Homosomething! And who ISN’T doing EDI these days?

Homonym, Homophone, Homograph.  Eeny meeny miny moe.  Whichever way you look at it, they all mean to mean something different, right?  Its just a little sumpin’ (that aligns to HM Theme 2 Week 3) but my kidlets LOVED it!!!

Now, onto bigger things…My district, as I’m sure your district might be, is delving into the world of EDI.  HARD this year.  We have our own little twist on it, and call it our own little name, but it is walks like a duck, and talks like a duck…then it must be EDI.  I created two different options for a classroom poster to display my Learning Objectives. 

1.  It’s cute
2.  It ensure it is seen by the “walk through committee”
3.  It’s cute

Here they are for you to use!  I simply uploaded mine to Costco Photo and printed it as a 20x30 poster!

Chat Soon - Kim

Doggie Treats

I have always loved Theme 1 Week 2 of Houghton Mifflin.  I blame it on my grandmother.  She was French, and had a family of 10 children.  Unrelated right?  Not to me, she spent nearly every waking moment providing for that family, and my favorite memories, were her kitchen preparations.  Man that woman could cook!  AND BAKE!  He hours in the kitchen were accompanied by her own tune, and I will always remember her singing "How much for that doggie in the window....the one with the waggily tail."  Both in English, and French.  Such an amazing woman she was.  So each and every year when Ten Dogs in the Window comes up, I smile all week, and think to myself, if she could raise 10 kids, I can do anything!

In honor of my sweet Grandmother, I created a few fun activities.  Perhaps I'll sing to my kiddos while we're doing them.  Then again, I don't want to hurt them!

Hope you enjoy!
Chat Soon! - Kim

i CAN"T read!!!

How many times a day do you other Firstie teachers hear this?  I don't remember hearing it nearly as much as I have this year in the last 8 days.  This group is wonderful, and smart, great printers, good rule followers, and eager to please.  Except when you put words in front of them.  They.  Shut.  Down.

I'm trying to get them to use their index clues on the page, and look at the beginning sound to at least make an attempt.  It looks like I'll be including a lot of labeling and identification activities into our Have To/Want To's during the start up of this year to build a little confidence!  Here's next weeks just for you!

Chat Soon - Kim

Apples = Back to School!

Are you back to school???  I.  AM.  Well physically, not quite mentally though!  I tell you, I thought I posted this at the end of last school year when I created it.  Then when we did it in class, it occurred to me that I hadn’t.  Maybe I was being logical and saving it to post at the time of year that it would be applicable.  Yes.  That is what I am going with.  I was long term planning, being the responsible teacher that I am!

So… Every year I bring in apples, Red Apples, Green Apples, and Yellow Apples, I chop ‘em up using one of those handy dandy apple slicers and give each student a slice of each apple.  They have a little taste test and pick their favorite.  We then watercolor an apple using ONLY that color, it’s our first introduction to using watercolors individually at our own desk, so we take it easy!

I had a Plain Jane graphing page, that I updated 2-3 years ago, just with cute graphics, but I decided it was time to take it up a notch and add some graphing interpretation to this activity also.  May I present to you Apples A-Peel To…

Use it as you wish.  You could adapt this in so many ways, have fun with it!

Chat Soon - Kim

Summer is almost over…Blegh!

I did it.  What I say I won’t do every summer.  What I strive to undo and overcome each and EVERY May.  I completely bypassed June with minimal focus on school work.  NOW…In my defense, I did take a very intense three week course in June to begin my Administration Credential/Masters.  And I did go the very next week after it ended, to rearrange furniture.  I have laminated.  And shopped from my couch on TPT.  Oh, AND, I did TRY to return to the classroom last week, however the janitors were preparing for carpet cleaning and tile waxing, so that WASN’T my fault.  Today I got the call.  My classroom is done and put back to order.  NO more EXCUSES.  Humph!

As much as I don’t WANT to think about returning to the classroom.  I am SO ready to be back on a routine {and have a break from my three sons, I love them, but hey, I love adult interaction too!}.  So once that call through, my mind started whirling about on the things I have on my list, what has been crossed off (4 little things), and what remains (does a To Do list really ever have an end).

So here we go.  I’m BAAAAACK!  Here’s a little activity to use at the beginning of the year to start teaching ABC and Ordinal Numbers…Start watching for the little things to pop up here and there!

Chat Soon - Kim

Easter CUTENESS discovered = MAJOR FREEBIE!

 

While on the hunt for great, different, digital art for my April Word Banks and Journal, I stumbled upon the wonderfully talented Colleen Bouchard of Lollipops and Unicorns on Etsy! 

I mean…even her banner makes me smile each and every time I visit now!

 

Thanks to her great Easter Art work I got COMPLETLEY and UTTERLY sidetracked from my monthly word bank project and created a Mini Unit that I am now sharing with you for FREE!

YUP…I got a LITTLE involved!  Just for you I have created a mixed addition activity page, an ABC order activity page, scrambled sentence cards and a recording sheet, four ordinal number sets and a recording sheet with added greater than less than, and lastly, correction sentence cards and recording sheet! 

If you grab it, please leave me a comment and let me know what you love and hate about it…it’s my first set and I would love your feedback!

Chat Soon – Kim!

Scramble the Rainbow!

Another wee lil leprechaun activity from me to you!

Chat Soon – Kim!

Caught Ya Peeking at my Pot O’ Gold!

It’s the age old debate in my First Grade group…Do they only need to IDENTIFY the coins, or COMBINE coins?  MONEY.

Munny, Munny, MUUUUNNNNNEYYY!  MONEY!

I struggle with this every year, and depending on the group, sometime my approach is this:

“If they can tell me what the coins are, AND how much they are worth, my job is done!”

And sometimes, in years such as this, when I have been blessed with “student’s that need a challenge”, AND a plethora of parent helpers my approach is this:

“Make em add everything in sight, it’s the most used real life skill they will ever use!”

Either way you look at it, I created these two little Pot ‘O Gold Money pages.  Even on great years, the simple lil identification page will fit great into independent centers, while the combining page will lend to those extra parent helper moments…WA. LA!

Coin Identification…

Coin Combining…

Thanks to Kirsten at KPMDoodles for the great Clip Art!

Chat Soon! - Kim

March Madness

Today I came to this conclusion…55 days of school left.  Oh My Word, how crazy is that, for us it comes down to 6 weeks until spring break, and then 6 weeks until summer break…YIPPPEEE!!!  My mind is in planning overload for the 2012-2013 school year.  My discovery of all the teaching blogs, and Teachers Paying Teachers has inspired me beyond inspiration, and tomorrow will give me the opportunity to start my “summer project pile”!  Yep people that’s right, have you heard of the TPT sale happening tomorrow?  So many great bloggers/creators are offering a 20% off sale, and TPT will be giving a 10% sale, giving us a sale of 28% off all their goods!!!  Check out the great sales, and don’t forget that promo code at the bottom!

So I too have been busy in preparation for the upcoming month…the kiddos loved their February word banks, and I was SO impressed with some of the sentences that they made up all on their own in the lil journals, that I decided to create a new set for March, and here it is for you:

And, after great inspiration from Cara Carroll at The First Grade Parade, I created a set of ABC order words.  We LOVE ABC ordering in my class, we do it weekly with our rainbow trace spelling cards, and having a smaller set to work with really makes my little’s feel completely successful on their own!

I hope to create some more little March fun for the kiddos, but I love to have all my ducks in a row pre-month entrance, and thought maybe some of you would too!

Chat Soon – Kim

How many SWEETHEARTS do you have?

SO… hubs says that I use the word “SO” too frequently, so I will be altering my openings.  Maybe, we’ll see.  So anyway…

February, such a sweet month.  Literally, sweets EVERYWHERE!  Really we may never get winter and I am doing everything I can to avoid those sweets that look me in the eye at every glance in preparation for my summer wardrobe, ugh! 

I personally can easily pass on those chalky lil conversations hearts, but how can you truly celebrate Valentine’s Day without have them?!  There is no doubt, that the kids, all kids, LOVE THEM!  What teacher wouldn't take advantage of their students love of cuteness and sweets and turn it into a love of statistics and graphing?  Logical connection right? Well to a teacher, OF COURSE!  So, yes I know everyone probably has one of these lil graphs laying around somewhere, but I always like to “cute it up”, much more applicable than Oakdale’s “cowboy up” for the teaching profession!  Happy Hearts and Cupids and all that cuteness!

Chat Soon - Kim

As Promised…

Here is February’s Lil Journal that I will be having the kiddos write sentences in from the February Word Bank Card.  Print these and cut in half, to make your own journal!  Stuff as many writing pages as you want into it!

Chat Soon - Kim

Can it be??? Is that 100 I see???

100 days brings such anticipation.  Hallelujah, only 75 days left until the glory of summer?  But my oh my so much to accomplish in those 100 days!  Why there is still telling time and 2 digits with and without regrouping…I mean all these things have been touched upon, and dealt with whole class, but to get them doing it all on their own?  Oh my, I have my work cut out for me!  I mean look at all these projects that will be joining my room next month, once I get through the scissor time!

That awesomeness you are looking at is part Doodle Bugs Teaching, and part Mwah!  I got inspired from Teacher Bits and Bobs to do a little monthly writing book.  The word bank you see in the above picture is right here for the taking, You.  Are.  Welcome!

Oh the cuteness of the clips art is enough to brighten this mini storm!  Thanks to kmpdoodles and dazzle clip art!  I forgot the journal cover and pages that I made for the kiddos to do their writing in, so visit again on Monday, and I’ll have it up for you!

As I mentioned in the beginning, things are CR-A-ZEE, but I must still do some kind of celebrating in the classroom for 100 days!  If not else than to reiterate the word “celebrate” from The Sleeping Pig!

These Cool Kids are here show the kids that finishing off the 11-12 School Year will be a skate!

Chat Soon - Kim