Daily 5

I started reading this book and it captured me on the first chapter.  I love the idea of my kiddos monitoring themselves.  Unfortunately, I have only read Chapter 1 - because I read right before I fall asleep and I have been way too tired to digest anymore of this book.  So I am going to reread Chapter 1 on the airplane next week and try to catch up with the rest of you.  Are there any Daily 5 pros out there that can give a newbie some advice?

Volunteer Gifts

I love, love Pinterest - you find the cutest things.  I made these for my mom helpers.  Love the way they turned out.  Cups from Wal-mart, starburst candy and labels from Nothing But Country.  Super simple.

 

2 1/2 Days

2 1/2 days until my babes become big 2nd graders, I will miss them tons.  They have a lot of personality.  Some days I laugh so hard I can't breath and then there are days that I cry so hard that I can't breath.  They are a great bunch of kids.  Today, is game day and a farewell breakfast for our Assistant Principal, she will be moving to a new school.  I am really, going to miss her. 

I teach at a year round school, so I am one of the lucky teachers that gets 5 weeks off.  Most of the school gets 4 days before they need to start back again.  Lucky me and I get to spend the whole month in Hawaii - seeing my husband.  He retired and moved to Hawaii to take care of his mom, so I spend my months off with him. 

So in 6 days this is what I will wake up to.......

Jupiter - Part II

So, I was having a problem liking my room for Open House - with Space.  Then, the idea came and my kiddos made their own aliens.  I gave them a big piece of construction paper and told them to draw an alien with their black illustrator crayon and color it.  It was one of my favorite BB, the parents loved it.  The kids had their parents guess which one was theirs.  They named them, gave them an age, where they came from, what they ate - it was adorable.



They measured them with rulers, paper clips and cubes.  They had a blast.



They wrote a story about their Alien and I published it.

We talked about constellations, so they made there own.  They wrote a short story about how the constellation came to be.





They were hanging from the ceiling on a clothes line, a wonderful idea from one of the teachers at my school.  On the other boards, I had a couple of their Art Masters drawings up, an activity from Mrs. Jump and a writing sample they did the first day of school.  But, my favorite board was this......

These are love notes, drawings, cards that were made at home - just for me.  I love this board.  On the bottom left is a picture from one of the little brothers in my class (love it).  The big middle one - the two girls made on a play date.  The parents were excited to see the drawings there.  At the end of the month, I will put them in a big binder and keep them.  I think this might be a permanent board that I keep up all year and just rotate the drawings out.  I love art that is not cookie cutter.

I, now, think that this was my favorite Open House, ever.

To be continued.....



Jupiter - Part I

A little background:  I teach year round school in California.  My husband retired and lives in Hawaii taking care of his mom.  So, I am able to spend all my breaks in Hawaii.  In March, my husband took me to the Ranger Station at Mauna Loa.  During this time Venus and Jupiter were really close to the Earth and to each other.  I told the Ranger that I was a teacher, so he hooked up my camera to one of the telescopes.

I was jumping out of my skin, I was shaking - I was so excited.  The ranger kept saying that we could do better, that we could get color and the bands of Jupiter.  It was really busy up there.  I kept telling him "No, it was fine, but kiddos would love it".  The ranger insisted on playing with the telescope, trying to get color.  I told him that I would come back another time and we would play with my camera and the telescope.

Now, the man next to me said, "It looks pretty da*# good to me".  I totally agreed.  My husband said that he could see me shaking with excitement. 

When I got back to school, I showed the kids - they thought it was great.  Mr. B came up to me a few days later and begged if we could learn about Space.  Now, Space is not a First Grade teaching standard.  So, I got on Teachers Pay Teachers and bought centers, and a couple of units.  I turned it into a writing standard activity that my kids loved (with a lot of support from TpT).  We spent 3 weeks on writing, making a Planet book.  The next thing I knew, Open House was in a week and I didn't have anything to show for it (well maybe a few things).  But, it wasn't my usual projects everywhere.  I was feeling very defeated.  So the kids got busy. 

To be continued....... 

My New Pretty Blog

Barb at Ruby Slippers Blog Designs just finished my beautiful blog.  I love it.  She is so nice to work with and super sweet.  I highly recommend her blog designing skills.  It was like she had known me all my life, knew exactly what I wanted.  Please go check her out.  Have a wonderful evening.

Countdown Begins

Open House is now in the past, I will post pictures soon.  The kids were so excited, showing their parents all of their hard work.  I finished inputting grades yesterday.  I need to finish Math Assessments today.  Then the official countdown begins ..... 8 1/2 days left of school.  Woo hoo, let the summer begin (or at least a month).  I am leaving 2 days after school is out to spend a month in Hawaii - so excited to see my hubby.

Open House

WARNING: Do not go on Pinterest the day before Open House...just saying

I am so excited to start my new teaching blog.  I have lots of ideas for next year, but I guess I need to finish teaching this year first.  So stick around as I start this journey.