Photo Dump

I'm hoping the old saying, "a picture's worth a thousand words" is true tonight.  I'm so tired.  I went straight from work to pick up my kids and then to a really cool missionary thing at my church.  It wasn't over until 8:30. Needless to say, it's been a long day.  But, I have tons of pictures from the last few weeks...

My kids collect their Valentine's cards and treats in these heart pockets.  Some years I let them decorate the front, but we were pressed for time this year.  (I kinda like the "clean-ness" of no decoration!).  These are really quick and easy to make. 

 This is the hanging hall art for February.  The kids glued tissue paper squares to a heart traced onto red cardstock.  It works best to paint a little glue, place tissue paper in glue, then paint over the top with more glue.  Watered down glue works well.  Wait until they're dry then cut out.

We celebrate Valentine's Day with our Dads-- Doughnuts with Dad.  This takes the place of a party.  I've done it every year I've taught and really like it.  The kids make these dads to hang in the hall.

We also make dad a little book, a card, and a button.  Nothing too fancy-- Dads don't seem to be too picky!  We also play Are You Smarter than a First Grader (kids vs dads).  The kids really like it.  My friend and I created the game on a flipchart for the Promethean Board.  If you are interested in a copy let me know.

My room set up for the dads (I dust off the doughnut sugar and reuse these tablecloths!)

I was feeling festive this year-- even the tree got a little heart love.

The kids were so excited to dump all of their goodies from the heart pockets and read their cards.

We've been learning about place value the last couple of weeks.  I love this marshmallow place value activity.  The kids loved it too!  We practiced first with just the marshmallows, then added the recording sheet later.  You can find the activity {here} on Abby's blog.

We also did a little contraction surgery last week.  My class loved that too!  They were so cute in their little surgical masks and gloves (I got a dentist parent to donate the masks).  My class was struggling with contractions this year.  I really think this helped them to understand these words a little better.

 Of course I copied Cara's surgeon.  I'm willing to admit that I have absolutely no drawing abilities!  I love tracing with the Promethean Board :)

One of my math tubs this week-- from Cara's Place Value Unit (this is a must buy- probably my most favorite unit of hers)

Another math tub from Cara.  I was afraid the base 10 blocks would get all mixed up if I put different amounts in 10 baggies.  So I used different colored pipe cleaners and pom poms for tens and ones. 

I made this little 10's mat to help them sort their beans into groups of 10.  They LOVE scoop and sort!  Cara's again!

I can't remember where I found this idea last year.  Please let me know if it's yours.  I created this little sheet.  It's just good practice for counting tens and ones.  Once they made their own initials, they could use the base-10 blocks to create other letters.

Open House is tomorrow night.  So, we've been working hard to make sure the room is "Parent Perfect."  Here are the directed-drawings of George and Abe.  I love this activity from Deanna Jump.  I made them draw with marker-- they listen much better that way!

Our anchor chart inspired by Abby.  This lesson was a hit.  They all wrote a question on a sticky note (making sure to use a question word and a question mark) then I answered each one.

I loved this inferring idea of Cara's but didn't have a big bulletin board.  So, I changed it a little to fit my space.  I took a picture of each page in the book and printed them out.  Each child worked with a partner to make their inference.  They all created their own David, but some were sent home early for lack of space.

After studying -ch we had a crunchy munchy -ch "party", inspired by First Grader at Last.  It wasn't really a party, although I called it one!  The kids each brought in their own -ch food for snack time.

I love how these Splats turned out.  My kids had some great text-to-self connections.

My kids really got into homophones.  I read "Dear Deer" to introduce the concept.  They worked in pairs to create their homophone pears. 

Here are some of our finished Venns.  I think they turned out really cute.

This one cracks me up!  Not quite sure about the red glasses :)

I've never had a child make their Venn into a ninja-- there's a first time for everything!

Friend Venns

After reading Abby's post about her Venn Diagrams I thought I'd share how my kiddos make their Friend Venns. 
First, each pair of children start out with a rough draft sheet.  They sit together and brainstorm ideas.  This usually takes a little while-- especially depending on the pairing.  Sometimes when children are too similiar it's hard for them to complete this part.  As they are working, I walk around the room and take a picture of each pair and write their names at the top of their Venn (just to make them a little cuter).  After a little teacher proof reading, they are allowed to start on the body.

I've done the Venns two different ways.  For several years I used a round head shape (made from tracing a large plastic plate).  I  like these, and they always turn out pretty cute. 

A friend on my team came up with the idea for a diamond shaped Venn.  I think they are super cute and allow for a little more personalizing.  They are a little more work to prepare, but so worth it-- especially for Open House later in February.

The children write their information on the Venn first.  Then, they start adding details.  I give them strips for the arms and legs.  They are allowed to add hair, shoes, bows, etc (one year I had children adding things like tennis rackets and baseballs in their hands).  Whatever floats their little boats!  These are so cute displayed on a bulletin board alongside the picture of each pair.  I wish I had more examples but we aren't doing this project until Friday- the picture above is from last year. 

I did the best I could to share a pattern with you.  It is too big to get the whole thing on a piece of paper. You should be able to print both pages and then tape them together to create a pattern.  Click {here} to get the pattern.  The shape really doesn't take too long to cut out.  I like to trace the writing lines in pencil for my kids, just to keep their work a little neater.  Best part is you'll only need one page per two children.