Rocks Rock!

Our district is so lucky to have the wonderful April Larremore as our K & 1st Strategist and she has a wealth of knowledge and is such a GREAT reasource. Her blog Chalk Talk: A Kindergarten Blog. She has excellent ideas for both K and 1st grade for all subjects. Her Rock Unit was definitely used in our class this year. We did the activity below, and the students LOVED it!





The sheet was created by April, it works for K and 1st. After reading several rock poems and books, completing a Flow Map of the breakdown of a rock, the students completed this. It really helped them see and understand that sand is actually really tiny rocks. They thought that was so "cool"... and that is a direct quote! Ha!!!

Long Time No See

My only excuse for not posting anything since November is that I have just been so busy, and when I'm not doing school stuff I was soaking up all the time I was spending with my family over the holidays. My plan is to post a couple Christmas things, and some things we have been doing lately.




At the beginning of December we made "Countdowns for Christmas" by connecting red and green strips of paper as links, with one gold at the top when you reach the bell. The bell had a poem about the countdown. The kiddos really LOVED making these, and were also able to practice their skip counting once they had the links put together.



Using these reindeer heads, I had the children trace their hand and we added them to each reindeer and skip counted by 2's, 5's, and 10's. They loved it, and had so much fun!!!





We read "Auntie Clause" and "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" and we discussed gifts we could give without spending any money. In the computer lab the students created a gift box, and wrote 4 different gifts we could give for free from the heart.




I know some of my teammates have already posted pictures of this activity we do, but I really love this and wanted to share. My mentor teacher for 2 years, Beth Randall, gave us this idea for the students to make for their gift to their parents and families. I spray paint small puzzle pieces a dark green, and cut green circles from poster board, 1 for each student. Each student will need 10-15 puzzle pieces to cover the edge of the poster board circle. The students glue the pieces around the edge of the circle, and let dry. The picture can be added before the puzzle pieces or after, and as they dry I add red dots for the berries, and hot glue ribbon to the back so they can hang their ornament on their family tree at home. Love it!

It IS TURKEY TIME!!!

I love my team! I know I've said that before, but it is true. Each member is always ready and willing to share new ideas that they come up with or find! My team leader Marna found this great Patten Turkey Tail idea from a great 1st Grade Blog!



The First Grade Parade is a blog written by a First Grade Teacher, Mrs. Carroll. She has tons of really wonderful teaching ideas.
We tried the pattern turkey tails in my class. It was quite an experience and didn't turn out quite like I thought, but I think my kiddos did a REALLY great job. It was a learning experience for me as well, but we all had a lot of fun. Here are a couple of examples of their excellent work.

Noun Neighborhood

Grammar can be very difficult for a first grader. A fun way to learn about nouns if by making a neighborhood full of persons, places, and things. This lets the student relate it back to their own reality. They really enjoy illustrating all of the landmarks you would find in a community. Ours turned out really great!

Character Dress Up Day

So this is very late, but I still wanted to post all the fun that we had during National Red Ribbon Week. The last week in October is Red Ribbon Week all across the nation. The students and teachers all pledge to be drug free. We always end the week with our "Show your Character, Don't do Drugs" day. The students (and teachers of course) dress up like their favorite book character, and we have a parade for everyone that dresses up to walk in. The kids really love it, and so do the teachers. I know I look forward to it each year.




Our Librarian Mrs. Jepsen or the man in the yellow hat with Curious George




Our Assistant Principal Amanda Borowczak (THing 2) and one of our 2nd Graders (The Birthday Cat) Abby!



Thing 1 and Thing 2 Principal Oliver and Assistant Principal Borowczak




My class and I all dressed up at the Moose from If you give a Moose a Muffin They all looked so great! One of my little friends brought her moose with her so we made it a photo opt.