Symmetry, Word Craftivity, PDAS & ME:)

Okay....so it has been a full, busy week and then some!!!  I'm not complaining...it makes summer come more quickly for me:)  We are on countdown ya know.....30 more days of 1st GRADE!!!

First of all, I turned a year older this week...insert sigh....oh well, we all do, right???  I had a great birthday and my 1st grade team surprised me with an AWESOME lunch in our conference room, my Firsties were super excited that it was my birthday, my honey sent me BEAUTIFUL flowers and I had a wonderful dinner with him to end the night!!!!!

I had my PDAS evaluation today....insert sigh....oh well, we all have to do it, right???? I did a Writer's Workshop lesson for my evaluation and I think it went SPECTACULAR:)  I used Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. The focus of the lesson was how author's do different things with their sentences in their stories.  (The main objective was to notice that there are different amounts of words in each sentence of the author's piece.) I chose 2 pages to chart the author's thinking. I showed them on the smartboard and we counted each sentence to get the correct number of words.  They were amazed at the sentence that had 16 words in it:)  Firsties are so easily amused, that's why I love them!!! I then modeled a Mrs. Wallace and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day on the smartboard using my own thinking.  LUCKILY for me.....I didn't have to make up anything!!!  I woke up late this morning, rushed to get ready, had NO time for coffee....insert GRRRR......walked out to the garage to leave and my BATTERY WAS DEAD!!!!!  Oh, yes, so I just wrote from the heart!!! I used lots of voice and expression in my story and the Firsties LOVED it:)

A YouTube Video showing a read aloud of

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

Now....onto my Word Craftivity....our theme is Butterflies and Insects this week, so we made symmetrical butterflies and then added our weekly words to them for extra practice.  They were able to decorate their butterflies after that and we hung them in the hallway for everyone to enjoy! 

Here is a picture of the Symmetrical Butterfly Template that we used. Click HERE for a FREEBIE!

Take a chennille stick and connect it.  Then staple it to the backside of the butterfly like the pictures above show.

Here are some of the finished products:)

I hope that you enjoy this little FREEBIE:)  Feel free to download and leave me a ROCKIN' note....I LOVE them!!

Have a GREAT Thursday evening!!!

"My Spring Word's" FREEBIE and I'm Back:)

Well, well, well....it's been a while!!! Sorry blogger friends....I'm BACK!!! I took a tiny break during our Spring Break week and I'm just now catching my breath from a FANTASTIC time in NYC!!!! 

The pic above is of my sister, my daughter, my niece & I at the St. Patrick's Day Parade!!! Fun times!!!

I love visiting New York, but I always forget how exhausted it makes me when I return home:)  Oh well, I'd do it all over again, in a heartbeat!!!

Onto a more 'teacherly' topic.....My Flower Pot Spring Word Craftivity!!!

Here are some pics of the finished products!

The "Firsties" LOVE doing their Word Study Practice in fun ways!!!

You will need:

"My Spring Word's" template page

2 or more different colored papers

1 white piece of construction paper

pencil

crayons

markers

scissors

glue sticks

Weekly words or Word Wall Words

Have fun with my "SPRINGY" Craftivity!!! Be patient, it takes a while for them to complete!!!

A Little "HONEST ABE"....

Here are some pics of our "HONEST ABE" Word Craftivity!!!  

I used one piece of black construction paper, 1 piece of white construction paper, a glue stick and scissors.  Then made cuts like this.....

...and using chalk and a few crayons, they were able to make their "HONEST ABE" Words for the hallway.  Be "HONEST" and leave me a comment if you choose to use this idea for your "FIRSTIES"!!!:) I love reading them:) We LOVE celebrating President's Day!!!!