Dr. Seuss!

I love March.  Dr. Seuss, Read Across America, St. Patrick's Day, and that much closer to Spring Break Week.

We kicked off March with style in my classroom.  This past Friday we celebrated the great Dr. Seuss.  I sent home a note for all the kids to wear a red t-shirt on Friday.  I made Thing One and Thing Two designs for their shirts, and when they arrived Friday morning they created their "blue hair" out of bright blue construction paper and blue sentence strips.  I even paired up with a teammate and we dressed up as Thing One and Thing Two.  So fun and hopefully a memorable day for everyone.

Besides the thrill of being Thing One or Thing Two I created Truffla Trees from the Dr. Seuss book, The Lorax.  Oh man, so worth it.  The response and reaction from the kids was priceless.  I sat some of the trees outside the classroom so they could see them right when they walked in and others spread out in the classroom.  I love them too much to not use them everyday and plan to make a permanent home for them in the Classroom Library.

This week Dr. Seuss fun continues in celebration of Read Across America.  Looking forward to the fun!

Have a great week!

Work Hard. Play Hard.

Hello blogging world! Just a quick check-in....

So, I am not sure where February went - how is it the last week already?

February was jammed packed with deadlines, school ceremonies, Black History month, a snow day, field trips, 100th day, Valentines Day, Kindness Week, and Professional Development opportunities outside of school.  Did I mention I did some teaching in between all that? !??  Whew.

I still have one more deadline to meet for the month of February - third quarter progress reports.  And then we get pumped up and ready for Read Across America Week, Dr. Seuss' birthday, St Patty's... play hard, work hard coming right up.

Before I leave to finish up third quarter progress reports I leave you with this... in the middle of a crazy few months this pretty much sums it up!

Kindness Week

I will spare you the details of how cray my week was last week.  Lets call it a wrap and focus on the the great weekend I'm having.  Lets also focus on the week ahead.  I declared it "Kindness Week" in my classroom.  I told the kids as they were packing up on Friday that they must come to school on Monday with a kind heart and sweet thoughts.  No drama or negativity has happened in the classroom, I just decided to promote the kindness character trait in connection to Valentines Day on Thursday.  My kids really do have big hearts, and I hope they will have fun with Kindness Week and Valentines Day.

Inspired by all these fabulous blogs out there I decided to get my craft on.  I went to Hobby Lobby and found brightly colored boxes to put notes in.  Cut out some fun hearts, glued them on, and we are set.

I have "compliment paper" aka paper from the Target One Spot for the kids to "drop in" their compliments.

I plan on starting it first thing tomorrow morning.  I'll update to let you know how it goes, but for now, enjoy the rest of the weekend and have a great week full of love!

100th Day

This past Tuesday we celebrated the 100th day of school.  I love the 100th day.  We came up with 100 things we have learned so far this year, 100 day writing prompts, and made 100 day trail mix.  I went and bought 10 different snack things and the kids counted ten of each.  Its a total hit and so easy for the teacher!  We also made our city with 100 stars in the night sky.  Its been in the hallway since Tuesday and have I gotten so many compliments on it.  The kids did a great job!  I love teaching artistic kids! 

Here's a pic of our city below and pictures of other 100 day fun.  

For our 100th day snack these are the 10 things they had to count out

1. gummy bears

2. marshmallows

3. pretzels

4. animal crackers

5. chocolate teddy grahams 

6. M&Ms 

7. fruit loops

8. goldfish

9. chocolate chips

10. Kix cereal 

78 days to go....

Lets talk Science...

We are knee deep in school wide assessments in all subject areas and in all grade levels.  We had a visit today from our Area Superintendent and we were advised to not test today, but instead teach.  Game on.  I'll take fun interactive teaching over assessments any day...

We just finished our Sound unit and the kids loved it.  The past couple weeks the kids have been making lots of noise and not getting in trouble, making musical instruments, listening to a live guitar performance from one of our staff, and taking a walking tour to list all the sounds they hear.  So when we had the freedom to teach something fun today I instantly thought - SCIENCE EXPERIMENT.  Its something we never have time for, but the kids love it every time I try to squeeze an experiment in.

So I made 10 bags and numbered them.

I placed 10 different items in each bag and used this sound inference recording sheet.

Staple the bags and we are ready to roll.

Here is a quick pic of the bags before we started.

Here is a list of the things I put in the bags...

1. keys
2. dice
3. skittles
4. foil
5. tissue paper
6. noodles
7.  sand
8.  cotton balls
9.  markers
10.  rice

Then one by one I shook the bags and the kids had to record the sound and what they thought was in the bag.  I have never had 20 kids be so quiet.  They were totally into listening to what was in the bag.  When everyone had their predictions listed I revealed what was in the bag.  Most of the kids did pretty good.  One student guessed the foil - it was a cool moment.  Everyone was excited when they got a bag prediction right.  It was teaching at its finest.  Fun and learning.  Its what we do.  Kids loved it.  Mission accomplished...

My Five Favorites

Sunday afternoon - the time of the week where we as teachers start to put the finishing touches on our week ahead.  I found myself thinking about my top five favorite things used every week.


1.  Mr. Sketch.  My go to markers for spelling words for the word wall and anchor charts.  A classic that never fails.



2.  Music.  In my classroom all day everyday - classical for the kids all day and whatever strikes my fancy before school and during free planning times.

 

3.  One word.  Pinterest.  My source for creative and fun ideas. A little slice of heaven for all us teachers!

4.  My calendars.  Our school secretary has always created a school calendar full of spirit day dates, quarter deadlines, PTA events, workday and holiday schedules - you name it - its there and has been a total lifeline.  I love it.  Pair that with my Erin Condren planner and I stay organized.

Heres the link to the EC planners.  Worth every penny.  If you dont have one, get one, you wont regret it.

Love this planner!

5.  Sharpies.  Think. Thin.  You name it, I use it.  I have even taught the kids to use them carefully on projects we do.  The thin ones are great for note taking during a meeting or to write up a quick to do list.

Have a great week! 

Hello Mr. President

Today is a special day.  It doesn't matter if you prefer the donkey or the elephant. today marks an important day in our country.  As we celebrate MLK Day and the 2nd Inauguration of our President Barack Obama I am reminded of what I great country we live in.  Last week I taught my class about the legacy and contributions made to our society by MLK and so many others.

I love the work my students produced and how much loved poured out of their little minds.  They all have such big hearts and continue to be the reason why I teach.  I got lots of pictures of kids playing together and stories about how we are all the same.  As I enjoy the rest of my day off I will leave this image from today that makes my heart smile.