Field Trip Fun With The Creature Teacher!

I was so bummed when I found out that our district was cutting back on our field trips this year.  We actually have a nifty little field trip spot in our district that all of elementary schools were asked to use this year. However, when our grade level got ready to reserve the John Bunker Sands Wetland Center, we were a bit too late.  Enter Plan B...bring The Creature Teacher to us!!! Oh I'm so happy that we did.  The kids LOVED it. We just packed the bus, headed to the park down the street, and ooohhhed and ahhhed at all the cuteness (and some not so cute) that we were able to see and touch.  Just perfection!

This chinchilla was my FAVORITE! I'm actually considering one for my own daughter.

Oh the giggles when they saw this hairless cutie!

More creatures...

This was Mrs. Moses favorite and she just had to hold him. No thanks!!!

 Each of our firsties got to take a tortoise and the hare picture. OH MY WORD I just LOVE how this little cutie's pic turned out so I have to share!

Of course I had a little creature fun too!

We had a Bu-Last. I highly recommend The Creature Teacher.

Where Has The Time Gone?...

OH MY EASTER BUNNY! It has been a month since I have posted!!! Y'all this past month has been CU-RAZY and has resulted in a short break from my glittery little blog.  First of all, our Spring Break was pushed back to the first week in April this year and seemed to take an eternity to arrive.  My kiddos were bonkers and of course the teachers were chompin at the bits for a break. And then there's the first round of state testing! Sheesh! I don't teach a testing grade level here in Texas but I do administer the test every year which is quite a bit of pressure.  Finally, my Spring Break arrived and then the chaos...my lovely little neighborhood here in Texas was hit by an F3 tornado.  My daughter and I were home when it hit. Thankfully, we and our home were left unharmed.  I prefer to never experience anything like that again.  The community is working on rebuilding and the amount of support has been just amazing!

It's just heartbreaking to see, but a miracle as well.  NO ONE was seriously injured!

Sooo...it's back to work tomorrow and time to get motivated to finish the year strong.  As I scroll through my blog Dashboard I am so refreshed by all of the ideas I see from such creative teachers and I'm getting excited to head back to the classroom and adding new glitter to this blog.   After getting inspired by Cara at The First Grade Parade revamping story retelling using a Wizard of Oz theme (you know I love me some Wizard of Oz! and glittery shoes) and loving my home more than ever after the tornado this week, I'd like to share this sweet little printable that I made as a reminder...there's no place like HOME!

Click here for your copy of the printable.

(Graphics by Dreamlike Magic, KPM Doodles, and Dennis Graphic Design)

Happy Easter everyone, enjoy your week, hug your family, and be thankful for your home!

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!

Seuss-tastic Stuff with Freebie...

Well it's all giggles over here with all of the Seussy love out there in blog world and Pinterest.  It is my favorite time of year! I'm a HUGE Seuss fan year-round so I thoroughly enjoy these next few weeks.  We actually started our Seuss unit last week and will continue on for the next two.  Here is a bit of Suess love from glitter and giggles...

Last week our Shared Reading focus was on main idea and details. I made this little organizer to go along with our reading of The Cat in the Hat.

Click here for your copy of the organizer.

This week we are reading The Lorax. I'm going to print and laminate this gameboard for my students to use with their word rings during Work on Words.

Click here for your copy of the gameboard.

On March 2, we will celebrate Read Across America with a read in and Seussy snacks throughout the day.  Here are a few pictures from our celebration last year.

I purchased this print from Charm Studio. We recite the quote as our end of the day launch.

Thank you so much to all of the creative teachers sharing wonderful ideas, pictures, and freebies to make these next few weeks so enjoyable for my firsties and I.  I hope you have Seusstastic time with lots of glitter and giggles!!

(Graphics provided by My Fun Invites @ Etsy.)





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)

Lesson Reflection Freebie...

Oh my word...I can't believe it's back to work tomorrow! I seriously used every bit of my 2 weeks. Now to get re-motivated, re-vamped, and re....glittered for the second half of the school year! Let's start with a freebie! Recently my grade level team was responsible for presenting at staff development.  Our assignment was the "Reflection" chapter in Ron Clark's Excellent 11.  Here is a little printable I made for teacher reflection. I keep all of my lesson plans for the year in a 3 ring binder. When I get ready to plan the same week the following year, I pull out my lesson planning binder and see what we're going to do the same or change up. I'm sure you have something similar whether it be file folders, notebooks, etc.  Here's the thing...I always find a pin on pinterest, blog post, or some idea I wished I'd had BEFORE I planned the lesson! Sooo...here's the idea...I'm going to copy the lesson reflection freebie below, 3 hole punch, and place in front of the week's lessons so when I turn to that plan next year, I remember my notes. I know this is not a new concept, but I've made a cutesy little page that will work well for me and is blogger/pinner friendly....giggles. Hope that you can get some use out of it too.

 Click here to download your copy.

Graphics by Flavoree. Fonts by Kevin & Amanda