Pumpkin Measurement

During the short 3 day week before Fall Break we studied pumpkins! We measured pumpkins with multiple non-standard units like: dominos, straws, paper clips, math counters and snap cubes. The kids did a great job estimating and checking. Later in the day we had some awesome parent volunteers come in and cook up some yummy pumpkin pancakes! It was a very pumpkin-filled day! Enjoy the pictures from this fun activity!

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Johnny Appleseed!

The week of September 24th- 28th we had Apple week in room 103. We learned about different kinds of apples, tasted and graphed those apples and also learned about Johnny Appleseed! We read multiple books about him, and wrote stories about him and completed character maps about him as well. So it was such a fin surprise when Johnny Appleseed himself came for a visit! The kids loved meeting him and had lots of great questions for him.

We also did lots of fun apple crafts like a torn paper apple and an apple air freshener. We finished the week off by enjoying some homemade applesauce and watching Disney's "Johnny Appleseed" movie. It was a fun and education-filled week!

Box Tops and Book Fair Door Winners!

Well I know all my little first grade froggies are winners, and now the whole school does too! Our class won the Box Tops challenge and the Book Fair Door Decorating Contest! Our prizes were awesome new books for our library and a POPSICLE PARTY! We have awesome students, and an awesome school! 

We're Back!

I know, I know, I am beyond behind in updating the blog! I started graduate school this summer and have been so swamped, I have pushed the blog to the side. But no more! I will try to write weekly to keep you updated on the fun things going on in first grade! For starters, here is a little tour of our frog-tastic first grade classroom!

These are our Book Boxes. The kiddos keep their library books, leveled readers and poetry folders in their box. We use these during our "Read to Self" portion of Daily 5 centers. The rotations in Daily 5 are: Read to self- where the student practices reading by them self. Word Work- during this portion students sort, read and write their spelling sorts. Listen to reading- Students listen to stories read to them on the computer. Work on Writing- students get to choose a topic to write about in their journals. They use resources like our sight word wall, word family wall, phonics wall and their spelling dictionaries to help them sound out words. They also get to draw a picture, then share their writing with the class. 

This is our behavior clip chart. Students all begin each day on green, and can move up or down according to their choices. They always have the opportunity to turn their day around and move up their clip. 

We are Bucket Fillers in our first grade classroom! We learned at the beginning of the year that everyone in the world has an invisible bucket that they carry around with them. We fill buckets when we say and do nice things. We dip from buckets when we say or do mean things. The kids get a chance to write nice bucket filler notes to one another and share how their bucket was filled. We also have a Bucket Filler of the week that highlights our awesome students!

Our Classroom Rules that we recite every morning.

Rule #1 Follow Directions quickly.

Rule #2 Raise your hand for permission to speak.

Rule #3 Raise your hand for permission to leave your seat.

Rule #4 Make smart choices.

Rule #5 Keep your dear teacher happy! =)

This is our growing Library! There are pillow areas, froggie reading buddies and lots of awesome books to enjoy during open reading times!

This is our word family wall. We do word family spelling sorts every week and these are some of these words we have come up with for each word family! You can also see our computer station. 

Writing Center! The kids love this part of the room! There are journals, papers, pencils and lots of helpful posters that remind students the important things to remember while working on writing. 

BUILD Math Centers are the math version of Daily 5. B stands for "Buddy Games" U stands for "Using Manipulatives" I stands for "Independent Reading" L stands for "Learning about Numbers" and D stands for "Doing Math."

So that's our room! Hope you enjoyed the tour!

Visit From Miss UCO Lindsey Allen!

Today we had a very special visit from a "Princess!" Miss UCO Lindsey Allen came to Room 103 to share with us about an organization called "Basket of Hope." It is a not- for- profit that raises money and collects toys to put baskets together for children who are in the hospital for extended periods of time. Check out the website at http://basketofhope.org/ She had a special helper with her too, an excellent athlete and the next Tiger Woods golfer- Casey Foster!

Our class got a great lesson on compassion and helping others. As the two groups put their baskets together they were told to "scoop part of their heart" to put in the basket to share love with sick little boys and girls that need a little help getting a smile on their face. I was so moved by how much each child loved helping and truly wanted to make a difference in the lives of people their own age that couldn't run and play like they could. There is nothing more precious than these sweet babies understanding that they are equipped and able, even at a young age, to make a difference in this world!

So thankful to Lindsey Allen and Casey Foster for visiting our classroom today and allowing my babies to share their hearts with others.

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Spy Gadgets!

It's that time- the end of the school year! I wanted to do a fun family project that encouraged creativity and allowed the kids to show all the writing skills they learned this year! So, I asked my kids to become.... SPIES! Dun, dun, du nuh.... They were able use any materials they could find to create the ultimate spy gadget to help them with a mission of their choosing! I had all kinds of elaborate gadgets, creative stories- and most importantly- students who showed they love to write! I, as usual, was blown away by my kids. I will miss this bunch for sure next year!

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Mother's Day

I just had to share this adorable Mother's Day art project we did in class. The idea came to me from a fellow first grade teacher. I got the clear glass plates from Dollar Tree, then just used Elmer's glue to paste the kiddos' pictures of themselves and their notes onto the back of the plate. Then you cut up colored tissue paper and glue that over the back! For the final layer we went over it with Mod Podge! The babies worked so hard on them and I think they turned out spectacular!