Wednesday, September 26, 2012

I must be doing something right!

So one of my sweet little firsties gave me a gift this morning! I've got to be doing SOMETHING right! :)


How sweet?! 

Mary

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Yay for Fall!

Fall is my favorite time of the year. The weather is PERFECT...not too cold and not too hot. I love the way the outdoors look, smell, and feel! 

You've already seen a little sample of the apple activities we've done in my room, and I am excited to dive into more! I'm really excited because tomorrow I am going to start a Harvest/Farmer mini unit with my sweet first graders!

It is a product that I created and one that my students last year really enjoyed so I am PUMPED to see how this group reacts!


It is on my Teachers Pay Teachers Store if you want to check it out. I hate the feeling that I am pushing my own products too much, but I am really proud of this unit and wanted to share it! It is a thrill to me when I make something to supplement my students' learning and they RAVE about it! It makes me feel like I am doing something right! :)

More pictures to come... but here is one sample of the neat activities!!!!


I filled an empty tissue box with some magazine pages and then wrapped it in green tissue paper. I printed out the pictures and then glued them to the box. I wrapped the box in packing tape and presto! I made a graphing page so they could graph the results of their tosses. This should be fun!

I want to start a CONVERSATION here now... :) 

SHARE WITH ME SOME OF THE PRODUCTS THAT YOU HAVE MADE AND ARE PROUD OF OR SOME OF THE OTHER AMAZING PRODUCTS FROM OTHER TEACHERS PAY TEACHERS SELLERS! 

Mary

Saturday, September 22, 2012

Room Tour 2012-2013

A Glimpse into my Classroom...

I have finally taken some pictures of my classroom to share! I always like seeing the creative ways other teachers organize/lay out their classroom so I thought I would go ahead and share mine! :)

This is my Calendar Math Board: My classroom has an ocean theme so I try to theme it out accordingly. I also try to use blues and greens with all decorations to have a common color theme. I think it brings the room together quite well!
 This is the messy front of the room. You can see the Wilson's Fundations alphabet chart, my ocean-themed number line (1-20), my small group board (divided by color), Word Attack Strategy posters for Guided Reading, and the Wilson's Fundations standard sound card grid.
 This is my word wall. I had to get creative this year. I didn't have an abundance of wall space but decided to utilize the large magnetic partition in the back of the room. The pocket charts have a magnetic strip on the back. I love my Carson-Dellosa word wall cards...at least that is where I THINK I got them! Sorry about the blurry picture!
 Here's a close up of the Word Wall!

 Some of Our Fall Activities!

My students and I explored apples a few weeks ago. We did a lot of apple-themed activities and this one is my favorite. I stole the idea from a blog (if it is yours, please let me know so I can give you credit!) I found through good old Pinterest! 

We labeled the parts of an apple. It went along with Treasure's Reading Series activities so I thought it would be a perfect way to practice the skill! A few days after we got the labeling parts together, we wrote about apples and placed them with our apple!
 Here is a close up of the finished product! I think they turned out GREAT!

We've also been learning the different features of sentences, exclamations, and questions! I wanted the kids to practice this in a fun way so I created my Falling Leaves game. The kids really seemed to enjoy it... :)

They can't wait for him to answer! If only you could see the anticipation on their faces!


Have a great week! 

Mary



Sunday, September 2, 2012

Back to School

I've been back to school for two weeks now and I have to say it feels odd to be back! I think I'm still in "Summer" mode! 

My new batch of First Graders seem like a very sweet bunch. They are TALKATIVE and energetic too! We've been having a lot of fun for the last few weeks reviewing alphabet letters and color words (of course I've neglected to take pictures!!).


Anyways... 

I've been hard at work on some new TpT products and I'd like to brag about  share them!

I have an ocean-themed classroom this year and I'm determined to go all out! I made some number cards and number cards with ten frames so that my students can reference them throughout the year.


One set is for displaying in classrooms with younger students (Preschool-K) or possibly labeling lockers, data notebooks, etc. The other set with ten frames is what I am displaying in my first grade classroom. I really like them! They are on my TpT store. Click here to view my store.

I've also finally completed my Old "Meow"d card game for the Treasure's Reading Series 1st Grade Sight Words! :) I'll be printing those cards out each week as we learn them so we can review them in a fun way!


Here is a link to that game on my TpT store.

Okay, now that I'm done sharing/bragging, I want to wish all of you a great back to school if you haven't gone already and PLEASE share your experiences/upcoming plans for the school year with me. Are you trying anything new that you're excited about?

Mary