Day 2 Linky...

I'm clearly highly motivated by the Read Across America Week Linky at Primary Chalkboard!

Tuesday's Topic: Everything Dr. Seuss!! I've got this one covered!

Let's start with a handful of pictures from today's celebration.  As I mentioned yesterday, I was scheduled for a workshop today but I just had to drop in first thing this morning a snap a few pics with my awesome team and daughter.  Here we are in our Seuss gear...

We made our bow tie shirts and grabbed the hats from Party City. 

My daughter's grade level decorated with Horton Hears a Who, so she dressed as a clover complete with a speck and Horton plush.

My classroom parents did an amazing job on the snacks and goodies!

I didn't quite get my door exactly the way I wanted it, but I'm happy with the result.

So cute.  You can also find my previous Seuss celebrations HERE my Seuss inspired Word Family Board HERE, and a post dedicated to The Lorax HERE.

I hope you are enjoying a Seuss-tastic week!

I'M BACK...

Well hello blogging besties and fabulous teachers! After a blog hiatus and a laptop repair I am so happy to be back to blog world! Here's what's going on at First Grade Glitter and Giggles...

I got caught up on blog stalking today after being iced in (more on that in a minute!) and the one thing on my brain is...I'm thinking I need a blog makeover.  I think it's time.  I do feel like my blog represents my personality well, but I am loving some of the new cleaner designs.  And of course all of those fabulous tabs and sparkly buttons sure would help with my obsession need for organization!! Now to shop for an update. LAWDIE!

Next up...this Texas weather!

No joke.  I was in shorts and sandals on Saturday and then we had an ice storm on Sunday, complete with thunder-sleet. School was canceled today. I was actually bummed.  I love Read Across America!!! I spent Sunday working on my daughter's costume and our team shirts and then got the cancellation notice.  Normally postponing the celebration 1 day would be no biggie.  However, I am scheduled for a workshop tomorrow. Yikes! Is there anyone else that would have anxiety about snacks coming, a campus dress up, and a read in when you aren't there? Yes, me too.  But most of all, I'm sad to miss out on all of the fun.  Which brings me to the...

Read Across America Linky at Primary Chalkboard!

Monday: Favorite Children's Author and Books...

I would have to say that Dr. Seuss is my all time favorite, but I feel like he is kind of in a category of his own.  I have so many favorites that it's just so hard to narrow it down to a few. I'm just totally obsessed with children's books in general.  In fact my DREAM job (other than teaching of course) would be to own a children's bookstore.  Maybe I've seen "You've Got Mail" just a few too many hundred times, but the idea of something like The Shop Around The Corner just seems enchanting! Ok so back to my favorite author(s).  I've narrowed it down to 3.  These are the 3 that I just couldn't make it through my year without! In no particular order of course.

David Shannon!

My first David Shannon book was Alice The Fairy.  I just giggled and giggled when I read that thing in college and I was hooked.  Of course his David books are essential to any elementary classroom.  

 Peter Reynolds!

I met Peter Reynolds a few years back when he was a speaker at a workshop here in Texas.  The one word that I think of when I think of  Mr. Reynolds is INSPIRED.  Not only did he inspire me, but his books and personal story inspire both teachers and students.  The message in his books, The Dot and Ish (just to name a few), are so heart warming that I've shared both of these in a read aloud format at staff development (to adults!) and can easily tear up when reading them.  They are just amazing.  He is also the talented illustrator for books such as the Megan McDonald Judy Moody series and several Judy Bloom books.  Not to mention..he has a bookstore, The Blue Bunny! (See previously mentioned dream job above!)

 

Jane O'Connor

Seriously, you knew I had to have that coming.  There's nothing more fitting to Glitter & Giggles than some Fancy Nancy!  I use these books all of the time.  So much in fact, that even my dapper gentlemen are fans! The connection to curriculum is so much fun.  Vocabulary, colorful words in writing, sensory details...there are so many ways to incorporate these books.  We just adore them. That's fancy for really, really like them!

Well there you go! It feels good to be back! See you again real soon.

Sloth Love...with a freebie of course!

I absolutely adore spring and everything about it.  It is probably my favorite time of year for themes... rain forests, insects, ocean....just love!! Well right now we are in the midst of the rain forest.  We've written about crocs, explored research questioning, and now my personal favorite, THE SLOTH!!  These little guys make me smile. I just think they are 7 kinds of cute.  Now on to the work...

This week our scope and sequence focuses on story elements.  We've touched on these elements throughout the year in isolation but now we are drawing attention specifically to comparing these elements in stories by the same author. I was excited to be able to introduce and post these fabulous posters from Leslie Ann at Life in First Grade that I'd purchased earlier in the year...

You can get them HERE!

I chose to focus on characters, setting, main idea, theme, and sequencing this week for my firsties.

 Story elements, an author study, plus our rain forest theme meant one perfect combination...

My kids love hearing this story every year! And it was a fabulous fit for our Shared Reading lesson.

Today, I divided my kiddos into groups and had each group illustrate or record an assigned story element onto chart paper after hearing the story again. I whipped up this freebie to record our group work and display with our sloth craftivity which we will create on Friday.

Click here for your copy of the recording sheet!

And just for giggles, I MUST include this little guy that I fell in love with during our visit to the Dallas World Aquarium a few years back.  He just hangs out above the visitors. Totally head over heels for him!

I hope that you all are able to enjoy a little of the glitter that comes with this time of year and the fast approach of...dare I mention... summer break!!

Pinkalicious & Cupcakes!

I love the week of Valentine's Day. Yes party day makes for a crazy afternoon, but it's the week that we read one of my FAVORITE books...Pinkalicious!! I just adore this book.  How could you not with this amount of pink in one place?  Even my boys get into it.  I had a little giggle today when after reading her call herself "Pinkerbell" one of the boys spontaneously yelled "Red-erbell" after she turns red.  haha.  Our theme for this week and last is cupcakes, so this fits perfectly. I use and just adore this little pack from First Grade Fanatics...

Click HERE to grab your copy.

We are also reviewing long a word families this week. I made a little gameboard for practice that matches our theme and thought I'd share as a freebie.

Get your copy HERE!

That's it for now Pink-tastic friends. Enjoy your Valentine's Day!!!

I'm back...Plus Owl Punctuation

Well I took a little unintentional blog break! It has been a rough cold/flu season for both my classroom and home.  In my house alone, we had 5 cases of strep and 2 cases of the flu...and I only have 3 in my family. YUCK!  Anyhow, the point is I'm refreshed, moving forward, and ready to throw a little glitter....

Let's start with a fun product that I added to my TPT store.  In my classroom, we've been working on punctuation. I needed to re-vamp my punctuation anchor chart this year to match up to my owl decor.  Here is a picture of the final anchor chart.

(I can't find the original author of the punctuation statement. If it's yours, let me know so that I can give you credit!)

I've put together a poster pack which includes the 3 signs above, a punctuation definition poster, and the 3 sample sentences. Check it out...

Click HERE to head to my TPT store to grab your set!

I hope that everyone is doing well and looking forward to Spring as much as I am! Back soon with a freebie!

Silent Auction Basket

Our school's major fundraiser every year is our Fall Festival.  It's huge!! Our building is transformed into a family friendly Halloween celebration.  There are games, a haunted house, concessions, a pumpkin decorating contest, and my favorite...The Silent Auction!!!

Each class is in charge of providing a themed basket for the auction.  You can usually find a family fun night basket, cleaning basket, gift card basket, etc.. One of my favorite this year was "Keep Calm and Bake On!" Super cute theme, right? This year my firsties and I made a basket themed "We LOVE Reading!" Each student brought $5 OR an item for the basket. I am sooo happy with the way our basket turned out.  (I actually thought about bidding myself!) The most impressive part of our basket was the basket itself.  My room mom did an AMAZING job of painting it to match the theme.  I just fell in love and hated to see it go!!

We had about 10-12 books, a Barnes and Noble giftcard, a custom Dr. Seuss quote cup, a framed Keep Calm and Read On sign, Dr. Seuss socks, and a SkippyJon Jones notecard set.

Here is a shot of the back of the basket. Just fabulous!

I'll be back later this week with a freebie that I'm working on! Giggles...

Whoooo Has a Writer's Eye?...

My firsties had such a wonderful time at the end of the school year using my Owl Writing Process signs to manage their writing.  I've also gotten a great response on Pinterest with the display.  For the past few years I have tried to keep my classroom theme limited to colors and prints so that it's easy to interchange whatever character trend is happening at the time or implement our campus theme.  As mentioned in a previous post, I have decided to bring in feathered friends (in decor only...haha) this year and add owls and birdies to my colors and prints.  The combination of the two is just irresistible!!! So my next step to preparing my room for next year was to create a set of coordinating Owl Writer's Eye Signs. Project done! You can check them out in my TpT store! I can't wait to display them in my classroom.

You can check them out here!!

Graphics and Fonts By: JW Illustrations, Print Candee,

Dreamlike Magic Designs, and Kevin & Amanda

I'm including a graphic of how I plan to display the signs since I can't actually get into my classroom at the moment! More to come...

Lorax Love!

Four day weeks are crazy busy!!! We had staff development on Monday while students enjoyed the weather. Sounds all glitter and giggles but here's the thing, my students were scheduled to have a class performance at our school assembly on Friday.  That left 3 days to practice and prepare. Yikes! I signed up for this date intentionally at the beginning of the year to correlate with Dr. Seuss' birthday.  As soon as I found out that The Lorax would be released, I knew we had to incorporate the two.  Here are a few pictures of my firsties...

We wore our lorax-staches during the assembly to perform a living timeline of Dr. Seuss, show The Lorax movie preview on the screen, and sing a Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss song. (I haven't quite figured out why this group always insists on looking so tough and gangsta in their pictures with their heads tilted to the side and non-smiling eyes, but it's becoming a trend...maybe they were just tired of me taking pictures!)

You know I had to glitter the staches!!! You can find them at The Teaching Bug or Sub Hub!

This is our Truffula Timeline.  My firsties held up the truffulas and shared Dr. Seuss milestones from 1904 up to the 2012 release of The Lorax movie. 

We have a tradition on our campus that every year for Read Across America, guest readers come in and read Seuss books on our live portal every hour of the school day.  We began the day with our Superintendent conducting the first reading.

We topped off our day with a First Grade Movie Night! I met a handful of my firsties at the theater to watch the movie together.  Between me & my firsties, my teammate & her firsties, and Misty at 3rd Grade's a Hoot with her thirdsters, I think we packed the theater!! The movie was all that I hoped it would be and I adored the giggles that filled the theater from our kiddos who had spent the week falling in love with the story. Hope you had a wonderful Seuss-filled week as well. Now off to enjoy some of this gorgeous Texas weather!

Random Glitter... (Anchors, TPT, & Snowmen Freebie)

Ok, just a quick drop in to sprinkle a little glitter...

Here are a few of the anchor charts my firsties and I created last week:

Our Shared Reading objective was text evidence and inferences.  We had just discussed schema the previous week.  I created a short text passage with our polar bear theme leaving out the topic.  Here are the before and after shots.

Here are a few of our anchor charts from math and science...

As requested, the Work on Words bin labels are now posted in my TPT Store! for only $2. Check them out!

And finally...this week we are working on main idea and details using "Snowmen at Night!" Click HERE for a free response sheet that I whipped up after school today!

I hope that everyone is off to an awesome short week that only has 3 working days left! giggles!!!!!

Daily 5 Work on Words...Freebie too!

As mentioned in previous posts, this my first year to implement the Daily 5.  My students favorite 2 are Listen To Reading and Work on Words! I thought I'd share my Work on Words setup using a picture and link post. And here's the icing on the cupcake...I'm also going to link you up with my bff Misty at 3rd Grades A Hoot, who is busy preparing some fabulous 3rd grade work on words ideas as well! 

 I really put this together this year using ideas and activities from other amazing bloggers so the credit really goes to them. I do change some of the activities regularly to focus on our objectives but it's still way less work than a room full of stations to change weekly! Student's use their own word rings (words differentiated for their reading/spelling needs) to complete each activity.

The setup: Pink bins from Dollar Tree & Plastic shelf from Walmart

The breakdown bin by bin...

Playdoh Words:

Pretty self explanatory but I do have a recording sheet so that I can hold students accountable for the words completed during their rotation.  I also encourage them to use the playdoh to make word family words from their word ring if the word follows a pattern.

 Click here for your free copy of the recording sheet!

(Border: Fancy Dog Studio -  Playdoh Letters: Lettering Delights Play Clay Alphabet)

Magnetic Letters:

Students build word wall words and word ring words with magnetic letters.

View my magnetic letter storage post by clicking here.

Word Patterns:

I use this bin to practice our phonics pattern for the week.  They are loving this one!! I use http://theinspiredapple.blogspot.com/'s Word Work Activities. They are having a blast using highlighters, word frames, and stamps. These packs are Uhhh-mazing!! Check them out in her TPT Store!

Sorts:

We use weekly Words Their Way sorts matching our phonics objectives. There are also multiple sort freebies out there that I use to print, laminate, and keep in this bin.

I use alot of sorts from Teacher Bits and Bobs! She has several freebies and some in her TPT Store.

Gameboards:

By far the most popular choice! Check out my blog post about Gameboards Galore! Don't forget to click to get your free gameboard.

Word Families:

The objective of the word family bin is to utilize our word wall and Word Family Board to work on spelling and reading word family words.  Students can use pointers to read our word family board or practice reading and recording word families using First Grade Blue Skies Lit Station Word Family Mats that can be found in her her TPT Store. (On a side note... I also use her Label It pages for Work on Writing...which I just love!) They are adorable.

Dry Erase:

I also keep dry erase markers and whiteboards in work on words for any recording, practice, partner games, etc. needed. My students also use the dry erase boards to give themselves a practice "Word Wall Test."

Woooo....that was ALOT. Hopefully I've given you the hook up though with ideas, links, and printables.  Of course, these are just a handful of ideas for work on words.  I am always looking for new ideas myself, changing, adapting, and attempting to perfect all areas in my classroom.  Thank you so much to all of the amazing blogging teachers that inspire me, give free printables, and keep their TPT stores stocked for my use. (giggles)