Surviving Until Summer!!!

Happy Friday! This week I'm combining the Surviving until Summer and Five Three for Friday linky parties. I'm short on my Five for Friday because of my horrible picture taking skills.

It's THAT time of year. The time of year when a teacher has to work extra, extra hard to keep students engaged (i.e. to keep them from going craaaazy). We've got a case of  the Talking-More-Focusing-Less-Not-Following-Directions-As-Quickly-Volume-Of-A-Rock-Concert-Blues in first grade. Here are a few things I'm tried out this week to get us through to summer!

This week I flipped our schedule to create some novelty. For the first 140+ days of school we followed this basic schedule:

Reading

Recess

Lunch

Math

Specials

Science/Social Studies

So this week, we did it all in reverse to add a little novelty:

Science/Social Studies

Math

Recess

Lunch

Reading Part 1

Specials

Reading Part 2

The kids think math in the morning is great and so do I. But I figured out that I like any subject in the morning better, because I do NOT prefer reading in the afternoon. I think school should be 8-12. Ha!

This is my second year in first grade, so my math class as been ever evolving. I'm still trying to find a "style" I like. My district got a new math curriculum this year. It is comprised of three main parts:

Short Interactive Video for Whole Group Time

Workbook for Guided Practice, Independent Practice, and Problem Solving

Math Games for extension

Anyway, I've been saying over and over, "I just think this would work so much better IF I interwined this curriculum with guided math and math tub rotations. I think I'll do that next year." On Wednesday I decided not to wait. After all, I've got twenty little scientists/mathemeticians ready and willing to try something new. They were very happy to be part of an "experiment" to see if they liked math this new way:

Short Interactive Video for Whole Group

Five rotations: teacher table, math journal, and three tubs with related games/activities

For now we are working on the workbook at the teacher table instead of as a large group. I like it more. The kids like it more. It's a win-win!

I busted out some "old" math tub games. These have Christmas lights on them, but it saved me some prep time (and sanity). These come from Reagan Tunstall's Big Bundle of Math Centers.

And, I found these old overhead projector place value tens and ones. Recently we've worked with Base Ten blocks A LOT, so this was a change. And the kids thought these flat, neon manipulatives were cool colors. Remember overhead projectors??? 

That's how I survived this week at school. Seven more weeks to go!

Best "How-To" Week Ever!

I'm linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching to share five things we did this week in room 301. 

This week, as part of a unit on procedural text and how-to writing, we focused on recipes. My favorite type of writing to teach is "How-To" writing and we had a blast this week DOing and writing.

Last week we started writing procedural text, so this week we really focused on details and clarity. On Monday, we examined some cook books and discussed the elements of a recipe. If you haven't seen Superhero Cookbook and Ballerina Cookbook, they contain fun recipes that are easy for first graders to understand. I found them at the public library.

Then, I put the children in charge of writing a recipe for my lunch. I told them I wanted to have a ham and cheese sandwich with mustard. We brainstormed the tools and ingredients I would need and I sent them off to write a recipe for my lunch. Then, I tried to followed their recipes.

Of course, the first recipe that I tried didn't provide very much clarity. It just told me to "get" things and I ended up making a mess on the desk. 

But I did eventually find one that made a pretty good lunch for me!

On Wednesday, we sat around the (tissue paper) campfire and made s'mores. 

We wrote, "How To Make S'mores." We were sure to include a title, list of ingredients and tools, plus the how-to steps. We made the cutest little s'more craft too (picture fail). The kids thought this was just the BEST.DAY.EVER!

Today, we fit in a little cross curricular action. We combined our procedural text unit with our study of Texas in social studies. We learned aout armadillos, the state small mammal. Then we read Armadilly Chili. So this morning we decided to make Mrs. Elvir's Class-y Chili (we voted on that title). 

It was a very simple chili, but it turned out very tasty! And, of course, we wrote a recipe for our chili.

Moving on from reading class, in math we have been learning about place value. My class is obsessed with Base Ten blocks! I made a few things to supplement my district's curriculum. You can check it out HEREhttps://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Guided-Math-Place-Value-1785232. 

One last thing...last year we had so much fun with a Pete the Cat themed Easter celebration, I'm doing it again! Check out last year's post HERE. Find it on TpT here.

Five for Friday: Summer School Edition

Happy summer's end :-) OR :-( depending on how you look it.

Before I get to my five, can you see a title? My titles are not loading. For weeks now, I have not been able to figure out this problem!

I'm back at school already, not for the school year, but for K-2 Jump Start. It's like a half day summer school to get some kiddos pumped up for the upcoming school year. The fire department is coming this Thursday to spray their hoses in the parking lot so the kids can have a splash day. Fun!

Here are a few pics from our week:

We have been doing lots of word work. We've used magnetc letter to build words with short a and long a sounds, shaped words using pip cleaners, and decided to rainbow write in full effect, extra large, on chart paper. 

We reviewed how to write a summary and then summarized our big book. Check out the little cutie that draws better than I do! That's my comic strip summary on top and a the student's on the bottom. 

Of course we had to do a craftivity when we finished our summaries! Here's a page from our big book that we used as inspiration and the sample craft I made. 

One day we finished about 15 minutes early, so we did a guided drawing and then painted it - JUST FOR FUN! The class decided they wanted to learn to draw a zombie. Of course. Because I am clueless how to draw one, but I did the best I could. Mine did not include blood, but of course some red paint was added to a few drawings. Here is one firstie's drawing: 

Today I'm home, so I'm trying to do a little blogging and then finish up some stuff for the B2S on TpT.

Does your district use Words Their Way? Mine does. It comes with lots of resources: workbook, sorting cards, rhymes, games. I like everything, but the workbook pages, so I've been working this summer to create my own to supplement the curriculum. I'm hoping to get all the sets done in time for the sale. So far these two are in my store (and will be on sale 20% off)! Even though I created this resource to supplement WTW, you don't have to use the curriculum to use these worksheets. 

I can't wait until my room is finished and ready to share. I'm using pool noodles to create light pole and black rope as power lines to create my anchor chart wall. Birds on the wires will hold the charts. I hope it turns out like I visualize it in my head ;-)

Here's to the last few weeks of summer vacation!

Don't forget to link up.

Favorite Pins Friday

I'm mad obsessed with cute Mother's Day and Father's Day craftivities right now! I've been Pinning away...because that's what I do. PIN EVERYTHING NOW. Choose something later. For this edition of Five for Friday, I'm sharing my favorite pins for mom and dad. 

Mother's Day

I love this craft from Fluttering through First Grade. It makes me giggle. This mom...errr...craft is rockin' those cucumbers!

I really liked these hand print bouquets, but ...

The link to this was blocked by Pinterest, so I'm not sure where it originated. 

...I knew I would need to modify it a bit for the classroom and my teacher's budget! So I did. 

My firsties can't cart home glass vases AND I can't afford to buy 20 vases either :-) Instead I bought decorative paper party cups to use as a mock vase. I made a few other changes and this is the final product. I think I've got it simplified enough that my class can make this adorable craftivity for their moms. The instructions for this handprint bouquet, an interactive mini book for Mother's Day, and more can be found 

here and you can see the mini book in it's entirety in this post.

Father Day

Bailey Jones

I'm thinking about designing a Father's Day tool box card or craftivity. To accompany the card or craft, I wonder if I can find mini hammers at Dollar Tree??? I've got some decorative duct tape left over from other projects that my students could use to decorate the handles. 

If the hammers prove to be too expensive, clothes pins and rocks are cheap :-) Here's some of my back up plans:

Pup for Pop

A doggie pen holder made from clothes pins. I think my class would love painting the pins! 

Dad Rocks

Or, a "Dad Rocks" paper weight made out of a stone. 

I've gone social! Memories Made in First now has a Facebook Page. I'm gearing up for a summer of give-aways! Don't miss out on the fun. Follow me https://www.facebook.com/memoriesmadeinfirst.

P.S. Next week is Teacher Appreciation Week! TpT is throwing a sale. And, me too! 

Be sure to check out this Mother's Day resource:

Mother's Day Resource

Visit Doodle Bugs Teaching to check out the Five for Friday line up!