Five for Friday August 1, 2014

Goodness Sakes!!  It has been over 6 months since my last post!  So, I am dusting off this keyboard and blowing away cobwebs from the corners of this little blog to say "HELLO!" again.  :)  Many things have changed in the past several months, including the fact that I am moving back to 1st grade!!! It was a wonderful three years in 3rd grade!  I learned so much from my students and how to extend reading comprehension in an older grade level.  However, I am so excited to return to 1st grade!  There is not a grade level quite like 1st!!  If you have taught 1st grade...I think ya know what I am talking about!  :)  So, today, I am linking up with Doodle Bugs for her 5 for Friday weekly linky party!!  Happy Weekend everyone!

This summer my husband and I committed to eating healthy and working out together.  We started to dabble in the Paleo diet and we LOVE how we feel!  It is no longer a diet, but a lifestyle change!!  The blog, Paleomg, has been a lifesaver!  I am not exaggerating when say both Joe and I and the girls LOVE EVERY.SINGLE.ONE of her recipes!!  They are YUMMY!!!  Click the pic below to visit her awesome blog.  :)

This morning, I finished updating my newsletter freebie!  I read some of the reviews from my buyers, and made adjustments accordingly!!  :)  Thank you for your input!!  All text is now completely editable!  Click Here for your free download.  

Last week, I started heading into my classroom! It is a lot of work, but I really do love setting up a new classroom each year!  :)  This is the start....I will have a full tour up on the blog soon!  :)
    

3 weeks ago, my sweet friend Katie convinced me to join her in selling Stella & Dot jewelry. Oh my goodness!!  I did not realize how much fun this little side job could be!! :)  This is such a great company, and I have already met so many sweet ladies!  I LOVE the new Engravables line.  This week, for my "Back to School" shopping :), I ordered this gold bar with my favorite verse inscribed on the front...Philippians 4:6-7.  Click here to learn more about this awesome company!

And finally.....I cannot WAIT to pick up this sweet girl from church camp!!! This picture is from the ride up to camp last week. I know she has had an amazing week, and I cannot wait to hear all of the ways God was working in her life this week...but I miss her!!  I cannot wait to pick her up! :)

Have a WONDERFUL weekend!  I can't wait to hop on to the linky and read to see what everyone else is up to!  :)

Five for Friday!! October 25, 2013

This week has been a blur!!  Parent Teacher Conferences...check! Fall Party....check!!  An extra long weekend for Fall Break...check!!  I am enjoying a little extra time to relax this weekend and spend time with my family! Today, I am linking up with Doodle Bugs to show you a little peek from my classroom this week!  :)  Hop on over to Doodle Bugs to join in on the fun!!

My students are IN LOVE with these darling Halloween Math Workstations by Jennifer from The Blessed Teacher!  

These "spooky" centers are all engaging, standards-based, and so much fun! My students loved the Trick or Treat Task Cards!! This activity has students "Up and Movin'!!"  They solve the equations with hands on manipulatives, draw the equation, and then solve the problem!  Brilliant!! 

Pumpkin Patch Rounding and Candy Corn Fact Families kept my students engaged, and eager to learn! This was such good practice for both of these tricky skills! 

These station are all creative, colorful and easy to prepare!! My students are asking to play these games again!!  Click on Jennifer's link above to check out all of the fun!  

Lego Robotics!! I am going to be honest....I never knew that Legos could be programmed to move until this school year.  These Lego kits were purchased through a STEM grant.  This project was an awesome conclusion to our Simple Machine Unit!

Drawing Jack-O-Lanterns to Label 2-D Shapes!!  This was a simple project for students to show what they know about 2-D shapes and express their creativity in the process. 

www.freerice.com

Have you checked out this free site?  The students can practice a variety of subjects, (I used this as a station for math this week), and every time the students answer correctly, this website donates 10 grains of rice to the World Food Programme!  The students can watch the bowl of rice fill up on the screen as they answer questions.  The site is for a variety of grade levels.  I think the students are even more motivated to answer accurately when they know they are helping others!

I have the most wonderful Room Mothers!! Our Fall Party was so much fun! Now it is time to relax on Fall Break!! Have a great weekend, everyone!  :)

First Weeks of School and some FREEBIES!! :)

Oh my goodness!! The past 13 school days have been a blur!!  I am so thankful for a three day weekend to take a moment and recharge!  Needless to say, this poor little blog has been badly neglected.  :(  I am excited to catch up on all of the blog posts that I have missed during the past few weeks.  Thank goodness for Instagram.  I have gleaned so much inspiration and fabulous ideas from all of you wonderful teachers out there!  Thank you for sharing!  If you have not joined in on all of the teacher fun on Instagram, type in #teachersfollowteachers.....it will open a whole new world!! Haha!

This year my class is SO CREATIVE and so much FUN!  I just love them so much!! :)  Here are some of the fun activities that have been on the agenda for the past couple of weeks....

We started our year off with a "Happy New Year" party!! This party was complete with party hats and noise blowers....{ummmm....next year I think we may forgo the noise makers for a quieter party favor option...WOW it was loud! HA!}

We also used this little freebie to write our "New Year Resolutions".  :)  Click below for your copy.

Now on to Science...we are studying the Scientific Method by asking questions and then performing simple experiments to draw conclusions and record our results.  I absolutely LOVE Deanna Jump's Simple Science Volumes one and two!!! These products are FANTASTIC!!  I used these experiments when I taught first grade, but they are still relevant and so interesting to my 3rd graders!! 

This is experiment helps to answer...Why don't spiders stick to their webs?

And this experiment answers, "Is Black Really Just Black?"  

In Math, we started our Math Talks, by finding Math everywhere!!  We took Math walks outside to see how much math we could find.  :)

In Readers' Workshop, we are working on building our stamina during our Read to Self block!  The students are doing a great job and enjoying our cozy reading corner!  :)

Finally, I also "tweaked" my newsletter template for this year.  Click below to download this freebie!  :)

Woooohoo!!  What a long post!! I hope all of you are having a great start to your school year.  Happy Labor Day weekend!! :)

Throwback Thursday and a Classroom Tour! :)

Annnnnd....We're Off.....!!! Another school year is underway.  What a fun week I have had with my new little third graders! Here is a quick tour of my classroom!  :)

My little "Tissue Paper Pom Chandelier" adds a bright pop of color in my reading corner. 

This is the view from my desk....This is sort of the calm after the storm....4:00 in the afternoon!! Just 20 minutes earlier, this classroom was buzzing with activity.  :)

Classroom Jobs chart is ready to be put into action tomorrow!  

I can't wait to begin our study of different literary genres.  It is definitely one of my favorite unit to teach in Reader's Workshop!

Click below to pick up your copy! 

       

And Now... Throwback Thursday!! Today, I am linking up with Cara from The First Grade.  This little post is from February 2010 from when I was teaching first grade!! Each year we have "B.E.A.R." {Be Excited About Reading} Week.  It is a fun way to celebrate books, and we also used this week to teach a mini unit on bears.  On Friday, we had a read-a-thon and students brought in sheets or blankets to build caves and "hibernate" with a good book.  :)  

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2010

Curl Up and "Hibernate" with a Good Book!

Today, we built "caves" in our classroom out of blankets and sheets. We pretended to hibernate like the bears that we have been learning about this week. All of the first grade students cuddled up with their favorite books in one of the caves that they "built". It was a fun morning!!

The caves in our classroom.

Peek-a-boo!!