Spring is Coming Early

We can expect an early spring Thanks to the groundhog here in Milwaukee.  Tomorrow I plan on reading my favorite two groundhog books:  Groundhog Gets A Say and A Garden for Groundhog.  

My poem of the week is called, Wake Up, Groundhog.  I typed up the poem two ways: first, for if the groundhog sees his shadow and secondly, for when the groundhog does not see his shadow.    There is a homework page for the children to take home, however they will have to take an extra copy of the poem home with them.  Click Here if you would like a copy.  

The DREADED first day of the month

starting over each month

This is the day is dislike the most of the entire month.  The first day because I have absolutely nothing organized and ready for the month.  Switching grades last year seemed like a great idea, and I am happy each day I am in first grade.   However each weekend is another story.  I feel like I am starting over from scratch looking for new ideas all the time.  Thank goodness for TPT and Pinterest.  

I should be receiving some kind of an award from TPT soon for the person who shops the most. 

My top three go to places to shop are:

1.  The Moffatt Girls…..I love the no prep packets.  Just copy and go!   She creates games and the children love them.

2.  A Day In First Grade……I love the Science Packs.  They go great with my science units.  The children love the science experiments.

3.  Doodle Bugs….These require some work organizing however they are colorful make great learning stations.  I use them as "Challenge Work" when the kids finish all their other classwork they can go play "learning games."  They love this.     

MLK Week

Martin Luther King Jr.

My first graders spent the week learning about MLK.   There is so much to learn and so many ways you can tie Dr. King's message into your daily lessons.  For me the perfect place I find to relate Dr. King's message is religion.  Even though Dr. King was not Catholic, he still believe and lived in life in a positive way spreading the message of Jesus.  

We read my favorite two books about MLK for first graders:  Happy Birthday, Martin Luther King Jr. and Martin's Big Words.

We wrote down all the BIG WORDS MLK used and tried to used them in our writing too.

We also read:  Every Child Deserves a Better World (I think this book is out of print.)  I told the boys and girls how when I first saw this book I thought it might be silly because Kermit the Frog and the muppets where on the cover.  I judged the book before I read it.  That was just like what Dr. King was preaching to people not to do.  Don't judge on what you see on the outside.....look to the inside.  Then when I read the book I understood what the author's message was and now I love the book.  

And then we wrote Our Dreams for a Better World.

Lots of Snow Learning in First Grade

This week in my classroom we are reading lots of books about Snow and Snowmen.  Some of my favorite snow books are:  The Snowy Day, Snowballs, A Stranger in the Woods and Sadie and the Snowman. 

We made some adorable snowmen that I found on Pinterest.

And for science we are working on making snow crystals. 

Lots of Fun!

Ideas for Spelling Activities

Spelling Ideas

One of my weekly challenges is to come up with some ideas for spelling practice each week.  I have a structure that I follow each week.

On Mondays I have the students write the words in their dictionaries.  They also give each other the pretest and correct it.

On Tuesday I generally create a worksheet on the back of the pretest.  It varies from week to week.  So far I have done a couple of different ideas…

1.  Writing sentences on handwriting paper

2.  Writing the spelling words in Rainbow Colors.

3.  Red and Blue Writing….Vowels in red and consonants in blue. 

4.  Spell It and Add It Up  (This was a bigger project than I intended.)

5.  Roll It and Spell It (Lots of fun)

6.  Rhyming Your Spelling Words (Can be difficult depending on your spelling words)

On Wednesday and Thursday we do word sorts from our workbook..

On Friday we do making words activities, I try to find mystery works that have some of our spelling words or skills we are working on.  

This is what I have found so far.  I am always on the look out for good ideas. 

Teach Compassion

When I comfort my students with

LOVE and CARE, I TEACH them COMPASSION.

(Paraphrased from the book:  Mitten Strings for God by Katrina Kenison)

I was reminded this week of the importance of slowing down and taking time for one student.  I had a student who was sick for a couple of days.  Upon returning to school he was having a hard time transitioning back to class.  Unfortunately it was one of those busy mornings and the class had to be at Mass at 8:00.  I took the class to Mass and asked another teacher to cover for me and went back to the parent and child and quietly took the little boy into the classroom.  I told him we would get ready quietly and go to Mass when he was ready.  It took a bit; we passed out some art projects, talked about his days at home. 

After a period of time, I asked him if he felt ready to go to Mass and he said Yes, so we went.  The rest of the day went smoothly.  I never gave it another thought. 

At the end of the school day him mother gave me a bouquet of flowers. and said Thank You for taking the extra time to help him.   

I loved working at my desk all week.  It smelled so fresh and wonderful.

This reminded me of the sign I have hanging up by my desk.  Miss Kacey made it at Doodle Bugs a few years ago however I hang it up every year to remind myself how important it is to not just teach the academics but to teach compassion as well.  

source