Earth Day and Strawberries!!!!

Talking to the children about the life cycle of the strawberry plants

I think the parents had just as much fun as the students.

This past Friday was our Spring Field Trip to a local farm.  This farm is great because they offer a pumpkin patch in the Fall, Santa's Workshop in the Winter, and strawberries in the Spring/Summer. The people that work there give a brief talk and in the back there is a playground/picnic area perfect for lunch.  The kids really enjoyed it and the weather was great. 

 The kids had a great time on the playground. 

 My kids didn't think that Ms. Boyce would go down the giant slide.  They underestimate me sometimes.  lol

 

For their Earth Day Project the students were asked to create an animal out of recycled materials.  The students projects were unbelievable.  I was completely blown away. 

Taylor made a kangaroo

He made an elephant.

She made a pig.

I made an octopus.

I made an elephant too.  Each one was different but fabulous just the same.

Penguins are cool.

This little guy loves the beach as much as I do, so I wasn't surprised he made fish.  AWESOME!

Back to Reality!!!!

Last week was Spring Break and I decided that I was going to work on some craft things that were personal to me and leave school at school.  I was very proud of myself because I got everything I wanted to get done around my house and didn't work on school stuff once (well I did Pin a few things).  Anyway, I just wanted to show you a couple of centers that I used prior to Easter and maybe you can use them next year.  In the Math center I used an idea from Pinterest and called it "MATH CHICKS".  I found these chicks at Michael's Craft store and put dice inside.  The students were told to shake it and then place it down.  They were then to add them together on the given (reusable) worksheet.  

This is a money poem that we have been using a lot lately.  A lot of veteran teachers already know this poem but for those newbies I thought I would share.

This Jelly Bean Math worksheet was a freebie on Teachers Pay Teachers.  I only added the directions. 

This is a poem about shapes I found on Pinterest and the kids have really enjoyed it.  I made it into a rap, complete with dance moves. lol

I Kissed a Pig and I Liked it!

Today our principal kept up his end of a deal and kissed a pig.  He told the students if they read 11,000,000,000 words by the end of the nine weeks he would do something crazy.  The kids voted at the beginning of the nine weeks and had decided that they wanted to see him kiss a pig.  In my mind I thought it was going to be this huge muddy pig from the Wishy Washy series.  lol Actually it was a sweet baby pig named Olivia.  She was actually taking a nap when she arrived and was very calm. Accelerated Reader isn't a requirement in the First Grade at our school but I strongly suggest it to my students and do give rewards to those that read and pass three or more test a week. 

Spring into Stress!

I feel like my time has really gotten away from me lately and haven't done such a good job keeping up with my blog.  Spring is always that time of year when I totally start to stress out and I am so counting down the days to Spring Break.  I love teaching with all my heart but my teacher hat is only one that I am wearing right now.  I always wondered growing up how my mother did it all and now I am learning you just have to pull up your big girl panties and go.  I have a lot of things outside of school that also involve a lot of my time but they are all things I love so I am still working on finding a balance.  Today I thought I would spend a few minutes just sharing some things that I have tried this year and found to be really helpful in the classroom.  The first one is the picture above.  I made a huge clock out of masking tape on the floor one morning before the kids arrived.  It took like 15 minutes.  The kids used their arms as the hour hand and their legs as minute hands and they had to show me times I called out on the floor.  The kids loved getting up and moving during math time. 

While working on greater than, less than, and equal to the children got to make their own creatures to eat the greater number.  I made mine to mimic Mrs. Pac Man since I am a child of the 80's.  The kids loved the flashback since this character has been brought back through other gaming systems.  I even made the actually wanka, wanka, wanka, noise when she ate the greater number.  The kids thought it was hilarious.  Some of the children made sharks, alligators, and monsters. 

Here is one of my students showing the other students which way the sign should face. 

Okay this is one of my favorite finds ever.  I found these finger lights at Rose's.  A three pack was $1.50.  We use these during our familiar read in our literacy groups.  The students were told if they were not reading and I caught them playing with the lights they would not be allowed to use them anymore.  Knock on wood, I have had no problems.  The kids LOVE it. 

One of the things that my favorite colleague made was a buddy checklist.  After the students read they are paired up and have to do a checklist using their dry eraser markers and the worksheet (put into a clear plastic sleeve so the students can use it over and over). 

One of the spelling centers I used previously was easy and cheap to make and I will definitely be using it again soon.  I called it Magazine Spelling because Ransom Note just sounds scary.lol  I had a friend help me cut out some of my old People magazines.  We only cut up the larger letters that we found.  I wrote the spelling list from the week on the counter top with a dry eraser marker (which wipes up easily with a Clorox wipe)  Then the students had to rummage through the letters and spell them out using the cut up letters from the magazine. 

More Dr. Seuss!!

I love Dr. Seuss and so the whole month of March we do a lot of Dr. Seuss readings and activities.  I decorated the outside of our room with the children's work.  I tried to pull a couple of things from each activity that we did.  I made some truffla trees out of black and white pipe cleaners and these fun gift toppers I found at Michael's in the clearance section. 

The students had to create and write about something that was in their pocket after reading There's a Wocket in My Pocket.  The kids came up with some really creative ideas. 

After we read The Cat in the Hat the students all were given their own box of fun.  They were asked what we be in their box of fun and to decorate any way they would like.  They also did a journal entry on What would you do with Thing 1 and Thing 2?  That week during Fun Friday we made Thing 1 and Thing 2 pictures using their hand prints. 

After reading Green Eggs and Ham I let the students actually try it.  Our school policy permits us from making anything at home for students to eat so everything has to be store bought.  I was a little discouraged at first because I wasn't sure how I was going to do this.  In the past I have always made scrambled eggs at home. Well I found some hard boiled eggs that were already prepared at Walmart.  There were 12 in a pack and since I have 25 kids it worked out perfectly I just cut them into halves and one into three.  I bought some green food coloring and took them out of the package and placed them in a bowl with some water and let them sit until that afternoon.  They came out dark green and the kids were totally amazed.  I bought some ham cubes from the section where they keep pizza toppings. 

I used the different color Goldfish crackers in our Math Center for One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish.  The students had to scoop a handful and divide the fish into two different parts of the tank.  The students were then asked to complete the worksheet provided.  I place all worksheets in a clear plastic sleeve that I reinforce with duck tape because I have found they last a lot longer.  The students can then write on the sleeve with a dry erase marker.  I am all for saving as much paper as possible.