One of my favorite read alouds to share this time of the year is Gustavo The Shy Ghost by Flavia Z. Drago. Gustavo The Shy Ghost is a story about a shy ghost who's just too shy to make any friends, but he really wants to try. It's such a well written and beautifully illustrated story and a perfect read aloud for any time of the year, but especially timely for Día de los Muertos. I love this book for all sorts of reasons and it's such a great choice for a class read aloud. There are so many different topics and skills that can be addressed before/during/after reading. While there are many different SEL lessons you can pull … [Read more...] about Gustavo The Shy Ghost
Holiday | Theme
6 Conversation Heart Activities
There are so many different ways to use conversation hearts instead of saving them for a sweet treat. Here are 6 different ways to use conversation hearts in the classroom and will definitely have your kids looking at candy in a whole new way! 1. WAR OF HEARTS War of Hearts has always been a class favorite and there are a few ways to incorporate this one into your instruction. This game is played like the card game, War, and here are a few different ideas for play... Partner Play - both players grab a conversation heart from a bag/container and count the number of letters on each. Players write the numbers in the matching heart … [Read more...] about 6 Conversation Heart Activities
Ice Cream Day Freebies
I LOVE doing ice cream themed activities the last few weeks of school. Since I haven’t met a kid yet that doesn’t like ice cream…or some form of frozen treats…these activities always seem to keep them engaged when the chaos of the end-of-the-year is almost too much to handle :) I thought you might enjoy celebrating all things ice cream, too! So here's a little freebie for you! And if you're looking for even more math, literacy, and science activities with an ice cream theme, check out these resources & what teachers are saying about them! … [Read more...] about Ice Cream Day Freebies
Celebrating St. Pat’s Day!
The Irish in me is ALL.OVER St. Patty’s Day!! I LOVE IT!!! I especially love celebrating it with the kids! I don’t have many pictures to show you, but with St. Pat’s right around the corner, I just wanted to share a few things I’ve done in the past to make it fun for the kids! Here’s a fun little writing we did today. This is one of my favorites!! You can download the Loopy Leprechaun craft patterns HERE. First we read this book… Then we talked about luck and feeling lucky. Afterwards, I had the kids write about what makes them feel lucky using the prompt, “I feel lucky when…”. I got some darling responses! After they were … [Read more...] about Celebrating St. Pat’s Day!
Open House – Traveling Through America
As for Open House, we’re all *12 kinds of* crazy tryin’ to get things together. Y’all…I gotta say…things are lookin’ DANG cute! My school is nothing short of amazing and the entire place just transforms into such a sight! Since we’re studying American symbols & Presidents in our curriculum, First Grade decided to go with a patriotic theme for our hallways & classroom this year. Just think, “Traveling through America”. The hallways are still a work in progress, but I’m LOVIN’ what we have so far! Can’t wait to show y’all!! Here’s a little peek at what we’ve been workin’ on in the classroom… LOVE this little writing!! We read … [Read more...] about Open House – Traveling Through America
Tooth Fairies, Teeth, & Money/Coins
Have you ever wondered what the Tooth Fairy does with all those teeth?!?! We asked ourselves that same question and the kids came up with some pretty clever answers! First, we read a little book… And for a little reader’s response, the kids wrote about what they thought the tooth fairies did with their teeth! And they made some cute little scrapbook tooth fairies to go along with their writing. This is probably my favorite thing we’ve done to date! I LOVE how they turned out! The kids did pretty much ALL of the work themselves. I showed them an example, but told them they could make their fairies look … [Read more...] about Tooth Fairies, Teeth, & Money/Coins
Candy Heart Math {& A Making Words Activity}
I know Valentine’s Day is over, but I like to extend my Valentine-ish activities throughout the month. After all, February is the month of LOVE, right?! Well, that’s what I’m goin’ with anyway. Candy hearts are my favorite February math manipulative and here are a couple of little math printables & activities for you!! The first is a little candy heart graph. I know there are a GAJILLION of these floating around right now. I like to graph the number of letters in the conversation. I pass out a large conversation heart to each kiddo and have them count the number of letters on the heart. Then we create a big ol’ graph on a giant … [Read more...] about Candy Heart Math {& A Making Words Activity}
100th Day & Valentine’s
I got the sweetest email from a darling reader who wanted to know if I was okay because of my lack of blogging lately :) I’m a-ok, but my boys…well…they’re a different story. They both tested positive for type A flu last week and I was one busy momma! No time for anything other than snugglin’ the heck outta those kids. Even though the snuggles were sick induced, I’ll take what I can get! HA! I’m SO happy that they’re finally on the mend and back to normal!! I hope that’s the last of the sickies this season!! Because I was tending to my mommy duties, our 100th day celebration didn’t exactly go as planned :) I have the most amazing … [Read more...] about 100th Day & Valentine’s
Groundhogs & Their Burrows
The kids have loved learning about burrows and how groundhogs dig tunnels. Did you know they dig up to 700 lbs. of dirt when digging their burrows?! WHOA! We talked about burrows and other places animals calls home…dens, lairs, nests, caves, etc. Then I had the kids pretend like they were groundhogs and do a little descriptive writing. First they had to draw their little burrows. CRACKING up that this one has a TV & a bed! HA! Then they had to write a few sentences describing their burrow as if they were a groundhog. Finally, they made a little groundhog. I LOVE this little art piece. It takes all of about 5 seconds to put … [Read more...] about Groundhogs & Their Burrows
Valentine’s Ideas
Since we’re on DAY 4 of NO SCHOOl, I’ve been surfing around some of my favorite blogs and have found some darling Valentine ideas! Just wanted to pass along incase you need some Vday inspiration :) The Idea Room has these awesome Valentine Bingo boards you can download off her site for free!! These would be awesome for a class valentine party OR even just for a fun math activity. I totally would’ve used these to reinforce number recognition in K, but I think I’ll use these to reinforce addition/subtraction facts (maybe even place value or coins) with my firsties!!! Can’t wait!!! Love this fun snack idea … [Read more...] about Valentine’s Ideas
Chocolate Pudding & Penguins
I’m trying to catch up on a few little things, but thought I’d share this in the meantime. We’re stuck INSIDE today…no school…with tons of ice on the ground and temps too cold for me to talk about. Yuck. But the upside to this little sleet day is that I’ve got a clean house & chicken noodle soup on the stove. Speaking of soup, if you’re dealing with stay-inside-weather like we are, you’ve seriously gotta try THIS SOUP. Y’all….it’s DANG good. Perfect cold weather meal!! Moving on… This week we’re learning about the “-ch” digraph. My firsties are LOVING the Digraph Kids and talk about each of ‘em like they know them personally! … [Read more...] about Chocolate Pudding & Penguins
Place Value, MLK, and Snowmen!
Here's a fun little place value activity I made for my kids to do in their math tubs last week. It’s a snowman place value spinner! Graphics courtesy of Digi Web Studio Last week we were working on place value with teen numbers, so that’s what this particular activity reinforces. The kids spin the spinner on the middle portion of the snowman and collect that amount of ones cubes...or whatever kind of counter you want! Then they spin the spinner on the bottom portion of the snowman and collect the same amount of ones cubes as well. Then they count their cubes and see if they can make a set of ten. I always tell them, “If you can … [Read more...] about Place Value, MLK, and Snowmen!
Mitten Loads of Fun!
We hit the ground running the first week back from break and it was so nice to be back in a routine. We did a lot of mitten themed activities and the kids loved it! Hope you enjoy them, too!!Of course, we started the week reading The Mitten, by Jan Brett. There was SO much to do with this book!! We created a flow chart to sequence the events, used puppets from the Jan Brett website to retell the story, discussed the story elements using a mitten themed story map, and lots more! {I kept forgetting to charge my camera, so I didn’t take many pictures :(}We also read, The Hat by Jan Brett and compared it to The … [Read more...] about Mitten Loads of Fun!
Winter Math Games
Happy first day back after a niiiiiiiiiice long break :) I know we’re all excited, right?! Just 10 short weeks ‘til the next vacation, but who’s counting?! Seriously though…I’m already missing my little boys during the day, but I’m SO happy the whole family is back in a routine! Since I’m currently raising the two wildest boys under the age of 4, I didn’t have much time to create a whole lot over the break. I had to spend all my *down time* {yeah right} being a mommy & tending to domestic duties. Thankfully I had lots of planning time today to try and get caught up! Here are a few little games I’ll be putting in our math tubs this … [Read more...] about Winter Math Games
Christmas Catch-Up & Happy New Year!
It’s been a BUSY holiday, but I’m back in town and trying to catch up on everything! I know this post is a bit overdue, but just incase you need some ideas for next year, I thought I’d share a few little things. We read this story. Then we talked about how grown-ups have to go through an application process to get a job. Then I had the kids fill out their own applications…to apply to be one of Santa’s elves! HA! They were ALL over it! I told them I was sending their applications straight to the North Pole. I’ve never seen such GOOD work!! You can download your application HERE. We also read this story… And then had the kids … [Read more...] about Christmas Catch-Up & Happy New Year!
Reindeer Games
I feel like the 3 weeks in between Thanksgiving and Christmas break are so RUSHED! Not that I’m complaining…I LOVE breaks :)…but there’s always so much I want to fit in in such a short amount of time! Last week we started learning about reindeer. Before we continue on with more reindeer fun this week, I wanted to start with some non-fiction reading and fact gathering, so that’s just what we did! We started out by reading this non-fiction book about reindeer… I love reading non-fiction books because my kids just eat it up! They’re SO engaged when it comes to learning new facts. Plus, it gives me a chance to teach them about the table of … [Read more...] about Reindeer Games
Happy Grinch Day!
Happy Grinch Day, friends!! Here’s my sweet team all decked out in our Grinch Day duds. We celebrated “Grinch Day” today and the kids got in on all the fun, too!! They came dressed in green and some of our little cuties even painted their faces and sported Cindy Lou’s hairstyle. TOO cute! Of course, we started out the day by reading the book… Then we brainstormed a list of adjectives to describe the Grinch… {I tried my best to draw him, but not so sure I did him justice. And please excuse the handwriting!} Not so sure that “teethy” is a word, but my little sweetie who offered it up was just certain that it is!!! She INSISTED we … [Read more...] about Happy Grinch Day!
If Take A Mouse To The Movies
One of my favorite holiday books… And there’s SO much you can do with it! We had a little “If You Take A Mouse To The Movies” day the other day and the kids had so much fun!! Of course, we started out reading the book. After reading, we talked about cause & effect and made a diagram to show the chain of reaction. I also assigned each kiddo to a story event and had them illustrate it. Then we came together as a whole group and I had the kids work together to sequence the events on a giant filmstrip! I really wanted a text to self writing activity, so I gave them the prompt, “If you take me to the movies, I will ask you for some…”. … [Read more...] about If Take A Mouse To The Movies
Santa Claus is Comin’ To Town
I have a thing for Santas. I really do. I have a HUGE collection here at the house and I just can’t get enough of him! He’s so dang cute! SO…it would only stand to reason that I’d want to include a few Santa activities in the classroom as well :) I know that a lot of kids don’t celebrate Christmas, but this year EVERY single one of my kiddos does…so that makes planning a little bit easier for me. However, this hasn’t always been the case! I guess you could say I’m taking advantage of it this year :) I read a book about Santa the other day…can’t remember which one…and had the kids make these cute little scrapbook Santas after we read … [Read more...] about Santa Claus is Comin’ To Town
Noun Town
Oh…I’m SO lovin’ all these fun little Christmas activities! There’s just something about this time of year, don’tcha think?! I’ve gotten SO many WONDERFUL ideas from blogland that I can’t wait to implement in my own room! Y’all are too dang much! Here are a few more things we worked on this week… I was so inspired by Sarah Cooley’s Noun Town that we made one of our own, too! Since it’s the holiday season, we decided to make a Gingerbread Noun Town. We did some “city planning” before we got started. We talked about people, places, and things that we might see in our town and brainstormed a list of each. After city planning, I had each … [Read more...] about Noun Town
Gingerbread & Christmas Stuff
Okay…still SO behind…but here are just a couple of things we’ve been working on! We’re still going strong with fact families, so I had my kids make fact family gifts. They rolled dice to get the numbers to add together for the sum. I also had them roll the dice twice and add those numbers together to practice working with higher numbers. As you can see, they made their own bows…but real bows would have been a great “addition” too! ;) Speaking of gifts, this is one of my most FAVORITE writing activities. I started doing this my third year of teaching and have been doing it ever since! I think it’s so precious and sweet and really gets … [Read more...] about Gingerbread & Christmas Stuff
Happy Thanksgiving, Y’all!
Celebrating Thanksgiving with my first graders has been, by far, my favorite thing yet! As a culminating activity to our Thanksgiving unit, we had a giant Thanksgiving feast to celebrate the season. We made pilgrim hats & bibs to wear for the occasion. The fun feast was catered by one of my favorites…Dickey’s!!!!…and the kids dined on turkey, ham, mac & cheese, green beans, rolls, and homemade cookies {one of the sweet first grade moms made peanut free chocolate chip cookies for the WHOLE grade level…and they were GOOD!} It was such a fun experience for both the kids and their parents…us too!! Can’t wait to celebrate … [Read more...] about Happy Thanksgiving, Y’all!
If You Sailed On The Mayflower…
Today we celebrated “Mayflower Day”!! Okay…so I made that up…but I thought that sounded pretty fitting for our day today :) We started by reading a non-fiction book about the Mayflower. I can’t remember which one, but I checked it out from our school library and it was really good!! It was a great book to review Table of Contents also :) Each “chapter” was only a page or two long. After each page, we stopped to jot. During our stop to jot time, the kids gave me a few facts they learned from that chapter. We learned a lot of really cool facts!! Did you know that the water was so unsafe to drink that everyone on the Mayflower…children … [Read more...] about If You Sailed On The Mayflower…
A Few More Math Ideas Before The Holidays
Here are a couple more ideas for you to *squeeze in* {HA!!!} before Thanksgiving break :) How funky is your turkey?! Here’s a little fact family activity your kids will love! Each kiddo gets a half circle {turkey body} and a triangle {turkey head}. The kids take two dice and roll. Let’s say they roll a 4 & 2. They have to add the numbers together to get the sum {third #}. They write these numbers in each corner of the turkey head with the sum sitting in the beak. Then the kiddos take 4 different feathers and write a different number sentence on each to match the fact family in the turkey … [Read more...] about A Few More Math Ideas Before The Holidays
