Happy 101st Day of School

Today was a busy day in first grade! Not only was it Valentine's Day but it was also the 101st day of  school!

To celebrate this day, we made our Dalmatian shirts and hats! The shirts are made by taking bingo daubers and sitting our plain white tshirts! Thank you @ericabohrer for this amazing unit!!!

Aren't they cute!!!!

We also did lots of activities such as tiny word search, write the room and draw and write about if I could have 101 things I would have ___________! 

We got our pictures taken with our frame as well as going home with a special treat! 

And we also put together a collection of 101 things at home to bring in and share with us during morning meeting!

They received a special treat that represents 101using two pretzels for the ones and an Oreo for the zero!

Happy 101st day everyone!!

 

 

 

Happy Valentines Day

Have I told you lately how much I love Oriental Trading!!!! They have the most amazing things that make the special days with our kiddos even more special! 

Valentine's Day is always a big favorite with my firsties! So this year, thanks to Oriental Trading, this day was even more amazing! 

We love Snoopy(I know who doesn't) and when you mix Snoopy and Valentine's Day together with a group of firsties you get nothing but success!!!

First, did you know that you can buy plastic tablecloth by the roll!! Well, you can so of course, I had to get the Snoopy Valentine roll. Oriental Trading has more then just Snoopy!

 

I used the tablecloth to make a background for our photo booth!!!! There are so many amazing Snoopy decorations available from Oriental Trading! The kids loved our photo booth decorated with Snoopy decorations and the giant stand up Snoopy! 

Aren't their pictures adorable!!!

Of course, I had to decorate inside my classroom also and Oriental Trading makes this an easy task! I absolutely love the Snoopy valentines day decorations!!! They have many styles to choose from!! 

The hearts are from a set I already had but the tiny Snoopys are from the centerpiece decorations!! See how versatile their decorations are!!!

If it's a game you are looking for, this is the place to look! They have a variety of games! My kids loved this bean bag game!!!

What is a holiday without a craft! My kiddos loved making the Snoopy magnet for their parents!!!

What can we do to bring home our valentines? Make boxes of course and they have a variety of valentine boxes and holders!! We made the Snoopy ones!!!

Every teacher loves to give their kids a little something for their special days in the classroom! There is such a huge selection at Oriental Trading! My  kids loved them!!!

Crayons, pencils and erasers are just amazing little gifts for my firsties!!!

Thank you Oriental Trading for always having what we need and love!!!!!!

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kwik Stix- An Amazing Tool

I love Kwik Stix. They come in all varieties now. They come in glitter colors, primary colors, neon colors, thick sticks and now thin sticks.

Kwik Stix are amazing! They are paint in a stick. They dry within 90 seconds. They are bright and colorful. They last for a long time and kids love them!!!! Teachers love them! No clean up! No spilled water! No mess!!!

When we first used Kwik Stix in the classroom, all they had were regular and neon colors. When it is time to do our special projects or indoor recess when the weather is bad, my kids get so excited because they know that they will be using the paint sticks!

Look how bright the neon ones are!!!!!!

These are amazing!!!!

Then came the Metallix! These are amazing because they have glitter in them. The kids went crazy creating with these!

Then we got the privilege of trying out the thin paint stix. OH MY! These are amazing! My kids loved them! I love them!!!!!

easy to hold!

The thin paint sticks are so beneficial to my kids who have fine motor problems. I began using them to help them make shapes and pictures.  I use these with them to strengthen their hands.

These students can not have their picture taken so I will just post their art work before we began to use the thin Kwik Stix and after! You will notice a difference! The kids love using the paint stix!!!

Now, I let all of my kids use them and they love the thin ones because they can add detail to their pictures.

 I love them because I can write positive notes to my kiddos and they love receiving these randomly. 

Here are some of my Positive notes I have made for my kids!

Now for even better news!!!! Yes, you can find these amazing artistic, must have tools on Amazon. They are available 6, 12 and 24 packs.

If you click on the pictures of the paint stix above, they bring you to the Amazon link! 

So add these to your  Must Have list! You won't be disappointed!!!!!

Chinese New Year

January 28 was the beginning of Chinese New Year for 2017. Of course on Friday, January 27, we had to focus on this holiday! 

The kids started the day by being greeted by my light box!! I love this as a morning message and motivator. Here is my lightbox for Chinese New Year!

 


We began by reading a couple of my favorite books for Chinese New Year!

Here is the video on You tube for this book.

and the other book I always read is

After we read the books, we made our red envelopes and received our gold coins.

 

Then we made our dragon hats!

 

Of course , we had to get out picture taken and I made some photobooth props using the amazing clip art from Melonheadz!

 

 

Since 2017 is the year of the Rooster, we made roosters out of red solo cups!

Kids loved it! 

Happy Chinese New Year!

Joy Cowley Contest!

Hello, everyone! I can not believe that it is already February!! And with February comes a contest!!! I love Mrs. Wishy Washy and I am so excited to be able to bring this opportunity to all of you!!

The Joy Cowley Classroom Giveaway by Hameray Publishing is here! One lucky classroom will win an entire set of Joy Cowley Collection leveled readers (60 books), Joy Cowley Early Birds lower-leveled readers (45 books), all of her newest big books (34 big books), a set of finger puppets, and more!

These books pull in even the most reluctant readers with their humor and whimsy. Your students will clamor to keep reading about their new friends: Mrs. Wishy-Washy, Hungry Giant, the Meanies, and more. Recurring characters make them reach for the next book, and playful storylines lead them to finish it. All books in this package are written at guided reading levels C–I. Read more about the books included here.

This contest is closing February 28, so enter now! Winners will be announced March 1.

So click on the picture below to enter!!!

Good Luck Everyone!!!!