On Saturday...

Here's my next set of activities for my kiddos! We're on Lesson 23 of Storytown, and the main selection is entitled "On Saturday." It has kind of a fallish feel to it... but the main story has all sorts of red, orange, and green falling maple leaves, so I went with it! :-) Fall is my favorite season, so I was okay with it... just this once!

Please feel free to use and enjoy if you teach Storytown! (Or if you don't, but want to practice these words anyways!)

On Saturday Spelling Words and HWF



47 Days...

Well, Spring Break has come to a close! Chicago was a BLAST... and my closet now has 2 new Coach purses and I have 2 new Coach ID holders to wear at school! :-) Plus, the hubby got to meet my wonderful great-aunt for the first time, and we had a grand ol' time hanging out with her!

Tomorrow morning, it's back to the grind. My student teacher finished before Break, so I'm back with my kiddos - I can't WAIT! I've missed them so much :-) We officially have 47 days of school left for the year, but...

One day is an inservice.

One day is Field Day.

One day is our Field Trip.

One day is a half-day (our last day).

So, really, there are about 43 days left!  Holy Schmoly!

43?!? We'd better hit the ground runnin'... still have a lot to learn to be ready for Second Grade!

Have a Happy Monday, everyone!

I -Heart- Cute Graphic Giveaways!!

This girl is in HEAVEN! There are two amazing giveaways going on right now to two of my favorite sites for amazing graphics! Check them out:

Head over to The First Grade Sweet Life for a chance to win a Scrappin' Doodles gift certificate! (Click her button)



 Next, head over to Oceans of First Grade Fun for a couple of chances to win some great stuff from my NEW favorite place - Just So Scrappy Too!

 

Alright, back to my Spring Break fun in Chicago - did you really think I'd be able to stay away from bloggie-land for an entire week?  Ha - no way! :-)

Spring Break!!



What are your plans? I'm heading to Chicago - first time ever! Any suggestions...?? :-)

Let's Go on a Picnic!

After seeing some AWESOME ideas at other fabulous blogs (check out Teacher's Pets on the right for some fantastic links!!), I got jealous since we teach Story Town and it seems as if all the good teachers teach Reading Street. So... I got creative myself! If you use Story Town, feel free to use. And if you know of a good blog of someone who teaches with that program, pleeeeeease lead me to it! :-)  Thanks!!

Picnic Spelling Words and HFW

Flying High with Fact Family Kites!

Here's something I threw together last night while thinking of a review math activity the kids can do after Spring Break! If you can use it in your room, feel free! Enjoy :) This is one of the first items I've made for others to see, let alone use! Please let me know if you have any suggestions for me as to how I can improve! :)

Flying High With Fact Family Kites

{Clipart from DJ Inkers - http://www.djinkers.com/}

{Fonts from Kevin & Amanda - http://www.kevinandamanda.com/fonts/freescrapbookfonts/}

Rainbows, Dr. Seuss, and Tears.... lots of tears

Ever have one of those days where your emotions are just ALL over the map??? That was my Wednesday...

First off, everyone knows that Wednesday was the best day to be a first grader; it was Dr. Seuss' birthday!! We got to celebrate and do fun activities and make Cat in the Hat hats and even sneak in a couple of great Dr. Seuss videos throughout our day. It's times like this that really make me loooove first grade!

However, in Room 108, our day was a little clouded. It was one of my kiddos' (Jake, we'll call him) last day in my room. We have been collecting data on this little one since Kindergarten, and the trend was showing a huge rise in daily aggression and use of inappropriate language. This data led to his team deciding that we needed to pursue a more specialized placement for his IEP services. In our district (only 6 elementary schools), we have one building that houses the ED program, and that's where we decided he'd be best served. Even though I know that this is the best placement for him and his needs, and I know that the rest of my class will be able to learn in a safe, calm environment... well, I still cried that day.

I teared up when telling my class (before he came in) that it was going to be his last day. I cried with his mom when he came in from breakfast and the kiddos swarmed him with "We'll miss you, Jake!" and all the hugs one could ever want! And I cried the hardest when I watched him walk out of our building at the end of the day with his grandma. The little stinker was walking away and he stopped, turned, and looked so wistfully back at the building he'd never come back to as a student. The look on his face will forever be in my brain. And I'll probably tear up every time I remember it. Like now. :(

Buuut, we did our best to celebrate Jake in our classroom that day! The kids made him ALL sorts of great handmade things to take with him on his way. We took class pics and buddy pics to compile into a memory book (that we sent over to his new school today to help him through this transition). We even had a cupcake celebration at the end of the day!!

While I was too emotional to snap pics of the class eating the Dr. Seuss-themed cupcakes, I made sure to keep one at home for me to capture the hard work of my hubby and myself. The kids loved them! And Jake felt like the most special kiddo on the planet. And that's just what I wanted him to feel - because, for yesterday, he was! :)

Here are the fantastic rainbow creations! If these don't scream Dr. Seuss, I don't know what does!! (Just picture a laughing class full of 6-7 year-olds in red & white striped hats unwrapping these beauties and eating them!)