Let's Get Acquainted

 I thought I would join in on Mrs. Reed's Let's Get Aquainted!

Dream Vacation
I really enjoy traveling.  Seeing new places, trying new food...but I have never left North America.  I have always wanted to go across to Europe.  I am not too picky on what part of Europe.  Ireland has always looked beautiful to me...

 And Italy would be so nice...

 I would also not be opposed to Paris :)

 But in all honesty...I am happy to go anywhere.  I love to see new places.
Books I'm Reading
Summer is really my only time to dive into some fiction books. Reason being: once I dive in...I don't come back up until I am done with the book. My sister let me borrow her Emily Giffin books.  So my summer book list has been (and still is)...

  I have dabbled in some school reading as well.  Truthfully, only a little. Reason being:  see fiction books above!  Here's what I've been reading:

 Hobbies
I have always enjoyed making things.  Sounds generic.  But it kind of is.  Sometimes I like to make skirts--I made this one this week.

 Sometimes it is bird feeders--I made this one last week.

 Sometimes it is baking and cooking--we made these frozen grape treats yesterday.

And I love to make activities for school.  Like this Nursery Rhyme Mystery activity I finished yesterday.

Honestly, I don't think I have perfected any of these creative endeavors.  But I enjoy trying to make new things.  I like the challenge.  So I keep trying.

What are you doing..... CURRENTLY????

That's right ladies (and gentleman?)!  It's time to link up with Farley for this month's installment of Currently. 


Here's what I have on tap.....

I'm listening to my Reds.  Currently... they are heading into the 11th (thank goodness Mesoraco caught the foul ball because Hoover almost blew it).  Love me some Reds!  :)  This morning our youngest asked, "Where's Joey?"  Meaning... where's Joey Votto.  hahahaha 

We're loving Summer and the sun! My oldest and I just did a Colorpolooza Run today and it was a BLAST!  I'll post pics tomorrow.  :)  Being home with my three little ladies is awesome.  It's a LOT of work at times, but so nice to have conversations with them and not be rushing through dinner to do baths, books, and bed.  It's summer.... SO sometimes we're not eating dinner until 7 or 8 because..... it's SUMMER! :) 

Did I mention it's summer?  hahaha  And yes.. my teacher brain never shuts off and there's still a TON to get finished!  I really should be working on my closet... maybe tomorrow.  :)

Wanting.... this could be a needing too!  I really want a pedicure.  My feet really want a pedicure, but we'll see.  Maybe soon.  :)

Needing... some time with the hubby.  He works CUH-RAZY hours.  So he's going to bed CUH-RAZY early.  I think most of our recent conversations have been Good Night! I love you!  hmmm....  him and I need a vacation.  Any takers for three cute princesses?  :)

Tips, Tricks, or Hints.....  I was going to say Wear Sunscreen.  :)   ~Interruption... Mesoraco just hit a TWO RUN HOMER!!!!!  ~  Sorry...  my tip is to offer freebies to your followers because many, even if they don't comment all the time, do read your blog.  There are days where we just don't have the time or energy to comment, but we are still reading, so offer freebies you know we all love them!  :)

Now it's your turn to let us know what you are doing, Currently!

A Throwback, A Look Forward, and A FREEBIE!

We spent the whole morning at the water park as the clouds loomed over us. I am ex..haust..ed!  So I just tried to make some coffee with my toaster!  Wow!  Talk about needing some coffee, for sure!
Moving on...I thought I would join the party...

This post is from August 2012.  It is a beginning of the year idea.
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Portrait the Portrait

I have always loved those beginning of the year/get to know your students activities.  All the good conversations that help you get to know each one of them.  Well, this year looks a little different for us. (I think I will be saying this a lot!)  Since we will all be working with our curious firsties this year, we decided to do all of these lessons as a grade level. It is such a great time to see my amazing co-workers in action.  I learn so much from them.

Today we focused on self-portraits.

It started off with our new Whole Brain Teaching CHAMPS routine, of course.  Then onto the book:

Then Maria did an amazing job showing the students how they can use letters and numbers to create a self-portrait. (U for the face, 3 for the mouth, etc.)

On to the self-portraits...

Add a little outline...

And voila!  

After this...they did add color.  I was impressed with these portraits!

Once these wonderful pictures were made, colored, and displayed, I introduced the book "Cat the Cat Who Is That?" by Mo Willems.  Do you know this story?

  It could seem a little easy for first grade.  But I used it as a way to do two things: 1. introduce ourselves to one another and 2. introduce speech bubbles. 

They loved the story!  They thought it was funny and enjoyed looking for the speech bubbles. After the story we practiced introducing ourselves just like the author did.  "I am Em the Em." or "I am Mrs. Eshman the Mrs. Eshman."  The students thought this was funny and were laughing as they introduced themselves! :)

 Once the practicing was complete, students had to write their introduction.  We wanted to attach it to their self-portrait.  We decided to just use an large index card for this to ensure that they had enough room.

Each index card said: "I am____________the __________."

The students did a great job writing the sentence and it was a nice little assessment/observation tool for us (well, so was the self-portrait).

We used the same book to make speech bubbles later in the day for our monkey craftivity!  We even had some hidden speech bubbles around all three rooms that students had to search for!  Speech bubbles are so much fun!
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Back to today! As our summer continues on and the new school year gets closer, I am planning, making, and constantly texting my teammates ideas!  Here are two of those ideas:

1.  We were talking about doing an "All About Me" type of poster but make it all about reading.  So I played around with the idea and came up with a banner.  There is a color and black and white version.  There are two.  One is all about the student and reading.  The second is all about the student and math.  Click on picture!

2. FREEBIE--I got very bad about printing off my plans last  year.  I just wanted to write them so that I didn't have to waste my time running to the copier (although that exercise would be good).  So I made up some new planning sheets for this year.  You can click on them if you want a copy.  They are for guided reading and guided math groups.

Happy Thursday!

Follow Us on Bloglovin'

Around the rumor mill it's said there is going to be a death to google reader.  :(  sigh.....  So... we're all switchin' to Bloglovin'!  Are you in?????  Be sure to follow Curious Firsties on Bloglovin' so you don't miss a post or a freebie.  Plus... we are thisclose to 200 followers, what?!?!?!?!?!  I remember when we started this little blog almost a year ago.  What an amazing day that was for us and now this?!  We are truly blessed by all of you.  Thanks for your sweet support and feedback. 


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Be sure to link up with Tori at Tori's Teacher Tips. She has a fantastic tutorial for how to make the switch! :) 
                             

Author and Writer Sign Freebie

I have been trying to get myself motivated to make stuff for school.  I'm still suffering from post-vacation sleep deprivation.  :)  This is not because I haven't had the time to sleep, I'm just "busy". aka  catching up on dvr, finding new shows for the summer, staying up late because I CAN not because I HAVE to.  :)  So yesterday I got up and said, "Summer, I have to start working!"  It took me like 10 hours a little time to create.  :)

At the end of last year I gave my firsties "Ways to Write" over the summer.  At the top I titled it, "Once a Writer, ALWAYS a Writer" hence where the signs came from.  :)  I really want my firsties to embrace that they are AUTHORS when they walk in my door as well, so this I made the second sign.  I'm also thinking I will greet them at the door with a "Good Morning Author" "So glad you are hear Author", etc. 

I hope you can use these in your classroom!  :)  Just click on the pictures for your freebies! 

Thanks to Krista Wallden from  for the super cute clipart and
 for the font!  I also used the polka dot background from . 

Beginning of the Year books and FREEBIE

Sunday morning...
Sun is shining.  Kids are playing.  Woodpecker pecking.  Birds chirping.  Perfect morning to link up.

What a great linky party!  Here are a few of my favorites.

I fell in love with this one a couple of years ago.  It is all about the importance of being an individual.  That it is okay for us to all be different, which is something I try so hard to stress throughout the year.  In the past, I have given my students a box of crayons but when they open them up they are all the same color.  I ask them to color a picture.  Then we do the same thing but with a regular box of crayons.  We connect this to having a classroom full of different people.   Here is a FREEBIE to go along with this idea.

Here are a couple of my other favorites about being yourself:

Just one more to share:

 Have a nice Sunday!

All sorts of catch up and Picture Overload!

Wow!!! First of all... Em, you are amazing!  Now that I'm back from vacation, I need to get to work.  :)

So.... this is what I (Maria) have been up to since we let out of school.  My sweet oldest asked me today when we have to start going back to school a lot. Seriously? 

 I've been at a lot of softball and t-ball games.  We've been spending a lot of time at Kings Island.  My girls LOVE it!!!  I made end of the year gifts for our oldest's teacher and babysitter. We would not have made it through this year without these ladies and their love and care for our girl. 

Then, I had to get ready to visit the happiest place on earth!  :)  I did this, of course pinterest inspired.......

 All my girls clothes laid out for the week... Sunday through Thursday, extras, long sleeves, swimsuits, pants (just in case).  I put all three girls clothes for each day in one Ziplock bag and labeled it.  It made each day so.much.easier.  I put all these bags, my clothes, our shoes, shower stuff, everything else needed in this bag.....

Yes... everything for four girls!  In one bag!  I highly suggest the Ziplock thing.  It helped immensely!!!! 

Then we headed off and drove all night long to end up here.....

After hearing this question a bagillion times!

 We were so excited and saw so many AMAZING characters!  We did the four day hopper pass and our youngest was FREE because she's still 2, so that saved a little money.  :)  We also packed lunches, snacks, and drinks.  They did check your bags at each park which was annoying to get the bag out of the bottom of the stroller, but each checker was super nice as was just about everyone we met at each park! 
My girls LOVED every minute of each park! So did I, except that our youngest turned into something like this

 every afternoon until I could find someplace cold and dark.  Then, she looked like this....

 Sweet angel.  Here were some of my our favorites. 

 

 

 We also met these amazing and beautiful princesses.  Thank goodness for the fastpasses because the wait to meet the bottom three was 90 MINUTES!!!!!  We waited about 15.  Whew!

 Ariel asked if anyone was a mermaid.  My girls said nothing, but my hand went in the air super fast!  I'm not afraid to admit that I am a mermaid wanna be, I mean look at her!  She's gorgeous.

 Merida was amazing!  So sweet and precious. 

 

 

 

They said, three little girls come in each morning and braid Rapunzel's hair.  I asked if those three girls could come to my house and braid my three girls hair because sometimes just getting a brush through that stuff is a job in itself!

After some bribing convincing, our oldest rode the Tower of Terror with me!  She, um I, was VERY nervous.  I squeezed held her hand the whole ride and when she got off, she went on it again with my husband. Thank goodness for those fastpasses! 

 

Our youngest.... she just makes me laugh. This pic was taken under the big golf ball thing at Epcot.    She's so goofy.    

  

 

 

So... that's what we've been up to in my house. Do you ever feel that when you get home from vacation you need another vacation just to recoup?  That's where I am right now.  Needing to get more of this......