Celebrating~Teacher of the Year!!!

Hi, Friends! How’ve you been? It’s been a while, so I’m gonna crash my own Wisdom Wednesday to catch up with ya!


I’ve been working on taking a little of my own advice and getting some much needed rest over these first few days of summer. That’s right folks! That fat lady has sung…the curtain has closed and it’s a wrap! We’ve celebrated the end of another fantastic year in 1st grade! It’s really true that time flies when you’re having fun! It’s so hard to believe that another year has come and gone.



Our A-Z countdown was a big hit! Watermelon Day was a favorite! There were lots of grateful yums and a whole lot of slurping going on in the classroom that day!



We reviewed animal habitats as we ended the year. Care to guess what habitat we illustrated as part of our math lesson? I’ll give you a hint…..it has several layers and is such a hoppin’ place that there are animals swinging from the trees! Lol…..exploring {the rainforest}…..was exciting! We read non-fiction texts, reviewed their features and used details to illustrate rain forest habitats after decomposing numbers on the tree branches. We did this activity on one of our very last days so it got packed up before I could snap a picture of the final product. After working with a partner to decompose the numbers written in the trees, students were free to conduct independent research using PebbleGo.com and add details to their illustration to show what they had learned.



We also reviewed a different phonics skill each day of the last week-ish. Do your kids enjoy The Little Old Lady…books? Mine did! Being that one vowel sound slides right into the other when we pronounce words with diphthongs, we usually use a wide mouthed illustration of the little old lady when we brainstorm these types of words. The trouble with that is…..I tend to forget that The Little Old Lady that Swallowed a Diphthong….{ahem}….may not be such a great title to use for this little activity!!!! Geez, lol! She’s eaten a lot of things, but ummmmm, that’s one we’d better skip! If you’ve got a suggestion for another good illustration, help a girl out and leave it in the comments. I guess we could just illustrate the words on the web, huh? 

After creating a word web of each of the spelling patterns together on chart paper, we completed a directed drawing for students to illustrate and create their own word webs. Students then chose words from each of the bubbles to include in a creative writing about our very greedy friend. They turned out looking a little something like this…..



Field Day…Play Day….Watermelon Day…..review, review….Awards and our very last day as a little school family were all loads of fun. I wish I could share them all, but we were so busy creating memories that the camera got left behind a LOT on those days! I’m so proud of how hard my kiddos worked this year, even up until the very last couple of days. Daily 5 time was absolutely sacred and they didn’t let anything interrupt their procedures! I was in awe of how well they worked together.

To hear my firsties reminding each other about how to choose helping partners, reminding each other to still check for understanding….even with only a day left?! To hear them using the language that we practiced all year, the language that we began using on the very 1st day of school?! Amazed and just plain ole proud! Yep! They were ready. There was nothing more left to do other than enjoy making memories and send them off to 2nd grade with a bang!



As the year came to an end, I also received an awesome surprise! This year, without a doubt was one of the best! I had the best class of inquisitive little loves. We learned so much and grew so much….TOGETHER. After making sure each one of them ended the year feeling loved and celebrated, I was invited to a celebration of my own! Just last night I was recognized as TEACHER OF THE YEAR for my rockin’ campus! I can brag on my kiddos all day, but I get a little shy when it comes to directing attention directly on me.

It was a sweet show of appreciation and I couldn’t have been a bit more grateful to my coworkers that took time out of their summer evening to come support me. It was great to see my very 1st principal’s smiling face in the audience and then there’s the person that nominated me…my current principal. Let me just say, that could be a complete, whole ‘nother blog post! If she moved to the moon, I’d be ready to suit up and follow…..she’s absolutely the BEST! She encourages each of us to strive for excellence in such a way that makes it easy to go the extra mile, to show up and rock each and every day. Our school is a place that is filled with love and laughter and people that genuinely care for each other. The positive atmosphere on our campus is like no other and its all a tribute to her leadership. To be complimented in this way, by her…means a lot to me. My heart was completely filled with gratitude and I appreciate the recognition for doing what I love and LOVING what I do.



I hope you’re enjoying some rest and relaxation too! Stay tuned….I’ll be back soon to share a TREAT from our very last day!

Five for Friday~Stolen Moments

Hi, Friends! How are ya? It’s been a doozy of a week! We’ve managed to play “catch up” after our snow day off. Yep! You read that right…SNOW day…! And guess what?! Today, it was over 70 degrees! That’s TX weather for ya!


In between switches from jackets to tee shirts, we squeezed in lots of smile worthy moments….



We completed another class book! As we’ve grown as writers, we’ve begun to really enjoy sharing our writing. One way we do this is through creating class books. Our goal is to have one for every student to take home at the end of the year. We’ve created them to practice abc order, sight words and as a way of making connections to our story of the week. I love that they’re writing! They love having personalized books to read. Win/win!



Word work in small groups took on the form of a mini-book of glued sounds. Students recorded the sounds we focused on for the day, listed 3 words and used them in sentences with their friends at the table. I never imagined this simple activity leading to me needing a tissue, but it did.

I have a student that I’ve affectionately nicknamed ‘Halo’. I call him that because he is an angel. He’s the love of Christ personified in a 6 year old…genuinely kind, always thoughtful, hard working and just an all around wonderful person! As busy as our days become and with all that we have to do, sometimes we have moments that completely surprise us and remind us of why we do what we do. This activity led to one of those little moments. When I asked the kids at the table to use one of their words in a sentence, Halo, leaned over his book and began to write. When he was done, he lifted his head with a sweet smile swallowing his face and the entire room lit up! A sunray from the heavens shone down on his face. Then, I looked at his book to read the sentence he had so proudly written….

  Thank you for helping me.

….and my heart skipped a beat because he not only wrote a sentence, he wrote a message. A message that helped me to realize, that yes…we had things to do and to cover to catch up from the previous week’s day off. BUT, more importantly we had moments, messages, and milestones to enjoy, to savor, to completely be in the moment for.

Thank YOU, Little Halo, for helping ME!



When you work in a place where appreciation, uplifting, and positivity is the name of the game, it’s an easy thing to show up each day. Our school is more than just a group of people working together, more than friends…we’re family. A collection of dedicated, talented people with one purpose, supporting one vision. We take the time to enjoy special moments, uplift each other and encourage each other. We’re each blessed with unique talents that compliment each other and share them freely. It’s a blessing to walk into the atmosphere of our campus. Though my kids’ efforts and hard work often move me to tears, these ladies bring on nothing but smiles and sheer joy. They’re simply the best and we make one rockin’ 1DERFUL team!



As we all move toward 100th day celebrations, wrap up mid year assessments, plan for the end of the year while looking ahead to the next….stop, for just a moment. Lift each other up. Exhale. Enjoy the moment. Be silly. Be absolutely, 1DERFULLY, insanely silly…….TOGETHER! It’s a 1DERFUL, blessed life that we live.

 

Collaborative Group Work~Kids’ Books!

Books! Kid created books, galore! We haven’t quite made it to Bag Lady status yet, but we did have a lot of fun with a single sheet of white construction paper last week! {And, I’ve ordered some paper bags!}



Our comprehension skill was sequence of events. To get kids thinking, talking, working, and learning together to retell the sequence of events, each student was given a plain white sheet of paper, folded into 4ths. They each met in their guided reading groups to work on sequencing events using their leveled reader.



We completed this little project over the course of 3 days as a “cap off” to our mini-lessons. Students illustrated the cover and discussed the jobs of the author and illustrator. Next, transition words were cut and glued, in order, to the top of the book pages. Students met and discussed the sequence of events, wrote one sentence on the bottom of each page and drew a picture to match the sentence. We did 2 pages at a time.



After completing retelling in small groups, students were asked to put themselves in the story! Boy, did they love this part! Their task? Write 1 question you’d ask the main character.  One of the groups’ books had a fox in it. You know where that one went, right? Ha!

Lastly, students went on a hunt for digraphs. We’ve been working with digraphs and focused on words ending with -ch or -tch. 3 tasks, 1 book……lots of discussions filled with accountable talk! Admittedly, I struggle to find time for us to share our writing aloud. I’m working on it. I’m working on it! BUT, because I knew they were so proud of these, we made sure to share them at the carpet. 

AND you want to know what happened?! They WERE beyond proud of themselves. As we were finishing up……they began to chant…Encore! Encore! Encore! {Point taken……I will make more time for sharing.}



….so I’ll continue to see smiles as big as this one!



….and have kid’s happy and excited about reading and writing like Len Leopard was about getting his spots! I apologize for the picture being blurry…I snapped it on the way out on Friday.

In between the writing and discussions lots of learning was had in small groups and stations. Click the pictures below to check out the activities we used.
 



Do you keep track of what stations your students have visited throughout the week? Here’s the simple system we use in our classroom to do just that. We call it, “Must-Do/Can-Do”.



Every week, a “must do” star is placed on a bin at stations. This activity must be completed by Friday. It is the students’ responsibility to make sure they’ve visited the station some time throughout the week to complete the required task. Do I remind them; yes! Do I make sure they visit the station…no. Again, it is their responsibility. So, how do I know they’ve completed each “must do”?

Students turn in their stations work on Fridays. If the “must do” activity is not in their folder, they must go to the station(s) and complete it, while the class completes a fun Friday activity. This is usually a game or art activity…something they won’t want to miss!



If you can use them, feel free to click the pic to grab them! How do you make sure your students visit all stations during the week?

 

FIVE FOR FRIDAY~HOUSTON, WE HAVE A PROBLEM!

Math problems, that is! TGIF, Friends! How are ya? It’s been a lonnnnnng week, but we managed to wrap it up well!


We spent this week focused on using strategies to solve story problems. It was a fun way to incorporate reading and a mixed review of skills we’ve previously learned in math. 

The first one we focused on was using a picture to solve a problem.



Then, we added equations or number sentences….



….and used props to act out solutions.  One of the little things my kids always love about solving story problems is finding their name or the name of a classmate in one, so I work to incorporate their names as often as possible.  It’s always the little things that hook them in and get them learning!



Story problems can be a bit of a challenge, so we tend to work together to solve them. After one of the week’s whole group lessons, students got to choose partners to solve big kid, real-world problems!  Each pair was provided a problem to read, mark, and solve.

The goal of the week was to really in grain looking for important information and identifying what we’re looking for to solve the problem……INSTEAD of trying to just rush in and guess an answer.



We also had a blast with vowel teams/diphthongs this week! We had two guests in our room today that both left with a severe case of the giggles after watching us play an exciting game to brainstorm words for each vowel pattern.

We’ll continue to work with both of these skills next week….and the fun continues! Have a great weekend, friends! =)

 

Wordless Wednesday-Mimio Mania

super Saturday & a new series

Hey there bloggy buddies!  Today began much earlier than a normal Saturday for my family and I.  We marked the beginning of baseball season by attending my little sonshine’s league opening ceremony at 10 am. 10am may not sound early, but it’s early on a Saturday for any teacher at this time of year! In order to get every team on the field we had to be there waaaaay early {yawn}.  Now, I know that TEXAS and SPORTS are one and the same, but man…we were up at the crack of dawn for a ceremony that lasted all of 15 minutes! Parade, national anthem, first pitch, *blink* and it was over! Good thing my crazy, little guy looks super cute in his new uniform!  He’s quite the clown, hence the expression on his face…

After a quick run home (and double checking to make sure I had my favorite “bug-eyed” pair of shades), we headed off to prep for some play time.  This is me with my kiddos and nephews after getting whipped in a game of glow-in-the dark mini-golf. It was super fun and quite the experience!  If you have a place to try it in your area…head on over!  Again, notice the face?

Family fun always ends with a good meal!  My sister prepped a really yummy one.  It was so good that it got my creative juices flowing and I finally finished another little packet!  This one is the first in a series. Now, that I’ve completed it, it shouldn’t take me as long to add some “cousins” for related activities.  Head over and check it out!  If you’re the first 3 of my fab followers to comment below with your email address, I’ll email it to you for F-R-E-E in exchange for any feedback you might have!

This Texas girl has been up since before the rooster crowed this morning, so I’m off to lay me down to sleep!  I hope you had a super Saturday as well.  Enjoy your SONday! God bless you!