Last Day 5 for Friday

It is officially summer vacation (minus the fact that I signed up for three curriculum writing days next week)!  That makes this my last 5 for Friday about this current school year.  My thoughts can "officially" move on to the next school year with new little firsties.

1.
I added 200 more books to the book room yesterday.  Bagging, labeling, boxing.  Next step is for me to log them into the book room website.  That goes on my "summer list."

2.
This year I tried something new.  I called it "Take Your Pick" (you can click on it to see my original post).  Basically, students in 1st and 2nd grade could earn tickets.  They used their "raffle" ticket to try and win a book of their choice.  I picked 5 book winners a week.

 It was a Ginormous success.  Kids would cheer when they won :)  So I decided to continue this for next year and was able to round up enough books to do 3 boards of books next year.  One for K, 1st, and 2nd grade!  Here is my filing cabinet of organized books.

3.
We found out this week that we will have a new curious teammate next year!  Lauren!  She taught 2nd grade this year and Title I the year before.  Lauren and I shared a teeny tiny little closet during her Title I year.  It was so strange this year to not see her everyday.  I am so excited to work with her again!  Welcome, welcome Lauren.  We are so happy to have you.
4.
It is that time of year again...Kings Island.  We only live about 10 minutes from it and thank goodness for that!  We are there all the time.  This week my little 4 year old rode her first "big" roller coaster.  Oh my goodness!  She was just so excited about it.  Then she got some of Kings Island's famous blue ice cream because she tried a new ride.  (This is actually a rule in Maria's household that we decided to adopt! Thanks, Maria)

5.
So the new Daft Punk album came out.  Of course my husband bought it the second it was available.  My girls love "the robots!"  I had to share this video my husband took.  Every time this song comes on, this is what happens.  I am pretty positive this will be the song of my summer!

Trail Mix Flashback

Last week I decided that I wanted our firsties to "flashback" to all the characters that we have gotten to know, learned through, and  just loved!  So my idea: large character drawings or murals.  My wonderful teammate Karen threw in the idea of a trail mix.  Each food represented a character and we mixed them all together to symbolize our year together.  OF COURSE!  What a brilliant idea.
So we brainstormed...spent some money...made a powerpoint...and came up with this trail mix:
SkippyJon Jones: nachos
Frog and Toad: sunflower seeds
Henry and Mudge: crackers
Tippy Toe: candy corn
Mo Willems: Cookie Crisp
Iris and Walter: veggie sticks
Fancy Nancy: fuschia star cereal
Pinkalicious: Pink drink
Curious George: banana chips

Thanks Miss Kistner!

It was so amazing to see all of our firsties thinking back and getting so excited about the year that we have had together.
As they enjoyed their trail mix, our firsties teamed up in groups of three and illustrated one of our "loved" characters from this year.  We ended up with 20 different characters.  And WOW! They turned out fantastic.  We are going to post them all over the hallway for our Kindergarteners.  They get a "sneak peek" for what they are in for next year as firsties!  Here are a couple of them.

Mudge

Walter

Fancy Nancy

David

Pigeon

Let's Get Acquainted!

So excited to be doing a Linky Party with Flying into First!

1.  What made you decide to become a teacher?

 Em- For me it was being a big sister.  I had two younger sisters; therefor, I was teaching telling them how to ride a bike, dive into the pool, and set up their Barbie dream house.  It is just what I did, so it is now what I do.
Maria-  Actually, my Curious Teacher Friend Karen is the reason I became a teacher.  I saw what she did for us and her class when I was playing volleyball for her (for 3 years in high school) and something just clicked. When they asked what I was going to major in,  I didn't hesitate for a moment... Elementary Education.
 

2. What has been your most rewarding experience as a teacher?

 Em-I work with students that need to feel safe, wanted, and loved.  For me it is most rewarding that my students know I love them and that they are safe when they are with me.
Maria- My first year at this school, I had a little guy who saved all his "Bulldog Bucks" because he wanted to have lunch with the Superintendent.  Now.. this wasn't even an option in our store, but once he told me.... I had to make it happen!   He had to write him a letter and everything to the Superintendent because I was going to make him earn it.  :)  So our Superintendent obliged for lunch and even invited him to the Board Meeting to be the Superintendent for a day!  He was in heaven and so was I....for him. It was a very rewarding experience for all of us!   :)

 

3. If you were not a teacher, what would you be?

Em- hmm...good question.  I know a lot of things that I would not be but it is much harder for me to think about what else I could be.  I have always liked maps.  Maybe a cartographer?  
Maria-  I would have been a paramedic.  All my life that's what I wanted to be.  I did tell my mom that if I wasn't a paramedic, I would have been a truck driver. :)   

End of the Year Packet FREEBIE

It seems like the end of the year sneaks up on me each year.  I always know that it is coming...but it is still sneaky.
A few years ago I found this:

 I couldn't believe that I still had this booklet from when I was in 2nd grade.  One thing you should know about me...I throw EVERYTHING away.  It is a flaw but a good thing too.
I digress.
Here is an updated version that I made for our firsties.  The second page of the packet may not work for all schools but I think the rest of the pages will.  My favorite page is the last one titled "Autographs."

This is a 6 page packet.  Just click on the image above to download it.
We have a couple more end of the year celebrations up our sleeves...we'll have to see how they turn out!

What do you think?????

Hi Blogger friends!!! 

I have a question.... for a few weeks I've been thinking about the TPT world.  I'm not sure that I/we are ready to dive into that world.  BUT, I've been thinking about beginning to make a few packets about the author studies Em and I have done this year in writing.  As our followers, I'm just wondering would you be interested??????? 

If you're interested, I'm just wondering...... what are you looking for in a packet?  Of course we'd include a book/author list, ideas that we've tested and used.  What else??!!????  Would you be interested in previewing a packet for us and giving us HONEST feedback????? 

I'm a little LOT excited about this endeavor.  Hopefully Em is on board with me since I haven't dropped this bomb on her yet.  :) 

Tree-mendous Mom

 Testing has started!  Anyone else in the same boat?  We are doing it a little different this year.  Two of us test and two of take on the whole grade level.  So far this has worked out really well for us.  Less frustration for the teachers (happy teacher=happy kids) because we are not trying to teach and test at the same time (which makes for lots of busy work).  Instead we have tried to create really fun activities that are still hitting all those standards.

One of the whole group lessons this week: "Tree-mendous Mom."  Maria thought up the title--she is so clever :)  Our firsties brainstormed some adjectives (many fancy words) to describe their moms.  Then completed a following directions activity.

By listening to these oral directions (click on image for your copy), the students made this:

 Under the tree they will be gluing on their opinion piece about their mom.  Thanks to my amazing teammates for completing this activity while Natalie and I took on the math test!

And here was my "tree-mendous" mom moment today:

2D and 3D Monster Shapes

And here is another following directions activity for our little Green Chimp class.  But we put a twist on it this time.  Typically, I connect this activity to a story that we are reading but this week it is all about the shapes!  2D and 3D shapes.  Natalie and I have been introducing 3D shapes to our firsties and thought this would be a good more engaging way to interact with the shapes (plus...work on listening--which is a HUGE issue for some).
First things first.  Materials.  Here is what I gave each student in a baggie:

 

1 Hershey Kiss (cone)

A couple stale marshmallows (cylinders)

3 pom-poms (spheres)

2 paper rectangles

1 paper circle (with a half circle drawn on it)

3 white paper circles

2 sponges (cubes)

Once the glue bottles were passed out, materials handed over, and everyone was quiet, it was time for some listening.  (Just click on image to download a copy).

Cinnamon Cake font by Brittany Murphy and border by Krista Wallden

And...voila!

 We have some super cute 2D/3D shape monsters. (And some that look very interesting).

Now...I must admit.  I saw a version of these monsters on Glitzy in 1st Grade.  Thank you so much for the idea! I can't wait to hang them up in the morning.

I am linking up with 2nd Grade Pad's Take it and Make it!

An Exceptional, That's Fancy for Good, Fancy Nancy Unit

Where to begin, where to begin........

I, like my friend Jenny at Owl Things First, have had blogger block.  I didn't know this condition existed until I read her blog post.  You can read it here.  So, I'm glad I was able to put a name on the condition I've had since.... probably February. 

First of all.  I LOVE my job right now!  I enjoy that I only teach writing to our firsties.  I feel like they benefit so much from this.  Admittedly, writing did not get the time or attention it deserved in the past, but this year.... I get 90 minutes.  Yes... 90 MINUTES!  Now... we don't write for the entire 90, I get to do exciting read alouds which help to give our firsties much needed experience with the author's craft.  It also helps us to shape our own writing pieces.

Now onto the Fancy........

My exquisite friend Em posted about our Fancy Nancy Tea Party.  :)  This was a culmination of our last four weeks of study.  We started out inspired by What the Teacher Wants post on shades of meaning using Fancy Nancy!  Em and I started chatting and the ideas came a flowin'.  So we came up with all kinds of fancy.  :)  We read SEVERAL Fancy Nancy books (like.... 15, most mine and Em's, but one firstie offered hers to us as well! *adorable*her mom thanked me for breathing life into these books because her daughter is a TOMBOY.  Yes, I used capital letters because she is. So funny that throughout this unit we started to see a little girly come out in her.  I digress.....) and then started working on how to make ourselves fancy/handsome.

First, we took pictures of our kiddos when they were plain.  Next, we made outfits and chose four accessories to jazz us up!  :)  So.much.fun!

We made charts.

After that,  we wrote our How-To Make Myself Fancy/Handsome using those strong adjectives we learned about to describe our accessories.

We practiced reading to each other.

We practiced eating with our pinkies up and saying, "Darling!" after reading Fancy Nancy and The Delectable Cupcakes

And then..... the BIG DAY!  We got all the "fancy" items ready for our "Ooh La La Beauty Spa".  (Based on Nancy's Ooh La La! It's a Beauty Day!)

  Every little girl was dressed up so posh.  That's a fancy word for fancy.  Most of the boys were so handsome, some with slick backed hair.  *LOVE*    Parents were so proud and boy were there SO MANY!  We had NO idea... thank goodness my mom made 150 cookies... well 149 (the "cookie monster" a.k.a. my dad, ate one).  They were delicious, that's fancy for yummy.  I can only speak to the white chocolate chip because I detest, that's fancy for do not like, chocolate. 

We will tweak a few things for next year like moving this unit to before Christmas, covering the fancy picture with the plain picture for a big reveal, and allotting more time at our tea party.  All in all...... we loved EVERY moment!That's fancy for second.  :)