Cara Carroll

Education

Boggle – Making Words

I love Boggle.  One of my most favorite apps. While writing about my love for this game during Writer’s Workshop one day, I realized that my kids sorta love this game, too!  A few of them said that their parents play it on their phones and some of the others talked about playing Boggle Jr. at home with their families.  Love it!  So I combined their love for Boggle with their love for the SMARTBoard and now they ALL have a FAVORITE Work Work activity!!  At least once a week, I have the kids visit the SMARTBoard to play Boggle…and they LOVE it!!  They each take turns connecting words and then recording them on a corresponding sheet.  You can … [Read more...] about Boggle – Making Words

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

Inventors & Inventions

This past week we started wrapping up our study on Inventors & Inventions in Science/Social Studies.  I guess I underestimated the interest my kids would have in the subject because they were SO into it!!  We started by learning about a few very important inventors…Alexander Graham Bell, Thomas Edison, and The Wright Brothers.  We made a little anchor chart for the kids to refer to throughout our little unit of study. After we learned about each inventor, I had the kids add to their “Inventors and their Inventions” notebook.  {click the pic to download} I forgot to take pics, but after we studied Alexander Graham Bell, we made tin can … [Read more...] about Inventors & Inventions

Celebrity of the Week

When I found out I would be moving from 2nd down to 1st last year, the wheels immediately started turning.  I’d had a jungle theme in my room for several years, so I was ready for a change…and I knew “Hollywood” was the way to go!  Last year, my star of the week was aptly named King/Queen of the Jungle.  This year, my kiddos get to be “Celebrity of the Week”…and they LOVE IT!  I have a special little celebrity corner decorated with paper lamps and pics of Disney stars, and a special celebrity chair that only the honorees are allowed to use {for the week}.  Can I just tell you how much I love this chair?!  I … [Read more...] about Celebrity of the Week

Penguin Fun!

Oh how I LOVE learning about penguins!!  They are just the dang cutest things, aren’t they?!  I’ve tried to get my boys into Happy Feet, but they aren’t big fans just yet.  Boo.  Anyway, we had a lot of penguin fun this week and I can’t wait to continue with more in the week to come!  First off, if you haven’t had a chance to purchase Deanna Jump’s Penguin Unit, GO.NOW.  It’s FULL of awesome ideas and activities which is one of the reasons I’ve extended our penguin learning for another week.  AND…you need to check out Babbling Abby’s post about her week of Penguin fun!  She has some DARLING ideas too and a 5-day lesson plan to download.  LOVE … [Read more...] about Penguin Fun!

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!

Snow Day Stats

So…which of you has been the lucky recipient of a snow day, or two, this week?!  Don’tcha just love those days?!  I thought we’d for sure have one Monday because the entire city shuts.down. at the sight of flurries.  It snowed cats & dogs & fluffy white rabbits on Sunday.  You KNOW I was up about an hour earlier than normal checking the local news to see if our district was giving us a day to cozy up by the fire.  No such luck, but I did get to sleep in.  We were on a 2 hour delay. I’ll take it!  Since snow is such a novelty in these areas, I knew the kids would have nothing but SNOW on their minds, … [Read more...] about Snow Day Stats

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!

Brown Bag Book Club

Years ago I was lucky enough to attend a Linda Holliman workshop.  It.was.AWESOME!!  She is such a hoot and her ideas are SO inspiring!!!  While she was explaining a few different ideas to us, one of them really got my attention.  She talked about how her kids would complete a readers/listening response on a lunch bag and then she’d fill the bags with popcorn and have the kids partner up and share what they wrote.  I LOVED that idea!!!  Since I’m such a big fan of book clubs, I decided to incorporate this idea and turn it into a book club…hence the birth of the “Brown Bag Book Club”.  Y’all…my kids are OBSESSED.  And I gotta say…I’m LOVIN’ … [Read more...] about Brown Bag Book Club

Symmetrical Snowflakes

Even though we don’t see much snow here in Texas…with the exception of last year’s record snowfall{s}…we “let it snow” this week with a fun little symmetry activity.  This is one of my favorites of the season!  This week we were reviewing shapes and patterns so this little lesson fit in perfectly.  We reviewed repeating patterns & growing patterns and revisited the concept of symmetry and our symmetrical turkeys.  Then I had the kids create symmetrical snowflakes… And just like real snowflakes, no two were the same!  To make the snowflakes, I cut 4   8x2”  strips of blue paper and assembled into “snowflakes”.  I die cut tons of white … [Read more...] about Symmetrical Snowflakes

Happy New Year!

Happy new year, friends!  It’s been a busy week!  Isn’t the first week back from break…and every week thereafter…busy?!  HA!  We started the week talking about goals and resolutions.  I told the kids my resolution was to be healthier this year {aka: lose about 10 lbs. of holiday weight.  MERCY!}  I had my kids make goals for themselves either at home or school.  They LOVED this activity!!  I used the lined paper from a new year template one of the teacher’s on my team gave to us.  I found this super fun scrapbook paper and used that to make the hats, glued on a fun little pom pom, and busted out the Dollar Tree party blowers for some sass!  … [Read more...] about Happy New Year!

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!

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