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We made it to the zoo & 5 for Saturday!

After waiting for two whole weeks the first grade finally made it to the zoo! Our original zoo date was canceled because of bad weather ( or so we thought )! The weather yesterday was beyond perfect and the animals were out! Here are a few pictures that I snapped of a few animals!


 
I snapped so many cute pictures of my kids but I can't show them to you so here is a picture of me with my first grade team!! I love them so much! It is hard to believe my first year with them is about over. We have two of them that will be leaving next year and I am going to miss them so much! They have really taken me under their wing and helped me through my first year!

 
So I am going to count all of that above as 2 things for the 5 for (Friday)... Saturday!
 
Next... I met my new JH cheerleaders this week and we did our tryouts as well! Can I tell you that I have an awesome squad?!! They're so funny & will be so much fun!
 
I'm a happy, happy coach!
 
In the classroom this week it was a little disorganized due to all of the end of the year festivities & our field day was canceled because of weather...
We did a lot of activities with stories and a lot of writing and memory books! :)
 
 
Our memory books are the paper bag pocket memory books. I created my own little template for my kiddos. They love them!
 
Also... in the classroom we did the Busy Bodies unit from Babbling Amy!
 
 
We did the bubble gum data analysis activity in this packet and the kids loved it! It was a great way to review graphing and data analysis one last time before they are officially second graders!
 
 
I also got a cute little gift from one of my students on Thursday! My favorite part of the gift is the note he wrote for me on the bag. :)
 
 
That is all I have to share for now! :) Have a great weekend!
 
Thanks to Doodle Bugs for letting me link up!
 
fiveforfriday
 
 

 
 
 
 
11

Five for Friday!

Whoop Whoop! It is Friday!
fiveforfriday

This week was my last full week of full instruction! It is a bitter sweet feeling! I am sure it is for all of you too! It has been quite a crazy year and I am so proud of my kids! They have came such a LONG way! Here are a few things we did this week!

Our 'theme' this week was pirates and finding the main ideas of stories!
We started the pirate theme by reading, "Pirates go to school."
Students created these cute things (forget the name). We worked on main idea at the beginning of the year and it was so hard for them. This time it was easy peezy!! They did great!
 
 

 
We then read the book, "How I Became A Pirate."
We then filled out a story element map with it! This story is amazing! I want to find some more pirate themed stories. I would love to do more with it!
 
 
I had students illustrate a picture of a pirate while they were waiting on others to finish their story element map & this is one of the drawings I got! Amazing!!! This little guy is such an artist!
 
After we worked with main idea (students also learned about mapping) we began a writing!
 
We created a bubble in their writing journal, wrote a rough copy and then made our final copy and craft!
 
 
If you read my last post about my little one who I couldn't get to write the word "the" without crying at the beginning of the year then here is her progress and proof that she has made leaps and bounds this year! Her writing is far from perfect and not quite where it should be... but for not being able to read most of her pop-corn words and not being able to write down on word without crying... I would say this is awesome!! I am so proud of her! But anyway... this is her rough copy of, "If I were a pirate..."
Here is another students rough copy! This one went on and on and on! My kiddos have gotten so good at adding detail to their writing to express their thoughts! :) Can you tell I'm proud?!!!


 
Here is the final result! The picture isn't very good. Not able to read the writing in this but the pirate turned out super cute!!

 
Here is the display of pirates in the hallway! They will be up there for a good 7 more days for everyone to see & enjoy!
 
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So if your like me... your classroom ran out of pencils before the school year ended and had to go purchase your own... not happy because my boys like to sharpen their pencils so they are short... ugh!
 
So... as a motivator so I did not have to go buy more pencils I put polka dot duct tape at the top and wrote their names. Each kiddo has their own pencil that they need to keep track of all day until the last day of school. If the students keep their same pencil until the last day of school then they get a prize from the prize box!... It has been 2 days and my sharpener has been getting much less use than before! ... This is working I tell ya! The kids leave school and their pencils are neatly placed on their desk! ... I am going to make this a year long thing :)
 
If you decide to do this... when you write their name on duct tape be sure to put clear tape over it because the marker (even permanent) rubs right off! 
 
 
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Now onto non-teaching related... my significant other bought a book called, "Wheat Belly." If you watch Dr. Oz you may have heard of this concept...
 
Basically the stuff that says, 100% whole gran is actually making you FAT!! Ugh... I was eating that stuff like it was going out of style... basically it is not REAL wheat it is the processed stuff and they are claiming it to be "real."
 
So... I read the first chapter and I'm convinced... I am doing my best to stay away from wheat products... Can I just tell you that it is SO HARD?!! I haven't fully cut it out... but I am getting there. It is tough to stop cold turkey here! For one... I can't cook to save my life... 2... yah I just can't cook ha ha
 
Here is the book & what I got from the grocery to get myself started!
 


 
All of this stuff should be gone... but it's not. I also bought a whole bunch of fruit and I am enjoying a LOT of smoothies! :)
So... if you want to help a girl out you could give me so ideas for some wheat free yummy meals... I am also picky and dislike meat other than chicken... :) My mother loved feeding me when I was younger! he he
 
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I haven't given a freebie on my blog for a while so here is one!! :) Click the picture to grab it!
 
If you want to buy the whole pack you can go here to get it for 2 buckaroos!
 
 
 
 
Have a great weekend!!!
 

 
 
 
 
5

Getting Acquainted*

I am linking up on this chilly Ohio Sunday for a Linky Party!
 
 
I love the topic this week!!
 Here are the three questions I get to answer!
 
1.  What made you decide to become a teacher?
 
I decided to become a teacher when I was in third grade. I had an absolutely amazing and goofy teacher who made learning so much fun! I remember thinking to myself that being a teacher looks like so much fun. This teacher would literally laugh with us, run around the room and she was just plain hilarious... it may sound like a crazy place but guess what... I learned a LOT and I still remember some of her lessons. I cannot say that for many of the other teachers that I had.
 
2. What has been your most rewarding experience as a teacher?
 
I have only been teaching one year but my most rewarding experience so far is when I gave  student an assignment to complete. This particular student really struggles with writing and this assignment asked her to write with detail. She was so frustrated and I was trying my best to ease her into the assignment... she got so frustrated that on her way out of the room that day she said, "Ms. Williams, I am not ask smart as the other kids." This literally BROKE my heart. I talked with her and told her that she was really smart (which she is... she is a creative little one and some things are just tough). I talked her through this and told her that I want her to come in tomorrow thinking that she is the smartest girl in the world and we are going to try this writing activity again and I will help her through it. Well she came in that day and before she entered the door I said, "who are you today?" and she goes, "The smartest girl in the whole wide world!" She sat down, I did not have her do her literacy station that day because she needed to do this particular assignment... anyway... she sat down, I sat down next to her.. re-explained everything and began to walk her through it. She began writing...beautifully.. with detail!... Now, this little girl can WRITE! She has her days where she doesn't think she can and I remind her of who she is... and it works for her. She has by far had the most growth in my room this year and she has taught me more than she will ever know!
3. If you were not a teacher, what would you be?
 
... I have been asked this question before and... I don't want to be anything other than a teacher... I love it... it is only my first year and I have had my fair share of struggles but I made it through and I still LOVE it!!
 
love; I love to teach!
 
 
Before I end this glorious blog post I want to share my new product that would be perfect for sentence practice!!
I have been using these in my room with my strugglers since we are at the end of first grade!
 
Do you want a chance to win this for free?!!!
Enter below! Hurry, hurry!!
 
 


a Rafflecopter giveaway Have a happy Sunday!!!!
 
 
 
4

Zoo Animal Research Week!

Our week in first grade was all about the zoo! Sadly, I failed at taking good pictures of all of the action but I will show you what I got & try to explain it the best I can!
 
Last Friday I asked students to fill out a form and write down their three favorite zoo animals that they would like to study. After students wrote down their favorites I split students into groups depending on the zoo animal in which they wanted to study. I created this black poster & when they walked in the door Monday morning they were so excited!!
 
Each group had a bag full of books and a research packet like you see below.
 
My class loves to share what they learn so to help them with this and make it still educational I told students they each could share one cool fact a day that they found about their animal. I had stickies available on the board and they could take one and put it in their animals bubbles. The kids loved reading these!
 

 When students were finished gathering information on different topics I taught them how to combine certain information to form a topic. We had a pre-writing sheet that helped them first organize their thoughts which made it very easy to organize their paragraphs!
 

 Next, I got students on the computer to type up their paragraphs! They made expert necklaces where they stored their typed up information. They were to wear these expert necklaces to the zoo and share their information with their group members when they got to their animal!
 Sadly, the weather in good ol' Ohio called for thunderstorms so we did not make it to the zoo today... so my colleagues and I knew we had to make it into a fun day so the kids weren't too sad. We had a scavenger hunt!! We made booklets, hats and binoculars! Kids had so much fun!! Then we brought in pop-corn and four different movies. Kids got to pick a any one of the teachers room to watch a movie!! Very fun day for kids and teachers!
 When we found out we couldn't go to the zoo I had the kids write their parents a note about it since I couldn't make it to the copier to write up a note and make copies! Read below to see what it said! (another teacher did type up a more professional note with details about why we canceled but not what we were doing)
 This week was my first ever teacher appreciation week! I loved it! The PTO at our school put on a HUGE lunch for us on Wednesday with yummy desert! Let's just say I had a stomach ache when I was done! :)
 
I got cards from my kiddo's like the one you see below. Then our administration gave us mini-gifts in our mailboxes each morning!
 
Then today I walked into my room and saw these beautiful Orchids sitting on my desk. It was from a family of one of my students! I could have just cried! It was perfect & these will last for so long!!
 
Then, today I came home to this wonderful comment on my Tpt account about my zoo literacy and math stations!! It made my day!!
 
I hope you got some ideas from this post! I am planning on making a big animal research unit for Tpt like the one I did this week! I will probably have it up this summer!!
 
Have a great weekend!
 
Thanks to Doodle Bugs for letting me link up!
fiveforfriday
 

0

Whale Writing Unit!

Last week my was completely and utterly inspired by babbling Amy and her whale writing unit. If you have not seen it then you need to hop over! My kids just loved it and learned so much! Here are some pictures of what we did last week!
 
 To begin the unit I had students ask questions about Whales. We posted yellow stickies all around the big whale. Then I read a few non-fiction books about whales and I had my students interrupt me when they thought we had answer to a question. We wrote the answer on the sticky and then decided which topic it belonged under. They did great!


The next day I had students split into groups (pre-assigned) and I gave each group a book with stickies on them that correlated to the topics on the big yellow paper. Each student in the group had a job (kind of like literacy circles). Students were in charge of deciding who the reader was and who was in charge of each topic. They did AMAZING! Some groups needed help because we did have a few disagreements but this was a great way to get students collaborating and learning to work together (which I always do)!


The day after students gathered facts we organized all of their stickies onto the yellow whale according to topic.

 
The next day students got back together with their groups to start working on their big book page. I gave students a strip that asked them to write about and describe a specific topic. I can't tell you how much I emphasized that I needed detail in their writing. We really work on expanding our thoughts.
 
When students were assigned their topic I send one group up at a time to go to the whale chart and pull stickies they will need to write about their topic. We reviewed first what topics went with the topic on the whale chart. Students then worked together to form an informational writing. They all had jobs once again (writer, 2 spellers and an editor).

 
When students were finished with their big book page they got to illustrate about their topic. We discussed how when we read an informational book it will show a picture to expand on the information given. They had to make sure their picture was related to the information given on their topic!
 
(I forgot to take a picture of the big book: sorry!)


Taaa-daaa!! There you have it! This is a unit I will do year after year!

This week students were assigned a zoo animal to research with a partner since we are going to the zoo this Friday! We began today and oh my gosh... I don't know why I am in the room anymore?!! They are experts at gathering information!!!

Here is a sneak peek :)

 
 
Students can in the room this morning and were ecstatic about their animals!
Each group of students has a bag with at least three books about their animal.
Inside the bag they also have an animal report book that asks them to find information on certain topics
Tomorrow we are getting out the I-pads and using Nat-geo to find more information.
Then we are combining the facts to write an informational paragraph and students will get to type them up in the computer lab on Wednesday!

I can't wait for the zoo Friday! They will be little experts! We are also making some Expert Tags that they will get to wear to the zoo and when they see their animal they will get to share facts about them with their group members!
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