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Tell them about it!

Yesterday and today my soon to be second graders were hard at work on their letter to my 'new first graders!' We began our letters by having a huge discussion on things we learned and enjoyed this year. We wrote down a ton of ideas on our brainstorming papers and then made our rough drafts. Today, I just wanted to show you the final product! They turned out so CUTE!


The kids took total ownership of their, 'craft.' This is by far my favorite thing that they've done all year! In the letter the students introduced themselves, told their age and told the students how much fun that they will have in first grade. Then, they went into their favorite thing they learned in first grade and their favorite activities they did together. I also asked the students to describe me for the future firsties! Let's just say that these kids know me! :)


Even though they're for next years students I did display them for the students to check out. They loved reading each others paragraphs today.



This one below me right here is one of my favorites. This little girl described me by saying, "She always forgets where she puts things and sometimes she leaves her phone in the fridge." --All I have to say to that isss ...yep! I would lose my head if it was not attached! And...yes... you know you've been there too! You put your phone in your lunch box in the A.M. and then put it in the fridge? Or am I the only one here?! Ha!


I will be back soon for a summer blog hop---freebies and a giveaway too!!!

Wish me luck on my last 2 days with my kids!




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Update from Ms. Williams--Yep, I'm here!

Can I say sorry for just a short little second? I have literally been MIA for the past month on this blog of mine. I have reasons!! --I'm here to give you some updates!

First and foremost--this girl GOT A JOB!!!
(Yes, I have one now--but, we are moving and I needed a new one)
 
 
Yes-- you see it here -- I GET TO STAY IN FIRST GRADE!!!!
I feel like I sound like a student who is flunking bahaha--'stay'!
 
2. WEDDING PLANNING---- Yes, it's almost done! We just have a few details to complete like center pieces and we are good to go!
We are going to try to re-create this!
mini chalkboard table numbers on mason jar vases
3. I have SLLLLAAAACKEDDDDD on taking pictures in my classroom! We've just been plain old busy---and well honestly--they've been quite ornery and making this teacher just tired!! HA (Still going to miss them though) :'(
 
Here are some totally random pictures from the classroom that have no connection to one another!
 
We've been working on our asking and telling sentences. :)
Thank you Amy Lemons!!
 
 
I read each sentence out loud and students held up the correct punctuation mark. Then, we taped them on our anchor chart.
 

 
We did sorting and writing activities and completed our sentence fun with these cute pocket books from Amy!
 
We also took a trip to the Toledo Zoo this past week!
Students completed and presented animal reports to the class before we went!
 
Yes, only one picture! :'(
 
 

 Our grass finally grew! :)
 
 
 
Then, of course....stations!! :)
 
 
 
We worked with Synonyms on the GO! 
 

 


 

 
 
And.... lot's of guided reading has been taking place in my room!! Not a whole lot to show here!! :) We have been using whiteboards to quickly jot down our thoughts though! I love it!
 

 
Alright!...I am not off---The fiancé is bugging me to get off of the computer and go work out... I guess that's a good choice!! :) Be back soon with something more to share that makes a lot more sense!! HA
 
 
 
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Wordless Wednesday - DAY MADE!

Have you ever received a note from a parent that just made your day? If so you know how I feel right now! My day was totally made today!

Here is a quick little story to give you some background! I have a student who has done awesome all year long - academics = A+, behavior = A++, and A+++ to go with everything else. Well, the past month or so this student has started to misbehave and not do his best on assignments. He has just really been acting... well, odd!! So, the parent and I had a few discussions and it got better about 2 weeks ago and then Monday came.! He was off the handle!! So, I contacted the parent again and she said she was noticing the same thing. I gave her some advice and tips and then hoped it would work. Then, I got an e-mail today from her--she got to the bottom of the issue... and I just couldn't be mad!

Now, obviously this parent did not add all this adorable clipart but you know me... I like the cute stuff!! :) I just retyped the meat of the e-mail that was sent.

So, now here is my question to you and I really LOVE hearing about this stuff!

What is the most touching thing a parent/student has ever said to you?

Comment below! :) 


Then, check out more Wordless Wednesday's (I guess mine was wordy and not wordless---hmm.. oops!!)


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Teaching 10 More & 10 Less

This week we are learning all about adding 10 more and 10 less in our first grade classroom. Some students 'get-it' and some students look at me like I have two heads when I'm explaining the patterns and concept to them. It really is a lot to remember... ones place stays the same, go down-add 10, go up-subtract 10, tens place changes by 1...yada yada...!! Well, yesterday and today we drilled it and I am confident that we are ready to move on! Here are the things I did to teach the concept! Nothing to fancy--but, it works! ;)

We began with base 10 blocks. I verbally stated a number and students had to make that number on their table with base 10 blocks. Then I would say, "Now, what is 10 more?" Students took a long and added it to their pile. During all of this they were writing their numbers on their whiteboards. Then I would say make that original number again. Now, what is 10 less. Students took away one long and then wrote down that number. We discussed how the cubes (ones place) never changed when adding and subtracting 10.

I forgot to take pictures so here is a digital visual of what we did!

After we completed this students played a dice roll game that is in our everyday math manual. I actually like it! Students move through the number grid. They roll a dice and if they roll 1 they move 1 or 10 spaces, roll 2 - 2 or 20 spaces and so on. It helps them learn to navigate the number grid and add 10 or 20.

Then, they completed their math journal activity for the day!



Today, we dug into 10 more and 10 less even more. I demonstrated a quick 'game' (aka assessment for me) to see who know what to do.

To play the 'game' each student needs a whiteboard or something to write on. I put my students in groups of 3. They need to take turns picking a middle number. I had students choose any number between 11 and 89. This would take away confusion with 9-10 or 91+10! :) Once the student writes a middle number they lay their board on the ground. Then the other two students in the group need to write the number that is 10 more and 10 less. Students rotate being the middle number person. 

After we completed this I had a few kiddos come to my T.table for extra support for our next activity. Then, the other students completed a 10 more/10 less activity at their seat. With my group that needed more support I broke out the base 10 blocks. These are lifesavers for these kids!

After we completed this we broke out into math workshop mode!! (LOVE)
Students completed their math journal activity for the day and then off to math tubs they went!


I had students who struggled do the 10 more 10 less math tub and I sat with them while we worked on completing it together.




Tomorrow we will be working on 10 more 10 less & 1 more, 1 less (hope that's not to hard) !! ;)

You can find the math tub activity here in my Spring Math Stations Packet


You can find the math journal activity here in my Interactive Math Journal (May)




Don't forget about the sale going on!! My whole store is on sale so stock up on all sorts of goodies now!! :)







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Peek into my week(s)!

Yes, the title is plural because we are going to blast into the past (last week) and give you a glimpse of this week with my visual plans!

Last week my kids were all sorts of excited! We got to learn ALL about the sun! When I say ALL... I mean these kids wanting to know EVERYTHING! They were so intrigued with all the cool stuff that they learned. Let me tell you... it made this teacher super duper happy!!


We began the week with our schema! For the first time ever I broke students into groups and they talked about their own schema. We did not do it as a whole class (tear...they're growing up)! They discussed their schema about the sun and then we came to the rug and shared. Then, students were given booklet with general information about the sun. They read them together and discussed their new learning (another tear...)! :) A happy one!


We then came back and shared our new learning and I recorded it on our fancy dancy ancor chart! ;)
We referred to this all week during discussions and our writing!

In our All About the Sun unit we also broke into some close reading. I am not an expert on this by any means but I have been reading up on it and I am trying some of the strategies. The kids seemed to like it a lot!

I pulled these up on a flip chart on my interactive board to walk students through their close reading strategies. 

We then focused a lot on our new vocabulary! We had a vocabulary book where we kept track of our new words and we did a few extension activities!


Students created a flipbook to show their understanding of how the earth rotates throughout the day. They were facinated by this! One little guy even said, "WE CAN'T EVEN FEEL IT!!!" ha ha...you got it bud... but, that's a whole other concept! ;)


Towards the end of our unit we used everything we learned to complete an informational writing!


Then, Friday students learned how to write a persuasive letter while combining their knowledge of why we need the sun. We got a letter from the evil sun villian, "SUNVADOR!" Yes, I even said it in a deep scary voice ha ha! Then, darthvador (star wars?) was brought up.



This unit was literally one of my favorites all year! The kids responded so well and they were engaged all week long! I LOVED IT and so did they!

If you are interested in teaching your kids about the sun you can check out this unit here!



Alright, onward... Here are my plans for this week! Not going into them.. pictures will arrive someday! ;)



There is a freebie inside!! :)

Have a great week with your kiddos! I've only got 4 more weeks!! EEKK!











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