Friday, January 25, 2013

Snow Day FLASH SALE!

    We had an early dismissal today, due to possible inclement weather!  We are supposed to get ice and freezing rain throughout the afternoon.  It had started a little bit this morning and so they went ahead and called it a day!  The kiddos were so out of sorts.  We were only there for a little over an hour and half!  It is times like that, that I realize how little they are.  I know that I expect a lot from my first graders and they are SO grown up in many ways, but when things like this happen, it reminds me that they are still so young!
    I was hoping that we would be able to stay at school and get some things done, however, we were asked to leave right away too!  I have so much to get done, that I have set up my little home office and plan to spend the afternoon getting some work done! 

     I love sales so in honor of my "SNOW" day I am having a snow day FLASH SALE over at my TpT store!  Make sure to stop over and grab a few deals! 
Just click on the picture below to find my TpT site!


This is our second day off on a Friday!  I think I could get used to it!
- Michelle

Thursday, January 24, 2013

February Freebies Linky


      I know that I already wrote a post about my February 100’s Chart Freebie, but I really wanted to link up with Laura over at Corkboard Connections!  She is having a February Freebie Linky.  There are some great Freebies for the fabulous month of February.  I wanted to share this activity as I know that it will definitely be used in my classroom during the  month of February!

     On Monday I told you about my newest freebie.  It is a 100's Chart activity for Valentine's Day.  Click on the picture below to head on over to my TpT site.  I would LOVE for you to follow my TpT site if you download this freebie!  If you LOVE this freebie, don't forget to take a look at the entire unit.  You can see all of the activities on Monday's blog post! 


     Don't forget to head on over to Corkboard Connections to link up and share your freebies or to see what is being shared!

- Michelle

Monday, January 21, 2013

MLK Inspired...Share the LOVE Freebie!

    
     Today was a day in the history books as our President was inaugurated and we celebrated the importance of MLK Jr. on our country's history.  
     Martin Luther King Jr. was a model of peace and love. I felt that I should SHARE the LOVE!   In honor of MLK Jr.,  I have taken part of my Valentine's Day Math and Literacy packet and made it into a freebie! 
Click on the 100's Chart Fun picture below to grab your free copy, as I share the LOVE!

      While you are over at my TpT site, make sure to show me some LOVE by following my on TpT and by leaving your comments/feedback! 

      If you like this activity, make sure to grab the entire 52 page packet while you are there! 
    It includes:
  • Flowers for You, You, and You! Adding 3 numbers
  • -Who do You Love More? Comparing numbers with >, <, and =.
  • 100's Chart Fun- Using numbers through 120 and adding and subtracting by tens or multiples of ten.
  • Equal and Not Equal- Given an addition or subtraction problem with multiples of ten, decide if the problem is equal or not equal to the answer given.
  • Broken Hearted- Helping to repair compound words by finding the matching words that go together.
  • Noun and Verb Sort- Sorting nouns and verbs and recording the answers.
  • What Does it Mean to be a Good Friend? Writing describing words about what it means to be a good friend to someone.
 

- Michelle

Thursday, January 17, 2013

Pajama Day and a FREEBIE!

Pajama Day in First Grade!
     My kiddos earned a class reward and I decided that it was about time we had a pajama day!  I love pajama day.  Mostly this is because it is a day where I can dress in comfy clothes and I have an excuse to walk around our building in my pj's and slippers!
     Today was a perfect pajama day.  It is getting colder and we have had rain EVERY day this week!  Can you believe that?  Inside recess four days in a row is pretty tough and tomorrow (if we have school) will probably be day five!  It is possible we will have a snow day tomorrow.  We already have a 2 hour delay for possible ice, so we will see what tomorrow brings!  I may be wearing my pj's all day at home!
     On pajama day I usually let my students bring in stuffed animals and pillow pets.  With all of the extra students, our room was "stuffed" to the brim today!  My favorite part about having the students bring their animals to school is having them write about the stuffed animals and what their animals like to do at home and at school.  We also read to our friends all day!  We had so much fun! 

Look at my kiddos in their pj's!
 Go to my TpT site and grab a FREE copy of my "Meet My Animal Friend" packet!  This is a perfect activity for your students on pajama/animal day!  Enjoy this freebie!  If you download a copy, please leave me some feedback or follow my TpT site! Thanks! :)
 It is almost Friday!
-Michelle

Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Snowy Day Adventures

      Snowy Day Adventures

     Last week we came back from Winter Break only to realize that in NC it didn't really feel like wintertime.  (Today it was 66 degrees, when we were outside at recess!) I talked to my kiddos about their winter breaks and only two or three had seen snow over break.  I, of course, shared with my students about the beautiful snow that I saw at home.  I showed them my pictures and they were SO excited! 
    This gave me an idea!  I wanted to let the students use these snowy pictures to write about their own "snowy day" adventures.  I have seen a ton of cute ideas with snowglobes and black and white pics with students inserted. I made my own variation of what I have seen out there!
     I decided to combine our newest grammar topic (verbs) with the black and white snow pictures.  I took three of my pictures from my trip to Ohio and used these as our backgrounds.  We started by asking the students to create lists of things that can be done in the snow.  We remembered that verbs are things that you can do!  After the students created verb lists, I took a picture of each student acting out one of the verbs on that student's list.  Next, we glued the action shots on top of the black and white backgrounds.  Last, we wrote a story about playing in the snow.  The students were allowed to write a make believe story or a real story about their adventures in the snow.

Here are the final projects!  They had a blast making these! The student on the left is "rolling" in the snow and the student on the right is of course, making a snow angel!  The black sheet has one of my student's verb list. 

This is one of the pictures we used for our snowy day writing project.  For those of you who life in sunny warm places and may need a snowy picture, you can download this for free!   Just click on the picture and you can grab a copy from Google Docs. 


     From my snowy day activity, I created this grammar and writing packet.  The packet includes the directions for our snow verb writing activity, handwriting paper, a few comprehension questions, a verb search sheet to be completed after reading the book, and a noun and verb sort. My students have been doing the verb search this week and loving it!  They are reading the story online at http://www.wegivebooks.org/books/the-snowy-day?auto_launch=1.  It is a great site that I found via Pinterest.  It does not read the story to the students, but it allows you to display it on a Smartboard or read it on multiple computers. 
     You can get your copy just by clicking on the picture above and heading over to my TpT site!  While you are there, go ahead and check out my new set of questions for the book Nate the Great and the Snowy Trail!  Who doesn't LOVE Nate and his silly friends?!  My favorite is always Rosamond and in this story she is as crazy as ever!  Go get yourself a copy and have some snowy fun with Nate the Great!          

Happy Wednesday! 
- Michelle

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Oh, How Pinteresting Wednesday


Oh, How Pinteresting Wednesday!


     I am proud to say that I have already gotten a start on de-cluttering my classroom and I spent sometime on myself today!  These are two goals that I set for myself.  Today we headed back to school and even though our break was pretty short, I definitely felt rested and ready to go!
     I have never linked up for Oh, How Pinteresting Wednesday, but I am a Pinterest Addict, so I thought I would link up this time! 

Here are a few things I have pinned lately:

 I LOVE this and it is SO simple! 
I would like this in my craft area to hang my craft supplies, etc.






          
This is a great website that has books you can put
up on the Smartboard!







What have you been pinning lately?  Head on over to The Vintage Apple and link up!

- Michelle
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