Be Worthy

Each month a different teacher at my school is in charge of a hallway bulletin board. Each year I am the last to go in the lower school hallway.  Normally what I put up in April stays up till summer vacation but this year I have decided to do two. The last one I have had planned in my head for quite a while but April's was a bit harder for me to create. I normally do Easter but was debating about doing an Earth Day theme instead. In the end I decided to stick with Easter. I had planned to go with a cross in the middle and in mid March I found a technique that would allow me to use oil pastels and was sold.  I mean really who doesn't get excited to use oil pastels??  I still couldn't think of what else to do or if I should just leave the cross centered with nothing else. Thankfully I got an extra pushing seeing a blank board and after thinking it through and discussing my idea with my best friend Stacey I came up with this...

Some of my coworker friends helped me color and letter it all. One in particular did this awesome mosaic lettering...

My AJ giving final approval!

I love it and I love that 3 of my coworkers helped me pull my idea together and gave up planning periods and a Friday afternoon to get it finished

Denver or Bust

I'm sure all of you have read Flat Stanley and some of you even do this in your class.  The first grade at my  school has been doing a variation for as long as I have been there.  The kids take there Flats on Easter  Break with them and use him as a way to share their adventures.  I also have my students pick a friend or family member to host their Flat for a few days.  In the past when a student didn't have someone to send it to I have called on my friend Jenn at The Suchniak Six to help a sister out.  Her kids have hosted for us before and with her son E in first grade this year we decided to have his class swap with mine.  My students could not have been more excited to get pen pals in Denver and trade Flats.  The teacher and I just matched up our students and had them write a letter to go with their Flat.  My students are traveling during break are excited to take the visiting flat with them and my students staying locally are excited to show the Denver kids our Nation's Capital.  I am using this as an opportunity to review writing personal letters and also a little about CO and Denver.  We are also making scrapbooks for our friends in Denver and might even include some Maryland goodies.  Stay tuned!

 My kiddos wrote letters and drew pictures for their new friends.

 I let the girls use the Flat Stella template because in the past girls have complained about "wearing" ties.

 Can I just say I love how the clothes never match :D

 Of course I am trading with Laurie as well and had to dress my flat in shorts and a pair of emerald green Toms I am hoping I get for my birthday :)

 And "we're" off!

 I wish you could have heard the hooting and hollering that came out of 1B when this package arrived!

One of my cuties with her visiting friend

Anyone interested in hosting our flats before school is over or next year???

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

St. Patrick's Day is huge at our school.  A lot of the families are Irish and really with Lucky and all how can you not do it up?  My firsties were so cute when they came in!  They didn't even let me take pictures of Lucky's ruckus they cleaned up so fast!  

We did a whole bunch of centers from Abby and Michelle's TPT St. Patrick's Day units.  I swear their stuff is always a hit in our room.  

For our buddy activity the kids did Lindsey's Worth More Than Gold prompt.  I love her stuff as well and she is so generous to share so many freebies!

The kids learned all about St. Patrick and wrote reports to go along with this little guy.  I found the original on Catholic Icing and then just created a free hand template.  I traced it on the paper but let my kids do all the cutting.  In their reports they had to include three facts, 1 legend and what they found most interesting.  We read a ton of St. Patrick books and I loved seeing what they wrote.  One cutie said St. Patrick rid Ireland of snacks, soooo cute!

Women's History

     To celebrate Women's History Month last year I came up with a project that gave my first graders a small introduction to important women.  The librarian at my school was very helpful and together we made it a across curricular unit.  Each class I gave the kids a brief intro on a different woman.  They filled out a Famous Women form I created and drew a picture of that woman.  I also had them do a small project or craft to go with each woman.   

     They learned about 8 different women and then had to pick one to write a short report on.  Our librarian helped them research their chosen woman a little more and pick the facts they found most important.  Once they had written their rough drafts and gone through the editing process they got the all clear to type it up on Pixie.  They then had to draw a picture to go with their writing.  We used Anmoto to turn all their slides into a video and presented it to the kindergarten.  Our art teacher helped them come up with a design to make a bottle person to match the woman they picked. 

You can see the video below. 

As I teach each woman this year I will post my plans and the activity we do, just in case anyone is interested.  

Someone's having a birthday!

Can you guess who?!
WRONG, it's not Dr. Seuss it's Justin Bieber's birthday and I have the cupcake to prove it!

One my most loved students from a few years ago made JB these yummy cupcakes and I had to share a picture before getting on to the real birthday boy.  

We started our Dr. Seuss Celebration a day early with a Fab Friend who made One Fish, Two Fish jello to go along with the story.  She also brought in the Lorax hat craft for the kids to make.  They had a blast and I think they are prepared for all the Seusstastic activities I have planned for them in the next week.  

Tomorrow we are throwing America's favorite rhyming author a birthday party!  I have actually been planning this mini unit since July when I hit a Seuss gold mine at Target.  They had such great stuff I bought ton and trusted that pinterest and the teacher blogs I read would help me find good uses for them.  This is a picture of my door for the first half of March.  I saw a pin on Pinterest of The Cat in the Hat children in chairs and fell in love.  Next I had to find a way to use handprints, I try to do at least one hand print craft a month, and tie it to St. Patrick's Day somehow. 

I'll  leave you with a picture of my sweet  little lady rocking the Lorax hats we were making for daycare the next day.  According to Kohen they were a big hit and a lot of fun to make.  Stay tuned for what else Seuss stuff we get into!  I promise the units I got from TPT and will not disappoint! 



February Fun

Does anyone else think February is too short for all the stuff we need to cover in 1st grade?!  I mean really Ground Hog Day, 100th Day, Valentine's Day, Presidents Day and Black History Month?!?!?  In 29 days?  Of which we are really only in school maybe 20?  We have a 4 day weekend this year around Presidents Day so I have even less time!  Thought I would post a bit of what we have been up to what I plan to get to and what might get left behind or pushed into March.
     First off, my door--- each month we decorate our doors and post kids pictures.  I am not sure who came up with this but Mrs. Cap taught me my first year and I really enjoy it.  This time I decide to incorporate Catholic Schools Week, Snow and Valentine's Day.  I think it turned out pretty cute but I might tweak it for next year...

     We celebrated Ground Hog Day with Jennifer's Ground Hog Freebie and a short video on the Phil. We also read a story from Treasures.  

For centers and Valentine theme units I decided on these:

• Abby's Valentine's Day Mini Unit
• Lindsey's Valentine's Day Unit 
• Cara's Love Splat Unit
• Abby's Sweetheart Snatcher Activity
• Abby's Candy Caper Game

Part of my to do list this weekend is to figure out what I am taking from each and get a list of materials together.  I have all these units sitting next to my computer as we speak.  If I have time I would love to make Jennifer's Valentine Friend as well.   

Up next the 100th Day of School celebration which for us is this Tuesday.  As you can see from the picture below I will be basing everything off of The Wolf's Chicken Stew.  I was lucky to find a copy at the library and am using Michelle Oakes' unit along with a few other things I found on Pinterest.  I am making these for the kindergarten-1st teachers at school tonight.

At our school kindergarten and first graders bring in a 100 Days project.  It is supposed to be something that either has 100 items or says 100.  Last year AJ made the number 100 out of 100 100 Grand Chocolate bars.  Can I just say it was soooo yummy!  Gish thought up that project last year so it was up to me to think up this years.  Though last years wasn't super crafty I felt the pressure to come up with something good.  Gish takes pride in telling me his project made all the teachers happy once it was over because we got to eat them all.  I have this competitive side to me that had to find something good so he would be quiet.  Sad but true I do battle him out on little things.  

I had seen a wiggly eye t-shirt on Pinterest and asked AJ if she would be down for making a monster on canvas.  We looked at a whole bunch of friendly monsters online and then she told me what she wanted hers to look like.  I sketched it on canvas and had her paint it in the colors she liked.  I outlined some parts for her and then we let it dry.  The next evening we counted out 100 wiggly eyes, grouped them into 10's and then started sticking them on.  I was scared they wouldn't all fit but they did.  I think it turned out really cute.  She named her monster Hundy and can't wait to take it to school.  

Social Studies is where I am having trouble..  For Black History Month I plan to teach about Ruby Bridges and Rosa Parks.  I would love to get more in but haven't found much on this topic.  I am hoping to get to Presidents Day and use Rachelle's packet but how do I get all this in and finish our mapping unit, when we only meet 2x's a week?!  

Instead of a brownie pan this month my class will be trying to fill a box of chocolates.  I painted the inside of a canvas red and added black stripes.  Then I put little mini muffin liners inside to place chocolates in.  I will post a picture as soon as I can.  

The thing I am still debating in Mardi Gras.  So does anyone else think February should be just a bit longer or not have as much going on???

Catholic Schools Week 2012

     Just in case you were not aware, I teach at a small Catholic school in Maryland.  People often ask me when I want to go public and if I have any idea how much they get paid.  Some people even assume I'm not certified because I teach in a private school.  It's like they don't understand why someone would want to teach in private school.  Now I can't speak for every private school or much less for every private school teacher but in my case, I don't to go public, yes I know how much they get paid and I am indeed certified.  The truth is I love my school and I love my job!  Working my school is a blessing!  I have so much fun everyday and honestly work with the best people ever!  I mean I even send my daughter there and plan on sending my son next year.  We get to do so many interesting things and have so much fun!  

     Case in point--- Catholic Schools Week.  The last week in January we celebrate Catholic Education.  We always begin with mass on Sunday, the students have to wear their uniforms and do the readings, petitions and gifts.  On Monday of this week we had career day.  My class was visited by one dad who is a surgeon, a school mom who is an author and a deacon.  The kids loved hearing about their careers and of course sharing all they knew about being authors and doctors.  They also made pictures for a book Mrs. D hopes to publish.  On Tuesday we made Penguin Fact & Joke Books for the Children's Inn at NIH.  This was the perfect final project for our penguin unit and really let the kids do something to benefit others.  I used a Time for Kids flyer to introduce the idea of serving others and then we discussed what we could do the make someone's day brighter.  They loved picking one fact and illustrating their joke.  

On Wednesday we began the day with a prayer service dedicate to the parents and also had open house. Thursday was Student Appreciation Day.  In 1B we watched Happy Feet, had a no homework night and joined the rest of the school for Double Dare.  My team teacher Mrs. Cap created a game of HR Double Dare.  She pinned the A classes against the B classes and assigned us each a color.  I was white along with the rest of the B classes and AJ was red along with all the A classes.  Lisa then drew names of 4th-8th graders and teachers.  She came up with trivia questions based on pop culture, religion and teacher info.  Probably the most loved part though was the physical challenges she threw in.  My kids were hooting and cheering at the WHOLE time.  Watching Cheeto head, the whip cream challenge and the relay race was so fun!  In the end it was a tie, truthfully I think my white team got creamed, and everyone went home happy! 

Whip Cream Challenge

The White Team

Double Dare Stage

Cheeto Head Challenge

Red Team

Friday was Teacher Appreciation Day and a half day.  We had mass then our 4th grade buddies came over for a Snowman Birthday Party.  We had been using Abby's Snowman's Celebration all week and invited our buddies to the party.  The kids made invites for their buddies as part of writer's workshop this week.  They were so excited to deliver them!  I asked our room parents to help us gather up some supplies so we could do a snowman relay dress race I saw in Disney's February issue of Family Fun Magazine.  My buddy teacher Mrs. H bought all the supplies we need for the children to make a Trinity Snowman make and take treat I found on Pinterest and I got all the supplies for to make snowmen sundaes.  We tied this party into Catholic Schools Week by teaching the kids about the Trinity and giving them this poem.  

After our party the whole school attended the variety show.  Some teachers performed a skit to Teach Me How to Study, (a play on Teach Me How to Dougie), which was a hit with all the kids.  Thankfully I just had one line!  I am more than happy to leave all the rapping, signing and dancing to my more talented counterparts!  And oh my word let me just tell y'all Mrs. Cap can rap with the best of them!  She and one third grade teacher were A-MAZING!

If you've made it this far, thanks for showing interest in my world.  I hope I have shown a small piece of why I choose to teach where I teach!


P.S. Can someone PLEASE share an easier way to format and organize pictures in a post?  All the randomness of blogger is driving me CRAZY!