9 Days and Counting

Here is what we have been doing...

My friend Jen Erickson has posted some AwEsOmE word study activities on her TPT Store!  My kids LOVE these activities!  They are totally engaged and have so much fun.  Seriously, they are asking to do them All. The. Time! Click on the picture to link to her store!!  All you need are crayons, dice, and pairs!  I am going to put these in take home bags next year for extra practice!  Thanks Jen!! You ROCK!

 --------------------------

DINOSAURS are walking in Room 9!  I have about 9 students (from 18) who are obsessed with the critters!  So I decided to dust off an old unit and spend the last two weeks reading and writing about these amazing creatures!  We have weekly Star Students...we make them a Star book and they kids have been asking me to dra some pretty difficult pictures...for someone who can only draw stick figures...not too shabby, if I do say so myself! Elsa is a big hit with the girls!

--------------------------  

OH, AND, I finally found some black mini crates at the Dollar General in Bloomington, IL.  Now I can sleep at night!! OK, here is the story...  See these gorgeous "transparent" mini crates?  

Well, they don't make this color anymore.  two of mine cracked and broke :( boo!  I have had them for 8 years!  When I went looking for them, all I could find were black!  So as OCD as I am, I could not have just 2 black and the rest "transparent".  Luckily, they were only 50 cents!  I purchased all the mini crates DG had in my town.  Wouldn't you know, I was two short!  Ugg!! I searched 4 DG stores in my area with no luck!  I was getting frustrated.  Then while in Bloomington, several weeks later, my son had a soccer game and I dropped him at the field and stopped in...behold there were 5 black mini crates!! FOR 50 CENTS!!  I bought all 5!!!

So that is it for now!!  I have 9 days of school left - only half of my DRA2  Assessments are done and I am feeling a little overwhelmed!! I also have volunteer gifts to make -- AAARRGGG!!! Oh well!

Happy Teaching,

TPT Sale!

I am celebrating my fellow teachers!  I am having a sale in my TPT store in honor of you!

Enjoy!!

Happy Teaching,

Take Home Math Kits

So I was scrolling on Facebook and there was a post, Casey Turner over at Second Grade Math Maniac, was looking for 1st and 2nd grade teachers to try out her Take Home Math Kits.  Who wouldn't JuMp on that train!?  So, I made a comment that I would definitely be interested!  I filled out a short questionnaire and a few days 
                                                              L
                                                                 A
                                                                     T
                                                                        E
                                                                            R... 
I WAS ONE OF THE 16 SELECTED!!  YAY!!

So...On March 31st, Casey sent me the EnTiRe (287 pages) thing to use for the month of April!  All I have to do is use it and give an honest review/blog post on April 30th -- Okay (said in my BEST Monica voice)!  Love Friends!  That night, I went through the whole pack and wrote down what I wanted to print. There are some 2nd grade activities that I did not want to use at this time.  I also sent an email to my parents and asked them if they would like to have this sent home Monday - Thursday or Thursday - Monday.  The weekend WON!

On Monday afternoon, I began printing my lists - to save on color ink, I printed most of the activities on colored cardstock.  There are some game boards that needed to be in color :).  I also printed the cover and instructions to one page and glued them to large mailing envelopes and numbered each one.  We have this wonderful print-room volunteer, she laminated ALL of the pages for me on Tuesday, I wish I would have taken a picture of the roll - huge!  Then on Thursday, My two wonderful Parent volunteers cut them out for me.  Over the weekend, I got the materials together for the kits so we could begin using them in room 9!

 

After asking several parents, I elected to send them home on Thursday through Monday.  I sent home a parent letter to get permission for check out.  Students are totally loving it! I am very pleased with the enthusiasm the kids have when they take them home.  I have had several parents ask me if I am going to do this for ELA too!  Hmmm... 

I created a check in/out list that has the games I printed for my use.  The Kit comes with a couple choices; but I wanted one with only the games I chose.  I have also made reminder slips for the games I chose to remind students they have the games out.  

 

 If you are looking for a way for your students to be engaged in math practice at home, then this is the product for you!  It is fantastic!  I am so grateful that I got to participate in this review!! Thank you so much, Casey Turner for the opportunity!

Spring Break!!

I work in a school district that has a balanced calendar. So I get 2 weeks off!! Which was a Godsend this year.  My mother-in-law has been battling Lung Cancer for a year and a half.  She went into the hospital on the 14th.  By Thursday, she was home on Hospice Care.  She was called Home on the 23rd.  She was a fantastic lady and I am thankful to have known such a strong, loving individual!  She will truly be missed by many people!  I find myself going to call her quite a bit.  I am so happy to have been on spring break so I could spend her finals days with her.

On a positive note!  My youngest sister will be having a baby BOY!!  So excited! I was able to be in the room with her during the Sonogram. How lucky am I!?

I have also been selected by Casey Turner Williamson over at Second Grade Math Maniac to use her Take Home Math Kits and give my review...please check back on April 30th to see how they have impacted Room 9.

Happy Teaching,

 

Blogger Mystery Box is BAAACCKKK and a SALE!!

March is roaring in like a lion for sure!

Mystery box 2014 BOX...click on the picture, visit Fluttering Through First Grade's Blog and enter the contest!! It is so so easy!!  I have entered!  I will be back another day to blog about my month!!

Happy Spring!! I am having a Spring Forward Sale @ TPT!! Visit my TPT Store for 20% off of the ENTIRE store - I know I only have 8 things...but still exciting...right?

CROSSING MY FINGERS!!!

Decisions are the worst...

What movie is my blog title from?  One of my most favorite of all time!!  "Girls Just Want To Have Fun!"

I have added three new items to my TPT Store...I know...so exciting!!  In a past post, I added a Common Core Binder for First Grade....so I make one for second grade and am working on one for my kindergarten friends. I uploaded a I have...; Who has...? Addition Game AND a FREE K-1 Reading Log I use for nightly reading.  Click on the picture for the link...

 If you purchase or download any of my activities, please leave comments and tell me what you think.  I appreciate all comments!!

Happy Teaching,

I am not that kind of girl!!

Today I was contacted by a fellow blogger, Diane from Fifth in the Middle, and she told me that I was a No Reply Blogger - whenever I read it, I say it in a loud, deep space voice.  I was like... huh.. what the heck does that mean...

What is a "No Reply Blogger"?  It means that every time I left a comment or a question on someones blog they couldn't respond to me.  Ugg...I feel so snobbish!! I thought that no one wanted to "talk" to me! I was wrong!! In fact, a lot of bloggers have this issue and I thank Diane for bringing it to my attention!!

I promise I am not anti-social...  In fact it's quite the opposite.  I talk probably a bit too much. I love getting to know people and making new friends!  So of course I am thrilled that I was able to fix this problem.

The problem is in the User Profile on Blogger.  Where it says "show my email address", this box was not checked which made me a no reply blogger (this seems like such a bad phrase to me right now).  I had my email address on my profile, it was just the box not being checked that made people unable to reply to me.  When someone would try to respond to my comments via their blog they got a message saying "No Reply Blogger".  So, apparently, I was being anti-social without even knowing it.  I'm really nice, ask anyone, I promise and now that it is fixed I hope to talk to many more of you.  

Fixing the problem is actually quite easy once you know how...Here is a link to Mrs. Lamb's the Tatooed Teacher's Blog and her tutorial "slides" are so simple to follow!!
http://mrslambsclass.blogspot.com/2012/07/what-im-no-reply-blogger-google-fix.html

 I hope this helps you and I hope to get some new friends!! I promise to reply if you have a question!! How rude of me!! ;) I am just not that kind of girl!!

 Happy Teaching,