Oh, Vacation is Bliss! New Boots, New Books, and a Homemade Caramel Macchiato!

Have I told you that my husband makes the best coffee? OMG. The. Best. His espresso tops any drink I've ever had at Starbucks or Peet's. Don't get me wrong... I'm very happy with Starbucks and Peet's drinks. Love them, in fact. But Ken's drinks are even better. Several years ago, he started talking about buying an espresso machine. And then came the research... and one day he came home with an Italian, black and silver machine that cost... ahem...several hundred dollars.  I was aghast. All I could think about at the time were all the groceries and kids' shoes that I could have bought with that much money!

HOWEVER, when I drank the first mocha he made... I was immediately convinced! What a smart man! Omiword! So good! And now, several years later... maybe eight? The machine has more than paid for itself. And so today, I've been lounging in bed... a little reading, a little work... and a homemade caramel macchiato! (And he made the caramel, too!)



 

Bliss! Don't you love winter break?!

And I'm excited... I'm ordering these boots today!



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My fabulous kindergarten and first grade families gave me all those gift cards, and one will make a significant dent in the cost of the boots. I have a brown pair already and I love them! Cannot wait for them to arrive! I've had my eye on these for ages!

And books... Books!

My kiddos know that I love books! I have more than 4,000 books in my classroom. I know that because one year I had my son tally the books in each book box... farm books, habitat books, school books, weather books, books by Mo Willems, Patricia Polacco, Mem Fox, Tomie dePaola, Donald Crews, Kevin Henkes, and the list goes on and on and on.

So those sweet kids told their parents how much I love books, and I was treated to some gift cards that I can use to buy books, too. And here are a few of the books I'm buying:

The Snow Globe Family by Jane O'Conner 



Such a fun story! And it is perfect to use with a paper snow globe project like the one I did with my students last week.

Animals in Winter by Henrietta Bancroft



 

 

 

 

 

 

When we get back to school in January, my students will be learning about the ways in which different animals survive the long, cold winter. This book is a great resource, and I've been wanting my own copy!

And New Year's Day by David F. Marx



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Anyone else feeling like they just can't have too many informational texts in the classroom? I love the Rookie series... good information for young children, and appropriate for their age!

I'll share more books tomorrow. I've got a long list, as you might have guessed!

Happy, Happy Winter Break to you all!

Winter Break is Here! Time to rest, relax, hang out with the family... and prep for January!

Friends, I'm exhausted. But that's okay, because it's time for two weeks off!

I had the most wonderful day with my kiddos today. The day began with giggly excitement: everyone was wearing pajamas for Pajama Day! First thing in the morning, our buddies came to visit. That's right. Sixty kids in my little old room. It was completely packed full of cross-age goodness! There were kids everywhere! Sitting at desks, working on the floor, packed into the library area.



The buddy pairs worked together to make paper snow globes. It's a simple idea that was completely engaging and exciting because we used paint and glitter! Adorbs! They're already up on the wall, and there they'll stay for all of January!





Then, they made a blizzard worth of snowflakes! Most of my students hadn't made paper snowflakes before, and they were mesmerized by the magic. I made a bazillion copies of big circles. I taught my students to cut the circle, fold it in half like a taco, then like a fan, then like an ice cream cone. There were squealing children all over the place! They loved it! Each buddy pair made one snowflake for me to hang in my room, one for the fifth grade teacher (Hi, Gwen!) to hang in her room, and then they could make all they wanted to take home. It looked like it actually snowed in my room with all the little bits of paper that ended up on the floor. But with sixty kids helping... we had it cleaned up in no time!

After lunch, my little darlings made gingerbread houses with graham crackers (thanks to my awesome room mother, who gathered all the supplies and tons of parent helpers!) and then she had a really fun snowman project for the class.

Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures! Or really it's more like "I was so busy helping students that I didn't have a chance to take pictures!" I'll try to take some when we get back in January. Marvelous Room Mom Shauna mixed up some magical puffy paint using equal parts of white glue and shaving cream. Who would have thought?! Students used the paint to make snowman pictures and then embellished them with googly eyes, yarn, pompoms, buttons, and paper carrot noses. They turned out sooooo cute!  Puff paint. With shaving cream and glue! Am I the last one to hear about this cool medium?!

And finally, Marvelous Room Mom Shauna and my kiddos and lots of their parents presented me with the coolest gift I've ever gotten! M.R.M.S. bought a beautiful wreath at Costco, and embellished it with gift cards. I was completely overwhelmed. Oh, my families were so generous and I'm feeling very appreciative. And appreciated.



And what happened next, you ask? I semi-cleaned my classroom as fast as I could (will probably have to go in for an hour or two during the break to get a few things ready, because it's not spotless.) I packed up all my goodies, drove home, and promptly fell asleep on the couch. I sampled a few bites of chocolate yumminess, given to me by those sweet little children, made my list for thank you notes, and I'm already enjoying some family time.  Aaaaaaaaah!

Of course, I'm also thinking about my Happy New Year unit, which I am going to update, and some Snowman Centers!

 

Getting Ready for January: Numbers for the Pocket Chart up to 120

What a week! I KNOW y'all know what I'm talking about. My class is the sweetest! On Monday and Tuesday, they were completely delightful. Wednesday was challenging. Now I'm just hoping that we all survive until Friday!

Today we completely finished off the calendar projects. Yahoo! And math was awesome (more on that later--with pictures!) And we read The Gingerbread Cowboy and did some activities (more on that later!)

But just to keep myself from going completely nuts, I'm prepping materials for January.



I made these numbers for the pocket chart, plus an extra 20, since 120 is the "magic number" for first grade Common Core math.

Snag a set for yourself HERE, laminate this week, and cut out at your leisure (in front of the TV!) during the break. You'll be all set!

Two. More. Days.

Happy New Year Emergent Reader for Kindergarten and First Grade

I'm trying to think ahead... to the week after vacation. We don't have students on the first day back because it's an inservice day... which is awesome! I'm going to be presenting, which is also awesome, but it means that I'm going to be pretty focused on that task! So I think it's best to do as much as I can right now to get ready for my students to come back the day after that.

One thing we will be doing is reading this little book about the new year: 2014!



 

The book uses high frequency words and has pictures to support the text.

In 2014 I will learn on the computer.

In 2014 I will be responsible.

In 2014 I will be a good friend... I will take care of my body... I will write new stories...

And more. It's a perfect "fresh start" kind of book, with affirmations for a positive and productive year. Click on the picture above, or click HERE to get your copy!

I made copies (love the staple feature!), cut the books, and they are ready to go now. My kinders and first graders love having their own books to read, and it will be a terrific focus for their first day back in 2014.

Now to survive the next four days!

 

 

Kindergarten and First Grade Calendar for 2014 ...Darling Handprint Art and Poems for Each Month

I love this little calendar. It's magical.

There's a beautiful full-color cover with a place for the students to write their names.



For each month of the year, students make a handprint picture of some kind. The picture shows the snowflakes for January and the hearts for February.



Plus, there are cute, thematic graphics, a thematic poem, and an accurate 2014 calendar.





OMIWORD. It's precious. My babes were completely enchanted when they discovered the pictures they could make with their hands.

Click on any of the above pictures to get your copy. My students made these for presents for their parents for the holidays. But you could also make one month at a time, or create the whole calendar as a "Happy New Year!" present.

Four more days, Teacher Friends!

 

Hysterical Laughter While Reading the Word Wall

Oh my. Things just happen... in even the most innocent situations.

Read the Room... we do it every day. The Superkid is always first. He or she chooses a pointer and leads the class to a chart or poem or shared reading or anything else in the room that we can read together. There are definitely some "old favorite" poems to read, and the wall where we have all the color words is popular, too.







 

But the most popular choice BY FAR is the Word Wall. Great, right?! All those yummy high-frequency words?! Of course I want students getting extra practice with those! So every time a student chooses the word wall, I cheer a little inside!

Now normally, we read the words  from left to right, just like we'd read them in a book. So we'll start with the words that start with "a" and we'll read them from left to right, across one row and then down to the next. Then, we'll read the words that start with "b" in the same way. It's NEVER been confusing... until yesterday.

A darling little kindergartner got her turn with the pointer, and rushed to the word wall. She started pointing to the "a" words in a rather random order. The students didn't miss a beat and read the words, anyway. And the she started on the "b" words... and this time, she decided to read them column by column, which was fine, until we got to "big, but" and the class just completely lost it. I might have giggled myself. But the more the students laughed, the more I laughed, and then they laughed, and pretty quickly we were just a mess of hilarity. I love my job!



Oh. My. I think we're all ready for a little vacation! When does Winter Break start? That's right, kids.... SIX MORE DAYS!!

 

 

 

 

Friday and Saturday and What I'm Working On

And just like that we're down to ten days until Winter Break!

On Friday, some teachers from my school met at a nearby... ahem... restaurant for a little TGIF fun. Can I hear a "Yahoo?!" We had a lovely time together. Since I'm new to the school, it was really my first chance to see everyone off campus and chat outside of work discussions. And oh, the laughing! It was just what I needed!

And today?

I slept late. Relatively, that is. Since I'm usually up by 5:30 am, 7:30 this morning felt nothing short of luxurious! I "played some house sports," as my husband says. A little laundry, a little cooking, a little organizing. It felt good to get it all done! I still have a list a mile long... I haven't done a thing to get ready for Christmas. Not. A. Thing. Bleh. I need two of me!

I've been trying to talk Rose Kitty into helping me out, but apparently she's not in the mood!



I've got a bunch of things in the works... some sign language alphabet activities, word work packet, holidays around the world, gingerbread, an interactive calendar... I'm hoping for just the right circumstances to get creative tomorrow!

Enjoy the weekend, teacher friends!