Sketching It Out

My oldest girl is three and somehow I have escaped a trip to the Disney store thus far...until last week.  WOW!  What a great time we had exploring all of the princess clothes, stuffed animals, and Toy Story gear. The amazement and awe that both of the girls had was priceless.  So when the question was asked, "Can I get these?" I just could not get the word "no" out of my mouth.

Princess scenes have been occurring throughout the house all week long.  Watching my three year old come up with these elaborate tales is like listening to a book.
 "And the prince looked deep into her eyes..."
 "Help, cried Cinderella."
"This story is so so so so so so so long, Mom."

These are just a few of the things that I have heard her say.  She's fascinating.


Of course, this got me thinking about our firsties this year and just the power of story telling.  What can help our students with their writing and their ability to tell a good story?  Sketching, perhaps.  I remember reading about sketching on one or more of the many great blogs out there.  It inspired me to create this FREEBIE.    I could not decide which one I liked. So you can decide!

click HERE to download

click HERE to download

These could be used as a pre-writing activity to help students get their ideas down.  Or they could be used as a follow-up after reading a story.

Happy Story Telling!

Em

Our First AWARD!

An ENORMOUS thank you to Miss Doliboa at Fashionably In First Grade for giving our new blog  it's  FIRST AWARD!!!  Can I get a "Woo, Woo" (with hands raised as my little ladies would)?

Some random facts about me...

1.  One of my teaching partners was my high school volleyball coach.

2.  I have three girls.  My oldest was born on a Saturday, our middle on a Sunday, and our youngest on a Monday.  WEIRD?!?

3.  I LOVE to put Doritos, Cheetos, or my fav. Grippos barbeque chips on my sandwiches. 

4.  I have done one full marathon and that's enough for me.  I now mostly run 1/2 marathons with an occasional 10 and 5k in there.

5.  I could eat PIZZA everyday of the week!

6.  I am a fair-weather die hard Reds and Bengals fan.  We L-O-V-E Joey Votto (or Botto as my middle calls him) :)

7.  I LOVE working out, but I am a TERRIBLE eater, hence the chips and pizza from above.  I also LOVE candy!  I'm doomed!

I would like to nominate the following bloggers with this award and you must complete the following:
1. Thank the blogger who nominated you
2. Include a link to their blog
3. Include the award image in your post
4. Give seven random facts about yourself
5. Nominate 15 other bloggers for the award
6. When nominating, include a link to their blog
7. Let other bloggers know they've been nominated

Versatile Blog Nominations......

1.  Mrs. Beers' 6th Grade Launguage Arts Class

2.  Owl Things First!

3.  The First Grade Princess

4.  T.G.I.F. Thank God It's First Grade!

5.  Queen of the First Grade Jungle

6.  Heather's Heart

7.  The Hands-On Teacher in First 

8.  Teaching With Love and Laughter

9.  A Teeny Tiny Teacher

10.  Ladybug's Teacher Files

11.  Polish the Stars

12.  Fluttering Through First Grade

13.  A Place Called Kindergarten

14.  Falling Into First

15.  Once Upon a First Grade Adventure

Whew!  I hope you are all as excited as I was to receive this award!!!  Enjoy!!  :)

Maria

So... How do you grade writing???

So, in my book, the following was written and it made me want to sing,

 "Things That Make You Go Hmmmm...". 

 

 Rubrics should not be used for grading or evaluating... WHAT, WHAT????? It says a rubrics strength lies in the ability to inform your instruction. (agreed)  Last year (and just about every year) we've used rubrics for our firsties. My fellow curious teacher, Karen, is really good genius when it comes to making rubrics.  These help us understand our firsties writing and gives them a concrete checklist to be sure they have everything like caps., punc., sounds right, looks right, etc.  We also used those rubrics to help us grade our firsties.  Do you???

What are you thinking????  How do you use rubrics in your classroom? 

Also, I'm having trouble wrapping my brain around everyone possibly working on different writing pieces all at different times.  I know I will *require* my kids to complete certain pieces, but does that go against Writing Workshop????  If I knew how, maybe I would hold a writing workshop linky party.  Maybe after everyone has settled into school.  :)

So now.. my second linky.....    at Grade Three is the Place for Me

1. what state you are in

2. your current teaching position

3. your teaching experience

4. when you started blogging

5. share a blogging tip / blogging resource

 

Here are my answers.....

1.  OHIO

2.  First Grade~  writing, interactive read alouds and a little SS and Science to all our Firsties

3.  I will be starting my 14th year of teaching.  (SERIOUSLY???)

4.  I just started blogging at the END of June.  I am in this with my teaching partners as well.  :)

5.  Tips...tips...tips....  hmmm.... put your blog address on all your comments!  It has gotten us a few looks from new friends.  :)

 

All you have to do is LINK UP now!

Maria

Girl's Day

Today I enjoyed a much needed girl's day out with my cousin, whom I have not seen in what feels like forever.  We love to go shopping together for some thrifty finds.  First stop: The Glass Barn.

If you ever come to Cincinnati, it is a fun place to visit.  You never know what you might find there...glass jars, or gift wrap, even dish towels!  Our great purchases included mason jars (to be used later!), Wonder Woman Glass (just for fun), and a pretty pink drinking glass for 79 cents!  What a sweet deal!

Second stop: The thrift store. I was looking for some stools for our computer center this year.  No such luck...but have no fear.  We found some great Ann Taylor, Fossil, and Eddie Bauer clothing.  Oh, I love a good deal!

After a great afternoon of shopping, Chrissy (my cousin) and I decided to use the mason jars to make a Mind Jar.   The idea came from www.herewearetogether.com.  Chrissy had read that Mind Jars can be a great tool for calming down children or adults.  So my preschooler and Chrissy worked together to create a Mind Jar to help calm some extreme emotions that can go out of my little preschooler.

So what do you need to make one of these calming jars? 


Mason Jar or Plastic Jar (peanut butter)
Glitter Glue
Hot water
Glitter
Food Coloring
Glycerin (just to thicken the water)
Name labels

Here's to calm and happy kids!

Linking Up with Amy Lemons!

I am linking up with about 200 something teachers for Amy Lemons "Tell Me More, Tell Me More!" Linky Party.  So......  here are some weird  unique things about me.  :)

1.  I met Mr. E. on the internet.  Yes... you read that right.... on the internet.  :)

2.  I HATE have a strong distaste for chocolate.  You read that right!  I don't like chocolate and yes, I'm a girl.  Everyone asks me how that is possible.  I have NO idea, but I was scarred in 2nd grade (sorry 2nd grade teachers) when we did the "taste test" using our senses.  She gave me an OREO!  BLAH!

3.  Secretly I want to be on So You Think You Can Dance?! (I'm too old and I can't dance like ANY of those dancers)  I L-O-V-E that show!!!  I can also Swing Dance. 


4.  I can't stand when cabinet doors are left open.  It's a weird obsession of mine.  Mr. E. tends to leave one open when he gets a glass.  There is some weird magnetic field that pulls me to it to close the door.  Our youngest right now has the same obsession with ALL the doors in our house, however, she chooses to SLAM them.

5.  I LOVE to run!!!!  I was in the best shape of my life since having three babes last summer. My sister and I were accepted into the Nike Women's Marathon in San Fran for the 1/2!  If you have the chance to do this race, do!  It's a BEAUTIFUL course.  Three weeks before the race..... I fractured my foot!  Well..... I still did the race.(the doctor said, NO, my mind said, "I'll show you" and I did not tell him I did it)  13.1 miles in a bedazzled (by my girls) boot!  Once an athlete always and athlete. 

my sis and I before the race

My FAVORITE signs on the route... The left one says, "If it was easy, I would do it" and the right says, "Your legs will forgive you.... Eventually!" 

The Fireman who gave me my TIFFANY finishers necklace!!!!!!

6.  When I sleep at night, I have to have a sheet under the blanket.  I also have to pull the sheet up to my chin.  This is a big step because I used to have to have all the blankets tucked in around me (kind of like a bug in a rug).  When I got married... I had to compromise. 

7.  I LOVE ketchup!  mmmmm.....

8.  Cop, FBI, CIA dramas are one of my favorite shows to watch!  I LOVE all the Law and Orders.

I also like to watch Top Chef, Food Network Star, Cupcake Wars, and Challenge, but I don't really like to cook.  :)

9.  I am one of SEVEN kids.  :)  I'm the second oldest. There are six girls and one boy

in my family. I loved being in a big family!!!!

I wish I had a pic of all of us, but it's so hard to get us all in one place. 

10.  I'm a Gleek!  I LOVE Glee and the Glee Project!

Now it's your turn!!

I'm back!!!

I apologize for the hiatus, but we were on a mini-vacay!  We were in Cleveland where we did LOTS of great things!

1.  Cleveland vs. Baltimore.  Cleveland lost.... stinkin' Indians (that's what we REDLEGS call them in our house.  My Mr. E is from Cleveland, so our house is divided.)  They also had fireworks after the game.  They were SPECTACULAR!!!!!  One of the best I've seen!  They shot fireworks off the top of the stadium!!!!  It was AWESOME and made me (and everyone with us) light up!!!  I felt so kiddish when I was watching them. 

2.  Swings - and - Things.  Now.. the girls were a little disappointed because they thought we were actually going to be swinging, but it's called that because there are batting cages.  Who knew?  So many firsts for our oldest.

Her FIRST HOLE-IN-ONE!!!!!!!

Bumper Boats (she's the one you can't see) with her uncle pelting her with water!

Ice Cream for dinner!!!!  Can you believe how much they gave her? In Strongsville..... Go to Z's!!!

Our Middle... Ice Cream for dinner.... WHAT!!! She ate it all too!

Our Youngest... Yes... Ice Cream for dinner too... She at it ALL!!!  22 month olds can do that??!!!???

Why is blogger so confusing sometimes.  After I finish writing captions, I tried to click to left justify again and it didn't, so I just started typing and it's back to normal... weird.

Anyway....Yes, our girls did have dessert for dinner on vacation and they were so PUMPED about it!  It was also someone in the band's birthday, so they also had ice cream cake! What?!?!?!? Yes... we were bad parents, but it's ok every so often.  Back to the list...

3.  After church we went to the local pool in the city where my brother-in-law lives.  The girls have a blast there and this also happened....  wait for it.......

Yes... she jumped off the board into 10 ft. of water!  She's way too brave for me now!  Last year I had tried to convince her to jump off by doing a backflip myself.  (sorry no pictures of that super fun event and yes... I impressed myself because it had been YEARS since I had done one) No convincing this year, she asked to do that right away. 

4.  Children's Mueseum and a YUMMY dinner at Samosky's Pizza.  It was delicioso!

5.  Bubbles and play... pack and leave... :( 

6.  Parade in my old stomping ground and where I teach.  The girls love going to it every year.  This year, we were blessed to have our choir sing first and then I jetted back to walk with the school.  The girls stayed with my parents and had a super fun time. 

Ok... so this isn't all about that I also finished my Guiding K-3 Writers to Independence:  The New Essentials.  :)  HOORAY for Mr. E driving home!  I wish I had a before picture of my book, but all I have is the after.  Do your books look like this too???????

I guess tabs would have worked good too, but... post-its for me!  :)  So many notes.  So much more to blog about, but I will stop here for tonight. Until tomorrow my friends......

DIY- Banner

I have been so inspired by all the blogs out there and the "Make-It Monday" as well as all the pinteresty (is that a word?) crafts that are being made.  A few weeks ago I picked up two packs of blue and white polk-a-dot paper plates at Michael's.  The bonus...... they were in the dollar section!!!  I LOVE a deal!  I have been battling over what to do with these plates.  Should I use them to mark each class?  Should I use them for the tables?  Finally I decided to use them as a banner.  This project came in at a total cost of ..........  $2.00!  I am unsure of how/where I will put them in my room, so that cost may go up if I have to purchase ribbon.  I also have a color printer at home, so I just printed the letters here.  I am unsure of where I got the font from as well.  I need to keep better notes.  :)  I think it was from Miss Tina from http://misstiina.com/fonts/ or Kevin and Amanda.  Thanks to whomever was talented enough to make this font because that is a talent I lack!  :)

Here is the final product.  What do you think?

I noticed my youngest daughter's seat in the background and how it matches perfectly!  Do you think one of our firsties would like to sit in this chair?  :)  I hope this inspires DIY and create something new for your classroom!  Let me know what you did!

Maria

Something old...Something new

As I was messing around on the internet for much too long today (becoming increasingly frustrated with images that just would not download or crop to my liking), I caught up on some posts from a friend's blog over at Mrs. Beers' 6th Grade Language Arts.  Her blog today talked about trying something new.  That got me thinking, of course.  What have I learned this summer?  I've tried some new recipes, rode some new water rides, and tried out some Pinterest crafts.  But...what have I actually learned to do that I didn't know before.  Then I remembered one simple (not so simple) word...Prezi!

I have been wanting to learn how to make a Prezi but just have not taken the time to actually do it.  But I finally did at the beginning of the summer (and need to get back to creating more).  The ones I have created so far link to the vocabulary words for our Scott Foresman Reading Street stories.  I look forward to creating more on a variety of topics.  Let me know if you can think of some good topics!

Check out some of my prezis below!

Honey Bees
Animal Park



Em

Curiosity FREEBIE

As stated previously, (well...the blog name states it very clearly) we are excited to spark the curious side of our students this year.  One way that we have decided to do this is through some quick writes.  We created this form to help us find out what our students want to know more about.  This could take place before the unit of study or even after a unit!  It may encourage students to go searching for information on their own. (That is always our goal...right!)

One of our first units of the year focuses on different categories of animals.  We will try this sheet out before the unit begins.  If all goes well, we will make some more for upcoming units and pass them on to you.  Let us know how you may be able to use them!

Em

Click HERE to download.

"Re-see" Your Writing Freebie!

This summer a group of teachers from my school went to the Literacy Collaborative in Columbus, Ohio.  It was great learning for three days and now I'm currently reading one of the books called, Guiding K-3 Writers to Independence : The New Essentials.  This book is edited by Patricia L. Scharer and Gay Su Pinnell. 
Click here to view the book on Amazon. Sorry, I couldn't figure out how to get the image of the book here.  I'm still new to the bloggy world.  :)

I have enjoyed reading this book and I believe it'll help me a TON because I will be teaching our Curious Firsties writing.  One thing I have learned from this book that I am going to use a lot is to "Re-See" your writing. "Re-Seeing" your writing is just like revising, but I love the words "Re-see".  I think my firsties will understand it better.  Basically, your students will choose to: add details, delete unimportant information, or change the order of their story and reread, reread, reread!  This is what I've come up with so far to help them out.  I used fonts from either Kevin and Amanda or Miss Tina.  I can't remember which ones I downloaded from who.  UGH!  Anyone who can help me out, I would love to give appropriate credit where credit is due.  :)

Click on:  "Re-See" Your Writing Document

I also worked on the following anchor chart to use with my firsties.  I will cover up each bullet and reveal them as we move through this process.           

I feel like it needs a little more color, what do you think?  Any other ideas out there for "Re-Seeing" your writing??????

Also, if you haven't been over to The Hands-On-Teacher, she's have a HUGE 300 Follower Giveaway!!!!  I'm off to enter!  If you'd like to Click Here!

And We Are....

SILVER DIPLOMAS WINNERS!!!!!!!!!! 

Friday and Saturday were amazing!  I hated being away from my little ones for the last two days, but again... I felt a little famous.  :)  We started the day warming up for our performance that took place at the Masonic Temple after a super fun bus ride on a charter bus that was DONATED to us thanks to our fellow choir member, Phil.

My "bus buddy" Sara

We walked out to a wonderful, heart warming welcome of applause.  We sang our little hearts out for our choir director who was also once my show choir teacher.   Had a little lunch at the Duke Energy Convention Center, a little shopping, and then back to the Masonic Temple to watch some FANTASTIC choirs from Columbia, China, South Africa, and Indonesia. 

My friend and fellow teacher Melissa

My Choir

 

The World Choir Bell

This picture is my favorite!  Old Glory being hoisted up after one of the Choirs from the USA won!!!!!  I can't remember which division, but it was like the Olympics.  Our flag was raised and we were all on our feet singing The National Anthem.  It was AMAZING!!!!!!

So, on Saturday we went to the Closing Ceremony and it was amazing!  I know I've used that word at least 3 times... I should put a counter on the side.  :)  Choirs from all over the world were there and we all sang several songs that we had to prepare to sing.  Idina Menzel also sang several songs.  She was such a trooper to even sing because she was sick the night before.  Wow, that's dedication!   We also sang "O Happy Day" with Marvin Winans.  Everyone in the arena were on their feet clapping and singing.  It was an inspirational performance.  The ceremony ended with everyone singing "We Are the World" with Marvin and Idina. I wish I had better pictures to show of that, but I only had my phone and it didn't take such good pictures.  I will try to get some from friends and post them later.  I hope you were able to feel some of my excitement.  Now that the games are over :(  I will post more school stuff.... maybe later tonight!  I need to get focused!

World Choir Games.... wish me luck!

If you haven't heard yet, the World Choir Games are being hosted for the first time in the United States this year.  And even better, they are in Cincinnati!!!!  On Friday, my choir will perform in the competition.  I am so nervous... excited... nervous.... proud... nervous.  Did I mention I'm nervous?  We had to memorize our songs and there is one song that still throws me for a loop.  :) 

The picture above is on the windows of the Westin Hotel in Downtown Cincinnati.  We walked in the Parade of Choirs on Tuesday and let me tell you, I felt like I was FAMOUS.  Everyone was cheering, waving, and smiling on the whole parade route.  We were singing various patriotic tunes and it was so amazing to see people singing right along with us.  There was so much energy in the crowd that night and as I said for once, I felt famous. 

Here are a few more pics for you to enjoy.

Walking in the parade

This is a picture of all the USA choirs waiting at the Duke Energy Convention Center.
We were all singing "The Star Spangled Banner" and "God Bless America" .
It was beautiful. Music does bring the world together.

Look at all the people on the sidewalk!  Amazing!



Sing something for me today!

Maria

Superpowers

My oldest daughter is 3 and she loves to dress up in all sorts of princess dresses and super hero capes.  We decided she could have a super hero party for her birthday (even though it is not until November)!  This led us to start discussing what our "superpowers" are.  It is so much fun to listen to my girls come up with their own ideas of what "superpowers" my husband and I have.  Final decision: the dad  has the superpower "making the best hamburgers" and the mom (me) has the superpower "making the best special bread."  Can you tell this conversation took place during dinner?  This led me to think about the people around me and all the different superpowers they possess.  I wonder how we can magnify some of those superpowers in our students.

Em

EUREKA!

Thanks to the help of my Curious friend Emily at Sharpsburg Reads !  She helped me figure out how to add our Freebies!!!!!  Hooray.   So, I'm trying it again.  Here is my Pete the Cat: Rocking my School Shoes, just for you!  Click here for my original post. :)

 Pete the Cat Freebie

Maria

Life in First Grade... Giveaway

I am a follower of Leslie Ann over at Life in First Grade.  She has some great activities that go along with our first grade Reading Street program, that's how I happened upon her months ago.  Currently, she's having a GIVEAWAY for an easi-speak from Learning Resources.  Head on over to her blog for some CUTE and CREATIVE ideas as well as her giveaway by clicking HERE!

Fun Find

It's still H-O-T here!  CUHrazy hot!  On our way home from church today, our car temperature gage read 106 degrees!!!!!!

Earlier this week, my girls and I went out shopping to our usual favorite, Sam's!  :)  One of our traditions is Icee's.  I used to  lie tell my girls that only Sam's sold Icee's until my oldest started to read and saw the word Icee like everywhere.  BACKFIRE!  Then, it changed to, "We only buy Icee's at Sam's because they are cheaper." All parent's do this, right? 

On our way to Sam's, we stopped at Kohl's, have you been there recently?  If not, get there!  They have Skippyjon Jones!  He's is the cutest thing ever.  I was only going to buy one for my classroom, but walked out with three and all of the books!  They are in the Kohl's Cares section up in the front of the store.  Check out these cuties!

(Oldest and Middle along with Skippy)

He comes complete with mask and cape!  I am in NO WAY affiliated with Kohl's, just love a bargain and he's just so darn cute!

Hot, Hot, Hot

Are you a part of this HEAT WAVE????  It has been so H-O-T here in Cincy!  We have spent a lot of our time at the gym and pool with our fabulous friends.  All this heat makes me think about how unbearable it is in our classroom because I teach in an older building with NO AIR!  That means when outside it is a mere 90, inside it's in the 100s.  :(   I try to beat the heat with several fans, but then I feel like I am screaming at my firsties.
 
One little trick I learned from my fellow curious teacher Karen, has only two ingredients.

1. water       2. spray bottle

Interested?
I fill a spray bottle with cold water and when my firsties come in from recess, I give them two (sometimes three) squirts mists in the face.  Be sure your spray bottle is on the right setting prior to misting your little ones.  I will tell you the kids L-O-V-E this and the faces you will see are hilarious!  Now, you are probably thinking, "What if someone doesn't want a mist?"  Well.... all they have to do is place their little firstie hands over their face and walk on by. 

So, how do you beat the heat in your classroom?

Happy 4th!!!

First things first, THANK YOU to all our men and women who currently serve or have served this GREAT country of ours.  You are STRONG and AMAZING!  A huge shout out to my brother who is currently on his 5th overseas tour (I believe).  It takes an unheard of amount of strength to do what you do and I love you!  We are so proud of you!

As we were taking in the Macy's Fireworks on t.v.,  I was just watching and listening to my girls and thinking to myself, if only we took more time to just watch.  My girls were so into the music, dancing around until my oldest (who is 6) said to our middle (who is 4), "This is how husband's dance with their wives. Husband's are tall." Middle child, "Will you be the husband?  You are taller." (chuckle from me) Oldest, "Why don't you be the husband?" That's as far as it went because they were distracted by the Taylor Swift song that started playing.  It's interesting their perception of the world at such a young age.  At one point, they just stood with arms around each other watching the fireworks.  Kodak moment....camera wasn't quick enough.

So, fast forward to the end of that fireworks show.  We quickly went upstairs, brushed teeth, used the bathroom, put our youngest (22 months) in bed, and prepared the window to watch the fireworks show thanks to Kings Island!  Conversation #2.  Our oldest says, "Usually the fireworks start at 10:01, sometimes 10:00.  They are usually over by 10:05, sometimes 10:06."  Me, "Aren't you supposed to be asleep?" (bedtime has been a little laxed, but we try to keep it in the 8-9 range, so she's still up at 10?!?!?!?!)  Oldest,"Please be quiet.  I usually watch the fireworks in peace and quiet." Oh my!  I learned a lot of things on this 4th of July.

#1  Check-in on kids before 10:00.  :) 
#2  Remember to sit back, watch and listen.

Freebie and other Firsts

First.... head over to my wonderful friend Erin at Mrs. Beer's Language Arts Class to see her amazing post about Milestone's.  It touches me so because she included my girl in her post!!!  Sici is officially and forever now a part of blogland!  Also... don't forget to sign up for her GIVEAWAY!

Next, as my team sat down to plan for our Curiousity Theme last week, we decided I would do the Pinterest inspired bubble name map.  I kept thinking on that and decided to change my first activity with our firsties.  I think I will start the year reading, Pete the Cat: Rocking in My School Shoes by Eric Litwin.  Have you ever read that book?????  It's AWESOME for the first day/week of school.  So in honor of Pete and my newness to blogland, take a peek at my activity for our first week!  It's a FREEBIE for you!  I am not sure if I'm doing this right at all, so if you would like a copy, email me or leave a comment and I will ship it to your email!  The one I will ship you has a MUCH better dashed border and PLENTY of space for your firsties to draw themselves ROCKING in their school shoes.  I'm thinking I may also type the song to put somewhere in our first class book!  What do you think?  What have you done with Pete the Cat?  I can't wait to hear. 

ENJOY!!!!