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.

Projects Completed

This week are continuing to complete those back to school getting to know you activities.  We are also beginning to get into our curriculum routines.  Today the kiddies finally completed their books about their families.  I made books in the shape of a leaf to go on our Learning Tree.  I also finished decorating our class door.  I think the door and the tree look great.  But I guess I would think so since it’s my work.  There’s nothing wrong with a pat on your own back every now and again.

We have also worked in our Math Investigation series, exploring tools and playing games.  (If only the kids realized it’s all learning in disguise.)  Anyway they seem to enjoy working together and playing the games which makes me happy as well. 

Well I guess I need to rest up.  Tomorrow is the big day to share all that I will teach and all that the kids will learn, Open House.  It’s amazing how the stress tends to build up prior to.  And when it’s happening, you don’t really understand why you stressed at all.  I guess it comes with the job.

The New Kiddies

Well school has begun.  We spent a lot of time this week going over school, classroom, and playground procedures; and I’m sure we will do more of the same next week.  We completed some getting-to-know-you activities and explored math tools. 

I captured some of it on my camera that I unfortunately left at school.  Anyhow I did take our first class picture on my phone.  Honestly I think to phone pictures look a lot better than the camera’s.  I think I will use my phone more often.  I know you can’t tell by looking at a picture.  However I can tell that they are an OUTSTANDING group of kids.  I know we will have a great year of learning together.   

It's Been a Long Time

Well I just started this blog and it’s amazing how things can get busy very fast.  So many times, the many things you would like to do but may not have the time to do fall to the background.  Well many people posted pictures of their classroom, so I thought I would follow the trend.  This year I moved to a new class, different color walls, same size and layout, but it just feels new.  I know there is a lot of blank space on the wall.  Well, I'd like to call that "UNDER CONSTRUCTION!"  I have to save space for my kids to make their mark.  Check it out.

The view from the door.

Our Character Bulletin Board:

Somehow the rainbow theme just took on a mind of its own.  I just went with it.

A view from the back

Our Calendar Math Wall

This is one sections of our class library. 

I’m so proud of all of the hard work on my cataloging and labeling system. 

I think it looks AWESOME, if I may say so.

"Take to your Seat" Centers

A Sense of Accomplishment

Well today was another day that I found myself working hard in preparation for a new school year.  But I feel like I accomplished a lot today.  You know all of those tedious details that you hope to take care throughout the school year but you never do.  Well I did some of them today.  I created some new center and book bin tags for all of the bins I purchased from Really Good Stuff.  I also made a new Behavior Chart.  Please don’t hesitate to take notice of the size of each color.  I know I am going to have the greatest kids this year; so I made the positive colors larger. 

I tell you, I worked all day and again lost track of time.  But there is something special about a classroom that is fresh and new.  I don’t know about you, but it really helps me to get excited about the upcoming year.

 

Book Bin Labels





Literacy Center Bin Labels

Blogger Newby

Well today while searching for literacy center ideas, I stumbled upon the Fabulous in First Grade blog.  I have never blogged before.  However I have visited many party planning blogs before.  I became so excited by the plethora of resources I was ale to find that I completely lost track of time.  I logged into my computer at approximately 10 am.  I left a few times, but not too long, to make lunch and dinner.  And here I have found myself still on my computer at what is now 9:45 pm, almost 12 hours later. 

                                                         

I wonder, what has happened to me.  I started off searching for information and now I am blogging.  This is exciting!  It's been a productive non-working work day.  But now it shall come to an end.  I can't wait to learn more about being a true blogger.