We have ACTUAL pumpkins!

 

Way back in September, we started our 2013 Pumpkin Project. (To quickly catch you up, we grew pumpkin vines in a pumpkin.  It's awesome.  Do it!  Get a big, ol' freebie here!)

The class checked on the regrowth progress while on the way to music last week.  We spotted THREE green pumpkins growing.  Cheers erupted around our little garden.

The watermelons are doing pretty well, too.  Several have little yellow flowers.

EveryBUNNY Counts Freebie, Five for Friday + other exciting news

Finally!  For the first time this school year I am in time to hook up with Kasey for some Five for Friday Fun!

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New freebie posted: EveryBUNNY Counts solving 3 addend word problems.  It includes 8 different story problems in full color and a black line recording sheet.

It had been a while since we last practiced adding 3 numbers and I thought this would be an engaging way for students to practice both that skill and solving word problems.  Guess what, it worked!

Grab it for free in my TpT store!  Don't let the adorable rabbits fool you, the word problems do not have an Easter theme which makes these great for Spring in general or any time of the year students need a little 3 addend practice.

Speaking of my TpT store, Sunday is my 1 year seller anniversary (I call it my TpT-iversary) and it is time to celebrate!

Festivities will include a fabulous giveaway (with the help of some of my online colleagues) and a 20% off sale in my TpT store!  Check back here this Wednesday for all the details!

And, if you don't follow me on TpT yet, first WHY NOT?! and second, START!  I have a secret surprise for all my followers next week.  Shh...  No, not shh.  Tell everyone! ;)
  
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 The "big kids" started taking their state standardized test this week.  Each year primary classes adopt an intermediate class during the week and send them notes or encouragement or little snacks.  One of our snack treats said "Keep POPPING off the answers!" and we gave them several bags of microwave popcorn.  Corny, yes.  But, boy did we think it was hilarious.

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A few weeks ago we had a project fully funded through PowerUp Jax which is a locally based donor program like DonorsChoose.org.  Through the very generous giving from our local community I was able to purchase 50 on-level, non-fiction books for our classroom.  These two scientists are recording themselves reading all about armadillos.  They had a really great, natural discussion while reading.  I am so thankful for the opportunity to provide these high-interest books to my students!

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 For the past two weeks we've been working on Common Core standard 1.RL.4 (identifying words and phrases in poetry and prose that show emotion and appeal to the senses).  Students are deep into our study of poetry, imagery and personification.  On their own, students have discovered that songs are like poems ("Hey, songs rhyme like poems rhyme!" Amazing.)  I've been sharing my students' work during Daily 5/Literacy Centers on Instagram.  Lots of song lyrics and poems during Work on Writing this week and LOTS of singing/reading during Read to Self and Read to Someone.  It makes this teacher's heart sing, too!  P.S. IG @whathappensin27

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Our yard at home is positively bursting with Springy goodness!  The garden is growing, the trees are blooming and I can barely wait to eat these beautiful blueberries!

Remember, check back Wednesday for details on my TpT-iversary giveaway!

I Didn't Kill the Plants...It's a Miracle

Before break, we started our ever entertaining and enjoyable unit on plants.  This is one of my favorite science topics ever.

While perusing through the W, I found these awesome mini greenhouses from Miracle Gro Kids.  At $1 each I couldn't pass them by.  I got carrots (which we know do not grow on trees), cucumbers, tomatoes, sunflowers and forget-me-nots.


Each group got to set up one greenhouse and I had one to demonstrate.

Everyone had a job: soil dumper, mixer, seed sower and seed coverer.  We set them by a window and...

we had forget-me-nots (and a little mold) popping up!  The next day cucumbers poked through the soil.  By the end of the week everything was growing except the carrots.  Those just started yesterday (about 10 days after we planted them).

I was really worried I would kill these jokers over Spring Break.  Both my parents and my man have beautiful green thumbs.  Mine isn't brown, but more of a wimpy yellow-green.  Ha!

 

Just before break we also planted watermelons.  I told you, I love planting!  Fingers crossed, these will be ready to eat by the last day of school.  More on that later.

 Last week I won a giveaway!  Jana Guerra of WeHeart1st has this wonderful Life in the Garden resource.

The students practiced their reading for details and answering questions skills to complete "Parts of a Plant" in their interactive notebooks.  On the opposite side we used the cut and label parts of a plant, but I didn't snap any pictures.

This pack wrote my science lessons for the next 2 weeks!  We will be learn and observing soil, parts of a seed, plant life cycles and much more.  We'll be using Dirt: The Scoop on Soil by Natalie M. Rosinsky, Oh Say Can You Seed? by Bonnie Worth and (my go-to) Seeds! Seeds! Seeds! by Nancy Elizabeth Wallace.  Love me some Buddy Bear.

       

Don't forget about my TpT sale this weekend!

Sale! Friday, Saturday and Sunday and a Freebie

Adorable clip art by Krista Wallden.  New logo by me.

My Spring Break has been really productive!  I love having the time to get the ideas out of my head and onto the computer.  I feel like I am ready.  I'm sure that feeling will start to fade Sunday night and Monday morning.

In honor of the last few days of my break I am throwing a sale in my Teachers Pay Teachers store!

Check out some of my newest products:

Spring Math Centers runs the gamut of 3rd and 4th quarter math skills for my firsties.  Activities include:

• Place Value matching numeral, word, base ten blocks, tens and ones and expanded form numbers 12-99
• Measuring length and width with both nonstandard units and inches
• Time to the hour and half hour both digital and analog
• Fractions of circles and squares into halves and quarters
• Related facts find related addition and subtraction facts with part-part-whole (We are going to practice this all Spring. My students are still struggling with this, grr!  They can complete fact families like nobody's business, but many aren't making the connection.)
• Word problems with sums and differences within 20
• Graphing with 3 and 4 categories and questions to analyze the graph

And how adorable are the Crazy Bugs from Graphics from the Pond? Seriously! 

 The Math Anchor Charts for Interactive Notebooks: Measurement and Data is up, too!  (And this weekend it is only $1.60...go get it now!)

 

I use these anchor charts 2 to 3 times a week.  The district I teach in requires us to use Interactive Notebooks in ELA, math and science.  It was definitely a learning curve, but I see the impact the notebooks make.  It is a different from journals.  After I understood that and started teaching students *how to use* their notebooks it made all the difference.

When we do our quick review from the previous day I would see students trying to secretively turn back and peek.  One day I called them out in a good way, they got stickers for using their tools.  That's all it took.  Students take their notebooks with them to math tubs (rotations, centers, independent work...whatever you call it).  I LOVE it!

Each chart has 2 per page for easy prep.  Print, slice, glue, go!

This set covers ALL the first grade Common Core Standards in Math for Measurement and Data.

 It also includes vocabulary cards.  I enlarge these for the word wall and print regular size for student notebooks.  They glue it like a flap on their side of the journal.  Under the word they draw or write their understanding of the definition.  You could even just glue it down and write beside it.  Whatever works for your class.

 

I also use the poster maker at school to enlarge the charts.  We use these in class.  I have students color it and hang it on our Math Strategies Wall.

Ok, so if you're still with me you get a reward!  No, not a sticker.  How about a sight word freebie? 

 Full color version here...

and black line here.

Don't forget about the sale!  Happy Spring!

Five for Friday ~ April 12

What a great week!  I'm linking up with Kacey at Doodle Bugs Teaching for her weekly Five for Friday Linky Party.

1.  This was our first week using Math Tubs similar to the amazing Cara Carroll's.  I am loving this!  The students are having fun practicing their skills, working together (score!) and I can float so much more effectively!  We're working with place value using tens and ones.  I used activities from Erica Bohrer's 0-120 Charts and Activities and Sweet Treats Place Value (Freebie) from Rebecca Sutton (Anderton).  Students also got use the website www.reflexmath.com.

 2. A harpist and a violinist from our local symphony came to our school earlier in the week.  The kids really liked this performance.

 3. During Work on Words in Daily Five this week the students used activities from my Working with Vowel Team OW pack.  My favorite activity is the phoneme boxes.  After working with ow from 4 days, one of my darlings (finally) noticed "all the words have ow!"  Progress!

4. This week's basal story was an Eyewitness informational story about butterflies.  We also read/watched the audiobook of  A Butterfly is Patient by Dianna Hutts Aston, watched a National Geographic video clip of butterflies, made a "Can-Have-Are" tree map, colored butterflies, made a life cycle poster and a circle map of butterfly information.  The pink writing is what we already knew and the orange is some things we learned.  It was a fun week in reading and writing.

5.  Gorgeous lady bug also enjoying my Friday beverage.  Yea, Spring!

Mad Hatter's Spring Break Tea Party

Yea for Spring Break!  Really, I could have used it 2 weeks ago, but no one asked me.

Last week was a doosy!  I had my formal observation Tuesday.  I nearly made myself sick fretting over it.  We did a lesson on reading informational text for key details and asking and answering questions, then putting our research into informational text.  Yeah, I over planned.  We got through OK.  Some good, some...interesting moments (like someone pretending to pick her nose during the mini-lesson, then making it more dramatic when no one commented...Seriously?).  I'll have the post conference after Spring Break.  Bleh.

After I had an anxiety attack got past the observation, we could focus on fun stuff!  Another teacher and I planned to have a Mad Hatter's Spring Break Sweet Tea Party on Friday afternoon.  Talk about a hoot!

In class we did a close read of that section of Alice through the Looking Glass and watched the cartoon clip from the tea party.  Kids were encouraged to make interesting hats to wear at the tea party.  We had a few put some good effort into their hats!  We served sweet iced tea, apple juice (looks like tea) and tea sandwiches.  They were just jelly or cream cheese and cucumber with no crust and cut in quarters, but did the kids think they were fancy!

To highlight all the hats--creative, furry, baseball, beanies and even a hoodie (Miss A was not going to miss her chance to strut) the kids walked down our hatwalk...get it?  HATwalk like catwalk.  I love it!

Best of Show:

• Photo #1 Sporting not one, but TWO Jiminey Cricket dolls laced in the brim of a classic cowboy hat
• Photo #3 Best Hair/Hat Combo (Love his dredlocks!)
• Photo #4 Most Creative Easter inspired hat (and a reluctant super model)
• Photo #5 Tallest hat and by far, best hatwalk walk (Seriously, I love this kid!  He walks quietly in line, but is always doing something goofy.  He always makes me think of Monty Python's Ministry of Silly Walks!)
• Photo #6 Springy-est hat
• Photo #8 Fastest model (she wanted to walk so badly, but is so shy!)
• Photo #9 Too cool for the hatwalk aka Super Model Serious

The Mad Hatter's Spring Break Sweet Tea Party is an annual event in my class.  It is a great way to ease into Spring Break and not focus on the Easter holiday.

In other news...I put together a big packet on ow (like cow) and I'm putting it up on TpT.  It will be discounted to $3 through Saturday.  It's got lots of center and small group goodies.  The graphics are in color and in black and white.  I'm crossing my fingers for good luck on my first "for sale" product! =]

And now for something completely different...



Happy Spring Break!