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!!!

Merry Christmas "Word Work" Freebie

Here is a great word work center activity that my students are loving!!!! I thought I would share this fun little Freebie!!!! I'm also loving that the theme is MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

Feel free to download and use with your students....just please leave me a comment so I know what you thought of it!! Enjoy and Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas Words

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:)

Family Turkey Projects!!

This year, my Firsties have gone ALL out on the Family Turkey Projects!!! Out of the three years that we have done this activity, this is the first year that almost ALL of my students have done the project!!! I am so amazed....not only that they almost all have done it, but I'm amazed at the creativity that has been used in them!!! So neat!  Here are some of them that I snapped pics of!!! Way to go Room 21!!! You ROCK at Family Turkey Projects:)

"going nutty"

For a great Word Study Center activity, check out my newest "going nutty" game on TPT. 

"going nutty"

Have fun "going nutty"!!!

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!!!

A Great "Word Study" Site!!

Click on the link below for  a GREAT site to explore words with your students. It makes a great tool for whole group Word Study lessons on your smart board or independent research work on the computer. My "Firsties" love to practice their weekly words this way and after we have completed our lesson, we can print out the Fridge and paste the words in our Word Study Journals. AWESOME!!!

ABCya! ABC & 123 Magnets Fridge Magnets

Great Finds....

Just like lots of people these days, I am HOOKED on Pinterest!!! What a great way to find things....with the help of your friends!!!
Here are some of the new math ideas that I have started my school year off with!! So far, they are a HUGE hit!!!

from a great webiste....www.oceansoffirstgradefun.blogspot.com. 

This is a great place value game from ....http://whattheteacherwants.blogspot.com/.  The "Firsties" love it!!!

And to go along with Everyday Math, I found this smart board "Rolling for 50" game from....http://tekyteach.blogspot.com.  They also have the Dice, Roll and Tally Game, Penny Nickel Exchange and Bunny Hop!!!  I let the students choose Smart Board Games as one of their Math Game Rotation choices.  It makes learning so much fun!!!!

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

Free Printable, Party Printable, Kawaii, Paper Crafts, Kids Crafts, Stationery, Printable: FREE Back to School Pencil Circle Tags!

I Love this idea....I just love the WWW....you find all kinds of great things:) I'm going to use these cute labels for "First Day" cupcakes for my Firsties:)

Free Printable, Party Printable, Kawaii, Paper Crafts, Kids Crafts, Stationery, Printable: FREE Back to School Pencil Circle Tags!: "It's freebie time! I have a another cool school related (freebie) surprsise for you this Wednesday so make sure to come back! In the mean..."