we have 11 chicks in our brooding box. My students love taking turns observing them. Tomorrow we get to hold them. 

My students are so sweet. On Monday, my room mother brought in balloons, flowers, and a poster that my entire class signed. It really brightened my week. Thank you! 

These flowers are covered in GLITTER! How cool is that!? "Never let them dull your sparkle." I love that saying! 

Here are a few of our superhero writing pages. The students created a word web and then wrote about all of the things their super mothers, grandmothers, stepmom, and aunts could accomplish. 

 I love this one. Her super mom puts bandads on her booboos. How sweet! I hope they love reading them as much as I did.

We have 9 days of learning left! We are going to make them ridiculously amazing! 

Hanging with my Peeps

I get to school early, usually I pull in around 6 or 6:15. I can't help it. I have always been an early bird and while I don't want the worm I was greeted by a few other early birds. Look at what I saw at 6:30am! 

Around lunch time our first chick hatched! You can imagine the excitement of 26 tiny first graders and one large teacher. 

We worked on magic squares and problem solving strategies but mostly we observed, recorded, and researched facts about our new friends. Right around 2:00, we had three new chicks. 

After school I brought my little chick back. He LOVED the chicks and wondered where they will live. Sorry buddy, not at our house. They are headed to an organic farm where they will live out their days in peace and happiness...unless they are a rooster. 

         I love hanging with my peeps. :) I can't wait to meet our new friends tomorrow!

"Egg"citing First Grade Fun

We only have 23 days left of school. So many things need to get done before the end of the year. *sigh* Does anyone else feel super stressed? We have NWEA, AIMSweb, writing prompts, and benchmark assessments to administer. The students are feeling the summer creep closer. So in an attempt to keep the students focused and have a little fun, we began our egg observations.

We have 22 eggs that we are incubating and candling. The students are making observations, recording our findings, and doing research on the various breeds. 

We also have been working on geometry. The students are using shapes to create a symmetrical design. Each piece is assigned a value and the students have to check and see how much their design is worth. 

 I found this activity at Two Can Do It. Click HERE for the printables. They have so many creative ideas! I visit often!

We also had a breakfast for our volunteers. I couldn't have made it without the help of the fabulous moms and dads who donated their time this year! I pinned and printed this tag for the gifts for my volunteers this year. I certainly appreciate all of the EXTRA help!

 You can find my pin on my I Will Try This Board.

23 days left and some big changes are in store! 

Word Work *Freebies*

I love using the Daily Five. My students unpack, sharpen pencils, and after announcements start Daily Five time. Students work on reading, writing, and word work. I like to switch out the games in the word work station every few weeks. I always introduce the new games first and then put them on the word work shelf. They are still enjoying their St. Patrick's contraction games, but I am ready for a switch.

Since I was already on a roll creating items for my TPT store I thought I would post my freebies here!

I created a synonym and antonym matching games with recording sheets. Click the picture to download the synonym activity.