Happy 100th Day of Learning

Happy 100th Day from the Old Bitties in First Grade!!

Today was the 100th day of school for our students. We start in August and get out in May so the 100th day seems to always fall between New Years and Valentine's Day. Our first grade team dressed the part this year. We dressed as 100 year old teachers. I'm the "vertically challenged" one. :) 

We had a great day! In our Language Arts group, we created our "future portraits". We crinkled up paper bags and added hair {three parts Elmer's glue, one part shaving cream}, eyes, smiles, and glitter. {Love!} 

Some of our older gentlemen preferred cotton hair to the messy puffy glue hair. Either way they look adorably old! 

What a sweet little granny! 

Then we wrote about what we would do when we were 100 years old. 

Getting older is not so bad...if it weren't for the memory loss. Now what was I saying?

Students brought in collections of 100 things. Here a young lady demonstrates 100 different nail styles! Which reminds me....I need a manicure. 

A wonderful tower with 100 Popsicle sticks! 

Students also brought in ingredients to make 100 Day Crunch. We had 100 marshmallows, crackers, pretzels, chocolate chips, M&Ms, and raisins.  

Parents came for the last half of the day and heard us sing our 100th day song, snacked with us, and toured our 100th Day Museum. 

I am putting my 100th day song up for free in my TPT store. I just have to figure out how to upload the lyrics. :) 

Arrrg! Pirate Fun in First

I purchased an amazing unit by Babbling Abby. You can find it at Teachers Pay Teachers, click here.

My firsties and I were learning about combination ar, er, ir, or, and ur. Our district uses Saxon Phonics, which is very comprehensive program but a tad {or more} on the dull side. So to spice it up, we learned about combination ar with Pirate Mark and Pirate Bart. I was Pirate Bart who stumbled into the classroom with a pirate map and a promise of treasure.

I hid "ar" words around the school and we used treasure map to find our way to a chocolate "bar" treasure. The kids really enjoyed it. The school secretary got such a kick out of it. She took my picture {yikes} and later put it in the school newsletter. *sigh*

We also made our own pirates with a list of "ar" words. I cut out the head and hats for them. They were responsible for adding the hair and "piratey" details. 

     The eye patches and the stubble are just adorable. 

I also read some of my favorite Pirate books. 

They had such a fun time and the "ar" combination really made more sense to them after our pirate day. 

 The students rated Pirate Day "two hooks up"! 

Permission or Forgiveness?

I earned {sounds so much better than received} my Masters Degree in December. My husband surprised me with a shiny frame. {I love shiny things!} I asked him if he would come in and help me hang it in my classroom.

 Here is my dilemma. 

He came in with his power drill and two screws and anchors. I know it is the only "proper" way to hang a frame, but we are in a building that is two years old. Also my principal has a thing about nail holes....like she HATES them. She allowed another teacher one small hole for a frame. But two screws? So for now until I decide to ask for permission or forgiveness, it is leaning on the top of my shelf with the portrait or my son, my singing lion, and lots of dust. 

I had no trouble finding a place for my latest Pinterest craft! My students LOVED it! One of my firsties needed a black crayon and asked if he could pull it off of my wreath. I told him to borrow from a buddy! 

Document Camera

Our document camera arrived with the snow on Thursday. I took advantage of the two-hour delay on Friday morning to set up the camera. When the students arrived, we put the camera to good use right away! My math group had been working on using inventive thinking.

They had to create a machine that would pick up acorns and store them in a tree. Every student had the chance to explain how their machine worked by using the document camera. They had SO MUCH FUN!

 I love how excited they were to explain their thinking. The document camera works perfectly with our Promethean board. We had to work out a lighting issue but thankfully the document camera has a small light for presenting.

Thank you so much for voting and making this document camera a reality for the students in my classroom. 

If you get a chance please vote for our remaining Donors Choose projects that are left in the OO.com competition. I love how organizations are stepping up to send technology into classrooms! 

http://www.oo.com/safkids/detail/projectid/707791

http://www.oo.com/safkids/detail/projectid/623243

"Snow" much fun!

It is snowing here! I am such a winter gal. I love the cold when snow is involved. Here are a few frosty Pinterest-inspired snow friends. 

Our class read the book, What Do Snowmen Do at Night. We then focused on the different verbs in the story. {Great word choice lesson} Students then had to visualize what action their snowman {or snowgal} would do at night. We had some hilarious examples! 

We used three parts glue and one part shaving cream on blue construction paper. After the paint dried, we cut out the snowman and glued it to a background. Then, we decorated the snowmen and added details. I love glitter! 

"My snowman skateboards at night."

"My snowman types on the laptop and looks up other snowmen at night."

{Hilarious}

"My snowman sings at night."

"My snowman likes to slide at night."

And my personal favorite, "My snowman digs for gold at night."

"Snow" much fun! 

My Word for 2012: Create

My family lives and works in New Jersey {right by the shore} while my husband, son, and I live in Indiana. 

639 miles is a long way from family and a very, very long way from the beach! My cousin Kim posted this on her Facebook page and it is very fitting for this, the first day of a brand new year. 

Good-bye 2011 and hello 2012. 

While looking at the picture and thinking about the yearly "choose a word for the year" project, I am struck by the word: Create.

There are so many opportunities waiting to be created in 2012: a new outlook, a new friend, a new chance, a new perception, a new goal, new memories, new stories, new beginnings.

I resolve to make 2012 a year of creation. 

George Bernard Shaw put it best when he said, "Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself."

For more information about the Pick a Word activity visit Fairy Dust Teaching or do a google or bing search for Christine Kane.