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"! 

"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! 

Looking Ahead

My sister personalized and bought a Life Planner from erincondren.com. I love it.  I have been busy updating dates and information amidst the chaos of Christmas with a toddler.

I was going through some of my picture files and found a few ideas I used last year that I plan on updating and tweaking and using with my firsties this year.


Torn paper snowmen are always a nice addition to January-themed units. I also plan on trying the shaving cream and Elmer's Glue idea I pinned on Pinterest. Love Pinterest!

Martin Luther King Jr. Day will be here before we know it! 

I love these for Presidents' Day. I also do a famous American unit where I use the timelines. 

I love looking through old photos and getting new ideas! Sharing is Caring! :)

Happy New Year

I just had to take down all of my Grinch and gingerbread wall displays before I left for break today. They would have bothered me...hanging there until I came back in to work. That and I hate sending home holiday work AFTER the holiday. I love hanging up Ike's seasonal work during that actual season.


Long story short....They are  GONE!

These are up waiting to greet my happy learners in 2012! 

I got the idea from the Glyph Girls. 

Adorable!