Compound Words

One more quick post before I hit the sack because I have to get up at 4:45 to meet my bestie at the gym.  We have been learning about compound words the last couple weeks.  I have done this activity the last couple of years to help them understand how compound words are made.  Below are pics of the project that we did, very simple.  I just cut a regular size piece of construction in 1/2, so it made 2 long skinny strips.  I taught the kids how to fold it, surprisingly they did very well with the folding aspect this year.  Some years I fold the papers for the kids before we start the project.  We brainstormed a list of compound words, I only used the compound words that I thought would be easy for the kids to draw pictures to.  On the left flap, students write the first word that makes up the compound word and draws a picture to match.  On the right flap, students write the second word in the compound word and then draw a picture to match.  When you open the flaps up, the inside of the book, the students write the compound word and draw a picture to match the new word.  The students had a blast with it.  They were so excited to find out they could make more than one booklet.  Goodnight everyone!

                                                                foot                        ball      

football

                                                             basket                           ball

basketball

                                                               rain                     bow

rainbow

Getting geared up for Dr. Seuss's birthday!

The kids are excited about Dr. Seuss's birthday as if it were their own birthday.  They have really enjoyed reading and listening to so many of his books.  To kick off the week, 1st grade made these adorable Thing 1 and Thing 2 prints.  Yes...the idea was from Pinterest yet again.  Click HERE for the Pinterest link, it came from Clutter Free Classrooms, another great blog to look at!

Now I am just trying to geared up for the mess we are going to make tomorrow with our Oobleck.  Yikes!

President's Day!

I know I am a little late, but...my kiddos had a blast learning about what the President does and discussing what would make a good President.  The kids got to make this cute President's Day hat, pictured below.  I took their pics and the students had to write about why someone should pick them to be the President.  I was completely amazed at the sweet things they came up with.  Our music teacher thought the kids were so cute in their hats that she recorded the class singing the Pledge of Allegiance to play for the school during our Friday Morning Meetings.  :)

Click HERE for the paper template.

March Fun

 Are you getting excited about all the fun March has to bring?  We are busy preparing for Dr. Seuss's birthday bash and for some crazy leprechauns to come crashing our classrooms!  1st grade did a really cute St. Patrick's Day project with their 4th grade buddies.  Of course, the idea came from Pinterest.  Click HERE to see the idea on Pinterest.  The 1st graders wrote on the shamrocks about why they were lucky to have their buddy and the 4th graders wrote on the gold coins about why they treasure their buddy.

EVEN more exciting...we now have our Fun in March packet out on Teachers Pay Teachers.   Click HERE to get it!  Below is a preview of what you will find.  Please let us know what you think of our Fun in March packet!

Happy Heart Day 2!

Here are the pics I promised of our "Sweet Sentences."  Enjoy!

The kids have a great time creating the sentences because they got to be silly and eat candy while doing their work.

Happy Heart Day!

Well I hope everyone's day was filled with love and laughter!  My kiddos sure did put a huge smile on my face today.  It was so sweet to watch them pass out their valentines and be so kind to one another.  Reminded me why I wanted to be a teacher in the first place, even with all the other drama that can come with being a teacher.

Thank you Pinterest for feeding my addiction once again!  Here are the cute valentines I made for my lovely kiddos!  Click HERE for the Pinterest link.

Another wonderful idea from Pinterest...I made these for our 4th grade buddy class and for the kids to take home to their parents.  Click HERE for the Pinterest link.  I cut a slit above and below the hand and stick a sucker in the slot so it looks like the student is really holding the sucker.  The kids loved them and couldn't wait to give them to their buddies and parents.  Obviously I didn't actually put the heart on the faces.  ;)

We also used conversation hearts to create "Sweet Sentences."  I will have to take a picture on Thursday when I'm back to school since I forgot to do it today before I left.  I think they turned out really cute and funny.

Here is our Valentine's Day bulletin board .  You can find the heart template in our Valentine Freebies.  You can also download it from our Teachers Pay Teachers Store.

Yesterday we were anticipating our first BIG snow storm of the year, no snow day as a result.  It really wasn't anything to write home about.  It was a great learning opportunity though.  We were discussing cause and effect.  Below is a picture of the anchor chart we made.  I have to say that I know one kid understood the concept.  Today a student was warned many times about talking and continued to keep at it.  So I talked to the student and said he needed to move his behavior card.  He looked me in the face and said, "Well the effect was me moving my card and the cause was me talking."  LOVE IT!

Have a great Valentine's Day!  :)

ai and ay anchor chart

We made an ai and ay anchor chart today in 1st grade.  The kiddos had a blast!  They helped me pick the main words to draw a picture of at the top of the chart.  We practiced looking for these types of words today in the stories we read, I called it a scavenger hunt to really get them excited.  Sometimes we make a competition out of it by seeing which group can find the most words.  When we got back to the anchor chart, I called on students to share a word with the class.  I asked them if it should go under mail or say depending on what pair it would use. Then the student had to spell the word for the class.  Finally I let the student come up and write the word on the chart.  The students loved getting to write on our anchor chart!  It is amazing to see how one little change to our routine can get them more excited about learning.  Check out the chart below!  :)

President's Day!

We have been very busy learning about a few President's  in kindergarten!  We made some Abe Lincoln art, painted American flags and wrote about George Washington.  Here are some pictures to show you what we've been up to!



Another 100th day project!

We started off the project by looking at a picture of a 100 year old woman.  We discussed how the 100 year old woman was different from the kids in the class.  Once we finished our discussion, I laid out construction paper for the kids and let them have fun.  They turned out pretty hilarious in my opinion.