iPads are Awesome!

iPads are Awesome! 

      Our school has monthly staff meetings.  At the end of each meeting our Principal gives away a variety of items.  At our school we eat with our students, go to recess with them, and teach our computer lessons.  So, some of the prizes at the end of the meeting are coverage for lunch and recess so that we have free time and a principal covers it for us.  The BEST prize is coverage for our technology and guess what??? I won this month!!  Woo Hoo!  I was thrilled! 

      Our technology facilitator covers this time and teaches our kiddos.  Today just happens to be my day without a special.  This means that my Teacher Assistant (in the picture below) does an activity with my students to allow time for me to plan.  So, our technology facilitator (in the chair below) came during my special time and worked with my assistant.  She even offered me her office for a quiet place away, but I just couldn't leave and I couldn't help but watch and listen. 

      Our school's PTA recently purchased an iPad cart.  I haven't used them yet in my classroom and thought this was a perfect time for an introductory lesson.  Let me take a step back and tell you that our literacy facilitator is new at this particular job this year.  Previously, she was a kindergarten teacher at our school.  She was an amazing kindergarten teacher and after watching her today, WOW, she is amazing at this too!   She started by calling my students to the rug and walking them through the process that taught them how to plan and create their own book on the iPad.  The students were SO engaged.  In fact, I was able to move Elfie (our elf on the shelf) to a new spot without them having a clue! 

 

      They used the app StoryKit and it was incredibly easy to use.  The students began very simple informational texts about themselves.  They just wrote one simple sentence for each page.  They did a great job!  The students emailed them to me and I have sent them on to their parents. 

     Take a look at some of the students in action:

 

     I can't wait to use the iPads again!   This was the best prize I have ever won at a staff meeting!  I know my kiddos enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed seeing their faces light up as they worked. 

     If you are hoping to also win a prize, check out The Hive, where you can find a great giveaway for the cutest earmuffs ever!  See if today will be your lucky day, like it was mine! 

Michelle

Silence for Sandy Hook Elementary



-Michelle

12 on the 12th!

It is December 12, 2012

      I am linking up with Simpson's Superstars today for the 12 on the 12th Linky Party!  I read about it this morning and so my iPhone came in very handy today as I snapped some pictures of our eventful day and just some things around my room!

 So here it goes...12 on the 12th! 




1. This was one of my best friends today!  Yay for some caffeinated beverages in
the last two weeks before Christmas break!

2.  This was probably my 2nd best friend today.  Cold and flu season has
taken over at our school.  We have had a TON of kids and teachers out
with the flu, pneumonia, and Strep. :(  I got this as a gift last year from a parent. 
It stays behind my desk and is filled with hand sanitizer!

                                   

         3.  Our calendar!  I have to say that even though we have a very short 
          Christmas break this year, I am counting down until those red cards cover
the days because that means SCHOOL's OUT! Seven more days! 

 

4.  Buddy Reading!  I love listening to my students read to partners.  

5.  Reading our Scott Foresman Story- The Garden and comparing and contrasting

 Frog and Toad.  I LOVE Frog and Toad.  Usually we do a whole unit with them, but

that unit will have to wait as we are having too much fun with elves this week!

6.  This is my treasure!  It is my "Whisper Bell"!  If you don't know about

whisper bells, you need to go to www.teachertipster.com and learn all about the whisper bell. 

I love mine and it has been a necessary part of my classroom this week.  (The kiddos

think winter break starts this weekend, I think!)

7.  Holidays Around the World- My country is Israel and we are learning about

Hanukkah. Here we are playing driedel.

8.  I WISH I could take credit for this super cute door, but it belongs to my friend

down the hall.  She is teaching about Germany and as the students rotate to her

they get to design gingerbread houses.  I love her door.  I am slightly jealous it is

not the door to my classroom! :)  Nice work Amye!

9.  These are some of my favorite classroom friends.  Here they are just waiting to be

 read with and loved.  Too bad they have to wait until next week for their fun to begin!

10 and 11 are these super cute elves.  The first one is slightly creepy and my student even said so as she asked, "Can I give it a beard and a mustache and can it have one big eye and one small eye?"  I told her sure and told her that it was slightly scary.  She completely agreed with a big smile on her face!  Her elf is holding onto a reading comprehension activity for the book the Elves and the Shoemaker.   The second picture has some of our other elves.  Some of the kiddos completed applications for Elf positions at the North Pole.  They turned out super cute. 

8.  This is the window behind my table/desk.  Here I have some pics of students, pics of

"me" that the students drew, and a picture of my mom and I from last year!   I keep these

 here to give me that extra bit of inspiration! 

Welcome into my world and I hope you enjoyed the 12 on the 12th!

Michelle

The Holidays Have Arrived in First Grade!

      The Holidays have arrived in our classroom!  This week we started our fun Gingerbread centers and literacy workstations and we are getting in the holiday spirit!  We had SO much fun reading and comparing different gingerbread books.  We did partner reading with gingerbread books, wrote about gingerbread characters, typed stories our own versions of the story, and measured gingerbread. 

      We created a chart to sort the different titles, characters, repeated phrases, and the endings of the stories.  Some of the books we read were The Gingerbread Baby, The Gingerbread Man, Gingerbread Fred, and The Gingerbread Cowboy.  My kiddos have LOVED these stories and have loved comparing the different books and characters.  My favorite gingerbread book is The Gingerbread Girl.  I was thrilled yesterday to find The Gingerbread Girl Goes Animal Crackers, while at the Scholastic Warehouse sale! The kids were excited today too, when they saw it sitting on my shelf.  We had to read it and yes, they loved it! 

  

This was our gingerbread story chart.  We compared four different stories. Some of my students used this chart to help them create Venn Diagrams about two different stories.  

This is our classroom bulletin board in the hallway.  We share it with the fabulous first grade class next door!  These cute gingerbread men are covered in glitter, chocolate chips, and sequins!  

      Here is a new packet for Gingerbread Doubles!  Make sure to click below on the picture and get your copy.  This packet has numbers through 30 and includes activity sheets for doubles, doubles plus one, and doubles minus one!  I hope your student's will enjoy the gingerbread activities as much as mine have!

      On another note...Our Elf on the Shelf arrived on Wednesday and the students named him Elfie.  Coming in at a close second was the name Tootie! I am glad that Elfie won!  He seems to be working, so far that is!  Our windows are also decorated with stockings.  The students hang their stockings and each great day that the student has he/she gets a sticker on the stocking.  It is each child's goal to get as many stickers as possible.  It is definitely motivational, as the students have been counting their stickers all week! (We only started this on Monday!) 

     

Take a look at Elfie.  You may have to look closely, but he is in the Kermit stocking! 

Happy Holidays to you and your classrooms!

- Michelle

Freebie Linky Party

      Freebielicious is having a Freebie Linky Party!  Wow!  What a great idea and I am so excited to be able to participate!  The rule is that it has to be something that will be a forever freebie, which means that it will always remain a freebie.  I started thinking about what I would like to share.  I've been creating some items lately, but they are all seasonal items.  Since this would be something that would be a freebie forever, I wanted something that other teachers could use now or later, whenever they need it! 

     So...here is my freebie!  This freebie is a set of journal entries for teaching addition/subtraction with a part-part-whole diagram.  My students are advanced first graders in the area of math.  They know their math facts with fluency and consistency, however, they have trouble applying a variety of strategies.  My students are the ones who are used to saying "I knew it in my head".  With the Common Core we are really pushing the students to be able to verbalize or state in writing how they solved the problem and what strategy they chose to use.  My students are able to solve the problem and give the correct answer, however, they are still having trouble remembering how to use a part-part-whole box.  Therefore, I have created some additional journal entries to help with building consistency in using this strategy. 

Click on the pictures below to download the file:

     Don't forget to stop over to my TpT site too, and grab another freebie.  It is my Amelia Bedelia freebie that will only be there for a limited time!  It is a reading response pack that goes along with the story Amelia Bedelia Talks Turkey!  The kids loved this book.  We finished it on Friday and they truly enjoyed reading all about Amelia Bedelia!

      I hope you can use these with your kiddos!  If you download my freebies I would LOVE for you to follow my TpT site and/or my blog!  Then make sure to stop back and let me know what you think!

Happy Freebie on the First! 

-Michelle

Merry Christmas Amelia Bedelia and a Freebie!

      Who doesn’t LOVE Amelia Bedelia?!  I think she is super funny and so do the kiddos!  I am a little behind with my read alouds, so we are still reading Amelia Bedelia Talks Turkey; however, today I had a little boy jumping up and down when I told him that after we finish this book, we are going to read Merry Christmas Amelia Bedelia!  I thought he was going to scream with excitement!

       I recently created a set of reading response activities to go along with Merry Christmas Amelia Bedelia and it can be purchased at my TpT store for only $2.50.  It includes 5 activities in color and black and white.  They require the students to compare characters, describe character traits, identify idioms and the then determine the true meanings of the idioms, and imagine their own reaction to one of Amelia Bedelia's mishaps.

     While you are at my TpT store, go ahead and download this freebie!  I have added a similar reading response packet  for the story Amelia Bedelia Talks Turkey.  It includes 3 of the 5 activities that are included in the packet above.  This Thanksgiving packet will be free for a limited time, so make sure to stop over and grab it now!  While you are there, please make sure to follow my TpT site and let me know what you think about the packet. 

Michelle

Cyber Monday Sale and New Christmas Math Stations!

      Black Friday has come and gone and CYBER Monday is almost here!  Are you ready?  Teachers Pay Teachers is joining in on the Cyber Monday Sale.  All items in my store are going to be on sale and if you enter the promo code: CMT12 your items will have an extra discount.  Make sure to stop over there on Monday and an extra sale day on Tuesday! 

    Here is my newest item to TpT.  It is a pack of Holiday Center/Math Station activities that are geared toward first grade, but could be used with advanced Kindergarten students or those who need extra help in Second Grade.  The packet includes one or more activity for each of the Operations and Algebraic Thinking Standards for the First Grade Common Core Standards in Mathematics. 
    The packet includes 10 activities that are games, word problems, journal prompts, fact family practice, and more!

Don't forget to stop over at my TpT store to get your copy!  Monday and Tuesday it will be on sale!

-Michelle