President's Day

This is my absolute favorite time of the year for teaching. I know it is cold and I know there is snow at this time but I just love teaching my first and kindergators about the Presidents!

I absolutely LOVE Abraham Lincoln. I think he is the best President we have ever had. Because of my enthusiasm, my little gators love him just as much!

Just a little trivia question???? How much did a lock of Abraham Lincoln's hair sell for last month?
Give up!!!  25,000 dollars!!!

I love to teach George Washington also but I can not tell a lie, I focus alot more on Abraham Lincoln!!!

To teach my kiddos about the Presidents, I integrate them throughout my day.

I read lots of books and we do so many different activities.

Here are some of the books I read:

Love this book! An awesome nonfiction book!

Brad Meltzer focuses on Abraham Lincoln's trait of staying true to what he knows is right. This series are written in a conversational manner that young readers and listeners can understand! Other books in this series are I am Amelia Earhart, I am Rosa Parks, I am Jackie Robinson, I am Albert Einstein and I am Lucille Ball.

A book that is focused on what Abraham Lincoln is known for, his hat!

A young girl walking in the park passes a man who looks like Lincoln, heads to the library, and dives into research so compelling that she has to share it with us. My kiddos loved this book!

Some activities for Lincoln are:

Make a life size Abraham Lincoln and compare their heights. Also, measure him using nonstandard units.

Have the students draw Abraham Lincoln by doing a directed drawing lesson! Then add some facts about Abe!!

Through a follow me activity, the students all have the same amount of paper. They make Abraham Lincoln by following you. They do not draw anything. They cut as you cut and they glue as you glue. They then add all details at the end. Have them write some sentences about Abraham Lincoln.

Hang your life size Abraham Lincoln out in the hallway with facts on laminated sheets. This makes a great display for President's Day!

Make stovepipe hats from black construction paper! Kids love wearing them!!!

Here are some books for George Washington:

Here are some books about Presidents' Day:

Here are some movies or videos to share with your kids:

http://youtu.be/cO6hS2nRJ_U

http://youtu.be/P6knsEVdX4w

http://youtu.be/SRDlRYCX8es

http://youtu.be/x-MCO9O4pPI

http://youtu.be/nDac5gcLpxc

http://youtu.be/cBKGLeCmKgA

http://youtu.be/lBrApkQr8Gs?list=PL5GukDxK7vA_muREW8KdaR_LAMX_f12ak

I hope this provides you with some resources to teach about these awesome men!!

Have a great week!!

Valentine's Day

Saturday is Valentine's Day! We will be celebrating it in class on Thursday, February 12 because the 13th (Friday the 13th) is a Professional Development day!

I love Valentines Day! My kids are so sweet this day! There are some amazing books to read for this day. Below are just a few that I love to read to my kids, just tap on them and go to their link in Amazon:

Thursday night is also our PTA K-2 Movie Night. We will be giving the kids bags of goodies, glow sticks, pizza, and a drink. They will be watching the movie, The Book of Life in their pajamas!

I have been busy creating tags for many different Valentine bags.

I wanted to share the toppers with you in case you would like to use them for your own Valentines bags!

Just tap on the pictures to download these tags:

Have a great Valentine's Day!!!

Super Bowl Sunday

Hello everyone! Just finished watching the Superbowl and can I say I was biting my nails there for a while! My Patriots were playing hard but those Seahawks were making some awesome plays. It all came down to an interception and an encroachment!

And the outcome is as Snoopy is yelling.....

Solids, Liquids and Gases Oh MY!

This week we have been discussing Matter in our first grade classroom. The students have been so intrigued since my introduction to this unit.

To introduce this unit, I found through blogging an activity that uses a root beer float to introduce the three states of Matter! I thought wow, amazing and my kids would really get the concept.

So my student teacher and I began our unit on matter! She did the questioning and I did the experimenting. After she asked them to put on their thinking caps and think of how we can get all three states of matter into one glass, I began the demonstration.

The looks on their faces was priceless!!! When they saw the solid (ice cream), the liquid (root beer) and then the reaction of the liquid and the solid (the foam created is the gas!)

Then onto our homework! I asked the students to bring in either a solid, liquid, or gas in a ziploc baggie. They came in the next day soooo excited. When we went to share what we brought in, one of my sweeties was so upset. She took out her bag and began to cry. When asked what was the matter, she said her solid was gone. She showed us a bag of water. She said, "I brought in ice cubes as my solid!" Poor baby! I said to her, honey do you remember the book we read the other day for our snowman graph?" She said, "Yes, A Snowy Day." I asked her, "what happened to Peter's snowball that he put in his pocket?" "It melted", she said and then she goes , "Oh now I see!"

These moments are what makes my job the best in the world!!!

Looking for some good books to teach Matter? Here are two of them that I found on Amazon and they are awesome!!! Click on them to go to the links!

Great pictures! Great Facts! Kids love this book!

In this book, A teacher named Mr. Whiskers conducts several experiments and activities with his kids. It is a great resource for your matter unit!!

Monday, we will be going on a matter scavenger hunt and ending our three day week with an awesome experiment! I will blog more about this unit as we go on!

Have a great week!

Lesson Plans

Ok can I just say, I love to teach, I love my kids, I love my jobs but until now I have not loved any of my lesson plan templates! Now I do because I went to the most amazing lesson plan guru known to teacherkind!

Her name is Melissa Msell! She has two blogs, one is Ms. Ms blog and the other is A Teacher's Plan. It is at the Teacher's Plan that you can request her to create lesson plans designed to fit your own personal needs and likes. She also has templates already created that you can purchase as well.

Her prices are affordable. Her work is impeccable. She is quick to get the design back to you and she will change whatever you want changed and will work with you until the plans are the way you envisioned them to be.

Here are the plans she created for me:

I love the way she set up my Guided Math section and how I have a nice large section for my CCSS'. 

If you are looking for new lesson plans and do not have the time or the creativity to make them, then you need to go to her site! They are so worth the money!!!!!!!!

Click on the button below to go to her site!!!!

February Currently!

February is here and I can not believe it! Tonight is the Super Bowl with my Pats in it! Tomorrow is Groundhogs Day! Thursday and Friday are parent teacher conferences and there is so much more over the next few weeks!

I have linked up with Farley from Oh Boy 4th Grade for her February Currently Linky!

Listening: Right now I am listening to all the Pre Super Bowl talk and hype while I sit here and finally blog!!!!!

Loving: I have the most amazing student teacher! I just love having her in my classroom. Not only do I get to teach her some new ideas and activities but I also get to learn from her. I love learning from my colleagues. This is how we become better teachers!!!!

Thinking: I have so much to do: Grades, inputting my grades, centers for February, lesson plans, essays to write, PTA items to create and conference notes to gather! Guess what: I have 7 hours to complete all of this before I stop everything for the Super Bowl!!!!

Wanting: I have been wanting to attend RCA sooo bad for years. RCA is the Ron Clark Academy in Atlanta, Georgia. I have read all of his books over and over again and I watch the movie of his life every time it comes on. He is such an inspiration and I want to go there and learn from the best! There have been so many bloggers lately posting about their experiences there and this has ignited my desire even more!!!!

Needing: to go to the grocery store but I really do not want to. I will wash dishes, I will clean the house but I do not like going to the grocery store. If I could shop online and have my groceries delivered I would. If there was a grocery fairy, I would definitely do everything in my power to have her visit me!!!

Pageant Title: Everybody is always saying they do not know how I get everything I do done! It seems that I do more and more and sleep less and less. But it is all worth it because it is for my kiddos! So my Pageant Title would be: Queen of getting everything done with very little or in no time at all!

So click on the link below to go and visit the currently of so many other wonderful educators!!!

Happy February!!!!

Let me Introduce to you......

There has been a new addition to our classroom this week! We are very lucky to have Jordan Kapel as our student teacher! The kids met her and they loved her! Her attitude and personality so far has shown me that this is going to be an awesome experience!

The model we will be using is the Coteaching model. This is very different from the traditional student teaching program I have worked with in the past. This model is one where we, the cooperating teacher and the student teacher, plan together and work together throughout the entire placement. There are several aspects to this new model. There is parallel teaching, where we both will be teaching the same thing but in different areas of the classroom. There is Teach and Assist where she will teach and I will walk around and assist the students. There is Unified Coteaching, which is when we have coplanned an activity and we teach it together, like a well oiled machine!! Teach and Actively Observe students is where she will teach and I will observe the students. Of course, there is Center/Station Teaching. This is self explanatory!

No more are the days where the student teacher is left alone to plan entirely by themselves or to be in the classroom for long periods of time alone.

This was created due to our teacher evaluation system as well as the increase in the TAM teaching model.

Welcome Jordan!

January Pinterest Pick 3 Party

This month has been wicked busy and it has flown by. Between having a couple 2 hour delays and an early dismissal due to the weather, professional development, DPAS meetings and being a little under the weather, January is already almost over!

I am linking up with PAWSitively Teaching for her Pick 3 Pinterest Linky Party!

I love this idea. Pinterest is a great resource to find many interesting and innovative ideas for the classroom. Here  are my three picks for the month of January!

Since I teach Math and Science for First Grade, my three picks of course are based on these subjects. My first pick is Pool Noodle Number Bonds!

I am a pool noodle addict! I have made rekenereks and base ten blocks using pool noodles! Now I have to make number bonds! These are a must!!!!!!!!

Snowman Math! How awesome! Students get to use nonstandard units to measure snowmen and winter pictures as well as roll a die to build a snowman! Love these!!!! Great activities for my firstgators!!!!

Last but not least for this month, another snowman math activity! I love this because it has the students creating as well as adding! Awesome activity!!

Click on the mustache kid to go to my pinterest site!

Click on the picture below to see what some other awesome educators chose for their most favorite 3 pins for January!!

Happy new year

Well, 2014 has come to an end! My first gators and I would like to wish everyone a wonderful new year! Here's to a productive prosperous and healthy 2015!

January Currently

I am linking up with Oh'Boy 4th Grade for the January Currently!

It is 2015 and I can not believe we are already into a new year!! 2014 flew by! Looking back i see there are alot of things I am grateful for and some things that I need to change or improve upon. Blogging is one of them. I need to complete these currentlys on time- when the month begins!

Listening- to a Lifetime movie but I do not know the title because I am really not paying close attention!

Loving- Winter Break! It has been peaceful and relaxing!! 

Thinking- That school starts on Monday and I have a lot to do to get ready! This is the first break in 20 years that I did not do a lot of work!

Wanting- My lesson plans to write themselves but I know it is not going to be!

Needing- I really do not need anything! My life is complete- I have a wonderful daughter and amazing family and friends who love me and support me! I have a job that I love! What more could I need!

Yes- I need to take better care of myself!

Maybe- I will blog more consistently! Hopefully at least once a week if not more!

I wish- That all children had a safe and secure home!

Click below to see what some other amazing educators have blogged!

Goodbye 2014

Oh my! I can not believe that I have not blogged since December 13!!! I did not blog any Christmas activities at all! So I am linking up with passion in portable land for her Goodbye 2014 Linky Party!

Boy, honestly, it seems like 2014 has flown by! As I look back on the year, there are many memories that are near and dear to me! 

2014 brought me an opportunity that only 21 teachers in the entire country experienced..... A trip to the White House for teacher appreciation!!

2014 has brought me into contact with so many amazing teachers across the country! Blogging has opened many doors for me and I appreciate and treasure all the teachers I have met this year!

I was moved to First Grade after 20 years in Kindergarten! While I miss teaching Kindergarten, I love working with my new team!

I also became an exclusive Creative Teaching Press Blogger and a Teacher Ambassador for Jossey Education!

My daughter completed Kindergarten with perfect attendance and she has been excited and happy in First Grade for the second part of 2014.

Looking back on 2014, I loved the world of blogging but I need to be more consistent. I also need to work more on my products for TPT. I have begun but would like to create more. 

I also need to spend more time with my little one and I need to take better care of myself healthwise.

1. I will try to blog more consistently, at least once a week.

2. I will spend more time with my daughter.

3. I will take care of myself- improve my diet and lose weight

4. Create and publish at least one product a month. (Hopefully more)

Well there it is, my reflections of 2014 and my resolutions for 2015. Click on the link below to see what some other awesome educators blogged!