If I Lived in a Snowglobe...

I must say that these are my absolute favorite writing samples my students have created this year.  They wrote how they thought it might be to live in a snowglobe and they made their own snowglobes featuring none other than themselves.  Check them out.  

I know you will agree that they are SUPER CUTE!

Would You Know an Honest Face When You See It?

Over the past few weeks we have completed so many cute assignments that I can honestly say that I am running out of places to put everything.  I love giving my kiddies the opportunity to be crafty because of course it gives me the opportunity to do the same.   But I must say my favorite things to use in our activities are my students’ pictures.   I just love, love, love using my students’ pictures in their work.

This past week I had the pleasure of using their photos in two activities.  The first one is like a “guess who” kind of display.  Using a profile picture of each, I created silhouettes of my kiddies and a few of their favorite teachers and our principal. 

This activity went along with the study of President’s Day and the study of our character trait, Honesty.  They also wrote honesty statements.  Check it out below.  I’m pretty proud of how it all came out. 

 

Our Gifts to Dr. King

There have been so many great things happening in our class since my last posting.  This month in conjunction with the study of our January character trait (FAIRNESS), we learned all about the great contributions that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. made that have allowed us to enjoy the liberties we do today.  As a thank you, each one of us, I included, wrote about a gift that we would give to Dr. King.  I got the idea of a gift from another blog.   (Forgive me! I can’t remember which one.)

I don’t know about you all but so many times I think adults think that a concept is over the heads of kids.  I must admit I was guilty of it.  I just knew my kiddies would say that they would give Dr. King something like an Xbox.  Happily and surprisingly, that was not the case.  Their responses were beautiful and right on point.  They brought me to tears to hear all of the great gifts that they said they would give.  All I could say is “yes!” and “you’ve got it!” They really did impress me!

Below are pictures of our door display and some samples of my students’ work.

Penguin Problem Solving

I really love visiting other blogs to see all of the great things that other people are doing.  One of my favorite blogs, http://ericabohrer.blogspot.com/search/label/Penguins is written by Erica Bohrer.  A while back I saw a Penguin Addition problem that her students solved.  What I liked most is that the kids did a penguin craft to go along with their problem.  I knew I wanted to do something like that, however I really wanted it to focus on what we were currently learning.  Around the same time I decided I was definitely going to do this penguin activity, our principal mentioned in our staff meeting that she wanted up to use more nursery rhymes in class to assist with learning.

So here’s what I did.  I created a rhyme that was a culmination of several math skills taught.  My kiddies had to solve a story problem which required them to divide a given number of pink and purple fish equally.  I wanted my students to focus on creating equations that were equal without trying to give each side the same amount of each color. So they were given an odd number of each color.  However, each penguin had to receive some purple and some pink fish. 

I know I just went around the world and back with that explanation.  But the kids did great.  Here are samples of our finished product.  

Holiday Sing-a-Long

This year we hosted our fourth annual Holiday Sing-a-long.  Every year since our school has opened, we’ve had our sing-a-long.  It is one time of the year that the whole school comes together to sing songs that celebrate the holiday season.  Each year our school has grown in numbers and it was amazing that we were able to fit over 800 students in the gym along with the most of the staff.  Everyone always has a great time.  But none of it would be possible without the hard work of our AWESOME music teacher and my friend, Mr. Welfe. 

Mr. Wefle rocking it out at the piano

 

 This year my kiddos and I wore our Santa hats so that we would all look festive.

Spreading Holiday Cheer

This is the second year that we have had the pleasure of having Mrs. Fykes as a school counselor.  And for the second year, we have participated in the Christmas Card Workshop.  This is a time when kids create holiday greeting cards for people living in assisted living facilities.  The kiddos really enjoy creating the cards.  It’s their small contribution to spreading holiday cheer and showing others that they care.

On a similar note, I had the pleasure of having my first comment posted on my blog.  It just happened to be from my newest coworker.  In her comment she jokingly wrote that I should spend my time blogging about how great she is.  So in the spirit of the holidays and to show her how much I love working with her, I am going to do just that.  I am so happy to have the opportunity to work with Miss Rockey (Katie-loo).  She can be found over at the blog:  caffeinekidscreativity.blogspot.com.  She is a ball of energy and she has added a bit adult conversations and happiness to my work days.  She is such a hard worker and so excited about teaching.  I hope that the spark in her never goes away because any child would be so lucky to have her as a teacher.  But what I like most about her is that she is just as blog obsessed as I am.  Katie I hope you see this and that this puts a smile on your face.  BLOG-ON!!!!!

Our Adventures with the Gingers

This week as a part their homework assignments, students created and wrote about their adventures with their gingerbread girl or boy.  They had to name it and complete several activities throughout the week.  They were very cute.  I especially loved hearing the names that the kids gave their gingerbread friends.  I met Sparky, DJ, Aubrey, Cheyenne and many others.  However I must say, I really loved the name Miss Cookie.  It was simple, to the point, and very cute.  I normally just add their finished projects to their portfolios.  However this year, I have become obsessed with making books.  So that is just what I did with them, I compiled them into a class book.  What can I say, kids love reading each others’ work. 

 

Alyssa and Aubrey

  

Gina and Miss Cookie




Dylan and Sparky



PRAISE NIGHT

Well our first PRAISE Night was a success.  Unfortunately we had a very small showing of parents, only 8 out of 24.  However with the lousy weather that we had that evening, I must say I’m not very surprised.  As promised, I am posting some of our class highlights.  I am especially proud of our pizza box portfolios.  They are always a lot of work but a labor of love.  I just hope my little firsties appreciate them and keep them as a reminder of their first grade experience.

Sorry the images are flipped to the side.  The pictures were
note taken this way.  However for some reason when posting,
they are flipped to the side and I don't know how to correct it.
It's giving me the blues!  But I'm exhaling and going with what I have.

Another Crazy Busy Week

Well this past week was another crazy busy week. We have been prepping for our first PRAISE night of the school year and the science fair. I am so excited that I have finally completed all of my student portfolios. They came out sooooo great if I may say so myself. I wanted to create a scrapbook for each student, but the thought of making them makes my brain hurt. So I have decided to stick to what I have done in the past. Each of my students has a pizza box portfolio that I decorated. Each year I decorate them with a specific theme in mind. However, this year I decided to do something a bit more personal. I wanted to praise my student in every sense of the word. So I created acrostic poems using the letter of each of their names that expressed the great qualities that I have grown to know and love. I absolutely love them. I just hope my kiddies and their parents appreciate them as well. I don't want to post picture of them just yet. However I plan to on Wednesday and Thursday. I can't wait the share them.

Family Tree Projects

A yearly tradition in first grade is for students to complete a Family Tree Project.  As their homework assignment, students are to interview parents to find out about their family and ancestor.  They are to create a tree that contains names, pictures, and a creative element.  Below is a small sample of student work.

Thanksgiving Friendship Feast

As promised, I am posting pictures from our friendship feast. As always, it's tons of work, but the kids really enjoyed it. We made butter, cinnamon apples, and not-so-stony soup. The kiddies did all of the work. They cut up the veggies and the apples and made butter while doing the Butter Boogie. We were Native Americans along with two other classes. The other 3 classes were Pilgrims. It was just like the first Thanksgiving. I'm so sure it was NOT! However the idea of being thankful for a great meal was definitely expressed by many of my students. It really makes me smile to see my kids trying different foods and enjoying it. Unfortunately there are many who wouldn't even try the food because it was different :(.

I Can Finally Breathe!

Wow!  It seems like forever since my last posting and that's because it has been.  Over the past few weeks, we have been very busy at school and home, which is why I have not been posting.  We have been busy at school learning about patterns, family, and nature.  I have also been very busy with report cards and conferencing.  Report cards are done, but there are still more conferences in my near future.   Now don't get me wrong, I love sharing with parents how their children are doing in school.  But secretly I can't wait until all of the conferences are done.  Well I guess now the secret's out.  However as most of you all know, even though one thing is done, the work definitely isn't.  But it's a labor of love when you see your little ones at home and school blossom.

Over the weeks to come we will be learning about the seasons and our new character trait for the month of November and December, CARING.  I'll follow-up and post some pictures soon.

Another Week Almost Gone

Well another week of is just about over.  We are completing our second full week of meeting in guided reading groups and I must say “Boy do my little people get noisy at times.”  I want so badly for them to be able to make their own center choices after their work is done.  However as always, it doesn’t take long before I realize that they are not ready for that kind of independence.  I guess I will have to go against my earlier wishes and assign them a center each day.  I’m sure it won’t go over to well with them; but I have to do what’s best.  So center assignment it is.

Centers in Action

This past week we began our guided reading rotation.  Things were a little rough this week.  However I’m certain that with time, it will improve. 

My goal for this year is to create literacy centers that are more interactive and not your typical paper and pencil centers.  I am very proud of the time that I have put into creating a variety of centers to reinforce what is being taught.  Below are a few pictures of the scrambled words center in action.  For this center I used plastic Easter eggs that contained letters for each spelling word.  The kids who used the center really seemed to enjoy it. 

Math Investigations

Well our Math Investigations are in full swing.  Over the past few weeks we have been learning about counting, combining, adding, and comparing numbers.  I really like the interactive component of the Math Investigations program and how it uses games to facilitate learning.  However it can get very loud at times with all of the math games going on at once.  We really need to work on volume control.  I’m thinking about creating guided math groups and rotating between games and seatwork.  I think that may help with controlling the noise volume a bit.  I think it is worth a try.

Collect 20 Together

Compare

Double Compare

Five in a Row

Roll and Record

C is for Character!

We are Mary B. Neal Elementary, Home of the Blue Crabs of Character.  That’s because having and showing good character is a big deal to us.  This year, to kick off our character education program, kids participated in an assembly about courage and followed it up with a character parade.  We all thought the parade was a great idea, but secretly worried about how we would get it all done by September 15.  Yes the secret is out.  We were a little worried about the time. However we did it and it was a HUGE success.  The floats were cute.  The students were awesome.  We loved as always seeing our great mascot, DJ.  It was a great celebration of character.  But now the hard work begins.  Showing good character all of the time can be challenging.  However I think we all ready for the challenge.  Check out the highlights of our day.

Our Courage Assembly 
Isn't that screen great. 
We've got to get one of those.

Here are the first grade floats. 
Check out how our Disney characters play fairly.

The pillars of character.

Our Fairness banner

Meet DJ, our mascot.