Cyber Monday Sale

Use the code CMT12 to get a great deal on items from my TpT store! I've set my store to be on sale 20% off and with that promo code, you should be able to get even MORE savings! Monday AND Tuesday are definitely when I'll be buying some items on my Wish List!

Thanks for the support! I'm so very thankful to be blogging and becoming a better teacher through these opportunities! I hope that your holidays are filled with wonderful memories and great food! :)

Mary

CHRISTMAS IS COMING!

Okay, so I LOVE this time of the year! Spending time with my family and enjoying some time off… J

I also LOVE Christmas. It is such a magical time of the year and so much fun to celebrate!

I’ve been working round the clock for the last few days and I think my hard work will pay off! I’ve created something I’m super proud of!

   

Click on the picture to see it at my TpT store! The preview will tell you a lot more than I can while rambling on describing it! TpT is having a cyber Monday (and I think Tuesday) sale so  you should check it out!

Are you already starting Christmas themed games/activities in your classroom? I’m so excited, I want to start right away! Happy Thanksgiving!

Mary

November Randoms AND fun Thanksgiving activities!

I'm always having Oceans of FUN in my first grade classroom, but I am so scatter-brained busy that I forget to take pictures! 

In early November, I focused on the idea that voting is an American right and privilege. We read Duck for President  and discussed the voting process.

I downloaded some AMAZING products from Teachers Pay Teachers...and believe me, I so realize how late I am in sharing this!

Lisa Richling made an amazing Duck for President pack. Click here to see it!

Andrea Phillips made an ADORABLE mini unit based on Duck for President too! The craft is SO SO SO great! Click here to see it!

The final shout out I have for election material is this "Pick a President" mini unit. It is FREE on TpT! Enjoy!

We held an election in my first grade classroom (again, no photos of the actual voting cause I just totally forgot!) and here are the results:

As you can see, it was a CLOSE election!

THANKSGIVING ACTIVITIES!!!!!

We are on Thanksgiving break as of 2:10 PM today, but we've been learning about Thanksgiving for the last several days! 

We read "Sarah Morton's Day", "Samuel Eaton's Day",  and "Tapenum's Day" and used my Thanksgiving freebie to compare and contrast the lives of Pilgrim and Native American children in the 1620s. 

A few days later, we had some fun and did a writing activity! I started this activity when I taught preschool. Each year around Thanksgiving, I collect Kroger ads. I buy cheap paper plates and then the fun can begin!

I ask the students to cut out the foods that they think they will eat at Thanksgiving. For preschoolers, it was a cutting/fine motor activity. For my 1st graders, I wanted to add an academic element to it! I asked them to WRITE about the foods that they placed onto the plate!

They REALLY got into this activity! It was hilarious to see what they chose to place onto their plate! Check out the pictures below!

A view of the chaos fun!

Here is one of my sweeties hard at work cutting out his selected foods!

Hard at work!

She is adding the essentials! :)

This is one of the items she cut out. It is plastic utensils. She said, "You need to have these on your plate so that you have something to eat with!"

"Pop" is an obvious choice of drink! :) Several students decided that they would probably drink soda! 

This activity was a big hit! They really enjoyed completing it! The activity is on TpT for FREE. Click on the picture to get it!

Here are a few pictures of what the finished product may look like:

My school was originally a middle school so we have lockers outside of our classrooms. That is where I display all of our wonderful projects! 

BUTTER

To end our Thanksgiving activities, we made butter today. We talked about how pilgrims made butter (in a churn). We made butter by putting heavy whipping cream into a sealable plastic container and shaking it! It only took about ten minutes!

Almost every student decided to try some of the butter on a piece of bread and all of the students that tried it, said, "Yummy!" Here is a picture of our butter!

Well, I've rambled on shared enough tonight! I hope that you have a very happy Thanksgiving and enjoy the well deserved time off!

Mary

Thanksgiving Freebie!

Hello to my followers and anyone else who stumbles upon my blog... :)

I made this freebie and wanted to share! 

It is best for use after reading "Sarah Morton's Day", "Samuel Eaton's Day", and "Tapenum's Day. It is a good compare and contrast of the lives of pilgrims and Native Americans in the 1620s. Click here to download! 

I'd also love to know what Thanksgiving-themed centers or units that you've found and would recommend!

DeAnne over at First Grade and Fabulous has an AWESOME packet of Thanksgiving centers. I highly recommend them! Any other suggestions?

Bat and Owl Fun!

Bat and Owl FUN!

We had a three day week with the kids this week. I did a quick focus on 2 nocturnal animals: owls and bats.  My students really liked the activities!

I used DeAnna Jump's Owl Glyph to teach collecting and displaying data. They really enjoyed making their owls and comparing the data results! :) 

I also used A Cupcake for the Teacher's Going Batty Craftivity to review diagrams and non fiction text features. Once I get them up on the wall, I'll get pictures up! I didn't use the craftivity exactly the way it was intended but they really turned out great!

Thanks to both teachers for the wonderful freebies! My students LOVED creating them! 

Finally, I made a few "Can-Have-Are" graphic organizers to use to encourage my students to write! We read books about bats and owls and filled out the "can-have-are" charts afterwards. The next day, I modeled how to use the charts to write sentences/mini reports about bats & owls! My kids really loved doing this! Here are a few pictures of the students using their charts to write sentences! 

So proud of my kids!!

Her desk may be cluttered, but she is busy at work! :)

He is matching his printing to the font on the chart...he's just great! :)

This little sweetie is hard at work writing sentences using her "Can Have Are" chart! :)



This was a surprisingly easy & fun activity for my kids. I emphasized that this is the kind of things that older boys and girls do so they were pretty pumped to complete this activity! I am thinking I will do this again...how great is this for teaching note taking and "report" writing?!

You can download the charts free from my TpT Store. Click here be taken to my store to download the charts! Enjoy them! If you like them, please consider rating them!!!

Autumn is Awesome!

There is nothing better than Autumn activities! Actually, there is nothing better than Autumn!!!! :) I've been trying to incorporate Fall into everything that I teach lately! I've got Fall Fever! 

I've already made my students play Halloween-themed games! They have been having a lot of fun with them too!

Playing "Candy Corn Counting: A Ten Frame Game"

These guys are playing "Picking Pumpkins".  This game encourages students to focus on number sequence by having them identify the number that comes before, after, and in between other numbers!

These darlings are playing "Witches Brew". It is a simple number recognition game. They LOVED using the little cauldron!

These games are part of my Halloween Centers if you want to check them out... :)

If you would like it, here is a free page from my Halloween pack:

Here is the link to the Google Doc

We also made a scarecrow recently...pics to come!

Fall is FANTASTIC! :)

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