Open House 2011

One of my students gave me that cute little "p" sign.  She knows I love polka dots so her fingerprints are all over it!  I love it!

Our theme was fairy tales so this book was displayed near the sign in table.  We're also working a "fairy tale" newspaper this week.  It's a work in progress.

Here are the castles that we made.  Each student also created a fairy tale math problem and used math strategies to solve.  Below the castles, each student wrote about if they were the "king" or "queen" of our school.  They also decorated a crown with jewels. 

This was something new that I had never done before, but the families really enjoyed it.  It was an entire wall filled with fairy tales and fractured tales that we've been working on.  These are just a few highlights!

What's poppin'?

We're working on "or" this week, and here are a few things that I've created.  While we finish up our fairy tales, we'll enjoy this unit of fun and enjoy a book discussion or some flashlight reading  with popcorn on Friday!  This is just one part of the unit.  The entire unit includes poetry, several word work activities, literature connections/writing, math, and art!  It will be on TpT later this week along with my fairy tale unit!  Tomorrow we have open house so I'll be snapping lots of pics with great work from 1st grade and all from all around my school...I hope you have a great week!

popcorn word work

10 Things I've Learned About Teaching

Jennifer, from Rowdy in First Grade, is hosting a linky party!

1.  Teachers can never be paid the full amount that is truly deserved for the service that they provide to the children of the future.

2.  The best preparation for teaching, is hands on classroom training. There is a wide variety of professional literature with wonderful tips and resources, but a book can't teach you how to teach.

3.  How many times have I said to myself, "I never learned this in college?"

4.  Being surrounded by a supportive, caring, and positive team of teachers makes the job of teaching, which at times is full of many challenges, so much easier.

5.  There's a reason why teachers have so many breaks scattered throughout the school year...we need them!

6.  Every detail matters...paying attention to detail is an important part of teaching which can impact the lives of students immensely.

7.  Organization and preparation can make or break you in the classroom setting.

8.  You can have the most fabulous ideas and creative energy, but without effective classroom management, you'll never get to any of those wonderful activities.

9.  Every student is so unique-I find this to be true when I teach siblings.  Each of them are almost always completely different.

10.  If you love what you do, teaching probably doesn't seem like a job...

Another Winner. . .

Congratulations to Allison from Room-Mom 101

She said, "Looks like a great organization tool! I really feel like I couldn't do well teaching if I didn't stay organized...not that I always am, but I try. I use a paper filing tray on my counter. There are 5 slots--each one labeled for each day of the school week. On Friday I try to plan my next week and sort my papers into the trays so that I am ready to go. This idea really helps me on those hectic weeks. Plus if I ever have to call in an emergency substitute I know that I am pretty much ready!"

Allison please e-mail me your school or home mailing address and the style that you like best.  The organizers come in red, blue, black, and zebra.  Thanks everyone for sharing your organizational tips!

Weather Winner. . .

The winner of the "Made For 1st" Weather Unit is Ali!  Congratulations...please e-mail me, and I'll forward your contact information to Kelly and Diane.

Fairy Tale Unit-Happily Ever After

This week we've been working on traditional fairy tales.  The kids have absolutely loved it (even the boys) Next week will be fractured tales.  I'm working on a unit with lots of writing, art, math, and fairy tale fun!  Open house is Monday, so I'll post more pics once all of the bulletin boards and displays are complete! Here are a few of my favorite things. . .

Spring Has Sprung. . .Day 5

Today is the final day of "spring" week, and I hope you have enjoyed it!  I have one last giveaway which I think any teacher, mom, or decorator would love!  

You can win $25 to spend at Honey Bunny Studio!  

Participants must link the site or Etsy shop on their Facebook and/or Twitter account.

You must post a comment which includes a link back to your FB or Twitter account.   

For an extra entry you can also blog about the give-a-way and tell about one of your favorite products from Honey Bunny Studio.  

You should also check out the "Honey Bunny" blog because right now there is a great sale going on!

The winner will be selected with random.org-the contest is open until Saturday, March 26th at 6 pm! 

Another Winner. . .

The winner of a book from my "favorite spring literature" list and a $25 gift card to Barnes and Noble is Susan!  Please contact me via email to let me know which book you'd like.  I'll get the book to you right away, and let you know how to redeem the e-card!  

Spring Has Sprung. . .Day 4

 {spring cleaning}

I don't know about y'all, but it's time for me to do a bit of spring cleaning!  This week I've set aside some extra time to review, revamp, and reorganize classroom materials!  

Today's giveaway is for one of my favorite materials that helps me to stay organized.  I have one hanging on the cabinet near my desk, and I keep emergency contact information, important paperwork, and files that I use on a daily/weekly basis in it.  This saves me so much time, and it keeps things from filing up on my desk.  I have also seen tons of cute file folders at Target and Michael's for a dollar.  

       

If you're interested, just leave a comment with a quick tip that helps you stay organized.  I know some extremely organized teachers who have already shared management tips, but I am always looking for ways to keep clean and clutter free.  This giveaway will end on Saturday, March 26th at noon.  

Happy spring!

-Brooke

Poetry Winner. . .

Thanks so much to everyone who participated in the first giveaway of "Spring Has Sprung."  

Congratulations to Andi from Pencils, Glue, & Tying Shoes.  You will love Amanda's poetry unit!  Please contact me via e-mail (eduperry.com@gmail.com) to get the details about receiving the unit. 

Spring Has Sprung. . .Day 3

I hope everyone is having a fabulous week!  My favorite parts of blogging are hosting "giveaways" and finding/sharing great resources.  Today's post is another great giveaway featuring some teaching tools from Diane and Kelly, two first grade teachers who have recently entered the world of blogging.

I stumbled across their blog and resources a few weeks ago, and I'm so grateful that I did!  Today's giveaway features one of their latest creations, 

Learning About Weather.

This unit is perfect for March and April, and it combines science with lots of wonderful literature.  My favorite parts of the unit are the "Roy G. Biv" art activity and the "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs" mini-book.

If you're interested, there are 3 ways to enter. . .

1) Follow Diane and Kelly's blog.

2) Follow Made for 1st Grade on Teachers Pay Teachers.

3) Leave a comment about one of your favorite science or weather activities for spring.  

This contest will be open through Friday, March 25th at 6 p.m.

Thank you. . .

I just want to say thank you to everyone for your kind words, encouragement, and support.  I recently reached "500" followers, and I feel so blessed to be part of a blogging community with such talented, resourceful, and creative educators.  Thank you for allowing others to see pieces of your lives, for opening the doors of your classrooms, and for sharing your brilliant minds.  I so enjoy getting to "peek" into your classrooms to see all of the great ideas and instructional tools that you're using.  

Here is a little something that I made to help my students review high frequency words.  I'm hoping that this will benefit my tactile and visual learners who need to build the words and see them over and over again.  I plan on using them with my tutoring groups and after I complete assessments to find out which words are still somewhat tricky for my kiddos.  

spring word work

Spring Has Sprung. . .Day 2

By now you know that I love books, so this week of fun must involve literature in some way!  If you love books as much as I do, you'll love this giveaway.  
Here's what's in store. . .

A book of your choice from my "Spring Has Sprung" favorite literature collection

 &

a Barnes and Noble gift card for $25.00
If you're interested, here's how you can participate.  
1.  Leave a comment about one of your favorite spring books and how you like to use it in your classroom.  
2.  For an extra entry in the contest you can "Like" Primary Perspective on FB.
This contest is open until Thursday, March 24th at 6 pm.

Spring Math. . .

spring math

I Love Literature. . .

spring literature

Spring Has Sprung. . .Day 1

I'm pretty good at rhyming and making up silly jingles, but I'm no poet...and I know that I definitely have a lot of room for improvement in the area of exposing my students to great poetry.  Amanda from One Extra Degree, has created a wonderful resource which will make it SO much easier to incorporate poetry into the curriculum all year long! I love this packet because it provides an outline for how to expose students to the elements of poetry such as visualization techniques, vocabulary, author's craft, making connections...and so much more.  

I cannot tell you enough what an amazing job Amanda did putting together resources, ideas, and tools!

If you're interested, you can enter the first giveaway of the week, but if you can't wait that long it's also available here!

If you want to receive this fabulous document, here's what you need to do. . .there are 7 different ways you can enter.  Leave a separate comment for each one of them to receive additional entries.

1.  Follow One Extra Degree.

2.  Follow Primary Perspective.

3.  Follow Amanda's TpT store.

4.  Follow Brooke's TpT store.

5.  Follow Amanda on twitter.

6. "Like" One Extra Degree on FB.

  7.  Follow Brooke on twitter.

The contest is open until Wednesday (March 23rd) at 6pm.  

  

Lettering Delights...

If you're a font or graph-o-holic (like me) this post probably won't help you save any money!  

Spring Has Sprung. . .

I'm so excited to announce that it's time for another week of freebies, giveaways, and fun!  Be on the look out for some great stuff all week long...

Texas Geography

Landforms

Summer Fun. . .

During spring break I started looking ahead at all of my summer plans, and I think this will be one of my busiest summers yet!  Here are a couple of events that I'm looking forward to.  

June 16-17, Summer Crews 2011

July 11-12, Conference for First and Second Grade Teachers

July 18-20, CAMT 2011 

(I'll be presenting at this one!)

"Making Every Minute Count:  Using Literature to Teach Math"




Along with all of these great conferences and seminars, by the time school starts up again, I'll have two things I've been hoping for...

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

st patrick's day word work

My Handsome Little Men. . .

Day 3 of spring break and I must say that I've enjoyed every bit of this (much needed) rest!  Today the boys took some spring photos.  They all turned out so stinkin'  cute that I had a hard time making my selection!  

spring break 2011

It will be fairly quiet around here this week since I'm on spring break.  I'll mainly be hanging out with my two little men, but I'll probably still post a couple of things.  Already in store for this week we have a trip to the zoo, a lunch date with dad, a trip to Lakeshore, an appointment for photo updates, and a visit to see grandparents! This will be in addition to our weekly (and very essential) visits to Dollar Tree and Target. Happy spring everyone!

A New Blog. . .

Teachers Pay Teachers is having a sale right now!  If you enter the code (G2RM) at the checkout you can save 10%!  Last night as I was searching through for new ideas and great resources, I discovered some really great stuff from two fellow first grade teachers/bloggers.  They're having a giveaway for one of the things that I purchased from (which also happens to be one of my favorite purchases that I've ever made onTPT).  Click on the photo below to check out the blog, and take a look at the giveaway.  The unit is available as a whole set or individually.  I highly recommend it because it's adorable, and it's full of great stuff that's completely connected to literature!

Feeling Lucky?

Today we had some fun with those clever little leprechauns.  

Leprechaun Literature

Here is the writing page that goes with the art project.  My teacher bud J. Reeves created it!

lucky