Back To School Bonanza!

Starting to get the first day jitters?  Head on over to Erica Bohrer's Blog for your chance to win a huge Back to School package! Best of Luck :)

http://ericabohrer.blogspot.com/2011/07/back-to-school-bonanza-contest.html

Too Cool For School Linky-Party

Another wonderful linky party...I think I am addicted! Stop by http://ilove2teach.blogspot.com to check out some great ideas and time savers!

Tattle Bear/Tattle Box~

My linky party idea is a time saver in some sorts.  There are many times through out a day where students will come and tattle on the smallest things... so I have either a tattle bear (whom they can whisper their tattles to) or a tattle box where they write down their tattles (YAY, it incorporates writing) and place it in the box for me to read.  Of course, you do need to go over what a tattle is and how if it is something important then they really do need to tell the teacher. For the tattle box, I gave each student a small note pad to keep in their desk... this way instead of all running up to me to tell me their tattle, they settle into their desk and quietly write it down which is less distracting.

As always... ENJOY!

Free Shoe Unit! I LOVE SHOES!

Who loves SHOES???  I DO!!! Check out this cute Shoe Unit created by Mrs. Tabb.. she is giving it away for free at http://anotherdayinfirstgrade.blogspot.com/2011/07/um-shoes-shoesa-mini-unit.html Enjoy!

Post-It Linky Party

There are endless ways to use Post-Its within a classroom... one of my favorites is for board relays (it's great because it gets the students moving).  You split the chalkboard/whiteboard up into sections and split the class up into groups.  Give each group one stack of Post-Its.  They line up in a row, the first person has the Post-Its and writes their answer then places is on the board in their section... they then hand off the Post-Its to their next teammate. They can either keep going until everyone has gone, or you can put a time limit on it, its up to you.  This can be used for any subject... for example one time I used it was for word families.  So I might say, "List as many -et words as you can."
, then they would race to try and Post the most. Other ideas could be: posting animals for certain habitats, counting by 5's or 10's and having the next person Post the next number, posting characteristics of a specific character, listing nouns, etc.  The possibilities are endless...and the students LOVE to race! :)

Come check out some wonderful ways to use Post-Its within the classroom, join the party! http://mrsrojasteaches.blogspot.com/

First Day~ Linky Party!

I am getting so excited for the beginning of the school year!!! I am still trying to find the picture of this …but, we start out the school year making a First Grade Mascot. We talk about the concept of a team, make a list of ways to be a good teammate (a better way to say classroom "rules"), then we construct and name one mascot for the class.

I start out with a large brown paper bag... then each child chooses from a huge box of random art supplies and applies their piece to the bag.  In the end they typically end up looking like some sort of monster.  Then, each students writes down a name for the Mascot... and we vote through out the day and narrow it down to just one. 

THEY LOVE IT!! :)

Thanks for hosting this Linky Party!  Check out all the great ideas on http://fun-in-first.blogspot.com

Fun Earth Day Project

Look at how cute they are!! The students LOVED making these! We took egg cartons and cut them so that there were three holes in a row (this would be a great project for classroom helpers). I then had the students paint the caterpillars, add the beloved googly eyes and add antennas. We then added soil, grass seed, and water.  Then the waiting game began!  They started to show their growth after we came back from the weekend. The students were soooo excited to see them growing. 

Just a heads up... these do need A LOT of water... because the cardboard egg cartons soak up a lot of the water.  Over the weekend I had them sitting in trays of water so that they wouldn't dry out.

Almost Ready...

I am almost ready to begin posting things to this blog.  I tend to sit down with good intentions of uploading materials to share... but find myself becoming distracted by all the wonderful ideas of other teachers.  I have sooo many things to go and create now, you are all so creative.  I hope I can help you even slightly as much as you have been helping me. I promise new materials will be uploaded soon!1