101st Day of 1st Grade!

Hi friends!

We celebrated the 101st day of 1st grade today! When I taught Kindergarten, we ROCKED IT OUT on the 100th day with {it felt like} 100 activities all day long! When I looped up to first grade, I searched high and low for some different ideas...we came up with 101 Dalmatians! So super fun!

Here are some of the fun activities we did today:

~ We asked families to help their child decorate a white t-shirt with 101 black spots!

~ We made a black headband with puppy ears!

~ I painted their cute little noses black!

~ We made a presh dalmatian craft where the kiddos make 10 sets of 10 black spots...and one more for 101!

~ We made Puppy Chow for a special {DELISH} snack!

~ They completed a 101st day writing activity {HILARIOUS!!!!!!!!}

Click {HERE} to download a FREE teeny tiny unit that includes a parent letter, the Puppy Chow recipe, the 101st writing printable, and a picture of the dalmatian craft! :)

PS....Anyone have a favorite blogging software that is compatible with a Mac? I used Windows Live Writer with our HP and LOVED it {thanks to Cara's recommendation!} I am SO SAD that Live Writer is not compatible with a Mac...but not sad enough to give up my new laptop! Ha! :) If you blog on a PC, I LOVED Live Writer...it is so amazing and it makes uploading pictures SO. MUCH. EASIER!!! :) Let me know if you have a good software for Mac!!!!

Make a Word!

Happy Monday, friends! Can we PLEASE have EVERY Monday off? A three day weekend is so nice!! I  got to learn how to embroider on my new machine this weekend! SO FUN!!! If you are into appliqueing {spelling?!?}, please share your favorite websites with me! So far, I have discovered Applique Momma, Applique Café, and Embroidery Boutique. OBSESSED! Any sewing friends out there?

I love Making Words activities! I read Patricia’s Cunningham’s Making Words book in college and I have incorporated Making Words activities in my reading block since my first year of teaching!

I usually start out introducing a Making Words activity whole group the very first time! Then, the next time we do a Making Words activity, I will do it with my kiddos in a small group. They catch on quickly and LOVE it! After we do it together a few times, I put it in the Word Work station for the rest of the year! The spelling patterns change, but the overall concept is the same, so kiddos are familiar with it!

There a few different versions of Making Words. Some are open ended and have students use letters in a certain word to make new words.  {Example: my Making Words – Gingerbread Edition} Other activities {like the one below} tell the students which letters to change to make new words.

The first Making Words activity I created is for long vowels, since most firsties are working on long vowels after Christmas! I will also make a short vowel version for my Kinder friends {and for firsties to use before Christmas next year!}

Click on the picture below to check it out!

I will give this activity for FREE to the first 5 people {1 for every vowel!} who comment. Please leave your email address! :)

WOW!!! You guys are crazy fast!! Congratulations to Tara, Constance, Brandy, Jen, Miss M, Kayleigh, and Capturing Inspiration!

Yay for Bachelor tonight!!! If you are into {or OBSESSED like me!} the Bach you HAVE to check out Kristin at The Teeny Tiny Teacher…she usually gives the {hilarious} low down a few days after the show! Lincee, at I Hate Green Beans, also does a HILARIOUS recap every week! You HAVE to check it out! :)

Have a great winter week!!!

Love to Joplin

TGIF!!! Just a quick post tonight to let you know about a great cause! Mrs. Wills shared an email from a Kindergarten teacher in Joplin, Missouri that was devastated by an F5 tornado this past spring. Many of the elementary schools were damaged or destroyed. I sent Erica several of my TpT units! Even if you only have a few Word documents, SHARE THE LOVE with these deserving teachers and their sweet kiddos.

Click on the heart above to find out more!

Have a great LONG weekend! :)

Making Inferences

Happy Hump Day! Excited for a 3 day weekend right around the corner! :)

Our reading comprehension focus this month is making inferences. When I looped to first grade last year, I remember this being one of the hardest things I taught! HA! I know, I know, you fifth grade teachers {if you even read this blog!} are rolling your eyes! :)

Thanks to some fab bloggers, my unit is MUCH better the second time around!

I introduced making inferences by telling my firsties they would be Inference Investigators {thanks Abby!}

Then, I used the pictures from Abby’s Inferencing Investigation TpT unit. I showed them a picture and then we discussed what we could infer from the picture. For example, I showed them a picture of a girl eating a lollipop with a smile on her face. We could infer that she likes lollipops and that she is happy.

The Snow Day Case File activity from the same Inferencing Investigation unit is presh! Be sure to check it out!

Abby also created an awesome Mystery Box activity that is perfect for teaching inferring AND introducing a new unit!

Kim at Mrs. Saylor’s Log has some presh {FREE!} ideas for making inferences with poetry. I LOVE all of the poems! The poems give rhyming ‘clues’ to infer what the poem is about.

Check it out by clicking below!

I also love to use some of the David books by David Shannon! These books are always a hit with the kiddos and they are super for them to use picture and text clues to make inferences!

                   

Off to watch Modern Family! :) Enjoy the rest of your week!

There Was a Cold Lady Who Swallowed Some Snow!

Happy Hump Day! Today was our teacher workday…aren’t those first few minutes the strangest???? You unlock your door and kind of look around in awe…where am I??? HA! Then I spotted my to do list on the back table! I always do this before leaving for the break…I NEVER would have remembered half of the things on the list. I love a good to do list! :)

Speaking writing of organization…be sure to check out The Clutter Free Classroom Project. Save TIME and MONEY this year!!!

Click {HERE} to check out my new There Was a Cold Lady Who Swallowed Some Snow mini unit on TpT. It includes sequencing cards, a sequencing printable, an alphabetical order printable, a creative writing printable, a long vowel /o/ {o, oa, ow} word sort and printable, a winter Roll and Graph {a new version of Spin and Graph} and read aloud companion suggestions for this PRESH book! Can’t get enough of the little Old Lady! :)

I will give this unit to the first FIVE peeps to comment WITH their email address!

Congratulations to Alexa, Anna, Kylie, Dee, and Heidi! :) Thanks, ladies!

*Only two more days to swing by Mel’s blog to help her celebrate the big 4-0! Enter her amazing giveaway for 40 + units {including my Popcorn! Popcorn! Contraction Word Work Fun!}

Stay warm, friends!

Blog Love

Happy 2012, friends!!! I love coming back in January…the kiddos are all grown up! It is like they matured into little small adults over the break! You know I am not the biggest fan of crafts (the process, NOT the end result!), so I am happy to slow down with the crafts and go back to my usual one craft each week! :)

There are some super presh activities that are on my list to do when I head back this week:

Snow Globe activity from Jennifer at First Grade Blue Skies

Snow Cover Up activity from Christina at Mrs. Bainbridge’s Class

Hot Chocolate activities from Abby at The Inspired Apple

The Clutter Free Classroom Project from The Clutter Free Classroom ~ Super pumped about this! Bins and labels make me happy…especially if they are pink and lime green! :)

Stay tuned…almost finished with the next Old Lady unit…There Was a Cold Lady Who Swallowed Some Snow!

*Only two more days to swing by Mel’s blog to help her celebrate the big 4-0! Enter her amazing giveaway for 40 + units {including my Popcorn! Popcorn! Contraction Word Work Fun!}

Have a fab week!