Birdies and Buntings...

I COULD NOT be happier with how these sweet little Daily 5 Posters turned out.  Just presh. I had so much fun making them. Check them out in my TPT store by clicking HERE!

I hope everyone is enjoying a "tweet" summer! Back soon with more classroom ideas and of course glitter and giggles!!!!

Wrappin' It Up...

Well I can't believe that another year is in the books!!! The last few weeks were nothing short of exhausting and wonderful all at the same time.  I have no idea how we crammed so many activities into two short weeks and still kept our sanity! Here are few of the fabulous activities that we had going on...

For Generation Texas week (college week) we decorated our doors in a career or college theme. Here is my Seuss-inspired door!

In addition to guest speakers, students and teachers were encouraged to dress as their future profession.  Here is my Kinder Cutie's version of an Art Teacher. (She is pictured with her wonderful Kinder teacher who inspired the costume!)

Next up was field day... 

I have to admit, this is my favorite event....GIGGLES....

Storybook Parade! 

Every grade level selects a book to represent their class. Each First Grade Class chooses a Fancy Nancy book. Our class read Fancy Nancy and the Delectable Cupcakes...dressing as Fancy Bakers. We parade around the neighborhood while all of the parents come out and wave us on! Oooh La La...a plethora of glitter and giggles.

We also threw in a Read In, Board Game Day, the Awards Assembly, and a Talent Show! Oh and the icing on the cupcake...parties for a few of my well-deserving teammates...

A onesie decorating baby shower...

And a Disney themed wedding shower...



Phewww....now on to a little rest, some staff development, a trip to the beach, and lots of creating and sharing.  I can't wait!

HAPPY SUMMER!!!

Owl Writing Process Pack

I have a confession...My name is Marisa and I'm jumping onto the Owl Bandwagon!! (thanks Misty! ) I resisted as long as I could. Although this isn't the first owl themed pack that I've added to my TPT store, this is the first that I've actually been motivated to make for my own classroom and I LOVE it.  For the past few years I've used magnetic writing process signs on my white board and students have moved a clipart pencil with their name on it to show which step of the process they were working on.  This year, it was time for a face lift...and I'm so giggly with the results. I created this set of Owl Writing Process signs and attached them to ribbon (I plan to move them away from my white board and to another spot on the wall in my room).  Then I added a little tissue pom for glitter and woHOOO...my new signs...

Love the title sign!

The process in action!



You can find these signs in my Owl Writing Process Pack in my TPT store as well as a few graphic organizers and a revising/editing checklist.  Check it out!

(Graphics and Fonts: JW Illustrations, Print Candee, Dreamlike Magic Designs, Kevin and Amanda)

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.)