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Saturday, September 15, 2012

Read Closely Lesson

Last week I used the big book, From Head to Toe, by Eric Carle.  I read the book to the students, we read it together and discussed different aspects of the book each day.  We discussed the pattern of the writing in the book, made a chart of the animals and the body part each moved, and discovered why the author named the book, From Head to Toe.  As a culmination to the book, we used the pattern to create our own version of the book.  The students each selected a pre-cut animal shape.  The used water colors to paint their animal.  They decided what body part the animal would move and how they would move that part.  Then they took all of this and created their own page for our class book.  I took pictures of each student acting like their animal and added that to each page.
 I took pictures of their pages, recorded the class reading the book, and add music to create a video of our book.  The students were so excited to see the end result.  The print book is now in our class library where I am sure it will be read many times this year.

If you would like to see the video, you can click here.

Sunday, September 2, 2012

Zero the Hero

Zero the Hero
 Friday was the tenth day of school and boy was it an exciting day.  We received a call from the office that a special package had been delivered for our class.  Our office buddy retrieved the package and the excitement began.   It was Zero the Hero and he came to help celebrate the 10th day of school.  Zero came with a note, a special 0 treat and a cape that one lucky student got to wear for the remainder of the day.  We sang the Zero the Hero song by Dr. Jean and enjoyed the sweet treat.  At the end of the day, Zero left but promised to come back on another zero day.
Our cool Zero the Hero cape

Saturday, August 25, 2012

Class Pictures




Thank you to all who share ideas through Blogs and Pinterest.  I have gotten so many great ideas this summer and have created some new bulletin boards in my classroom based on the ideas that have been shared.  Here are a few of my favorites.  Please note:  None of these are my original ideas.  I have borrowed them from my Blogging friends.  On the BOGGLE bulletin board, I used the picture hanging 3M Command Strips to hang the bar.  I love that stuff!

First Week

Does anyone else think the first week of school seems very long?  I think it is because we talk, and talk, and talk at the kids.  A friend of mine overheard her 5 year old granddaughter say, "Grandpa why don't all flowers look like roses?"  Grandpa replied, " I don't know, ask your teacher."
Granddaughter "No, my teacher doesn't know"-
Grandpa "How do you know that?".
Granddaughter
- Because all she knows are rules!"
...of course first week of kindergarten just ended!LOLOL


I think that is probably how some of my students might feel about our class.   We listened to a story about a monster who didn't follow the rules.  We came up with a list of rules and grouped them into 5 nice rules for our class.  Everyday we have reviewed the rules.  Thankfully, all the rule talk is paying off and my little firsties are doing well with following the rules.  2 more weeks of training and we should be good to go..... until the full moon that is.

I ended my first week of school by sending my youngest child and only daughter off to college.  She is going to a small college in St. Augustine.  The campus is beautiful and her room is in a historic hotel.  Her dining hall is home to the largest collection of Tiffany stained glass in the country.  After spending the late afternoon with her, I am at peace knowing she has a fabulous roommate, is in a great school where she is not a number, and that she is happy.

Thursday, August 16, 2012

Must Have

3M Command Adhesive Hook Value Pack, Medium, Holds 3-lb, White, 6/PackAs I am putting the finishing touches on my classroom and the first week lesson plans I have to say that 3M is just the best company in the world.... Or at least in my classroom.  My classroom has 3 concrete block walls and a plaster wall.  Nothing ever stays on the block walls.  The air conditioning is turned off at night and on the weekends and prevents items from staying on the wall.  Well, not anymore!  This miracle product stays on the walls until I decide to remove it.  Best of all there is no damage to the walls.  I have the hooks, the poster hangers and the picture hangers.  It is so much better than the sticky tack or the masking tape(would never put that on a wall... it might remove paint)  that I used before. 

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Give Away

We are super excited to be hosting our first giveaway!   The 3 winners will be announced on Thursday, August 16th.
What you can WIN:


$10 Oriental Trading Gift Card from Sunshine, Sand and Scissors
$10 Target Gift Card from Mrs. Greene's Kindergarten Korner
$10 Amazon Gift Card from Leaping Into First Grade
How to WIN:
1.  Follow Sunshine, Sand and Scissors!
2.  Follow Mrs. Greene's Kindergarten Korner.
3.  Follow Leaping into First Grade.
4.  Blog about this giveaway! This will get you 2 entry points.  (You can use the picture below and link it back to Sunshine, Sand and Scissors!)


This giveaway will end at midnight on Wednesday, August 15th.   Good Luck!

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Rekenrek Board

In an early post, I linked a website that has many math resources. One of the resources showed how to make your own Rekenrek frame. I decided to make these for my classroom. I took my husband with me as I searched for the materials. As we shopped, he decided that the frames would be more sturdy if made from wood. So my project became his project. The picture shows the final project. He cut the wood, sanded, painted, cut the metal rods, glued them into the frame with the beads on them. This was by far the easiest project I have done. Lesson learned: Take my husband with me when shopping for a project. He will make it bigger, better and he will do all of the work. I believe he wins the husband of the week award this week.

Thursday, July 26, 2012

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Listen and Read

This morning I discovered Scholastic has non-fiction Listen and Read e-books.  And, they are free!  There are science and social studies topics.  I can see these being used at my computer center.  Check them out here.

Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Great Idea


I found this on Pinterest. 

 It comes from www.Mrsrojasteachers.blogspot.com.

Love the idea!!!

Sunday, July 1, 2012

Math Common Core Activities

We will be implementing the Common Core Standards for math and language arts this coming school year.
While browsing the web looking for ideas and resources I came across the Rekenrek counting frame. Click here to learn more about the counting frame.   I plan to make a set to use in my classroom this year. The site has many activities to do with the frames.
This site also contains lessons and resources for all of the standards.  They have them divided by standard and grade level.
Math Teaching Resources for K-5 Classrooms

Thursday, June 28, 2012

Sight Word Uno Games

I have adapted Kelly Nyman's sight word uno game for Macmillan Treasures grade one.  There is a set for each unit.  The game follows the same rules as the traditional Uno game.  Each player gets 5 cards.  Turn the first card over.  In turn, each player will match either the word on the card or the animal on the card.  When a student plays a card, he/she must read the word correctly.
There are wild cards, wild draw 4 cards and draw 2 cards.  When a player doesn't have a card that will play, he/she  will draw a card from the draw pile.
(I have the students draw only one card so the game doesn't last too long.)
When a player has one card left they say, "Uno."  The first player to get rid of all of his/her cards wins.
Sight Word Uno Unit 1  
Sight Word Uno Unit 2 
Sight Word Uno Unit 3 

Welcome

Welcome to my new blog.  I plan to post ideas and resources I use in my classroom.