The BUSY Classroom Elf!

UPDATE on our classroom elf, Nicey!!! He has been very busy in our classroom taking good notes for Santa!  Take a look at all of the places he's found to watch my Firsties so far:)

High on the bookshelf....

Way up high on the windowsill....

Uh, Oh, Nicey got caught in our classroom snacks!!!

This was too funny...my kiddo's could not believe that Nicey did this!!!

Some of the comments were...

• "He must have been HUNGRY!!!"
• "I can't believe he stole our snack!"
• "He's gonna get in trouble by Santa!"
• "Great...now we can't go to writing center because if we accidentally touch him or knock him over, he'll lose his magic!"

We have also had a great time with Nicey this week during Writer's Workshop!!!  We've written about what reports that he has given to Santa so far, where we will find him watching the next day, etc.  He's been a great incentive for the kiddos to work hard and get along in class!!!

I have lots of ideas of how I will use our classroom Elf On The Shelf next week....can't wait to get creative:) We will be doing lots of interactive activities at the Elf On The Shelf site!!! Check it out....so fun:)  Can't wait to show my Firsties Monday the email that we got from Santa from that site. Merry Christmas...and be looking for updates to my classroom elf, Nicey:)

Loving our classroom "Elf on the Shelf"

Okay....so how many of you teachers out there LOVE "The Elf on the Shelf" at Christmas time??? I know I do!!! It has proven to be a fun and effective way to help with classroom management during the dreaded "school" holiday weeks!!!! My Firsties LOVE our "Elf on the Shelf", so I thought that it would be fun to do a Linky Party to find out how creative we teachers can be....as well as be an inspiration to me on where to display my classroom elf, Nicey:) (Appropriately chosen by my Firsties!!) Please feel free to post anything about your classroom elf!  All ideas are GREAT ideas! So here goes....this is a picture of Nicey perched high above my dry erase board in the front of my classroom.

Nicey...Mrs. Wallace's Classroom Elf!!

Play along with us!!!

A little Pinterest...ing Sight Word Fun!!

Some of my favorite pinning while searching for "Sight Word Activities" this week on Pinterest:)  

A great letter recognition center to use during Guided Reading time!!!  The students will love it and it's easy to set up and reasonably priced:) This came from ....Mrs. Kelly's Kindergarten!

This is a fun way to practice sight words and also get more practice with sentence formation and word choice!  This great idea came from....http://moffattgirls.blogspot.com/!

Now, this next sight word center idea seems to be pretty popular!!! I've used it for many years in my own classroom....and now, I'm seeing it all over Pinterest and have heard that many teachers are using it along with other store bought games that have been educationally altered by their owners:)  Teachers are so creative.....aren't we???? Well, we kinda have to be!  LOL 

Anyway.....here's Sight Word Candy Land!!!!

I wrote sight words on my game board, but others have written them on the actual cards.  Either way...the kids LOVE it and it really gets them involved with learning sight words....in a fun way:)

Other games that I have used for sight word center activities are: Jenga, Memory Concentration games, Chutes and Ladders, Twister, Scrabble, etc.  The possibilities are endless!!!

Enjoy and Pinterest your heart out:) I know I will!!!

What Level Are You On???

I found a GREAT Guided Reading idea from whattheteacherwants.blogspot.com through Pinterest, that I am excited to share with you!!!  I will be keeping up with my reading groups this way this year!  So simple, yet so helpful!!!!

Guided Reading Groups

"Saddle Up" For The New School YEAR!!!

Western is our theme this year!  After a long week of inservice meetings, data meetings, faculty meetings, "Meet the Teacher" night and working in my classroom, I think I'm getting close to ready to invite my new "Firsties" into my classroom....on MONDAY....YIKES!!!!!!  This is a picture of my bulletin board, welcoming my new students into 1st Grade!!!  It should be a GREAT year!!!

Rounding Up My First Grade COWPOKES!!!
Welcome to 1st Grade!!!

Great Teacher Find!!!

Shopping today, minding my own business...and guess what popped out at me???? You guessed it...Scotch Brite Whiteboard Erasers!!!!  I'm gonna LOVE them this year in my classroom!!! Just thought that I would share this wonderful TEACHER find:)