This contest is for a "brand-new" book to add to your "winter literature" collection.   The winner will receive a book of choice from my favorite winter books which are listed in the document below.  All you have to do is post a comment with the title of one of your favorite winter books and tell how you like to use it in the classroom.  Share at least 1 extension activity for art, writing, math, science, or social studies.

  The contest ends on New Year's Day at 12 noon.  Once I post the winner's name, they will have 24 hours to contact me via e-mail me.  Happy New Year to everyone!

Winter Literature

Hot Cocoa

Hot Cocoa Math and Science

80's Costume

                   

80's costume!  I'll either be rockin' a hot pink poofy prom dress or some workout gear complete with florescent colors, tights, and leg warmers!  I'm hoping to make my final purchases today so I can post some pics and get some opinions.  The prom dress would be fun, but I'm also quite fond of wearing workout clothes to school (total comfort-no explanations required)!

Winter directional art

 

Winter Directional Art










This is one of my favorites!  I decided to use some extra pictures of my boys!  I just didn't have the heart to cut off Solomon's double chin, and yes you can probably see that Christian has crumbs all over his face!  But I still think these are so adorable!  I added the coffee filter to give it some extra flair.   The original project is actually "Eskimo" from the TLC "People" book.  I usually make these with the students and then let them write about their favorite things to do in winter.  We have also done a research project on Eskimo life.  Not sure what we'll do after we make them this year, but I'll take pictures of whatever we do!

First Grade Fashion with Tacky the Penguin!

This is one of my favorite winter books!  I can't wait to see the student's creativity as they make Tacky as "tacky" as they can!  I plan to let them add hats, scarves, ties, and all sorts of accessories.  We'll also use white paint to make snow fall in the background.  

Students will respond to the prompts on the writing pages which are below.  There are so many great things to do with this book!  I'll post pics once we finish!  


Tacky the Penguin

How to Cure a Bad Case of Stripes

We're either going to read this or watch it on bookpals (http://storylineonline.net/).  I'll stop near the middle, and have the students write a prescription for how they would cure "a bad case of stripes."  This will also be a good time to review making predictions and rereading/reviewing to confirm them since that's one of our main  comprehension skills for the upcoming six weeks.

Penguin Antonyms

I made these for students to use as a word work activity during Daily 5.  They can use a pocket chart or work at their seat. There is also a short recording sheet.

Penguin Antonyms






Antonym Recording Sheet

Happy New Year (mini-unit)

Hope you can use some of these ideas and resources!

Happy New Year Mini-unit

Dollar Deals...

This week Dollar Tree is featuring stocking stuffers as the "item(s) of the week."  

I picked up several items that could be used for science in the upcoming weeks:  

snow powder

"kid friendly" magnifying glasses

super growing crystals

I plan to use these items to review states of matter (solids, liquids, and gases) and as we learn about crystals, rocks, and soil.

Amazing students & families...so grateful!

We had a wonderful day yesterday.  

I am so amazed by the students and families that I get to work with each day!  

One family gave me this gorgeous candy bouquet...

The kids decorated sugar cookies

 

with sprinkles, frosting...

and more frosting!

They also made reindeer food with oatmeal and glitter.

We had a book exchange, and ended the party with a blast 

(a snowball fight with tissue paper snowballs)!

Now I'll get to spend the next couple of weeks with my adorable little boys and my wonderful husband!  

Christian

Solomon

Christian, Porter, and Solomon

I hope you have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.  

I'll be posting a couple of things for the New Year, Winter, and MLK in the next week or so.  

Have a fabulous break!

80's day fun!

I love the 80's! This is a unit with lots of activities that I plan to do on the 80th day of school in January.
80's unit

Cute Holiday Gift Idea...

Each year I like to make a "thumbprint" calendar with my kids.  This year they are soooo cute, and I know the parents are going to LOVE them!  They're very simple to make, and my favorite part about them is that each student's looks a little bit different.  This year I made a smaller version that I usually make because I wanted to use my personal scotch mini-laminator because I like the tight seal that's around the edge and there's no cutting!  However, I think I'm still going to have to use a full sized laminator.  

I can't believe I did this, but this year I did the whole thing for 19 students in one entire morning!  While the kids were working on "Daily 5" I pulled them over and we worked non-stop!!!

   January-snowflake (next year I think I want to make a little mitten)

February-heart

March-shamrock

April-umbrella 

May-butterfly (you could also make a flower)

June-lady bug

July-fireworks (I have also done a flag before.)

August-sun

September-apple

October-pumpkin

November-turkey

December-reindeer

I'm sure there are lots of other pictures or objects that could be made.  I have also seen this completed with a different page for each month of the year, but to save time I usually just use the one page calendar.


I used an inking pad from Lakeshore that saved lots of time.  I also used tons of baby wipes to wipe off fingers when we changed colors.

Calendar


Fingerprint Poem

Mail, mail everywhere!

Wondering why we have gotten so much mail lately?  We participated in the Holiday Card Exchange 2010.  This was a technology, writing, and social studies project where we sent cards to 23 other teachers/classes.  

Our class created holiday cards with gingerbread men and wrote information about our school.  Jen has lots of other wonderful web based projects...you can check it out at http://www.projectsbyjen.com/index.htm

We are also hoping to chat via Skype with one of the classes!

The students loved creating the cards, using Google maps to see where the cards were going, and waiting for the mail to arrive....however their favorite has been opening cards as they arrive in the mail! Can't wait to do this again next year!

Happy Grinch Day to All!

  

Here is my fabulous team looking so cute in "grinch" outfits!

If you head to Kohl's you can purchase this adorable stuffed Grinch and a copy of the book for $5.00 each.  The best part is that 100% of the proceeds benefit the "Kohl's Cares for Kids" organization! 

Here we are trying our best to look very "grinchful" (if that's a real word)!

How would my students make the grinch grin?

make  cookies...

give him a b.b. gun...

help him make a snowman...

or sing!

grinch miniunit

Grinch Stew and Jolly Soup

We also recreated "Who-ville"and labeled each part.  I really wanted to make a large mural with more detail...hoping to do that next year!

If you Take a Mouse to the Movies. . .

Today we had "movie day," and the kids had so much fun!  Here are some pictures of the activities that we did. 

We made a little peek-over mouse and responded to the writing prompt-If you take me to the movies, I'll ask for...

Here they are hanging on my clothes line!

We created a flow map with all of the events and practiced retelling the story.

We read the book chorally with this big book.

This little one said he'd "be fine" after he got everything he needed!

This one was so sweet.  This little honey wanted lots of things, but she saved the best for last (her family)!

Later we ate popcorn and watched a story from bookpals online! 

We also graphed our favorite kinds of movies & analyzed the data!

Favorite Movie Graph