Target Dollar Section

I went to Target yesterday for three items: dental floss, hair rubber bands, and Kleenex. Simple, right?

Apparently not. I got home with a big bag of goodies, but no dental floss! Just three items to remember... and I failed. I ended up walking to a nearby drugstore after dinner to get that elusive dental floss!

But back to my afternoon at Target... First I got an iced nonfat vanilla latte. Because this Target has a Starbuck's. And I was thirsty. And why not?! DID YOU KNOW IT'S SUMMER??????!!!!!!!

So after I got my coffee, I started to head straight to the hair accessories aisle. But do you know what I saw on the way? The dollar bins! I knew it would be completely irresponsible of me to walk by without looking, so I detoured. This particular aisle didn't have any of those Back to School items we all love. Not yet. I think it's a little early for our area because many of us just got out of school! But that's not to say I didn't find any items to use at school...

First, these cute little French Fry boxes caught my eye. There was another set of boxes just like this, but they were red and there were hamburgers on them. I started to get caught up in the excitement and tossed them into my cart. But then I realized that this kind of box is what fries come in-- not hamburgers. So darling as they were, the idea just didn't make sense to me, and I put them back. My brain was instantly going full-speed with the fry idea, and tomorrow I should be finished with the darling French Fry Literacy Centers that I've been working on. I'll post as soon as I'm done!



The other thing that I couldn't leave on the shelf was this cute half-sheet-sized clipboard. Okay, I actually bought four of them. The clip part is teal-colored plastic, and has the word "list" on it. It's really easy to clip and unclip, which will be a big plus for my darling little first graders' darling little fingers. And I love the half-sheet size. I've already started working on some Common Core literacy activities to go with the clipboards, too. My students love clipboards, so it will be fun. I love rigorous activities, so it will be educational, too!



I stayed up way too late last night working on the French Fry centers! I can wait to share them!

 

Fun with Fingerprints!

I love love love the Ed Emberley books! It's probably because I don't know how to draw very well. I just never learned how, really. Maybe I should take a drawing class...

But in the meantime... Thanks, Mr. Emberley!

The concept is so simple and the process is forgiving. That's what makes thumbprint pictures *perfect* for young children! All the results look great, and skill is not really a factor at all.

I created a way to use these books and still teach and practice standards from the Common Core. It's a book that students make using their own thumbprints for the pictures! My students absolutely loved doing this. The process was fun, and they adored their little books so much that they were eager to practice reading them.

I included lots of options when I created this. You can use one of my sentence starters, repeat it several times, and have a nice little emergent reader. Or you can vary the sentences on the page. Or you can have your students write their own sentences. I've included several different sentence starters, and there are corresponding pocket chart cards. And since differentiation is pretty much the most important thing ever, there is a list of ideas for differentiating this project! All you have to do is choose your options, make a few copies, and this literacy center is ready to go!



 

Free Books!

Teachers tend to spend their own money on things for their classrooms, and it's even worse when you work at a Title 1 school. My students are in such need... they lack experiences, good nutrition, shoes that fit, opportunities to read at home, supplies and this list goes on. When I do a project at school and ask for donations, I usually get nothing at all from the parents. On the 100th Day of School, I put out a sign-up sheet with some pretty typical items to make our "ten groups of ten" snack: pretzels, marshmallows, raisins... but no one signed up and I ended up buying everything myself. I wasn't thrilled to spend the money, but I wanted my students to have the experience! I can do that, at least. I can't buy them all shoes...

But, listen up, teachers in the San Francisco Bay Area! There is a little gem of a place... It's more like tiny. And it's dusty. And the hours of operation aren't super-convenient. But it's there and it's amazing because anyone who works with children in need can go and get free books!

[caption id="attachment_215" align="aligncenter" width="245"] The Children's Book Project asks that you take your own bags when you go to get books for your students.[/caption]

Near the end of the school year, I read a Richard Allington research paper and decided that I wanted needed to send my students home with their own books to keep for the summer and beyond. My first graders made INCREDIBLE progress this year, and each one truly learned to love reading. I just couldn't bear the thought that it was all going to end!

So I went to the Children's Book Project. They were very helpful, and once I told them my goal of sending 14 books home for each child, they began bringing bags and boxes of books from the back for me to go through. I took the books back to my classroom, sorted them on the students' desks, labeled each pile of books and then hid the piles in a cupboard. On the last day, I told the children that they could take their book totes home (***many cheers!!***)  I excused them one by one, and placed the stack of books I'd selected for them right into their book totes as they walked out the door. I wish I'd taken pictures!

Check the website for more information! Just click on the logo!

 

Creativity and Critical Thinking

A friend of mine is a big fan of the Maker Faire. The first time he told me about it, I couldn't quite get my head around the idea. But now I've got it. As their website says, it's a "family friendly festival of invention, creativity and resourcefulness."

Click for more information...



And in the spirit of the Maker Faire, I present a creativity and critical thinking unit for elementary students. This pack of goodies contains eight cards each from eight popular primary themes: pets, transportation, school, ocean animals, nature, shapes, farm, and creepy crawlies. Just print the files and cut into individual cards (there are four per page.) Then give your students a set or two of cards and some materials to build with, and let them go!



Making a school bus out of Lincoln Logs or a caterpillar out of Legos or a cat out of blocks or a backpack out of play dough? All are challenging activities that will require creativity, resourcefulness, and problem-solving skills! It's harder than you might think! Students can work independently or you can challenge small groups to work together. If you want to increase the difficulty, set a timer or have them work without talking!

Some students are uncomfortable at first with the idea of trying to build an animal out of blocks or a teacher out of Tinker Toys. But once they gain a little experience, they love this activity and it becomes easier.

These cards are great to use during small group center time, if you have it. They also work really well for rainy day recess!

My class last year? ALL future inventors! They've had lots of practice!

Summer! Summer! Summer!

I've gotta say... I'm enjoying the slower pace of summer! I know it's going to fly by, so I've been trying to take advantage of every day!

I've been thinking about when I taught at a year round school. School was in session for nine weeks, and then we had a three week break. I thought there were lots of advantages to that 45/15 schedule, but I never got a summer in those years (only the scheduled three week break.) Of course, I also got three glorious weeks in the fall, three in the winter and three in the spring!

Anyway... look at my keys!



Notice anything?! Oh, yes, my hand sanitizer is there. Thank heavens for that little invention. I swear it was made for primary teachers!

And my whistle is there. I love this whistle! It has a quieter, higher-pitched tone than most. It's distinctive, and I never sound like I'm the coach at a basketball game!

And yep, there's my flash drive. I started carrying it with me all the time several years ago. I loaded it with some basic documents, so that I could have access when I needed them. I also added the power points I've used in some professional development sessions, photographs of my family, lesson plans, and a few professional articles for reference.

So what's missing?! My school KEYS!

I had to turn them in the other day. Ha ha! I would love to have summer access, but it's not happening this year. There is a ton of moving going on, and I'm involved. I was in a room waaaaaaaaaaaay at one end of the school, and I'm being moved close to the office for next year. I'm thrilled with my new location, but it meant A TON of packing. Everything had to be in boxes. One thing I'm thankful for, though, is that the moving crew was already starting last week. Hopefully they will be done soon! I brought three boxes worth of projects home, and I'd like to go put things in my new room as I get them finished.

Yesterday I washed all my math manipulatives and the children's scissors and lots of storage containers.



Today I'm going to cut out a few things I laminated, and work on a critical thinking and creativity unit. But I won't be working long! It's summer!

Summer At Last!

What a year! My class was incredibly challenging, but I love every one of those darling little children... and they accomplished a lot. One of the best things about teaching first grade is that students usually start the year not reading.... and finish the year reading! It's so much fun to watch them learn.

But now, it's summer. Can I hear an "Aaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh?" The routines at my house are more relaxed, and I'm already starting to catch up on projects that I just couldn't get around to during the school year. The clothes hampers are all empty, the freezer is full, the dog has been getting some long walks, and the stack of professional books on my nightstand has a "for fun" book on top! Yahoooo!

Of course, I brought home a few boxes of projects for the summer... some new units to create, laminated literacy and math materials to cut out, manipulatives to clean, files and binders to reorganize, CDs to load onto iTunes, books to repair, etc. The list is long, and I'm completely up for it!

This morning was my first real vacation day. I started the day with a walk to Starbuck's with my daughter and our pup. The weather in our area is usually pretty close to perfect, and today was no exception. We walked and sipped and chatted with neighbors and people we saw on the way, and when we got home I felt completely ready to get started on projects. Of course, I needed to make a list first, and decided to make it on my phone. And after a little exploring, I found a great app!

It's called abcNotes, and it's a way to organize notes and lists. I downloaded the free version first, but within ten minutes, I liked it enough to buy the full version for $2.99! It's very easy to use, and with the full version comes the option for 15 different desktops full of notes. You can choose different types and colors of notes and arrange them on each desktop, varying the size and font however you like.  I'm imagining workout notes and goals on one desktop, grocery lists on another, school tasks and ideas, and more...  I got started with just what I was hoping to accomplish today.I can tell already that this is an app that I will use a lot! I love to write things on my list, and cross them off as I complete each one! And though "sleep in" is at the top of my list, there are about a bazillion other projects that I plan to finish this summer. I'd better get right to work!