My Brother Came!!

So my little brother is a Professional Motocross Champion! He has been racing since he was 3 years old and turned Pro last year!!! Since our school theme is Racing to Excellence, my VP and I thought it would be a great idea for him to come talk to my entire school(800 kids) about goal setting, being a good role model, safety, and overcoming obstacles. Well he was a hit!! He rode in on his dirt bike, and the kids went crazy! AND yes I did get a little teary eyed! I was just so proud of him, as well as seeing the reaction of the kiddos! I was like "That's my brother!!" :) He did a fabulous job talking to them and even gave away signed posters, goggles, AND A HELMET! He was an inspiration to a ton of kiddos and I am so proud to be his sister!

Witch's Brew!

So for a Halloween themed treat for my kiddos, we decided to do a little science experiment! They got to make their own Witch's Brew! It was so fun to see how excited they were! So I got all of the materials together: Clear pie pan, water, vinegar, red, blue, green, and yellow food coloring, baking soda, pipe cleaner, and oil. I read the story about some witches making a brew and all of the ingredients that they put in. They put in snakes (Pipe Cleaner), fish eyes (oil), blood from a dead bat (Red food coloring), and some more creepy things. When they were finished putting all of their ingredients into the pre-made water/vinegar mixture, I went around and put a spoonful of baking soda in their bowls. This makes it fizz and bubble. The kids freaked out! They thought it was the coolest thing ever! They got to wear goggles and practice safety in a lab atmosphere! SUPER FUN and SUPER EASY!

Center Ideas!

So I have come up with a list of some cute center ideas! Here are just a few that I am going to put in my classroom next week! Hopefully you can use them or modify them to fit in your classroom! I got a bunch of this weeks ideas from TeacherTipster.com! His sight is AMAZING! His printables are free as well!! You can print out the One Breath Sight Words, and Hundreds Chart Art from his sight! ALSO...watch his youtube videos! There are videos of him showing you how to do the sight word towers, phonics cups, maze, boom, one breath sight words, and calendar puzzles! Just Youtube Teacher Tipster and ALL of his videos will pop up! I hope you get as much out of him as I did!!!

Reading:

Sight Word Towers : Write sight words on the bottom of plastic cups. Stds have to say the sight word before they can stack it to make a tower. Materials:-Plastic Cups

Phonics Cups: Write initial sounds/blends on blue labels. Write endings on green labels. Stick labels to the side of CLEAR cups. Students can stack the cups together to make a word. They then record their word on white boards. Materials: White boards, dry erase markers, CLEAR cups, labels.

Calendar Puzzles: Cut up the picture that comes with an old calendar-for instance they have dog calendars, and October might have a picture of a dog dressed up for halloween. Cut the pictures in about 1-2 inch strips. At the top of the strips place a dot label with words on them. The students then have to put the words in alphabetical order in order for them to correctly make the picture. You could also write the letters of the alphabet and they have to put them in order. Materials: Old Calendar photo, dot labels.

Maze- Print out or copy blank mazes. Write the sight words in the openings of the maze. Students with their finger try to make their way through the maze. Before they can pass through a door in the maze, they must read that sight word! I put a tornando in certain areas of the maze. If they come to that, they whirl their finger in the air(as if it were a tornado) and drop down to the bottom of the page, where there are 4-6 sight words they must read in order for them to go back and get through the tornado. Materials: Maze, Clear protector sheet.

Sight Word Pictures: Take pictures of sight words made by magnetic letters. Place memory card in Digital Picture Frame. Play it as a slideshow. Students must try to say the words quietly. Materials: Sight word pictures, Digital Picture Fame.

One Breath Sight Words: Students get a sheet of sight words. They take a deep breath and try to say as many sight words in one breath as they can. Materials: Sight Word Sheet.

Boom- Put sight words on popsicle sticks. Students pull a stick from the Boom can and read it. If they are right, they keep it, if they are wrong, they put it back. If they pull a BOOM stick, all of their sticks that they have accumulated go back in the can. Materials: Canister to hold the sticks, popsicle sticks.

Math:

Addition/Subtraction Towers: Write addition/subtraction facts on the bottom of plastic cups. Stds have to correctly answer the problem before they can stack it to make a tower. Materials:-Plastic Cups, unifix cubes.

Calendar Puzzles: Cut up the picture that comes with an old calendar-for instance they have dog calendars, and October might have a picture of a dog dressed up for halloween. Cut the pictures in about 1-2 inch strips. At the top of the strips place a dot label with numbers on them. You could do skip counting by 2's, 5's, 10's. The students then have to put the numbers in order for them to correctly make the picture. You could also write random numbers and the students have to put them in order from least to greatest. Materials: Old Calendar photo, dot labels.

Maze- Print out or copy blank mazes. Write the addition/subtraction facts in the openings of the maze. Students with their finger try to make their way through the maze. Before they can pass through a door in the maze, they must answer the probelm! I put a tornando in certain areas of the maze. If they come to that, they whirl their finger in the air(as if it were a tornado) and drop down to the bottom of the page, where there are 2-3 facts they must answer in order for them to go back and get through the tornado. Materials: Maze, Clear protector sheet.

Hundreds Chart Art- Students color in numbers a certain color. When they are finished, if they have done it correctly, it shows them a picture. - Hundreds chart and directions

Hundreds Chart- Students roll the dice. They must hop that many spaces on the hundreds chart and tell the other person what number they landed on. Materials- Dice, Hundreds Chart, Beans.

Boom- Put addition/subtraction facts on popsicle sticks. Students pull a stick from the Boom can and answer it. If they are right, they keep it, if they are wrong, they put it back. If they pull a BOOM stick, all of their sticks that they have accumulated go back in the can. Materials: Canister to hold the sticks, popsicle sticks.

Reading Strategy Poems!

So I found a new website that is amazing! His name is Mr. Smith and his website is TeacherTipster.com! He has some really great ideas on how to motivate the kiddos and incorporate what they love into their learning! He has these poems that he shows to the kids to help them learn the different reading strategies! I typed them up in a word document and attatched a picture of the animals that I bought next to the poem! I am going to try them out tomorrow! Here are the poems below! By the way..I got all of the small bean filled animals at Tuesday Morning for about 2-3 dollars each!!
Flippy the Dolphin
 I’m Flippy the Dolphin, I love to read, but words

can be so hard for me! So when I get stuck, I use

this tip, I take the vowel and give it a FLIP!

Tryin’ Lion Sometimes words can be so hard, they make you

feel like cryin’. But please don’t quite, don’t ever

give up, just keep tryin’!

Helpful Elephant From time to time there is a word we just don’t

get! It’s okay, just ask for help, says helpful

Elephant!

Stretch the Snake I’m Stretch the Snake and when I read, there are

lots of words I know! But if there’s a word that’s

hard for me, I say it really slow!

Chunky MonkeyChunky Monkey is my name! Reading books is my

favorite game! I build each word, part by part

and that’s what makes me oh so smart!

Skippy the Frog Skippy the Frog is what they call me! Ribbit

Ribbit Ribbit! Sometimes when I read, I don’t

know a word, so I… skip it… skip it… skip it!

Picture Puppy Picture Puppy, Picture Puppy, hey that’s me!

Grab me a book, cause I love to read! If I

get stuck, I take another look…at all the

pretty pictures that I find in the book!

Lips the Fish You’ve heard a lot of reading tips, well here’s

mine! Get your lips ready to say the word, and

you’ll be just fine!

Birthdays!

This is how I display my birthdays! I was browsing...you guessed it..pinterest..when I came upon this super cute idea that is so much better than the traditional poster with all of your kiddos birthdays on it! I bought the gift bags from the dollar tree, as well as the tissue paper. I then bought some birthday pencils from NAC and some frog pencil toppers from Office Depot randomly!! I wrote the name of every student as well as the day of the month that it was their birthday. I placed the pencil in the bag labeled with their birth month, and stapled the bags to my wall! It is adorable!

First Day of School Idea

So I was thinking of something cute to do for my kiddos on the first day of school to document this great new adventure that was about to happen in their life! :) So I got this super cute idea (from Pinterest) to take a picture of them holding up a picture frame that said My First Day In First Grade! Then at the end of the year, I am going to take another picture of them with a picture frame saying, My Last Day In First Grade! This will let the parents and myself see just how much they grew and changed in the course of one year in First Grade! I am hoping to possibly make a magnet for them to take home on the last day of school with both pictures side by side! HOW ADORABLE RIGHT! Here is an example of what I looked like a couple of days before school started! :)

First Week Jitters!

Well, the first week has come and gone..and I am soo happy I survived! I didn't realize how much paperwork and craziness it was going to be! My kids did awesome though! I implemented my new "whole brain teaching" method into my classroom...and it WORKED WONDERS! My kids were engaged, excited, and learned all of our rules in no time! I strongly suggest you looking into it on YouTube or www.wholebrainteaching.com
  Since Monday was Labor Day, we had a nice long weekend to recuperate from our first week of school!!! I say we, because the kids needed it too!! They were exhausted by Friday!! Poor things! I am super excited about getting into the nitty gritty and bringing out the best in my students! I will post pictures soon of some of the things we are doing in First Grade this year!!

First day of school!!!

Twas the night before school starts....AND I AM SO EXCITED!! I feel like a little kid before Christmas!! This summer was great, but I am so ready to get back in the swing of things and get these kiddos learning! I had meet the teacher on Thursday, and it made me even more excited for this year! My kids were so great! I was able to meet 14 of my 20 students, which I thought was fabulous!! I had one little girl ask me if I was mean!? haha. I told her of course! Just kidding! Oh the thoughts that run through kids heads! This is my first "first day" of school!!! I started in January last year, so this is all brand new to me! Not only have I never taught this part of the year before, but I am implementing a new theory of teaching! It's called Whole Brain Teaching! YOU HAVE TO CHECK IT OUT!! You can see videos of actual teachers teaching in this style on you tube, or check out the website at www.wholebrainteaching.com  The basis behind it is to provide a fun learning experience with the students engaged constantly. Throughout each lesson you are using your body, gestures, and oral responses to learn the topic. IT IS AMAZING! The kids are mirroring you, teaching eachother, and most of all..having fun! I think it will be great...I will let you know tomorrow! HAHA! Well it's about to be 8, and I have an early morning tomorrow!! Here are a few pictures of my classroom this year!

STREP!!

Oh my goodness! This week has been CRAZY! I was feeling a little ill on Sunday, but I didn't think anything of it..(Famous last words!) so I went on with planning my week! Monday was good. I started off good, but then the body aches started!! And instead of going home to rest, we had a staff meeting, and I had to stay late to get all of our end of the year stuff ready! :( Tuesday comes along and I have to be at a training all day. I'm still feeling sick but Advil was my best friend so it helped a little. Well my goodness, Wednesday comes!! OH MY!!! I get to school and right away start feeling like I am going to fall to the floor and pass out! I am also feeling VERY nauseous! I knew that this day was going to be bad! I asked my VP if BY CHANCE I could leave early because the school nurse said my throat looked like strep! I was so relieved when he agreed! Now before I leave, I have to get my kids ready and split them up into the different classrooms. Still feeling ill, I do all of my paper work, and go to pick up my kids from P.E. I get my kiddos, and all of the sudden I feel weak, like I am about to faint, and also like I am about to get rid of my breakfast!! I B-line it straight to my classroom. No stopping in the hallways at all, which is uncalled for any other day!! My kids were so funny because I was ahead of them, walking very quickly, and their poor legs could barely keep up!! I just did NOT want to pass out or vomit in the hallway!! HOW EMBARRASSING! So I finally get to my room, and head straight to my desk. My thinking is that if I sit down, it will all go away! WRONG! I sit down and the kids start piling in. They are being very quiet because they know something is not right! One of my little boys comes over to see if I am ok, and I immediately tell him to grab me the trash can! Not two seconds after he puts it down..the unthinkable happens. Teachers are not supposed to do that..is what my kids are probably thinking!! I probably scarred them for life!! Their reaction was so perfect though! There were a few words said to each other, but other than that, they were silent and ready to help!! I felt so bad, but I think they felt worse!! I love my kids! So I rush my kids out to their other teachers so I can leave and finally get a chance to go to the doctor! The doctor gives me the strep test and says to wait for ten minutes! 3 minutes later...Ms. Matthews, YOU HAVE STREP! UGGHHH!! And apparently it had gotten so bad that the bacteria went into my stomach and made my stomach upset!! Not fun!! I feel soo much better with the medicine that they gave me! Hopefully this next week will be better! I don't think it could be any worse!

Above and Beyond Properties

So today for Science my kids were learning about properties! In order to explain what a property was I told them it is something you see, for instance the color of something, size of something, texture of something, or shape of something. I then proceeded to use myself as the object. I thought this was a fabulous idea. I asked the students to name properties that they see about myself, for instance my size, shape, color, texture, and so on. What was said next made me love my kiddos even more...if that was possible! One student raised their hand oh so nicely and I said.."What property can you name by just looking at me?" Then they said..."Beautiful!" AHHH EXTRA CREDIT! haha. I thought it was so sweet!! I was looking for more words like tall, peach colored..you know the obvious..but no! My kids went above a beyond!! Yet another fabulous day in first grade!

Career Day

So last Friday was career day! It was awesome because we had so many amazing people come and speak to the kiddos! There were firemen, police officers, bus drivers, business men, and a dental assistant! You should have seen the kids oohing and aahing at the sight of them...especially the firemen! It didn't help that they brought the fire truck and extended the ladder for all to see!! I had them prepare for career day by having them write in writing center what they wanted to be when they grew up. I also had cute cut outs of different careers for them to color and paste on their writing! I love themes like that! I wish we had one every week! It just makes it more fun for the kids, and a lot easier to tie in throughout the curriculum! Here are some pics of who we had the pleasure of meeting!

Spurs Day!

Today was another fabulous day! I am just loving May! Every day so far has been great! Today was Spurs Day, and we got to wear our favorite Spurs shirt and slacks!! I love having an excuse to wear a jersey!! :) The kids were great! We did a really cool Science lab today where the kids had to make predictions about weight. We had a balance and different objects for them to compare! They LOVED it and really got into it! I love it when lessons go smoothly and when the kiddos are engaged! We also did a really cute writing prompt! I read them a book about a Postman delivering letters! After that they had to write a letter to the coming Kindergartners! They had to tell them what to expect in first grade! It's hilarious to see what they remember and what they deem as important for them to know about first grade! I'll post pictures tomorrow of some of their writing so you can see how ready they are for second grade!!! :) Game time is in 45 minutes! GO SPURS GO!!!!

National Honesty Day

Today was a great day! We learned about Capacity, learned how to read a calendar, and discussed National Honesty Day!! We talked about how important it is to always be honest!! As some of my kids said.."If you say you are not going to kick someone, be honest if you do." haha. Today was also fabulous because I got to see my kids! It had been three whole days! :) I love the feeling you get as a teacher when your kids are just as excited as you are to see eachother!! LOVE IT! Hope everyone elses Monday's were as great as mine! Lets see what the rest of the week holds!

Gel Bags

So I have a couple kiddos in my class that hate to write, much less write their spelling words! I found a great way to get them to want to write, without force!! :) I got a ziplock bag and filled it with hair gel. Then I put a few drops of blue food coloring in it to make it dark. I give my kids the "gel bags" during small group so that they can practice writing their words to know, spelling words, word families, or even math facts! It beats the mess of shaving cream..yet keeps the kids focused, motivated, and wanting to practice! The key in my class is having my students learning, while they think they are just having fun!!

First Ever Post!!

So here I am, writing my first, but not last, post! I'm super excited to start sharing everything that happens..or shall I say hoppens... in my first grade classroom with everyone! I'm brand new to this, so excuse me if it takes some time to get it up and running. It is Sunday night and I am about to get ready for bed..at 9:43, because 5:30 comes way too quick!! This past month has been absolutely amazing! Not only was it my birthday month, but almost every Friday was either an early release, or a staff/student holiday! I LOVE APRIL!! I can't believe the year is almost over!!  :( I can no longer claim to be a first year teacher..which I take pride in! Another sad part..I'm going to miss my kiddos!! My bed is calling me!! Have a fabulous week!!