The Party Palace

Our last day of school was so fun!  I hung crepe paper and balloons from the door and painted a "Enter the Party Palace" sign.  :D  To set the party mood for the day, we met in my teamies room next door to do some serious boogie-ing on her "dance floor" complete with balloons and Kid Bopz playing over the speakers!

We then made everything to go into our Ready for Summer Learning Bags 

I love to make these easy and cute little bags for those big projects instead of having the kids stuff everything in their backpack and it get ruined by the time they get home.  All you do is get butcher paper and cut to the size you need, run staples down the side, make a cute label and Voila!

I found this amazing idea on Pinterest a couple of years ago and when I find the original author I will pin a link.  Here are the stations that the kids rotate through and make everything for their summer learning.  

Sight Word Stock Up:

I set out lists of sight words from first grade and they copy down atleast 10 that they still need practice on.  I cut copy paper into small flashcard sizes bites.  :D

Math Flash Cards:

Same thing with the math flash cards.  Students copy down math facts and write the answer on the back for self-checking.

Writing Journals:

Next they make blank journals for summer writing.  I precut different color and sizes of paper and they put them together and staple.  I have them make at least 4.  

Just Right Books

At this station I put out books from our school's book pantry (donated books from parents) and have them pick a Just Right Book or 2 of their very own.  They love looking at these and thinking "I get to keep a book of my own!"  :D

I also make copies of "10 free learning sites for Kids" and they put that in their bags as well.  We've covered writing, reading, math, sight words and technology!  All this gives them a really well rounded structure for continuing their learning from home. 

We're ready for summer!  Whoop-Whoop!

The Best Thing

Well, it's the end of the year for us and that means sweet Memory Books are being filled out.  A HUGE shout out to Cara Carroll and the 1st Grade Parade for this FREEBIE!  I've used it for the past 4 years and tweek it just a smidge, but we L-O-V-E it so much!

Every year, I am so tickled with what the kids say was the best thing that they learned from me.  Here are some of their thoughts:

math * science * being nice * painting * writing * manners * Picasso saw things a different way  * being kind  :D
And then of course, there is always that one child, that completely melts your heart by writing this:

If you don't read 1st grade here is a translation:

1.  I learned how to use good manners

2.  I learned not to hurt people.

3.  I learned to be kind to others.

4.  I learned not to eat before everyone is served.

5. I learned to be nice.

Glue stick-extraordinaire

These are the glue sticks your teacher wants you to buy. Trust me on this. #disappearingpurple

Graph it Out!

Graphing is one of my students favorite things to do in Math.  We took this cutie patootie idea to the next level by graphing out and analyzing our bubble blowing data.  :D
My kids will tell you I'm kind of a sugar nazi!  I never give my children candy or sweets. So, needless to say they were shocked when I let them chew gum for this project.   Of course, to blow the biggest bubbles you have to have the most sugary gum you can find!
We chewed and chewed and then practiced blowing bubbles.  It was a fun process and they all wanted so badly to be able to blow a bubble.  But it definitely is a skill!  Kinda like whistling, tieing your shoes, and snapping your fingers.  Just takes a first grader time and lots of practice.  :D

We made a pictograph first based on our experiment:

We then turned our pictograph into a student created bar graph:

And using Interactive Writing, we analyzed our data:

Each kido used the torn art technique that I love to make their self portrait.  We used real balloons to imitate what their bubble looked like.  You could use crumpled up pink tissue paper instead of real balloons.  Up to you.  They all looked so cute together out in the hall!

Word

Happy!

We LOVE the Happy Song!  A super fun way to celebrate a birthday, or a Monday for that matter, is to play the Minion Happy Song.   Dust off your dancing shoes and boogie on down with your students.  It's fun for them to see their teacher acting a little silly and it burns a few calories as well!  :D

Dig In

Are you like me trying to scramble for "new" Mother's Day ideas each year??  Back in April, in my plants and seeds box, I found this beautiful Pueblo verse.  Years ago, while I was teaching Kindergarten, my teammie at the time shared this beautiful verse with me.  We always had plans of one day using it, so like all good teachers we filed it away!  I am VERY blessed this year with an amazing mom who is a professional photographer.  She came and took pictures of the children holding a handful of earth.  The photos turned out beautifully.

I hope our Mommas loved their present.  I know every time I read the verse it makes me cry!

Cinco De Mayo

Cinco de Mayo means "The 5th of May" in Spanish. The date is observed to commemorate Mexico's victory over the French Army in the Battle of Puebla on May 5th, 1862. It is a national holiday in Mexico and one that we love to celebrate in Texas to honor the Latin American culture in our area. Cinco de Mayo often gets misquoted by many as Mexico's Independence Day from Spain which actually happened much earlier on September 16th, 1810.
While we listened to Spanish music, the boys made sombreros and the girls made flowers for their hair.  They all turned out adorable!  I loved how the sombreros turned out.  My boys really thought about how they wanted it to look.

We learned how to count to 10 in Spanish and tasted 2 different kinds of salsa.  I was proud of all of my firsties trying at least a little bit (a.k.a tiny edge of their chip dipped in!)

Several of our Kindergartners along with a few of my 1st graders got the chance to perform an authentic Mexican Dance during the school's lunch time.  They were such a big hit.  I love seeing my babies perform!  :D

Teacher Appreciation

Feeling very loved this week with all the healthy and not so healthy snacks, candles, gift cards and beautiful notes of admiration for teacher appreciation. Nothing says teacher love than a gift of Chocolate and Lysol wipes! haha

A student who struggles on every level, including parental support, saw what the other children were showering me with and made this homemade card for me with 11 cents in it. I think it's my favorite present. :D

Math Camp

As a way to help my kidos get excited about the upcoming End of Year Math Benchmark, I created Math Camp! It's a super fun, engaging way to practice the skills that my kidos were needing extra help in. I don't want to lie and say that it was a easy, breezy thing to set up. It took HOURS and HOURS to get it all together and organized! BUT it was SO worth it. Isn't that why we all go above and beyond for our students? Most of the resources I used were from this amazing packet I bought on TPT from Math & Science with TLC. She had so many great ideas that I used and cut and pasted to make what worked to fit our TEKS and Benchmark. I'm going to try to explain the steps that we took to make our Math Camp such a success. First, beg and borrow tents and sleeping bags to make your campers feel like they have gone on a field trip right in their very own back yard. :D I love the little fire my teammie made out of a copier paper box lid, toilet paper rolls and tissue paper. I wish I had gotten a close up pic of that one. Too cute!

Parent Volunteers are a MUST for this to be successful. They are the "camp counselors" and run each station for you. If you are lucky enough to have enough volunteers, you can be the person who checks on everyone and keeps the time as you try your best to stay on a 12-15 minute rotation.

Get your students Math books ready to go ahead of time (parent volunteers are great for this) I looked at what our Benchmark was testing and what the students needed extra time practicing on and made this booklet with 6 camp sites for them to rotate through and practice their math skills on:

Our stations may look different from yours based on your assessment of needs. Here is a list of what we did in stations: 1)Create a story problem based on a camping scene and have a fellow camper solve 2)S'more fact family practice 3)Addition/Subtraction QR codes (my students favorite station, BTW)

4) Time to the hour and 1/2 hour 5) Ways to make 10 and snack (smores) station

6) Graphing station- students tally and graph animals that they would see while on a camping trip. Our students had so much fun that they had NO idea they were practicing for the End of Year Benchmark!

Georgia O'Keefe

I absolutely love teaching art. Especially showcasing different Masters of Art. Georgia O'Keefe was a maverick of her time. Someone who saw the world in her own way and wanted others to see it that way too. That is why she said she painted everything so BIG, so people would see things the way she saw it.

After reading this wonderful book

And showing the children many of her beautiful paintings on-line, we set off to paint our own flowers, Georgia O'Keefe style. Ahead of time I had drawn a flower in pencil, then another one outlined in sharpie and then another one completely painted to be able to show them what to do step by step. As you look at Georgia O'Keefe's paintings you notice that the flower petals almost always touch the outer edge as well as go beyond the edges. That is the one stipulation that I made them adhere to. Other than that, they could draw what ever flower they wanted.

They came out so utterly beautiful that I told the children they should be hanging in a gallery. :D

Oh Happy Day!

I have always wanted to write a grant but frankly I was very utterly intimidated by the entire process. I really had no understanding of even how to start. It was always on my bucket list. And there it sat. Year after year. Until this year, when one of my wonderful parents helped me through the process. A huge catalyst for even writing this grant was my high level, 1st graders. Our campus used to be a 4th/5th grade campus and when the district made the switch back to K-5, our Guided Reading Library was extremely lean. Over the past years we have tried our best to add to our collection of book sets. What happens with high readers that are 6/7 years old is that the book selections on their reading level are generally not age appropriate. There in lies the quandary that I found myself in this year. After being completely in AWE of a new book I was reading called the "Book Whisperer" by Donalyn Miller, I decided to write a grant based on the interest level, age level and reading level of my high learners. After I surveyed all the above-level students in my grade level I was able to "whisper back in books".

I fretted and agonized and prayed over my grant and book list and with a press of a button at 3:47 on a cold Wednesday afternoon in February, sent it through cyber space to the powers that be. (It was due at 4:00, btw.) I work best under pressure! NOT! ;D I waited and waited until May 8th when the teachers who had submitted a grant would find out if they had been awarded. Low, and behold, I heard the drum line that Friday morning playing in our hallway (the high school drum line comes with lots of fanfare to be apart of the award ceremony) coming straight to my room.

It was a magical moment for me and my students. They were so excited that we won and when I read them all of the books that I had asked for, they were completely over the moon, as was I.

Earth Day

We love learning all about how to love on our Earth on Earth Day. This craftivity is UBER simple and inexpensive and the results are off the hook gorgeous. All you need are coffee filters, washable markers (do not use sharpies, they do not "bleed" like the washable markers do), and a water bottle. Have students draw continents first using a green washable marker, then fill in the rest with blue for the oceans. Next, place the completed drawing on paper towels and let them squirt a water bottle to their hearts content. I really love for my kidos to do all the work themselves with very little input from me. I always tell them that it is "their" work and it is should reflect them and not look just like my example. It takes only a bit of time sitting on a sunny windowsill to dry. I mount mine on black construction paper to really make it pop. Oh, and don't forget to diecut a class set of red hearts for the center and make a cute title for the front. :D

It makes for a stunning hallway display:

My teammie next door added a little writing extension to hers. Love it!

I'm baaaacccckkkkk

After a very lengthy hiatus from blogging (almost 4 years!) I am back! It is my goal to post to my blog once every 2 weeks. I'd like to post more, but I think my husband's already not going to be happy with me for putting one more thing on my plate! But... I am so excited about getting back and posting the awesome work my students are doing. Plus it will be a visual reminder for me of what I've done when next year rolls around and I think, "now, what was that awesome thing we did last year???". So, here's to me getting back in the saddle!

It's a Bug's Life!

I just finished up an awesome week of summer camp where my Students  investigated, explored, and analyzed the world of insects, focusing on comparing insects and spiders.  During the week, campers went on a bug hunt, had a cricket jumping contest, investigated and simulated how spiders eat their prey (YUMMY!), learned all about the life cycle of a butterfly.  Each student designed their own bug using an iPod touch.  They then created their bug with clay and made a claymation film!  Whew!  I'm still tired! :)

My rendition of Little Miss Spider!

We went on a "bug hunt" and found 29 ants and 3 bees.  Here's our new class pet. :)

L-O-V-E the "Bug Builder" app for the ipods.  A must for your classroom.  The kids select the bug's shape, then they draw and build there bug.   No two are alike.  You can save and print their masterpieces.  We used our printouts as a guide to build their own bug which starred in it's own claymation movie.  So fun!

Insect Literacy Center

How cute is my bug??

Exploration Station

Playdough Insect Stamps