Up, Up and Away and Leprechauns at Play

Well, it was a busy week in first grade. We had lots of stuff to cover. Plus, I had my final unannounced observation for the year (soooo glad that's over with!) and was sick. So, I haven't had much time for blogging. But, I wanted to share a few of the fun things we did this week.

Every spring, we do a mini-unit on kites and balloons. We usually compare/contrast them and then the kids write about how they are alike and different. Last year, we pretty much scrapped the whole comparison thing and just wrote adjectives on kites because we ran out of time. But, this year, we decided to bring back the kites and balloons. Since one of our standards is writing opinion pieces, this proved to be a great topic to debate :)

We started off making an anchor chart about both kites and balloons.

After we wrote the information about kites, the kids went back to their seats and filled out a Circle Map about kites. I know this isn't exactly how Circle Maps are supposed to be used... but, I had the kids write things they liked about kites inside the circle and things they didn't like about kites outside the circle. This was a great way to seperate their thinking.

We did the same thing on the back of the same sheet with balloons.

Then, I had the kids decide whether they would rather have a kite or balloon. Then, I broke them up into the kite group and the balloon group and had them discuss why they would rather have a kite or balloon. I was shocked at how serious they were and how passionate they were about their choices. I thought I was going to have to break up a few debaters! HA.

Next, they used our flow maps to write a paragraph to share their opinions. I told them they had to state their opinion in the opening sentence, provide three reasons in the middle and ask a question as the closing sentence. Here are some of their flow maps...

They turned their flow maps into paragraphs and then I just stapeled them to scrapbook paper. We added some little kites and balloons, too.

On a random but somewhat related note, I totally forgot to show you the little project we made for Read Me Week. These hung at the front of the school in the lobby during the week of Dr. Suess' birthday. When I got them back, I taped them to my door for an extra little burst of color :)

I folded his face down so you can't see it. The balloons say "The more you read, the more places you'll go!" And, I took pictures of the kids holding a sign saying where reading takes them.

Friday, we had a visit in our room from a little friend.

He made a huge mess!

(And, for real, my leprechaun made this mess... not me. I told him he could mess it up, but not "really" mess it up. I can't handle the mess, ha.)

When my kids came back from PE and saw this message on the board and the big mess:

They. Went. Ballistic.

I've never seen them get so worked up. They were searching for clues and they just had so much fun. Then, our mischievous leprechaun popped into the room. And, if they weren't nuts before, they certainly were now!!!

Special thanks to Mr. Hedgepath, our Title 1 coordinator, who dressed up like a leprechaun for us two years in a row! I'd say the accent was even better this year. And, as a side note, I'm getting dang good at making homemade leprechaun beards, just sayin.

After he left and we were all threatened to calm ourselves down we made some cute little leprechauns and wrote about our experience.

Well, that's all I have to share tonight.

Thanks for reading!

Learn Me Good (x2)

Have I mentioned that I got a Kindle Fire for Christmas? Well, I did. And I've been reading a bunch of books since then. Especially a lot of teaching books.  

I came across a book a few weeks a go that I had never heard of. (And, I apologize if I am waaay behind the times and this book has been read by every teacher under the sun. It's entirely possible.) It had amazing reviews, was supposedly very funny and only cost $2.99 on my Kindle. 

It's called Learn Me Good by John Pearson.

And it? Is the funniest book. Like, hysterically funny. If you are a teacher and you enjoy hilarous kid stories, this is THE BOOK for you! I promise!!!!

The book is about a young guy who leaves his job as an engineer and gets a job as a third grade teacher in Texas. And, the whole thing is written in an email format as he is writing emails to his friend back at his old job. He shares all the pains and joys of a first year of teaching, sure. But, his sarcastic writing style is just so enjoyable.

I was really torn because I wanted to keep reading, but I didn't want it to end.

Luckily... he's written a sequel.

Yippee! And, it too, is only $2.99.

Oh, and I just discovered he has a blog, too! It's like a new chapter every day!

His blog is here. Go check it out.

I don't recommend books on here often (or, ever.) But, I would want somebody to tell me if I was missing out on an awesome, inspiring and hilarious book about teaching.

So, consider yourself told.

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

The last few days... wow. I finished (and started!) my report cards yesterday as well as making all new differentiated math centers and updating my literacy centers and literature circles. Then, when I got home, I did a MAJOR cleaning. I vaccumed, dusted,  mopped the kitchen, took out the trash, picked up all the clothes laying around my room and did laundry. Then, this morning, my mom and dad brought some stuff by the house... which, then turned into a trip to Target. Followed quickly by a bedroom re-arrange and a trip to the grocery store. Again, wow.

But, there's something that feels so good about knowing everything is checked off the list and you can just relax. At least until it all starts again on Monday :)

I thought I would share some of the house stuff we worked on today. I haven't posted many house pics lately because I haven't really changed anything or bought anything.

 But, that kind of changed last weekend.

My mom and I went to TJ Maxx last weekend and I walked out of there with a new loveseat. A loveseat that I LOVE!

Want to see?

That's it right there in the corner.

The fun pillows sitting on the loveseat both came from Target.

I don't especially like the loveseat beside this black table. But, it's okay for now because I'm eventually going to replace that table with something better. I'll know it when I see it. The wooden architectural piece came from Pier 1 a few months ago. I can't remember if I blogged about it or not. But, I absolutely love it.

This is what the other half of the room looks like... not much has changed over there.

I took the sunburst mirror from above my bed and hung it in this room, too. I think it kind of adds to the eclectic look I'm going for in here.

I got two things at Target:

 

this fun rug for the front door

and these fun adirondack chairs for my back patio. I realize this looks a little bare right now. But, it's too early to be buying plants. Although, it was sooo warm here today! I think these will look great with some colorful flowers out there this spring and summer. Plus, I'm going to need a place to sit while my little puppy friend plays on the patio :)

The other big project was rearranging my bedroom. I was getting a little tired of the layout because my bed and nightstands were blocking my  big windows :( And, there was a lot of wasted floor space (which is apparently prime real estate for dirty clothes.)

So, here's what my room looks like now:

This trunk is sitting on this little wall for right now. But, I'm on the lookout for a great comfy chair that will fit in this corner.

Obviously, I need to hang that picture above the bed.

I'm excited about all the new changes at my place.

 I love my little house :)

Oh, and on a completely unrelated note, good luck to Vandy tomorrow in the SEC tournament championship! Beat the Cats!!!

A Peek at our Week...

This week was kind of tricky. Report cards are due Monday, running records and sight word assessments were due Thursday and it was a short week. So, honestly, my kiddos did a little something that we don't do too often: busy work. Well, kind of.

We focused this week on American Symbols. I've been feeling like we needed to talk about all this stuff because somehow President's Day passed us by this year. I can't believe I'm admitting this on my blog, but it's true. We did ZERO presidents activities this year. Which is a darn shame because I always enjoy it and my kids do, too!

So, each afternoon, I read my kiddos a book about an American Symbol. And, we talked about it and filled in possibly the most boring anchor chart in the history of the world.

I mean, really, how hard would it have been for me to draw a tiny version of each symbol? But, all I was worried about was getting back to my table to test. You can judge me all you want. But, if you're a teacher, chances are you know just what I'm talking about.

After we read about each symbol, the kids went back to their seats and worked on their books. Books, you might be asking? Ahh, yes.

Such a thing of beauty, isn't it? 

(Note the sarcasm.)

And, what is inside these charming little books?

Just four graphic organizers. You know... the graphic organizers we use for EVERYTHING.

But, my kids didn't mind. Plus, they do them totally independently. So, win/win for a test-giving crazy person like me.

Want to see some of their cutie-patootie American Symbols?

 Sure you do...

Their little books actually turned out pretty cute.

 I mean, if it had been a normal week, we definitely would have done a big writing project and made some of the cute little "craftivities" I've been pinning like a fool. But, real life just got in the way. And, for this week, this was a good activity that my kids really got into and learned a lot. 

When I finally finished my testing, I decided to treat my kiddos to a little lesson on the president and the White House. My kids were uh-mazed!!! They couldn't believe the White House has a bowling alley and movie theater inside it! 

I let the kids make little post cards to "send" to the White House.

Nice rendition of President Obama, wouldn't you say?

We also started making a new poster recently that I wanted to share. Every week, I've been letting my kiddos come up with a poster of words that contain our skill. We add them to the poster on Monday and we talk about what part of speech they are. Then, we practice reading them together.

On Tuesday or Wednesday, we add some suffixes to the word. The kids have to tell me the root word and then spell the suffix for me. Then, when we read the words each day, they have to read them with the suffixes.

My friend Claire gave me this idea and I have LOVED using it in my class. It's been a great source of words for us to read together every day. The kids especially like to read it in funny voices. ( I normally let them write the words... but, we had some issues with that this week so I took over. It happens sometimes, what can I say?)

And, lastly, we spent a lot of time this week talking about test-taking strategies. I've noticed that in taking our weekly "standards-based" tests (that come with our reading series), my kiddos just do a lot of guessing. So, we talked about what good test-takers do and we went through a test together and practiced these strategies.

So, here's to some (hopefully) better test-takers in first grade.

Well, that was a little glance at our week.

I hope I didn't bore you to tears.