Fabulous in First

Are you Ready?

2012-02-25T19:53:00.004-08:00

Are you ready for this week? I LOVE celebrating Dr. Seuss! So today while one of my sweet little guys napped and the other played, I was laminating and Pinteresting like nobody's business.

EXHIBIT A

Lamination central of all centers that are Seuss!

EXIBIT B

I'll be doing all of this new stuff I found Pinteresting!

Look at this super cute Lorax hat!

Then there is such a cute Horton from the sweet Jenn at Finally in First.

And these Truffula trees! Adorable and Yum!

There wasn't a site linked to the picture or I'd totally give

credit.

I also made a Sight Word: I have...Who has? for the occasion.

What are you doing next week? I might have to fit more in.

Random is right!

2012-02-20T19:13:00.000-08:00

Get ready to read some random peeps!

{One}

Apparently you may not use the Dr. S's name in anything you make nor the feline that wears an accessory. SAD CITY Y'ALL! Anywho, if you are celebrating the man who loves to rhyme, then you can still go pick up my centers here.

{Two}

Now onto Common Core! As part of the Common Core, now students are officially to learn their addition and subtraction facts to 12, fluently! I've always pulled out the "I have...Who has addition" and flash cards and such after December when my kiddos really understand the concepts of addition and subtraction, but it was never in print to stress me out! So anyway...a parent of mine who also teaches introduced me to this site:

And I love it! It's so easy to use. You can literally input your kiddos names in seconds, it prints out a sheet for their parents with their very own code and it keeps all their data for you. AMAZING! It's also Free which is super fantastic!

{Three}

I've had a bunch of requests for my first grade helper in a Kindergarten, 2nd grade and Canadian version. I made them all and they are uploaded to my store.

{Four}

Okay so...I'm not a very good cook. I can bake with the best of them, but I've made a few Pinterest inspired meals lately and my hubby LOVED them. He went back for seconds, which doesn't happen often, so I thought I'd share them with you. YUMMERS! Just click on their pictures to go the recipe link.

Okay...so if that wasn't all over the map, I don't know what is. Hope you have a great rest of the week. Hopefully I'll be back with another freebie soon. I'm making a few more centers for next week too!

If Only....

2012-02-19T20:20:00.000-08:00

If only every Sunday was met with a Monday off. I tell you I'm much happier on Sundays when I know I have one more day to get things done. I propose there will be no more working on Mondays. Let's see how that works out for all of us.

In other news...

I hope you all had a very happy Valentine's Day. I had a fabulous day in first grade and came home to these cuties pies and a box from my favorite jewelry store.

Not a bad day I'd say.

Here are my other 22 Love bugs!

We had some fun with candy hearts.

Then decorated Valentine bags that seriously looked, umm...well you can probably guess. There should be a book called, "If you

give a first grader some stickers." Because the next line would most

definitely be, "They'll use every darn one, no matter if it looks

good or not." I tried to convince them that less was more,

but my sweeties insisted on covering every inch.

And who doesn't love a sticker or 300?

On top of all our Valentine Fun, we also learned all about the presidents last week.

I forgot to take pictures, but you can see some of what I did last year by clicking here and it's pretty much the same. We did president's week activities last week, so we can make room for penguins too.

Speaking of penguins...I've been gearing up for the week ahead and needed a little math center, so I made a penguin fact family center. If you'd like it, feel free to download it by clicking the picture below.

In non-school related news...

My mom bought Drew this:

And...At first I thought "GR-OSS", but if you are 5 it's so COOL!

It took me back to my, "You can't do that on television" days.

You fill your bath with water, pour in the green powder and minutes later the bath is filled with green goo. The coolest part is, that it comes with another powder that turns it back to water. AMAZING! I think I might buy this to use as my Oobleck this year for Dr. Seuss week. It's way too fun to squish, and the fact that you can turn it back to water is such a cool science experiment.

Another amazing find by my mommy was this:

Skinny pop popcorn.

This stuff is super delish.

It's definitely my new favorite snack.

Now here's to hoping it makes me skinny.

Enjoy your Monday off friends.

Sunday Snippets: A little bit of this...a little of that

2012-02-12T18:37:00.000-08:00

Hey Friends,

Um...who is ready for Valentine's Day on a Tuesday? It's going to be a long week teacher friends. Actually...I'm pretty excited. I love all my sweet bloggy friends and their cute activities. This week should be tons of fun. I'll be sure to post pictures soon. One of the centers my kiddos will do this week is make a mini-book. If you want it just click the heart below.

This heart and many of the graphics in the book are courtesy of:

I love their stuff!

Other graphics in the book are from my all time FAVORITE artist

Before you know it, Dr. Seuss' big day will be here.

If you need some centers for that special week, I just uploaded some to my store.

They are all based on Common Core Standards which are listed within this pack.

Click the picture below to grab them.

In addition...I also have a Word Family Seuss Center.

Today my sweet Drew turned 5!

It seems like just yesterday I was delivering him in the middle of a blizzard.

Well...blizzard by Cincinnati standards. That means 3 or plus inches.

In honor of his birthday...

The first 5 people to comment will get my Seuss Centers for Free!

Hope you all have a Happy Valentine's Day!

XOXO

Meet Up and More...

2012-02-06T17:41:00.000-08:00

I'm sure you all have read about this elsewhere as OH MY GOODNESS so many wonderful bloggy girlfriends met this weekend. But I had to post and let you know that I felt TOTALLY blessed this weekend. 39 sweet teacher friends came from 5 different states to meet and chat at the Cheesecake Factory in Cincy. I know the poor waiters looked at us and wondered what they had gotten into??? God Bless their little souls, they were so patient as we swapped seats, took photos and gabbed the afternoon away. What a talented and dedicated bunch of girls. Click here to see Staci's blog. She was kind enough to compile a list of blogs of those who attended.

In other news...My 100th Day is behind me. That means 75 days to get my people all ready and set for 2nd grade. No pressure or anything!

I also have to confess that I'm becoming a bit obsessed with my iPhone.

Thank goodness for iTunes gift cards, because I'm addicted to apps. Cara introduced me to Red Stamp and I'm in love. Look at my sweet boys.

Take a good look at my sweet Landon. He looks adorable here. We just took him to get a haircut and that poor baby seriously looks like Lloyd from Dumb and Dumber. I mean bowl on the head hack job! I feel horrible, but there is no fixin' it, so we just pray it grows quickly.

Another app I think is so fun is this: Pocketbooth. It's a photo booth in your phone. FUN!!!

I'm also lovin' Color Splash. Such an easy way to play with color in your photos.

And finally...

Who is going with me to see The Vow?

I can't wait!!!

I mean...come on Rachel.

If Channing Tatum told me he was my husband tomorrow...

I'd totally go along with it. Who argues with this?

Happy Monday Friends!

Housewives Reunion here I come.

Just 1 Sleep Away...From the 100th Day!

2012-02-02T18:16:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow is our 100th day of school! It's seriously one of my very favorite days of the year. I love seeing my sweet little people with their super cute 100th Day hats, fruit loop necklaces all sorted into 10's and the celebration of 100 days of hard work!

If you've purchased my 100th Day unit, I just added about 20 more pages. I've included a math and making words center, as well as another mini book. So go back and download this unit again. If you don't have activities for your 100th day, then you should check it out. It's filled with cute activities for the book The Wolf's Chicken Stew and more.

If you need a cute t-shirt for the 100th day, then click here. This sweet teacher has provided a super cute image, ready for you to print and iron on. I'll be wearing her creation tomorrow.

PS. I also added a couple pages to my READER'S WORKSHOP COMPREHENSION SHEETS. I've included another Text-to-Self Connection page, as well as a sheet for inferring meaning of unknown words.

In Celebration of my 100th Day, everything in my Teachers pay Teacher's store is 20% OFF!

Have a great Friday Friends!

What We've Been Up To and Winner!!

2012-01-31T20:25:00.000-08:00

First, I'm so sorry this took me so long. The 100th day is only 3 days away and I'm in the midst of planning 2 field trips, a birthday party, trying to apply to kindergarten for my sweet Drew and we have the upcoming Tri-State Blogger meet up. It has been a crazy couple of weeks! So without further ado...

The winner of the My Memories Scrapbooking Software is:

Email me, so I can get your software and you can start scrapping away!

If you didn't win and want some awesome and super affordable digital scrapbooking software, then click this link. Also, don't forget to this coupon code STMMMS27264 to receive 10 dollars off!

So the rest of this post is just the randomness that has been happening in first grade the past two weeks.

Last week we worked on our Science and Technology Standards on building, with a unit on The Three Little Pigs.

We brainstormed tools used for building

We also did some fun Three Little Pigs Activities. Sorry I forgot my camera.

We read this book. Awesome book for this building standard.

Then my kiddos were given sticks and modeling clay to create a building that had to withstand the strong wind of the Big Bad Wolf (aka: hairdryer with a wolf head attached).

So much FUN!

We've also been busy with centers!

Making Words: ONE HUNDRED

100th Day Mini-book

We've also been learning about Visualizing and making Mental Images.

Here are my cuties, focusing in one object and seeing it in great detail.

This was the intro to this new topic.

I'll be back later this week with pictures from our 100th Day.

I'm also going to be adding some pages to my Reader's Workshop Response Sheets and I'm going to be working on a fun new unit.

STAY TUNED!

Have a great rest of the week friends.

Say it isn't Sunday?

2012-01-29T20:19:00.000-08:00

Seriously! Where did my weekend go? I need a rewind on this weekend, because I still have a gajillion things to do and at 10:09 in the evening, I just finished cutting out lamination, making a book center, Cricuting heads for 100 year old people and I still haven't packed a lunch, ironed clothes or worked out. And there is no snow in sight, so it looks like a 5 am wake-up is still in my future.

Exhibit A: Newly cut centers

With the 100th day in our future, we'll be practicing place value this week

in our math center.

This little center takes a chunk of the 120's chart (Common Core) and has students identify what numbers come next and what numbers are 10 less and 10 more. It basically measures a student's number sense and their understanding of the chart itself. I made little numbers for students to place on the cards. I probably won't use them, as they aren't necessary to complete the recording sheet and they are likely to be lost, but they are included, never the less. I started doing this a couple of years ago during calendar time, thanks to the girls at Smart Lesson Stop (cutest Smartboard calendars EVER!). But my kiddos have never really done this independently. So here it is. Yours for the taking. Just click the picture below.

There was a highlight to my crazy, quick weekend...

{Not too shabby for an almost 5 year old photographer}

I FINALLY met my super sweet bloggy friend Abby and her adorable pumpkin Beckham.

Let me just tell you folks, I felt like we'd known each other for years. She's adorable and I seriously could have gabbed with her for hours. Our boys hit is off as well. Batman and Spiderman united and had a blast. I will let you know that she wasn't rockin' the unitard, but she was amazing just the same. LOVE HER! The best part is...we get to hang out again soon at our bloggy meet up! SO excited.

PS. If you haven't RSVP'd to the evite, please do.

Well...this girl still has a list of to do's, so I gotta go.

I guess Monday isn't going to disappear as fast as this weekend did.

Oh..and Abby

This one's for you and Becks:

Heroes in a half-shell...TURTLE POWER!

Scrapbook Software Giveaway from the paparazzi herself!

2012-01-27T08:41:00.000-08:00

Hey all!
Many years ago I was the queen of all things scrapbook. My hubby and I dated for FOREVER before we got married, so I had 8 years of movie tickets, photos, sweet cards and messages all nicely displayed in scrapbooks with super cute stickers, embellishments, etc. Then I had kids! No lie folks, my sweet Drew, almost 5, has a scrapbook that is completed to 8 months old. Landon, now age 2, no scrapbook at all. What happened? Well, I can tell you it definitely wasn't scrapbooking. I feel HORRIBLE! Me, Michelle Oakes, aka: the paparazzi, has THOUSANDS of photos just sitting in an iPhoto account with no where to go.
I've been thinking for quite a while about taking up digital scrapbooking. No glueing, no more buying thousands of stickers and expensive embellishments. I mean, this girl spends enough money on card stock and googly eyes for school. A few months ago I downloaded a digital scrapbooking software trial, but it was way too confusing. And Photoshop means I actually have to read and listen to tutorials. Then Liz, from My Memories asked if I would like to try their software and offer it as a giveaway on this little first grade blog. She also offered to give all of my readers a discount code on their purchase of this software. So I downloaded it last night and started to play. And let me just tell you, I love it! It's super easy friends. I didn't watch a tutorial, or read anything. I just started creating.
The program comes complete with tons of cute papers, embellishments,shapes and even calendars to use. You can do all sorts of fun things with your photos by just clicking a button and the best part is, you can use all of the digital scrapbook packs you already have. I have a ton, due to making centers and units, so this was very important to me. Now this is my disclaimer. I have never in my life made a digital scrapbook page, so this is not all that impressive, but I made this in 10 minutes. It was so easy!

I'm pretty excited to use this software for my kiddos at school as well. Each year I make my students a scrapbook of everything we've done throughout the year, so I'll definitely be using this to make it extra cute this year.

If you would like to win this software the steps are easy.

1. Go to My Memories.com and let me know your favorite scrapbooking kit.

(You have to check out the school section, SUPER CUTE!)

2. Like My Memories on Facebook

3. Like Fabulous in First and my Facebook pag e.

I'll choose a winner Sunday evening.

Good luck!

PS. If you don't feel like waiting to see if you are the winner and want to purchase this software, then please use this code: STMMMS27264 for an extra 10 dollars off your purchase of the software and another 10 dollars for anything you'd like in the store.

Binders, a birthday and Bingo!

2012-01-18T19:45:00.000-08:00

I've had lots of emails about how I keep things organized, how do I manage guided reading, writer's workshop, life in first grade in general? Honestly, after our day today, I might tell you that I don't. My sweet kiddos were seriously OUT OF CONTROL! I had sweeties crying that they weren't friends anymore, kiddos copying, cutters, OH MY! That is not like my babies this year. But I do try to be organized even in the chaos. It's the one place I can be. Lord knows my home isn't. So binders and bins are my friends.

This first binder goes with me everywhere. It has everything I need for lesson planning, student data, reminders, etc. I have it separated with dividers I created. Some of the sections not picture below are, Student Info and Data, Standards, Ideas for Future Lessons, Math Ideas, Science and Social Studies Ideas and printables & of course my Erin Condren teacher planner.

These next few binders I've explained in previous posts, but are also always by my side.

The first is my Writer's Workshop Binder. If you are doing Lucy Calkins' Writer's Workshop and you love conferencing, then GOD BLESS YOUR SOUL. I feel like I stink at it. What compliment am I suppose to give to a page with one sentence that doesn't make sense and no picture? And choosing only 1 teaching point when all you can see is that they need, capitals, periods, spaces, details, etc. Heaven help us all. But I do believe that Writer's Workshop works! My kiddos can seriously write some amazing stuff by the end of the year. So I try to do my best at conferencing and this little binder helps!

First I have pencils, markers and extra conferencing sheets. Then I have a divider with each of my little kiddo's names where I keep their conferencing sheets. This way I know what we've discussed previously and what teaching points I've covered. I also keep laminated stories I've written with every kind of mistake or issue I see in my kiddo's writing. I use these and my dry erase, to show my student's how I make my writing better and what they can go back and do as writer's to improve their piece. Last, is a really nice cheat sheet I found somewhere with skills that strategies for writing.

I have no idea where I found it...Sorry!

Next is my Reader's Workshop/Guided Reading Binder

Here I keep my groups, my observations of each student's reading during Reader's Workshop and Guided Reading and my cheat sheet from Jan Richardson about strategies, word work and activities appropriate for each level of guided reading. I used to carry around mini notebooks for each student during Reader's Workshop and keep separate notes for Guided Reading. Can you tell me why? I guess it only took me 11 years to figure this 1 binder worked. You can read more about this binder here.

I also have a binder full of Reader's Response sheets that I totally forgot to take pictures of today. It is a 3 incher! That's one big binder y'all. It has tons of dividers that are labeled with things such as: Beginning/Middle/End, Problem & Solution, Story Elements, Characters, Predictions, Favorite part, Sequencing, as well as book levels. Here I keep graphic organizers for all of these areas and response sheets I've typed up for books of specific levels.

I have created a ton of reader's response sheets for guided reading as well as Reader's Workshop. You should also check out Erica Bohrer's book. I have a copy and love it.

Finally, is my lesson plan binder. I keep my weekly lesson plans on top and all extra documents that are needed behind.

and all my copies that are needed for these plans are kept here:

So I hope that helps a little. Go out a get yourself a cute binder. :)

Next: I just have to share my sweet Drew's birthday theme.

He is so excited for a big old Super Hero birthday.

Here's his invite. I had to blur out the info, so we wouldn't have any uninvited guests, but

I promise it's super cute before the blur.

And here is the cake he chose, via Pinterest! Darn site is costing' me a fortune.

I also have to share some pics of my students because they look so darn cute! We had COSI today. It's a really cool Science program. The students learn about a concept and then get to experience that topic hands on. This year was all about Chemistry.

And last but not least. A few days ago I posted a little freebie Bingo Game. If you liked it, or have purchased my Super Sight Word Pack, I just uploaded a Super Sight Word Bingo. It has all four quarter's words on themed cards. There are 8 different cards for each quarter so you can use them during interventions or small groups.

I promise to post more freebies soon!

PS. If you are planning on joining Abby and I at our Tri-State Bloggy meet up, please check your email. There is one minor, teeny, tiny change. If you haven't received an evite from one of us, please email me and I'll add you to the list. We need to know an exact number of guests. Thanks!

How ya holding up?

2012-01-11T20:33:00.000-08:00

Okay...so as you all know I've been doing this teaching thing for quite a few years and I LOVE what I do, but is anyone else have a hard time gettin' back into the groove? I think it might have been easier to get back to it after summer break, than this return from Christmas. This girl has GOT to get it together. Plus that darn full moon is doing a number on my sweetie pies. In addition, I'm doing this Biggest Loser Challenge and I'm starving! God bless me if I make it until Friday. My head is a spinnin'. So as you read the silly smorgasbord of ideas spewing from this lil brain of mine, don't judge. Just read on. You'll get some free downloads out of it.

{One}

So I'm doing lunch duty today and all I could think was..."Why in college, did I have to take a music class and learn to play the recorder? Instead, they should have had a class all about mastering the art of opening Gogurt with splattering blue goo all over your teacher top and how to peel those darn fruit cup containers open without sticky juice flying across the table." And don't even get me started on these.

Now there is a college course worth taking!

{Two}

All of my DRA's are finally finished and report cards are just around the corner. In addition to Reader's Workshop we do Guided Reading. All of my sweeties are in a level E or above, so the long vowel words are becoming more prevalent in their books. Therefore, I made a little center to practice reading long and short vowel words and discriminate between the two.

If you'd like it, just click the picture below.

It's FREE!

{Three}

This week we met with our math coach to discuss the common core and make sure we are adding all additional standards to our teaching. We'll start implementing the common core standards in their entirety next year. I've tried to add some of these into my current center packs on TpT. One of the big changes for Firsties, is that they now have to count forward and backward from 120. So we're beginning to use a 120's chart. Most of my kiddos will have no problem with this little adjustment, but for my sweeties that already struggle, this will seem like an extra big feat. I have a few little people working very hard on their number sense and ability to use the hundred's chart effectively and understand how it is arranged. Therefore,I made a few sheets for them to practice. You can download those below.

{Four}

Well, my sweet friend Cara and I must have been Pinteresting at the same time, because this Friday my little people are going to do this cute little writing craftivity. We're going to be reading:

and making these:

Found on Pinterest.

I made a little writing prompt sheet to attach below our snowmen.

Click below to download.

{Five}

I had a few people who wanted my Homophone Hunt, but it's Christmas themed, and well...Christmas has come and gone. Even if my brain and body still swear they are on break. So I made a new "Hot Chocolate" version. This is the same lesson, just different theme. You can click on the picture to pick this up.

The first 5 comments to this post will get this little hunt for free.

Have a great Thursday and Friday Friends!

If I survive I'll be back with more freebies soon.

PS. Yesterday was my 1 year Teachers Pay Teachers anniversary.

I thought we'd celebrate with a little sale.

Everything in my store is on sale until Sunday.

OH, KY, & IN Teacher Friends! We're meeting up!

2012-01-07T15:54:00.000-08:00

Hi Friends! Abby and I decided it was time for a bloggy teacher meet-up for those of us in the tristate area!

Our plans are to meet up somewhere in the Cincinnati area for super fabulous lunch date.

{And, of course, you totally don't have to have a blog to come!}

If you'd like to attend, please email me or Abby for the details :)

Michelle - fabulousinfirst(at)gmail(dot)com

Abby - babblingabby(at)gmail(dot)com

I am SUPER EXCITED!!!

A big old random mess!

2012-01-06T19:46:00.000-08:00

Yep...that's what this post will be. That's kind of how my head is right now. I have about 100 things on my To Do list and a million ideas for activities, units, etc, but absolutely no motivation at the moment, so I thought I'd just ramble on here instead. So grab your diet coke, your remote and of course your laptop and read on sweet friends.

{One}

As I've mentioned before, this summer I spent a gobzillion hours taking our 100 new sight words and putting them into a resource packet full of activities for the entire year. I'm super proud of this pack and it's made my life so much easier. {Our reading specialists use this pack too. So there are no excuses for our firsties to not know their words.} My kids love the activity sheets, as well as the other games I've made to practice those tricky sight words.

Our very favorite game is I Have...Who Has. I've created a packet of these that go along with the words in my unit. Unfortunately, there was a BIG FAT mistake that I just went back and fixed, so if you purchased this, please go back and download it again!

I'm SO SORRY!

To make it up to you, I created a little Valentine Sight Word Bingo, that corresponds with our third quarter words. You can download it for free by clicking on the link above.

If you don't know what "I have..who has" is, I thought I'd show you. I video taped my little people playing this morning. Our personal best was 55 seconds with the second quarter sight words. Please excuse my raspy voice in this video. I feel fine but this morning I was totally sounding like a man! It's also taped with my iPhone so if it looks awfully skinny, that's why.

{Two}

Did you read Erica's latest blog post? She totally superimposed her face on my body in that photo she posted. What nerve! I'm SOOO kidding! Talented, sweet and super fit...my oh my, am I jealous. I'm currently doing the Biggest Loser Challenge with my coworkers, tracking every bite I eat on myfitnesspal and working out with Jillian Michaels and my treadmill nightly. I'm just praying that this girl can wear a bathing suit without a skirt to hide my jiggly thighs one day. I did tell Ms. Erica that when we bloggers meet up someday, I will not be taking any photos next to her! A girl needs her dignity. In fact, I'm supposed to meet up with Ms. Abby soon, and one day, Ms. Cara Carroll. Talk about talented and skinny. Note to self: "Put down the cookie!"

{Three}

Speaking of bodies... {and yes, I know much of this post has nothing to do with teaching} I mentioned not long ago that I purchased some fancy boots I found on Pinterest. Well, let me just tell you how my bubble was bursted! So...I'm totally addicted to this blog. Abby used to do a "What I Wore Wednesday" and this blog is an everyday version. I simply LOVE Lilly's Style. Anyway, she had the boots and I immediately ordered them. Well...either that girl is much taller than I, or my upper leg is super short, because I totally looked like I was wearing boots up to my underwear. My husband was cracking up! I was ALL boots. RIDICULOUS! So back they went. I did end up finding a decent pair, not as cute as those, but decent, and I still have a leg while wearing them.

{Four}

Do all know Kandee Johnson? In addition to teaching, hanging out with my boys and shopping, I'm totally a frustrated make-up artist. Well, Kandee is a professional, and I love watching her videos. She has cost me lots of money though, because I keep running out and buying lots of what she suggests. But my eyes are totally smokey and my cheekbones are highlighted, and that's all that matters. :) LOL

Anywhoo...she just posted her favorite products from 2011 and I thought I'd share in case you like makeup like me!

{Five}

I still haven't completed my bulletin board, I stole from Pinterest. I have a few kiddos that haven't finished writing their little prompts due to illness and my snowpeople need scarves due to thin, cheap, white paper, but here is what it looks like so far.

I have more to ramble on about but I'll spare you until next time.

Have a great weekend teacher friends!

B-E-A-T spells beat!

2012-01-02T19:02:00.000-08:00

I'm seriously surprised that I even have the energy to spell you all. How does two weeks off do that to a person? Two weeks of getting up at 7 am. really made 4:45 seem beyond impossible. Then I got in my car and slid the whole way to school because the roads were ICE! Probably because no one but me was on the road! But the trusty Tahoe got me there safely and I was back at it, ready or not!

I must say my kiddos were super sleepy, but getting back into our old routine after all the Christmas craziness before break, was nice. They did great! Me on the other hand...questionable. I'm hoping to get my groove and energy back because today was exhausting!

Today we started our new winter centers. We eased into it and started with some simpler tasks. They did great and I think they were really happy that first grade life was back to normal.

The noun and verb center was perfect because we created a little verb book with the Snowy Day right before centers today. You can check out the activity in this post.

I'm pretty excited for tomorrow because I'll be finishing my bulletin board I just posted. And I'm going to take this picture below to go with the prompts.

So that about sums it all up for my first day back.

PEACE OUT PEEPS!

PS. Don't judge. We started a Biggest Loser Challenge at school and I just ran 3 miles before this photo, so if I look like a debacle there's a little bit of an excuse tonight.

Happy New Year!

2012-01-01T05:35:00.000-08:00

I'm going to keep this post super simple, because I'm going to try to soak up every last second of my Holiday Break. I go back tomorrow and I'm super sad! I have had such an amazing time off these past two weeks. My sweet little Drew asked me why I can't just quit my job. Break a mommy's heart why don't you. But I know, that along with being his and Landon's mommy, God's plan for me was to teach sweet little 6 and 7 year olds. So this year I wish you a Happy and Healthy New Year filled with lots of fun activities in your classroom and precious moments with your family.

I did finally finish my Wonderful Winter: Math and Literacy Centers. It's 115 pages of winter activities. It should be quite a few weeks of centers for you!

It includes 8 math and 8 literacy centers, plus several writing center activities as well. Topics covered include:

(Math)

Number order

Even and odd

Subtraction Greater than, Less than Sort

Time to the hour and half hour

Addition and Subtraction: True and False

Place Value

Fact Families

Graphing

(Literacy)

ABC order

Syllables

Sentence Scramble

Contractions

Compound Words

Parts of Speech (Nouns and Verbs)

Rhymes (Long Vowels)

Making Words

(Writing)

Letter Paper

Snowman graphic organizer and writing prompt

4 other Winter Prompts

Click below to check it out and have a great New Years Day Friends!

NEW YEARS! NO WAY

2011-12-30T21:21:00.000-08:00

There is absolutely, positively, no way that the new year is almost here and my fabulous break from first grade is almost over. As much as I love my little people, I'm not going to lie...one more week off would be amazing! I feel behind, and I'm not even back to school. I have seriously enjoyed every minute of this break. I haven't thought of school at all, as you can tell from my lack of blogging. And I've soaked up every waking minute with my 3 boys. Until today, that is. Now it's panic time. I haven't thought about school y'all! I woke up and realized that I still had a bulletin board to do, winter centers to finish, lesson plans and Heaven help me, who knows what else? So my little man Drew and I ran to the teacher store this morning to grab some border and of course a toy, then off to school to make snowmen and toss up a winter board, sharpen some pencils and make a further list of to-dos. I totally stole this bulletin board:

I found here on Pinterest. My unfinished board will eventually say: There's SNOW place like Hilltop! My kiddos are going to write about how much they love our sweet school, leaky roof and all! ;)

Click below for the writing activity.

Speaking of Pinterest...after my quick trip to school, my sweet little guy and I ran to the mall to shop for some cute outfits I pinned. Friends, that site is seriously killing my bank account. One trip to Pinterest and I found myself spending WAY TOO much money on a pair of boots! SHH- don't tell my hubby. They are really cute and hiding in my closet. I know I have a problem and need serious intervention, but I currently have no time for that because I'm too busy pinning. Anyway... after a little lunch date with my baby, I finally had a night out with my big guy. It was so nice to eat without a little guy throwing food all over the floor or picking up crayons that have dropped for the 50th time. And now, I'm here. Sitting next to my hubby, watching the Hangover 2, finishing my winter center pack and doing lesson plans, in-between checking Pinterest and Facebook. I'm quite the multi-tasker. So be on the lookout for my new centers by Sunday morning. Which will still give you time to catch them on sale!

Don't forget to check out my store.

I currently have everything 20% off through New Years Day!

New Year's Blogging Bash Giveaway!

2011-12-30T05:07:00.000-08:00

New Year's Blogging Bash Giveaway!

Erika Bohrer's First Grade is hosting a blogging giveaway and I'm part of this big bash! The contest runs until midnight on Saturday, December 31st! The rules are simple and easy:

One entry for following all of our blogs. Your comment would look like this: "I follow all 13 blogs."
One entry for following all of our TpT stores. Your comment would look like this: "I follow all 13 TpT stores."

One follower will win all 13 PRIZES. The winner will be chosen at random and announced on Monday, January 1, 2012!!!!

Here are the 13 fabulous prizes that you could win!

(For more information on a particular prize, click on its thumbnail picture.)

From Erica Bohrer (me) of Erica Bohrer's First Grade:

Click {here} to follow my blog.

Click {here} to follow my TpT store.

From Melissa Freshwater of Mrs. Freshwater's Class:

Click {here} to follow Melissa's blog.
Click {here} to follow Melissa's TpT store.

From the Lesson Plan SOS Teachers:

Click {here} to follow Lesson Plan SOS's blog.

Click {here} to follow their TpT store.

From Donna Glynn of Welcome to Kinderglynn:

Click {here} to follow Donna's blog.

Click {here} to follow Donna's TpT store.

From Rachelle Smith of What the Teacher Wants:

Click {here} to follow Rachelle's blog.

Click {here} to follow Rachelle's TpT store.

From Jodi Southard of Fun in First:

Click {here} to follow Jodi's blog.

Click {here} to follow Jodi's TpT store.

From Lindsey of The Teacher Wife:

Click {here} to follow Lindsey's blog.

Click {here} to follow Lindsey's TpT store.

From Deanna Jump of Mrs. Jump's Class:

Click {here} to follow Deanna's blog.

Click {here} to follow Deanna's TpT store.

From Anna Brantley of Crazy for First:

Click {here} to follow Anna's blog.
Click {here} to follow Anna's TpT store.

From Alessia Albanese of Mrs. Albanese's Kindergarten:

Click {here} to follow Alessia's blog.
Click {here} to follow Alessia's TpT store.

From ME of Fabulous in First:

Click {here} to follow Michelle's blog.
Click {here} to follow Michelle's TpT store.

From Amanda Nickerson of One Extra Degree:

Click {here} to follow Amanda's blog.
Click {here} to follow Amanda's TpT store.

From Cheryl Saoud of Primary Graffiti:

Click {here} to follow Cheryl's blog.
Click {here} to follow Cheryl's TpT store.

*Best of luck to you. Remember, you get one entry for following all 13 blogs and one entry for following all 13 Teachers Pay Teachers stores. Please, comment on Erika's blog. I also suggest leaving in your comment, an email address where we can contact you.

In a Pikle Giveaway Winner!

2011-12-17T04:33:00.000-08:00

Thanks to everyone who entered my In a Pikle Giveaway. If you didn't win, I highly recommend purchasing one! They are A-MAZING! I'll be putting the winner in contact with the girls at In a Pikle. Congrats!

A Big Ole' Mess

2011-12-14T17:55:00.000-08:00

So this week has been WACKADOODLE DOO TIMES 2! I've only fit in about 1/4th of what I've planned and I'm already exhausted. So if this post is all kinds of a mess, just read on and ignore my half fried brain. This week we....

Wrote our sight words in snow

Made edible dreidels.

Made this cute little Cookie in a Jar and Cookie Cook Book as Christmas gifts for their parents.

Each student had the assignment of writing one of their families' favorite holiday cookie recipes. I then made copies of each person's recipe to put in our very own class cookbook. I was really happy with our final product. You can click here for the recipe.

I'm also including the tags for the cookies in a jar and cookbook cover.

Tag

Cover

On top of the craziness that is the week before break, we also had the big task of preparing for snow days. Apparently, we can get three extra snow days if we place 3 days worth of assignments on our classroom website. We've already used 2 calamity days for our leaking roof, so these three extra days may come in handy. Therefore, I had to find some work for my kiddos. I made a bunch of little things and I am attaching a few of them below. Maybe you can use them. They are very random.

Hope you all have a great last few days! YiPPEE!

Also, don't forget to enter my giveaway for the In A Pikle. I received mine today and I LOOOOOVE them!!!

Pinteresting Find! Giveaway

2011-12-11T11:16:00.000-08:00

Okay...so we all know that I'm slightly obsessed with Pinterest. Where else can you spend 3 hours pinning ideas that you may never carry through? Anywhoo! I love it. I find so many excellent ideas and products on that site. I recently came across a product that is so fab-u-lous, fantastic and practical. It's cute, compact and the perfect Christmas gift for that girl that has everything! Plus...as a teacher, it's an absolute must have. So what is it?

It's an: In a Pikle

{Don't you just love the name?}

"The "In A Pikle" bag is small enough to fit in your purse, backpack, or briefcase. It organizes all the "little" essential items that are needed on the go. The In A Pikle bag comes with over 20 items that fit conveniently in 4 double sided clear bags for easy retrieval. The bags can be removed for cleaning or for a different cover. Fill it with your favorite gum, lozenges, or cough drops. Don’t forget to add your essential medicine or antacid. There is plenty of room in the In A Pikle bag to always have the things you need!"

I thought they were so darn cute that I bought two! I also thought they were so teacher friendly that you may want one as well. So I asked the sweet girls at In a Pikle if they would mind giving one away to one of my sweet bloggy friends and they agreed! YIPEE!

One lucky follower will win the "Sweet Pikle Dot".
Just follow the directions below.
This contest will end on Friday, December 16th!
The winner will be announced on the 17th.
GOOD LUCK FRIENDS!

To enter you must:
1. Check out the In a Pikle site. Tell me your favorite Pikle.
2. Like In a Pikle on Facebook!
3. Follow my little blog!
4. Like my new Facebook page!

That is 4 chances to win, as each item is a separate entry.

Find me on...FB!

2011-12-10T17:17:00.001-08:00

So, a little over a year ago I started this blog in addition to my blog about my sweet little family. I had no idea what it would become. I was just praying I'd have more than 100 followers. I feel totally blessed that you all are sweet enough to take the time to read my crazy posts. Then today, I decided that I should probably get with the program and begin a Facebook Fan Page. So now "Fabulous in First" is on Facebook. My husband would die if he knew! He thinks Facebook is the silliest thing ever. I think he's missing out! Where else can you find out what your boyfriend from 8th grade is doing on a Saturday night? :) I feel really fancy having my shabby little blog on Facebook! I'm hoping I'll do a good job keeping up with it. I'll try my best. I would love if you'd like my page and tell your friends! As a thank you, I've got a little treat for those who join me on Facebook, so go check it out.
In addition to my big Facebook news, I also wanted to let you know that I've changed my email. My personal email was getting a little bit overwhelmed by all the sweet messages I've been getting. So I'll be using the following email instead: fabulousinfirst@gmail.com. Hopefully, this will keep me more organized. I promise I will try to answer all emails as soon as possible. I appreciate every single one and I'm so sorry if I haven't responded. It was definitely not intentional.
Finally, as my own little "I'm on Facebook" celebration, I'm having a SALE! It runs through tomorrow night. So click on the picture below to go to my TpT store.

Thanks friends!

Confessions

2011-12-06T18:29:00.001-08:00

Here goes a little bit of a confession session friends:

1. I must confess that I have a major crush on Michael Buble'. I could seriously listen to that man sing the alphabet. Did you all watch his Christmas special tonight? He seriously makes me swoon. My little first grade girls have those Bieber Fever shirts. I would totally wear Michael Buble' for all the world to see, fashion faux pas or not! Love him!

2. Last night I stayed up late making Christmas cookies for the RACKING we are doing. I also had to stay up and make sure St. Nicholas did his job and Tiny the Elf was moved. {The mommy's Christmas duties are never done!} But anyway....Just let me tell you all, I had a serious belly ache all day. I think I ate way too many cookies in the baking process. If I never see a cookie again, it may be too soon. BLEH!!! {The skinny jeans are not feeling real comfy at this point}

3. I love, love, love my job, but friends, this might be the longest 8 days of my life. My kiddos are so sweet and our days usually fly by, but I swear today from 12:15-12:30 felt like an eternity. I tell you, that clock ceased to move and every time I looked at it, it felt as if time was standing still! In fact, at one point I ran to the iPhone to make sure my school clock hadn't stopped.

4. I've been secretly becoming darker via a tan in a can. I couldn't take my paleness for one more minute and because it gets dark here before I can even cook dinner, my body rarely sees light. So St. Tropez tanning foam it is!

5. I'm currently watching The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills and I don't know what I will do when the season ends. I mean...are these ladies for real? I know it says so in the show's title, but come on. This is so far from my reality and I LOVE IT! I would love to go to a party with these wackadoos! How normal would you feel? You'd feel poor... but normal none the less.

6. My kiddos love playing Sight Word: I have, who has. They are trying to beat their best time and I secretly think I may love it more than them. But I'm also more competitive. I seriously break out in a cold sweat when the time starts to get close to our personal best. I really do start freakin' (inside of course) when we are waiting for longer than 3 seconds for the next person to say their words. This can't be normal and I might need to seek counseling.

While we are on the topic of sight words, if you bought my Super Sight Words Pack then you know I've also uploaded a game extension pack and Sight Word: I have, who has. In addition I just made a little Bingo game with the words for each quarter. You can download a copy of the BINGO below. And thus, this ends my confession session. Have a good night friends! I'll be dreaming of Michael Buble and sleeping in one day soon!
Wordo

Holidays and Homophones

2011-12-02T14:31:00.001-08:00

One week down, two to go! I do love this time of year, especially in the classroom, but not getting up at 4:30 am. will be such a great gift in just a couple weeks. Until then, we'll be traveling around the world on the Holiday Express and doing some cute crafts and activities. This week we traveled to Sweden and Kenya. This kids love getting their Holiday Express Pocket Books and putting all their work and souvenirs from the countries we visit inside.

Our pocket books

Our Sweden anchor chart

Today we made Kwanzaa necklaces.

To see more about our holidays around the world unit click here.

This week we also read the book Dear Deer, by Gene Barretta. It's the cutest little story to introduce homophones. Most of my kiddos really understood homophones well, while others still looked a little puzzled. So I decided to create a little activity to make homophones a bit more exciting. Today we went on a homophone hunt.

A hunting we went!

Once each student found one homophone they returned back to the carpet to find their homophone pair.

Once the students found their match we recorded the words on our anchor chart and discussed the meanings of each word.

Next students went back to their seats to complete the homophone hunt sheet, that we later put in a class book.

My kiddos also made their own little book of homophones.

And played a little homophone memory game.

If you want to pick up this fun little homophone hunt, and other activities it's available in my TpT store for $3.00.

Gingerbread Freebies!

2011-11-29T10:57:00.001-08:00

I hope you all got some great deals yesterday during Cyber Monday. I saw a ton of creative units on TpT for the holidays. My sale continues through December 1st, along with my friends: Anna Brantley, Rachelle Smith, Natalie Kay, Lesson Plan SOS, Melissa Freshwater, One Extra Degree, The Teacher Wife, Erica Bohrer, Kinderglynn, Primary Graffiti, Jodi Southard! So if you thought you missed out on great deals, think again. Click on any of the links for 20% off our items.

I'm all planned out for the next 13 days of madness before holiday break and one of my weeks includes lots of fun gingerbread activities. I thought I'd give you a few freebies to add to your gingerbread files. This document includes a making words activity, a gingerbread graph, writing prompt and a visualization sheet.

I hope you all are having a wonderful week!

Happy Holidays!

Say it isn't so...

2011-11-27T17:30:00.001-08:00

Oh Teacher Friends! My Oh My! Say it isn't so. Is Thanksgiving break seriously over? I feel pretty accomplished after these 5 marvelous days, but I could use another 5 or 6 or 7. I hope you all had some fun time off. I started my break with some serious sale strategizing. This wackdoo stood in line at Toys R Us with a bunch of other crazies for 2 hours! Who does that? Insanity I tell you. I went to bed about 1 am and was back up and shopping at 6. Santa's Tahoe was seriously overflowing, but this girl is just about done with Christmas shopping. We also decked the halls and made Christmas treats. We saw Santa and I uploaded a few items to TpT. So not too shabby. Now I just need to get my act together for 15 more days. We'll be traveling around the world learning about holiday celebrations. So fun!

{Don't be jealous of our reindeer cake pops.

They were a serious fail! But the rest of our treats turned out delish!}

We also got a visit from our friend Tiny, our Elf on the Shelf. Aka: The miracle. If you have a 4 year old that doesn't always listen and follow directions, then you must rush out and get one immediately. At the tiniest misbehavior you mention his name and poof, the angel child reappears. No lie! I'm about to run out and get one for my classroom. Especially for week 3, right before break. We all know, no matter how much we love our sweet kiddos, that the week before break makes kids go KUH-RAZY with a capital K!

Anyway...It's back to the grind. I'm going to try to be back with some holiday freebies soon. But until then, don't forget to shop til you drop tonight at 12...or tomorrow, when myself and tons of other teacher sellers are throwing a humongo sale! You can get everything in my store for 30% off. I just uploaded a ginormous center pack for the holidays and more. So check it out!

Good luck tomorrow friends! Get that glitter and glue and hold on for dear life!

Cyber Monday Sale!

2011-11-26T00:30:00.000-08:00

Are you ready for an awesome Cyber Monday sale on TpT?!?! Many bloggers, including myself, are offering 20% off the products in our stores on top of the TpT 10% discount (use promo code CMS28 at checkout-valid only on Cyber Monday)! You can also enjoy 20% off our products from November 29th- December 1st!!

Happy Shopping to our Sweet Customers!!!

Happy Turkey Day!

2011-11-24T04:45:00.001-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving Friends!
I hope you are enjoying your days of rest and relaxation. Every primary teacher knows the 3 weeks of Christmas yet to come are intense. We'll be up to our eyeballs in glitter and glue, so hopefully you are going to gobble up some turkey and fall into a deep sleep!

That is of course unless your CUH-RAZY like this girl and are going out tonight to stand in line with 5 gajillion other fools at Toys R Us and Wally World. Yes...I'm a wackadoo! This is my first year for going out before 4 am, but the black Friday ads are spinning in my head and I'm going to be brave and say CHARGE!!! Oh how I hope that Mastercard holds up through the night.

Anywhoo! I thought I'd post a little of the turkey fun we had last week and let you know that my Happy Holiday Center pack is finally finished!

We read a A Plump and Perky Turkey. In this adorable story the people ended up eating Shredded Wheat on Thanksgiving. After reading, we brainstormed other foods we could eat for Thanksgiving. Then the kids tried to persuade their readers to eat another food instead. We had everything from nachos to brownies.

We also read I know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Pie and made these adorable old ladies, thanks to creative Mrs. Cara Carroll. I may have to keep them up all year they are so stinkin' cute.

We also did this adorable graphing activity from Deanna Jump's Thanksgiving unit. She added a survey and pie graph for the students and my kids were rockstars with this activity. Their pie graphs were nothing short of amazing and beautifully colored I might add.

Last and not turkey related, we have been working on counting and writing numbers through 120. Let me just tell you how much more fun it is to write your numbers on register tape. Forget the turkey cookies we made. You would have thought I brought Toys R Us to first grade when I rolled out that white paper.

Some little birthday girl I know wrote to 285!

So that's it for turkey time. On to the Happy Holidays!

Here is a little preview of my Happy Holidays Center Pack. It is jammed packed with everything you need for centers for the next 3ish wacky weeks ahead.

It includes:

Click here to purchase.

PS. The first two comments to this post receive this pack for FREE!

Happy Thanksgiving Friends!

Giveaway Winner!

2011-11-21T18:22:00.001-08:00

The winner of the K & K Designs by Ann Marie is below. Email me and I'll put you in contact with Ann Marie for your super cute tumbler!

Yippee!

I'm thankful and I'll show you just how much!

2011-11-20T15:05:00.001-08:00

Oh teacher friends! I'm about T------H-------I---------S tired and so ready for a little break. So it's two more days with my little first grade turkeys and I'm off for 5 whole days! I'm just a little excited.
My sweet little blogging buddy, Rachel at What the Teacher Wants is having a little Linky Party and and I'm participating. So here it goes.

1. What are you thankful for in your classroom?
I'm super thankful for my sweet kiddos this year. I seriously LOVE every single one of them! They are kind, caring, hard workers and they are so fun! They make teaching so rewarding.
2. What person are you most thankful for?

This one is a super tough one. I can't pick just one person. My mom is my best friend and takes such good care of my babies. I don't know what I'd do without her. I'm a daddy's girl and I feel blessed he's my dad. Travis, Drew and Landon are my life! I thank God everyday for giving me my amazing husband and adorable babies. So I'm thankful for all of them. In addition to my friends and other wonderful family.

3. What 3 blogs are you most thankful for?

I'm grateful for so many blogs. Blogs have seriously changed my life! I'm inspired everyday by awesome bloggers from all parts of the world. Three of my favorites are:

{One}

Well, you all know Cara. She is not only adorable, but she has to be one the most amazing girls I've had the pleasure of {kinda} knowing. Still waiting for our meet up one day! No one has inspired my teaching or my cooking more than this girl. Love her!

{Two}

Another creative teacher blog tops my list. Sarah, at First Grader at Last, was the inspiration for this little blog you are reading at the moment. Her blog was the first teaching blog I ever encountered. And exactly one year ago today I decided to start blogging. So thanks Ms. Sarah!

{Three}

Last, but certainly not least are the girls at eighteen25! LOVE, LOVE, LOVE! They've inspired my crafty side, as well as, made me a better mommy. Their cute crafts and ideas have given me so many moments of fun with my boys!

I can't forget to mention my other favorite teacher friends. I love my sweet {HILARIOUS} girl Abby. My friend Rachel, who inspired this post and my girl Shannon who has saved my life with my kiddos who are struggling.

4. What guilty pleasure are you most thankful for?

Oh My...This is a hard one. Pinterest... is my guilty pleasure lately...which also leads to shopping, crafting, baking and more shopping! I kind of LOVE shopping.

5. What are you most thankful for?
I have to say I'm most thankful for each new day. I'm thankful to have another moment to spend with the ones I love. Each day is a gift and I'm trying hard to cherish each moment, remember not to sweat the small stuff and be faithful and happy.

I am sooo thankful to you for reading this post. Like I said, one year ago today I decided to start this little blog. I posted my first post on November 21st at 5:35. So as a big THANK YOU!
Everything in my TpT Store is $4.00 or less until tomorrow at 5:35!

Go grab some goodies.

Thanks Again, Sweet Friends!

PS. Don't forget to enter this giveaway. It ends tonight at 8 pm. Eastern. I'll post the winner tomorrow!

Gotta Love a Giveaway!

2011-11-15T18:42:00.001-08:00

Hey sweet friends!

A blogging buddy has offered to do a giveaway of a fun little product every teacher must have. How cute is this?

You can, of course choose any design you'd wish. The possibilities are endless! If you'd like to enter to win, there are just a few simple steps.

To enter:

1. Follow K&K Designs by Ann Marie

2. Follow my blog, TpT or Teacher's Notebook Stores

Each one is a separate entry.

Good luck!

{Giveaway ends Sunday at 8 pm. eastern}

PS. My "I have...Who has {Sight Word} edition is complete and in both of my stores.

It's on sale for $2.00!

50's fun, giveaways galore and more!

2011-11-12T12:42:00.001-08:00

First of all, I have to say thank you to my sweet friend Cara. Her 50th day unit was so stinkin' fun! We did almost every bit of her unit and had an absolute blast! Check out the cuteness that Cara helped us create!

Cheers!

Next... you have to check out the giveaway at Mrs. Freshwater's blog. There are some serious goodies up for grabs. My little unit is available there, so gobble up this giveaway before time is up. It ends tomorrow.

Also be on the lookout tomorrow for another fun little giveaway! A sweet bloggy friend is going to be giving you a chance to win a cute little teacher gift.

Finally, if you purchased my Super Sight Word Pack I have a little gift for you. I am currently making an I have...Who has? supplement for this pack. As a thank you for following and or purchasing the Super Sight Word unit, I am giving you the first two quarters of sight word, I have... Who has?
Enjoy!

I have who has sight words

Gobble Up a Giveaway!

2011-11-10T17:24:00.001-08:00

Check out the great giveaway that Mrs. Freshwater has cooked up!

50 Day Fun!

2011-11-08T17:52:00.000-08:00

Hi All,

I've been having some bloggy withdrawals, but life here has been CUH-RAZY! I love the holidays and all of the fun that goes along with it, but man is this teacher tired. Top that, with another late night full of conferences this week, and this girl is spent! Turkey day needs to find it's way here asap!

Yesterday was a super fun day though. It was our 50th day of school. What a great way to teach students about life in the past. We had a blast. If you haven't purchased Cara Carroll's 50th Day Unit, YOU MUST. It is the cutest darn unit, you have ever seen. That girl is a GENIUS and this unit is my favorite, by far. You'll use every bit of it. I'm doing it all this week.

We learned about life in the 50's. We watched a cute little "then and now" powerpoint, comparing things like cars, clothes, telephones, music players and hairstyles. We also watched this episode of Leave it to Beaver. It was perfect for showing life back then. We could see the difference in school, dress, the use of a typewriter, etc. My kiddos loved it! After learning lots about life in the 50's we completed a venn diagram.

We followed that with a little bubble gum blowing, hula hooping, twisting fun! We also had some of these!

What a blast from the past. We'll continue with more this week. I'm super excited. Below are pictures from our 50th day, as well as a listening center I cooked up for centers this week! Cara took care of the rest!

50's Listening Center

Halloween Fun

2011-10-27T16:59:00.000-07:00

Are you all ready for the chaos that is Halloween? If I'm still alive after a party, sugared up little people, conferences and an awards ceremony, then it may just be one HUGE miracle. Oh..my..word.. I better get some rest this weekend.

This week we've been reading some spooky Halloween stories. We followed them up with a cute craft and writing assignment. You can check out our fun below.

First we read a few stories with haunted houses. Then we brainstormed what you would see, hear and how you'd feel in a haunted house. We followed it up with a cute little writing prompt and created haunted houses.

Today we read, "The Ghost's Dinner."

Those crazy ghosts eat all kinds of food, which turns them colors.

Before reading, we brainstormed what we thought ghosts might like for dinner.

Then the kiddos chose a food and colored their ghost accordingly.

After decorating the ghosts they wrote about what their ghost ate.

(My ghost at donuts for dinner. He turned brown.)

(My ghost at watermelon for dinner. He turned green and pink.)

Tomorrow we'll be doing a cute little sequencing activity with There was an Old Witch.

I'll post pictures soon!

Have Friday Eve Friends!

Too Many Pumpkins and More

2011-10-25T18:11:00.000-07:00

This week we are reading a Halloween themed book each day and completing a cute little creativity and other activities that correspond. Yesterday we read, Jeb Scarecrow's Pumpkin Patch and did a cute little scarecrow glyph.

Today we had ourselves a little pumpkin party. If you've never read Too Many Pumpkins, then you must check it out. It's a cute little story about Rebecca Estelle, who can't stand pumpkins. One day a pumpkin truck drops a huge pumpkin in her yard and this leads to a patch full of pumpkins. She ends up making tons of pumpkin treats and sharing them with the people in her town. We read the book and followed it with a taste testing session of tons of pumpkin treats. Parents sent in pumpkin bread, pumpkin cookies, pumpkin ice cream, pumpkin roll, seeds, pumpkin pancakes and more! I think we might have had a few pumpkin bellyaches! When we were finished, we voted for our favorite pumpkin food and analyzed the data.

You can click here to see a copy of the letter I send home.

I also totally forgot to mention that I recently posted Halloween Math and Literacy Centers to TpT. They are regularly $6.50 for 6 full color centers with assessment sheets, but for the rest of the week you can grab them for $4.00.

Click the picture below to check them out.

Have a great week teacher friends!

Pumpkin Fun in Room P-1 & Super Saturday/Sunday Sale!

2011-10-22T06:27:00.000-07:00

We had a shorter week due to teacher inservice so we didn't get to do as much with pumpkins as I would have liked, but we have Halloween activities next week, so I'll fit a little bit more in then.

First we read Pumpkin, Pumpkin and made this little Pinterest inspired pumpkin craft.

Their pumpkin life cycle fits perfectly in the little pumpkin pouch.

Then we did some fun pumpkin themed centers as mentioned in this post.

We also observed the outside and inside of our pumpkins and recorded our observations.

Pumpkin Observation

Finally we decorated our pumpkins.

Love a good sticker decorating kit.

No mess and easy!

I'm also having a Sale!

For just this weekend you can get everything in my store for 20% off.

I've also marked down my Super Sight Word Pack! I've gotten lots of great feed back, so for this weekend only it's marked down to $8.00 and you'll also receive 20 percent off!

A whole year of sight word instruction for $6.40.

Click below to check out the sale.

Bring on the Pumpkins and One of My Favorites!

2011-10-16T17:39:00.000-07:00

As I've mentioned this week is all about pumpkins. I love this time of year and all of the holiday fun we'll be having through January. In preparation for centers this week, I made a little word work center on nouns, which is a topic I just recently introduced. My kiddos will be sorting pumpkin picture cards by person, place and thing and then record their results on the sheet provided. If you'd like this center you can click the picture below.

My math center this week will be a little craftivity. We've been discussing geometry and the students have been doing a gobzillion activities with pattern blocks, so I thought our centers should probably reflect this. My kiddos will each get a pumpkin. They'll make a their pumpkin into a jack-o-lantern using pattern block cutouts. When they are finished they will complete the sheet below. Click the link to grab it for your sweeties.

Pattern Block Pumpkins

graphics above by Justsoscrappy.blogspot.com, fonts by KevinandAmanda.com

I also wanted to give a little shout out to one of my favorite blogs in Blogland. If you teach kindergarten you'll be head of heels in love with Shannon at Kindergarten Hoppenings. If you haven't visited her, you must. She has some super cute Halloween centers available right now and that sweet girl shares everything for free. I can't even tell you how much I've downloaded from her and I don't even teach KDG. I tell everyone I know about her blog. She's an awesome teacher and going to be a super, fantastic mommy soon!

I'll be back with more pumpkins soon.
Have a great night!

Weekend Random!

2011-10-15T20:40:00.000-07:00

Happy weekend teacher friends! You don't even know how happy I am to have a weekend to regroup and start new. It was just one of those weeks. So this post is a little bit of everything. I promise I'll get back in the groove soon.

Last week we studied leaves. We started with an anticipation guide, learned lots about why leaves change color, sorted and graphed leaves and did this cute little writing activity.

It was also a big week for my kiddos because the finally got their very own book boxes. We've established all rules and routines for Reader's Workshop, we've signed our Reader's Workshop contract and now it's time for the big time!

The following are my kiddos book boxes. They choose 10 books each week. 8 must be at their instructional reading level and 2 are choice books.

After 11 years of teaching, I've finally found a way of recording all of my reading observations. I used to have a binder of notes, a separate place for running records and mini notebooks for Reader's Workshop conference notes. It was just too much! So now I've got one binder, divided by student names, which houses all of my notes and observations. This binder contains labels for writing down observations as my students read, as well as running record sheets. Below are pictures. I love this way!

Below is a student's observation sheet. All of my observations in one place = Organized and Easy!

Below are the labels where I simply record my observations. Then I pull off the label and place it behind the student's divider. Behind the labels I also store running records, for more in depth records of reading and observations.

Now onto next week. I'm pretty pumped for pumpkin week!

Then onto Halloween fun, followed by bats!

So fun! I love first grade.

Oh My Word!

2011-10-11T18:03:00.000-07:00

What a week and it's only Tuesday. My kiddos are cute as can be and working hard, it's just been one of those weeks where everything that can go wrong does. Thank goodness for their sweet little faces. They are keeping me sane. Heaven help me if I make it to Friday in one piece.
I'm sorry I've been MIA. My big old party at my home is over and my house is still standing, so that is a plus. I'm also super excited about lots of little things going on in our classroom in the next few weeks and can't wait to share. Until then, we're going to be learning all about pumpkins next week and I made this little math center. Hope you enjoy. :) Have a great night friends!
Pumpkin Number Sequence

I {HEART} FALL

2011-10-02T18:47:00.000-07:00

Howdy friends! It's been a few days but I've been following you all and doing some serious printing of your great freebies. I am so in love with this season, but darn, it also keeps me busy. Football, pumpkins, parties and some beautiful boots have left me little time! Needless to say I've been shopping, party planning and today we went to the pumpkin patch. So if this post is all kinds of grammatically incorrect, please excuse me. It's been a busy weekend and I'm dog tired.
Totally not teacher related, my little brother is getting married. So I've been planning a couples shower. I spent all night on the Cricut making cute banners, labels and stickers for the big event. Pinterest has ruined me, because of course this party has to include every idea I come across. I'm OUT OF CONTROL! No lie. Then there are my little people. How fun is a pumpkin patch with your babies? It's a tradition I never want to end. My poor boys will be 18 and I'll be dragging them on hayrides to pick pumpkins.

Now onto why you really visit this little spot on the web. Next week we'll be studying leaves and why they change color. I'll post pics during this fun little unit. But in preparation I made a few centers you might want to check out. The first is a sum sort and the second is a cute little leaf graphing center. Click the image below to go to my TpT store.

I also wanted to give you a little fall freebie. Some of my kiddos are still struggling with ABC order, so I made this little word work center.

Enjoy!

fall abc

What's the Weather?

2011-09-26T09:00:00.000-07:00

This week we'll be learning all about weather. You all have some super cute ideas on your blogs, now to just fit it into my 2 week unit and have it all make sense. I made a few centers and thought I'd share a couple with you. Hopefully you can use them or tuck them away in your files. Have a great week friends!

P.S. Don't forget my Teachers pay Teachers sale ends tonight.
Weather ABC Order
Roll the Weather

Got Milk? (Farm and Fall Sale)

2011-09-24T20:00:00.000-07:00

Hi Friends!
I hope you all are having a wonderful weekend. I'm super excited about fall! I went out today and spent a bajillion dollars at Hobby Lobby and TJ Maxx on fall decor. I just love how cozy fall feels!
Therefore, it is the perfect time for a farm unit and we just ended ours. This past week we spent a lot of time discussing products that come from the farm. We also learned all about dairy farms and the process milk goes through to get from the farm to you! At the end of this unit, it was fitting that we make a product that comes from the farm. We made BUTTER! YUM! Below are pictures of my sweeties doing the Butter Boogie! This is super simple if you haven't experienced it. You simply need a little heavy whipping cream, (salt is optional), and a container with a nice tight lid!

Enjoying our butter on mini bagels. DELISH!

We also did this cute little writing activity about our favorite farm animals. They are currently displayed in the hallway, but I will put them together as a class book in a week or two.

Click Here to Download

My Favorite Farm Animal

I have also received lots of emails about my farm unit. I haven't put it together in a file for sale, but I have created a set of 6 farm centers, some of which are pictured in this post. If you are interested in purchasing these fun farm activities you can get them now for 15% off. Because I LOVE Fall, I've decided to run a Happy Fall Sale at my Teachers pay Teachers store! The sale ends Monday night.

Fun on the Farm!

2011-09-20T18:46:00.000-07:00

Last week we started one of my favorite units in first grade. The farm unit is not only super fun, but also means that the pumpkin patch, sweaters and boots are in my future. I've been pinning my fall wardrobe for months! So grab your overalls, and get ready for some fun on the farm.
Here are some more pictures of some of the farm fabulousness we've enjoyed so far. We still have butter to make, a super cute class book in our future and maybe even a little farm animal art project.

Below is a little phonics activity we did during morning meeting on Monday.

It's about 9 years old, but it serves it's purpose year after year and the kiddos love it.

Farm animals were abundant during center time.

Here my sweeties are putting the animals in order from least to greatest.

ABC order center on the farm!

Sorting Sums! On the farm.

One pig, on horse, one, cow, one sheep = a full barn!

Go clapping in the classroom. Syllable Sort!

We graphed, tallied and drew our favorite farm animals!

Looks like the horse was the winner.

(Don't you love how every graph becomes a competition!
And then someone gets all sad that their favorite lost?)

Sad City, I tell you!

But I gotta love a graph.

Insert (Camera Battery Dies) No more pictures but....

We also made a chart of animals and their babies.

And today we learned that nearly everything we love comes from the farm! We sorted picture cards into 2 categories "From the Farm & Not from the Farm".

They couldn't believe that the t-shirt they wear and pillow they sleep on, could actually come from the farm. My kids also may never eat chicken nuggets again. They were surprisingly shocked that those sweet chickens ended up a McDonalds. GR-OSS!

So tomorrow it's on to more.

I can't wait to do the butter boogie! Yee-haw.

And... what would a post from me be without a little random?

Anywhooo...Do you guys hear, "I'm hungry! When is lunch?" Right after lunch?! I swear, my kids are cutest darn bunch around, but they are always in the mood for food!

So when I went to Wal-Mart, I picked up these:

Of course, they aren't going to get a snack without a little hard work, so I made this.

I have to thank The Scrappin' Cop for her great graphics!

Cheez It Making Words

A Day in the Life: Photo Edition

2011-09-13T14:56:00.000-07:00

I'm a visual person. Friends, that is probably why I can sit on Pinterest for umpteen hours and be totally content. I LOVE to look at pictures! So I thought it would be fun to give you a peek into the life of a first grader through photos. So here is our day!

Well.... I tell you this will be a look through photos and then I forget to take a picture or two. As you also know, I like to talk, so I was chatting a bit with my parents, kiddos and teacher friends during the time I'm about to describe. When students enter they move their lunch stick, check their GO Book for important papers, choose a new Nightly Reader to put in their Go Book and do their assigned morning work. Then announcements come on, we say the pledge and move on to our day. Here come the photos!

Every morning we start with our morning message. Today we looked for sight words in the message.

Next we do a song book or two or three. My kiddos love these and so do I. It makes for a happy morning. It also builds student's fluency and gives my kids who are struggling readers, books that they feel successful reading. My favorite are these. (See mouth wide open, singing My Mother is a Baker by Dr. Jean. LOVE!

Then we move on to poem. Our poem this week is "Take me out to the Barnyard."

Today we listened for and found rhyming words in the poem.

Next we do some review of curriculum learned previously, as well as practice our sight words. We almost always play a game and use our white boards.

Here we are playing the eraser game. I write our 5 sight words down on my board. Then I erase one. They have to write the word that is missing.

Then we reviewed short vowel sounds.

After that we played the mystery number game. I choose a number one through 10. Then they ask questions to figure out which to eliminate. It's a great way to build number sense and see who has it, and who still needs practice.

Here we are moving on to Calendar. While I really prefer my Smart Board Calendar, our first grade all share a Smart Board, so we have to use this for now.

We are playing number thief below. The thief steals 10 numbers from the hundreds chart while my detective's eyes are closed. The detectives then open their eyes and find our missing numbers.

This transitions nicely into math. We do Math Investigations, which I personally love. It's packed with games and fun activities that really give students a good understanding of numbers. Today we played 5 in a row. Students work together to roll two die, add together the numbers and strategically cover the numbers on their board to try to get 5 in a row.

Insert a Bathroom Break here and then we come back for Reader's Workshop!

Today we did a lesson on Reader's Workshop Rules and Book Nook etiquette. We made a chart and review the chart from the previous day. Then students read in their new book nooks and I did some guided reading groups and conferencing.

All that work makes us hungry. TIME FOR LUNCH!

When we return from lunch/recess we only have 15 minutes, which gives us just enough time for Interactive Writing. Our interactive writing is usually a 3.5 paragraph. One sentence each day about the theme we are working on for the week. This week was farm. Yesterday we wrote the topic sentence, "Farms are great places." Today we wrote a detail. As we write each word on the chart, my kiddos practice writing it on their white boards. I find this helps with teaching capitals, spaces, pulling out the sounds in words,etc. Then when we finish the sentence, I often have them find the nouns, verbs, homophones and more. Not yet though! We're only 2 1/2 weeks into the year.

Now it's off to Special! Today we had Music.

When we return we do Writer's Workshop. Our mini-lesson today was on Stretching Out your words when trying to spell. Mrs. Oakes can't spell every word now, can she?

Mini-lesson...then the lights are dimmed, the music goes on and they write!

Then we move on to handwriting for about the 5 seconds I have allotted for it. BAD TEACHER!

Next is Social Studies. Today we studied farms and the jobs of farmers. We just started this theme today so I began with an Anticipation Guide to see what we knew.

Then we read a book about farms and farmer's jobs. We made a mini-book about farmers and then we created this chart.

Finally we end the day with Centers! I get in some more guided reading and conferences during this time. I totally didn't get any pictures of our farm centers this week, but I will. I'll be posting some farm themed centers on TpT soon!

I also fit in some time to take these. I can't wait until next week when we write about our favorite farm animals and can attach these! We have pigs, cows, roosters and more.

Have to Share!

2011-09-11T11:18:00.000-07:00

Hey all! It's Sunday, it's football and it feels like fall. Our sad Cincinnati Bengals are actually winning for the moment and I got another package yesterday. I'm in all around good mood. So I'd thought I share a few things. Not really completely teacher related, but you all know I like to talk.

So I shared my super cute teacher tote & matching umbrella a few days ago, that I'm absolutely head over heels about. I've been filling it with blog post inspired posters I've made and centers I've been laminating and cutting. Then I got another package yesterday. OH MY WORD, was I a happy girl. Check it out!

How many school related items do you think will fit in here. My plan is to keep it in the Tahoe for lugging school stuff back and forth and for groceries when it's not occupied. LOVE!

And how much do you love my new lunch box? All stylish and insulated.

If you'd like to order on of these bags you can click here.

I also just had to share a few pictures of my sweet boys today. I was just a "little" bit Pinterest inspired.

How much do I love those little faces.

Lastly I have to say, Thank you to all of those who protect and serve. 10 years ago I was teaching my first, sweet little class. A teacher only a mere 3 weeks. It was a sad and scary day. If it weren't for the heroes here and overseas I may not have the blessing that I have today. Let us never forget.

Howdy Friends...

2011-09-10T20:42:00.000-07:00

So I couldn't stay away. What's better than blogging, munching on popcorn, drinking Diet Coke and watching a chick flick (Something Borrowed) with some super handsome hotties? I think not much. Especially since my babies are sleeping and my personal hot hubby is MIA protecting and serving. So I thought I'd announce the graphic giveaway winners and say a thank you or two or three.

Thanks to everyone who entered the graphic giveaway. The random number generator thingamajig chose two lucky gals! I don't have your emails so please email me at shelley123@roadrunner.com and I'll put you in touch with Ashley and Kirsten for your collections.

I also want to say a huge THANK YOU to all who nominated me in your top 10! I truly appreciate the nominations and the fact that you actually follow me! I think you are all super, fantastic, wonderful and awesome! I can't imagine my classroom without you. I'm a better teacher because of the inspiration you all have given. MUAH!

My blog was also chosen by Teacher Certification Degrees as one of the Top 50 Early Childhood Education Blogs. I feel extremely honored to be a part of such a great group of educators. Take a peak at the list. I clearly am not worthy, but I'll gladly accept!

That's all folks! Have a great Saturday night! I'm off to Pinterest and check out your ideas. :)

Weekend Random!

2011-09-09T12:54:00.000-07:00

I hope you all had a fabulous week! I only had 2 days of school this week. My poor little old school building is literally falling to pieces. We have been an "Excellent" school according to our Ohio test score for as long as I can remember, but there is nothing excellent about our poor old building. I mean people the sky was literally falling! And no, I didn't read too many copies of Chicken Little. We had ceiling falling to the floor, water rushing through the lights and garbage cans catching leaks at every turn. It was a sad situation on Wednesday. My sweet principal just started this year and man was he put through his initiation. So as they try to fix the holes in our very old roof, I am enjoying an extra long weekend. I can't say that I didn't love being able to take my baby to Pre-K and shop for some new fall clothes. But despite the break, I have been working on a few things in preparation of a new week on Monday. So here is some randomness coming your way.

After we were sent home on Wednesday I came home to some packages! People...it was like Christmas morning when I saw these beauties show up on the same day.

First I opened this:

My new teacher tote! I love this utility tote from My ThirtyOne. It has pockets everywhere. And since the sky is falling and the rain hasn't stopped in cloudy Cincy for forever I also had to get the matching umbrella! How fun! My pockets are already full of pens, markers, crayons and teacher tools! Click Here if you want one too!

Then I opened this and let me say I'm in love! Erin Condren Rocks and so does my sweet friend Cara who introduced me to this.

Speaking of Cara, she saved the day again with her centers from her Ready, Set, Learn pack. We were reviewing color and number words before the rain rudely interrupted, but my kiddos were having fun stamping out their color words and matching their numbers to number words.

Doing our Brown Bear, Brown Bear Book Center found here.

Up next are farm centers, as I shared in the previous post. I had a little extra time on my hands, so I just created a little book center for next week. You can download below.
On the Farm Book
I also uploaded a cute little farm math center to TpT, we'll being doing next week. We are starting some addition practice, so they'll practice sums 5-8 in this fun farm activity.

And last but not least, many of you have emailed about my First Grade Helper. I am no longer allowed to give it away due to the "terms of use" by some of the artist whose graphics I used. So it is now available at my Teachers pay Teachers store. You can click my button to the left to purchase.

Have a great weekend teacher friends!

Graphic Giveaway and More!

2011-09-06T17:39:00.000-07:00

Hello Teacher Friends!

As you all know I've been all kinds of busy figuring out all this commercial graphics stuff. Everything should be pretty clear in the document I posted below. I did want to let you know that there was some confusion about Cheryl Seslar's graphics. As you all know, her graphics are great and are pretty much offered EVERYWHERE! No matter where you purchase them (Scrappin' Doodles, Digiweb Studios, or elsewhere), you must purchase her Teachers Only License in order to sell on Teachers pay Teachers or Teacher's Notebook. You do not need it to sell on your own site though. Hopefully now, everything is clear!

Now to some Great Giveaway News! Two fabulous artists have offered to give away a set of amazing graphics to two lucky winners! One winner will win a collection of their choice from the ever fabulous and famous Ashley of Thistlegirl Designs. The other lucky duck, will win a set from the super sweet and talented Kirsten of Digital Doodles.

To Enter Please do the following:

1. Like T histlegirl Designs on Facebook.

2. Go to KPM Digital Doodles and at the bottom left,
Click LIKE on Facebook.

3. Go to both Thistlegirl Designs and Digital Doodles and tell which collection you would like to win from each artist.

4. Follow me on this little old first grade blog!
5. Blog about this giveaway and provide the link.

Each item is a separate entry. 5 chances to win!

The contest will end Friday at 8 p.m. Eastern. Please leave your email in each submission so I can get the designers in touch with you if you win!

Until then I'm going to leave you with a farm freebie. Next week we will begin a 2 week farm unit. I love my farm friends! So much fun to teach. I made this quick little ABC order center for my firsties. Maybe you can use it. I'll be posting some more farm fun soon.
Good Luck with the Giveaway!

WINNERS CHOSEN: PLEASE SEE HERE!

Farm ABC Order

This center was made with graphics from: http://www.etsy.com/shop/kpmdoodles and http://www.jessicaweible.com/

MUST READ! Your Graphics Questions Answered and More!

2011-09-05T08:39:00.000-07:00

If you don't read anything else I write, PLEASE READ TODAY. As teacher sellers, bloggers and givers, teachers need to be aware that the designers of the graphics we use all have different expectations, rules and terms of use. It is only fair that we abide by their terms and we understand "what is" and "what is not" allowed. So I contacted many fabulous artists and asked them every question under the sun! Poor girls. They all were so kind to reply. I then created a chart of the questions and their answers and sent it to each artist for their approval. I received approval from all but one artist who I removed from the list. The designers I included not only made their terms clear but also have amazing graphics at reasonable prices! I love them all. These will be the only designers I will use.

I also have some exciting news!

Cheryl Seslar has JUST created a new Teachers Only License!

The license is 49.99 and is a special use license for teachers and educators only. Once purchased you may use all her images to create teaching materials, newsletters, sheets, plans, and other teaching materials in a secure PDF or jpeg format to sell digitally from your own site, eBay, etsy, or any other teaching site that offers digital images for sale. You are NOT allowed to give them away for free, but can offer 1-2 freebies you have created with her images once a month. You may NOT use them for smartboards or any other format that the images are not secured. CREDIT MUST BE GIVEN TO WWW.CHERYLSESLARDESIGNS.COM OR WWW.INFO@RAGGEDYSCRAPPIN.COM

Cheryl is so sweet she is offering a discount code for you all for 1 week only! So head on over and buy this license now. Use coupon code teacher25 to receive 25% off!

ATTENTION: SCRAPPIN DOODLES CUSTOMERS!
You do NOT need Cheryl's Seslar's License to sell items made with her graphics purchased at Scrappin Doodles if you are selling from your own site. Denyse at Scrappin Doodles already purchased a license for this purpose. You DO NEED her Teachers Only License if you are selling on Teachers pay Teachers or Teacher's Notebook.

In more exciting news!

Please check back tomorrow. Two artists have offered to do a giveaway on my little blog.

I'll tell you who tomorrow!

Clipart Terms of Use1
Until then upload the document above and keep it somewhere safe!

HAPPY TEACHING and CREATING FRIENDS !