My Summer Bucket List

Come August I know I will be totally ready to head back to room 505, but right now I am so ready to dive into my summer.  Like I always say, teachers have summers "off" for a reason.  :)  Read on to see "My Summer Bucket List"!


1) Vacation with hubby and family!



2) Read!  Here are some of the books on my shelf!

(That last one: "Storm Track", I received in the mail for FREE and SIGNED by the author herself.  It was a special gift because her husband may or may not have accidentally hit my car in a parking lot.)


3) Float and tan in my backyard pool!  Lucky!



4) Create units and a TPT store.  I am still trying to learn the ropes to all of this! Suggestions?


5) Sleep!  Of course!


6) Give these precious pups some more attention and exercise!

7) Go for more runs!  I enjoy a good run, but come 5:30 after a day with firsties, they tend to be harder to come by.  No excuses this summer! :)

Money, Money, Money

Teaching first graders how to identify pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters and THEN count them in a set... it's a good thing I enjoy what I do so much.  We had a great two week money unit in room 505.  And guess what?  My kids really got it!  In our final days on money there was no hiding my excitement as they were counting all the coin combinations I challenged them to.  Here are some of the various teaching methods/tools I used during our unit.

*Does anyone else use this PERFECT coin poem?  The kids love memorizing it and it really helps them to remember the characteristics of each coin!  

*This year I had a new idea!  And it has proven to be something I will definitely do again!  Monday was "penny day", Tuesday was "nickel day", Wednesday was "dime day", and Thursday was "quarter day".  We really dove into studying each coin, talking about it, and memorizing it.  I let the kids carry the coin around with them all day.  They had to keep it in their pockets.  (I asked them to wear clothes with pockets ahead of time!)  It was also a great way to promote responsibility!  The kids worked hard to not lose their coin and knew that at the end of the day I was expecting it back!  On Friday, we did "mystery day".  I randomly distributed a coin to each child.  They had to find someone who had a different coin and then tell that friend all about their coin.  They absolutely loved mystery day!


*Each day we also added details to our coin flip book, depending on which coin we were learning about.

*After the children mastered identifying coins, we started working on counting coins.  I teach the children to use "touch points" when adding up coins.  If you don't know what that is, see the poster below.

Each touch point is worth 5, and first graders are really good at counting by fives! :)

*To implement using touch points we made a game.  First, we folded a large piece of construction paper in half.  Second, I had the kids cut out some sets of coins from math lessons I decided not to use.  (Because I like my idea better!)  Next, we put the appropriate amount of touch points on each coin.  Then, we labeled each set A-I (see below).  

Last, we put the answers on the backside under a taped paper. 

 (This way they can check their work and also not see the other answers before they get to them!)

*Another fun game!  Each child wears a necklace with a coin combination on it.  Next, they find a partner.  Each partner takes a turn and counts the set of coins on the other student's necklace.  

To check their answer, they simply open the coin necklace! Wala!

 

*Oh, and one more thing!  I was sure to leave out some coin flash cards!  Great idea for early finishers!

Earth Day

To celebrate Earth Day we went for a little walk around the school and picked up trash.  The kids were too cute running around with their plastic bags.  We were sure to have a little chat about germs first!  I gave each child a latex free glove and off we went.  

Another Earth Day idea the children loved was turning off the lights during class time.  Anything out of the ordinary excites them!  Not to mention we were helping the Earth!  I love first graders!

Spring and Easter Centers

Thank goodness it is Spring Break!  I was more than ready for a little rest from the hustle and bustle of teaching first grade.  Before we parted ways for a nice week off, we enjoyed some review with our Spring and Easter centers.  The kids enjoyed them, but I think I did EVEN MORE!  I love this time of year in first grade because all of the sudden the kiddos are becoming so much more independent.  Their learning begins to become so evident and it is very exciting.  I loved watching them complete their review centers with great success!  I was actually able to get some things done around the classroom while the kiddos were hard at work.  Here are some of the centers we did this past week:
 
One-  Compound or Not Compound

For this center the children need to place raindrops under "Compound" or "Not Compound" umbrellas.  I have them record their answers on a worksheet to check their work.

Two- Even or Odd Numbers

At this center the children need to determine whether the numbers on the flowers are even or odd.  Next, they place the flower into the egg carton.  If the number is even they place it on the "even" side, and if they number is odd, they place it on the "odd" side.  To make this center you cut flowers out of construction paper, put numbers on them, and glue them to a Popsicle stick.  Next, you cut holes into an egg carton and label one side "even" and one side "odd".

Three- Making Spring Words

The children love this center.  Each umbrella has a small envelope in the back.  The children must open the envelope to pull on some small, lettered raindrops that are within.

After the kiddos pull out the raindrops, they must sort them to find out which Spring word the letters are creating.

Four- Vowel Caterpillars 

At this center the children read the words on the caterpillar feet and determine whether they are short vowel or long vowel words.  They need to sort them accordingly by sticking them onto the magnets on the caterpillars.  So cute!

Five- Easter Egg Trivia (My favorite!)

Within each egg is a review question and the children will take turns opening each egg and reading the question.  This is a great way to review some key vocabulary/math terms, etc.  Some of the questions inside include: Who was the first president of the United States?  What is ten more than 52?  What does it mean to find the sum? etc.  The children record their answers on a worksheet so I can check their work.

What are some centers you do with your class around this time of year?


CREDIT:  These centers were created with the helpfulness of my fabulous first grade team members and of course the wonderful ideas from The Mailbox.

Dental Health

So February is Dental Health month, but we were so busy!  I broke the rules and did a little dental health this week instead.  I absolutely love teaching my children more about dental health by reading this educational (and adorable) book!

Another great read aloud that I always do during this unit also happens to be one of my most favorite books to read to the children.  It is a suspenseful little book and it gets the kiddos real excited about reading, an added plus!

Next each child created their own "Cavity Fighting Shield" to show how he/she will protect their precious smile.

(OK- my Dentist office is totally a house, but as I tell my kids, I am not the art teacher.  BUT, I love to try!)




For a writing activity I had the children sequence the directions of "How to Brush Your Teeth".  We made our own giant size toothbrushes to go with it!

Chicks

Over the past few weeks we have enjoyed some good ol' embryology in room 505.  In February our chick eggs were delivered.  We began our study on the life cycle of a chicken.

The children were so excited to feel the warmth of the incubator and hold the eggs.  We even got to look inside of the eggs with a "special flashlight".  It was great seeing the kiddos get so excited over seeing the shadows inside of the egg move.  The first graders documented their observations in their very own chick journals.  

Once the chicks hatched the real fun started.  The kiddos absolutely loved holding them and playing with them.  The poor little chicks deserve a gold medal for coming into the world in a first grade classroom!

The day the chicks hatched we had a happy birthday chick party!  We all wore yellow and ate yellow food!  We had cookies with yellow frosting, lemon heads, chick peeps, lemonade, bananas, and so much more!


OTHER CUTE IDEAS!

*We had a countdown made until hatch day.  The kids loved knowing how many more days!
*We made this little cutie on the right.
(Thank you Fun Hand Print Art for the
great idea!)
*We put the chicks in a clear aquarium after
they hatched so the kids could always see!


Are You Smarter Than A First Grader?
1) What is a clutch?
2) What is brooding?
3) What do you call a female chicken?
4)What do you call a male chicken?
5)How can you tell the difference between
a male chick and a female chick?

We found/learned the answers in this precious book:

 Life Cycles: Egg to Chicken and Life Cycles: Tadpole to Frog by Camilla de la Bedoryere.

Disney Princesses

My poor team suffered embarrassment upon my sharing of the 100 year old lady picture. :)  Today, we had a chance to redeem ourselves.  It was "dress as your favorite character" day.  We were Disney princesses!