MIA

MIA- BIG TIME!!!!!

SORRY! folks for the long absence! I’ve been crazy busy as I‘m sure many of you are too! Honestly there isn’t enough time for me to get everything done on my “To Do List”.

I guess part of the reason I’ve been so behind is football games, house building and SHOPPING! HA! 

Hook 'EM \m/

Meanwhile progress is being made on our casita! 

We hope to be in our new home late November or early December...we'll see how that goes! STRESSFUL building a house! I rather it be when we go on Christmas VACAY!

SO let's do a little rewind...a bit of a modge podge of things because this is all I have seem to have captured on my iphone! BOO! 

I LOVE the Even & Odd activity that I borrowed from that sweet Mrs. Genius over at The Teacher Wife....I just heart her to death! Super cute activity! You can check it out here! 

A quick way I like to do an informal assessment with my mixed groups is to do a class Thinking Map and have each students come up with there individual contributions to our maps!

For example: (Circle Map below) Even and Odd numbers each student had to tell me their number before placing it on the map so I could see who was getting the concept or not. No help from their partners.

WE are crazy for Circle Maps...here are some examples of Circle Maps we have done earlier this year! I also have examples of what our Spanish students are doing in their L1.

I do want to share that we also take the information off the maps and turn it into a writing piece. I will make sure I capture more of our final writing products to share with y'all in the future. 

Here are some examples of our "Math About Me" Circle Maps...my math groups are mixed with English and Spanish students.

My homeroom students love to play "Maps Around The World"! 

It's like "Musical Chairs" except for I have some sort of "THINKING MAP" they must fill in with the skill we are learning. 

You could also do this activity with other subject areas. 

I use it TONS in Math!

 My homeroom class was learning about short a families. I used Circle Maps for each word family (5 short a families). 

They walked around the room in a circle (as I played music) and when I stopped the music they had to fill in the map they were closes to with a word that belonged in that particular short a family. 

They must also write down their name by the word they chose. It was a quick way for me to see who was still needing more guidance.

My Firsties LOVE this game! 

Here are some great examples of our Spanish students doing some writing in their L1-Spanish...beautiful handwriting! 

Christopher Columbus Brace Map:

I really love using the Brace Map for vocabulary...Whole to Part relationship...we did this craftivity during our 

Oral Language develepment block.

Vocabulary is key in any language so this is a great way to show how some words have different meanings based on the 

context they are used in. 

Example "BOW" I was so impressed with how much they knew about how many different meanings this word could have depending on how I pronounced it...AMAZING!!! 

In this case BOW- the front end of a boat or to BOW in the presence of a King or Queen (greatness)! 

SMARTIES I tell you!

I absolutley LOVE Kim Adsit's Hooray for Columbus Day! 

She is soooo AMAZING!! I truly love all her activities! 

I used her "Parts of the Santa Maria" for this activity. 

My bilingual pairs really enjoyed this craftivity!

Check out her blog over at Kinder-Gals!

Brace Map: Parts of an Apple

Bilingual pairs created their own brace map for this activity. 

Here is an example of each L1-English on the left. 

L2-English on the right. 

Okay so I had to share some of my homeroom activities because it is just so darn caaaute! Brace Maps for practicing their spelling words!

They have to come up with some of their own words that have the same phonics rule...check out "AFLACK"! Love it!!! 

They must also illustrate their words if possible... love the suitcase! 

They seriously MELT.MY.HEART!!!!!!!

How can you not keep a HUGE smile on your face day in and day out! I feel so very blessed to be a teacher...the rewards are endless!

October

CURRENTLY

It’s that time again sweet folks… hookin’ up with FARLEY’s currently! Please remember to follow her rule of 3! 

Sweet Dreams...I need to catch up on some serious sleep!

Week 2: GOT ER’ DONE!!!

Can’t believe week 2 is over with! I just loooove 3 day weekends… followed by a 4 day week!

My sweet little Firsties worked very hard this past week… I am so proud of what they were able to accomplish in such a short time!

They took their first “Spelling Test” today…I know, Mrs. Hubble is a meanie!

They did a SUPER DUPER job!

I wanted to share a couple of maps with y’all…My Firsties are ROCKIN’ their Thinking Maps! 

In math I had my bilingual partners create a Multi Flow Map together...Blue is my English kiddo and Red is my Spanish kiddo. That's how I distinguish who did what work on any of their activities. 

The skill we were practicing was adding 1 more...on the back is 1 less. 

In Oral Language Development my pairs created a Double Bubble Map. We worked on finding similarities and differences in our names. 

They LOVED this activity! It was a type of informal assessment to see where my Spanish kiddos were at with identifying letters, if they knew the difference between consonants & vowels and letter formation. 

My last picture is of my PRIZE JARS...I am STOKED about how they turned out! YES, another PINTEREST inspired project! 

I am T-I-R-E-D! I plan to get some much needed rest...next week is all about DRA & TPRI testing! Wish me luck! Have a BLESSED weekend!

September's Currently

Currently...September

I'm linking up with Farley from Oh' Boy 4th Grade! Don't forget to follow Farley's RULE OF 3!!! 

Hope everyone is havin' a FABULOUS 3 day weekend! 

I'm diggin' this month's CURRENTLY...maybe Farley will do one in CHEVRON!! hehehe

First Week FUN!!!

YIPPIE…first week of school is DONE! What an AMAZING start to the new school year!

I scored a SUPER DUPER STELLAR group of FIRSTIES! 

I have to say one of the BEST investments I made this summer was purchasing "Fun With Firsties"...created by Abby Mullins....LOVE her! 

There are soooooo many stinkin' cute activities to keep your FIRSTIES busy! 

I made "Jitter Juice" for the first time this year and I have to tell ya...it's a keeper! 

Who knew it would have such a positive influence on those sweet faces looking up at me! 

Jitter Juice....I believe they thought I was going to provide it everyday for them! Ha! 

In addition to the super fun activities..."Fun with Firsties" provides many opportunities to incorporate Thinking Maps...super PLUS for this teacher! 

We hit the first week running and I got to work introducing Thinking Maps to my Firsties! 

Thank You Abby for your amazing lessons...teaching is NEVER boring....I am just as excited as my sweet Firsties to get to school! 

Here's a recap of our week......

1st day: Sorry not the best pictures! 

Whole Group Thinking Maps...school wide we are utilizing the "frame of reference" a whole lot more this year. 

One of the activities in this packet is "What a First Grader Needs to Be Successful" super cute craftivity. 

We created a whole group Circle Map and defined what a first grader needed to do in order to succeed in first grade.

 After we completed our map.. I asked my students to pick 4 items from the circle map that they really wanted to work on this school year. 

A close-up of some of their writings...I really love how a first grader writes...it's stinkin' caaaaute! 

We switch at 10:00 and become mixed (Spanish & English) learners. 

My Firsties are very engaged and love hangin' in my classroom! 

Bilingual Buddies: Oral Language Development Centers 

I have to say I pushed them a little bit harder in Math this week...and used the Bridge Map to really get them thinking about numbers. 

Our RF: Relating Factor was "____ is another way to show____".

I have to say they rose to the 

challenge well... I love using the 

Bridge Map in Math!

Seeing relationships isn't always easy for a first grader. 

I think using the "Double Bridge" really helps the students to see and make the connections when you put the RF (Relating Factor) in the middle of the bridge. 

It's also know as the "Fat Bridge" 

 but we agreed as a class that we didn't like that name.

 So we took a vote and renamed the bridge! HA!

Here is another way I incorporated the Bridge Map this week. 

I needed to see who knew the alphabet and who could write their letters. 

RF: Relating Factor

"____ is the lowercase letter for___"

I just had to share one of my sweet student's art work...it melted my heart! This cute craftivity can be found in the same fun packet. 

My class completed this adorable craftivity today! 

I tell ya...Jitter Juice was a HIT!

Last but not least...just wanted to share how my objective frames turned out! 

 

I hope everyone had a great start to the new school year! 

I for one am lookin' forward to a 3 day weekend! 

I'm going to need the rest... so I can be at my best for this stellar group of Firsties!

2012/13 Classroom Decor

2012-2013 Classroom Share:

I seriously can’t believe we are at the start of a NEW school year! School starts on MONDAY! YAY! Time has slipped away quickly! I think I may have had waaaayyy to many PINTEREST projects to tackle this summer!

Sorry I’ve been MIA…I just couldn’t find any time to BLOG!

I don’t plan to blah, blah, blah, too much on this post. I just wanted to share a couple of my classroom pictures with y’all!

OH. MY. WORD. I’ve been a little emotional these past few weeks thinkin’ about my own children and their sweet milestones. This year my oldest is a SENIOR…and my youngest starts KINDER! Talk about time flyin’… when did all this happen???!

Anyhow, onto some classroom sharin’!

I have enjoyed many of the AMAZING teacher blogs I follow and I HEART your products. Thank you all for sharin’ ideas…you have INSPIRED me beyond words…gotta love Pinterest too!

Here is what you see when you walk into my classroom...... 

To the left is my desk area...BUT I hardly ever use it...only to store my lesson plans! 

I soooooo HEART my gorgeous rug! 

A BIG thank you to Reagan over at Tunstall's Teaching Tidbits for sharin' where she purchased her rug...I was LUCKY enough to find one...totally in love with it! 

I have Amy's gorgeous chevron numbers on my front board...you can purchase them here.

 

Here is my Phonics and sink area. I love me some lamps...it sets off a good vibe in the room...RELAXIN'! 

I also made a "Who's Out" chart... it's harder to keep up with the Dual crew with all the changes going on.

 You can see our first Tree Map of the year...First Day Feelings! 

I can't wait to see my new Firsties again on mOnday...yeehaw!

Next is my Writing Center... I love Cara's chevron alphabet set! 

You can purchase it here... it was the right look for my classroom! 

My writing table was a PINTEREST inspired project as well as my rockin' chair. 

I also fell in love with Hope King's Subway Art...you can purchase her beautiful art work here. 

Here is my Library and work display area. 

I have the caaautest baby chandler hangin' in the middle of the Library! 

I found it at Wal-Mart...it's meant to be used for a locker...it really works! It made me so gitty! HA! 

Onto the MATH Area...my FAV subject to teach!

My "How We Go Home" is from the wonderful Miss. Nelson...love her! You can purchase your copy here!

 I found the perfect 10 Frames Cards here... very stylish thank you 

Primary Possibilities. 

We are a Thinking Maps school... I truly LOVE them! 

We had some AWESOME staff development workshops on Thinking Maps this summer...I can't wait to share more map ideas with y'all!

I am tryin' a new (well new to me) Math Workshop Rotation board this year... I am AMAZED at how organized that darlin' woman over at the Clutter-Free Classroom is! 

I love, love, love her BLOG! 

Jodi has great products! I also purchased her Bright and Cheerful Classroom Bundle... LOVE it! 

Last but not least... "Birthday Celebration" creations...I just finished up my Lollipop Tree (Pinterest Pin)! I still have a couple of Pinterest inspired projects to wrap up this weekend! 

I will have to bring them in on Monday... along with a couple of items I forgot to bring in for my desk area. 

I will have 17 BOYS & 6 girls in my homeroom class this year! YIKES...17 boys! 

I have put in place many classroom mgmt. ideas .... one of them being VOICE LEVEL! I found a SUPER DUPER cute one here. 

Thank you Live Love Laugh Kindergarten! 

Well that's all folks...I hope everyone has or had an AMAZING start to a new adventurous school year!

Lookin' forward to reading a TON of entertaining post this school year! 

THANK YOU to all you INSPIRING teachers... your talents are a gift to share!

God Bless y'all... and get your TEACH ON!

Back In My "NEW" Classroom

Howdy Folks! I was so excited to get into my new classroom today! I moved rooms at the end of last school year... and now I'm in the GREEN (1st Grade) hallway! YIPPIE! 

I hate moving BUT I love the change and a chance to REDO things. I went today with one goal in mind set-up my classroom...for the most part I think I accomplished my goal!

What my room looked like before I started to rearrange the furniture.... not bad at all!!!

Here is what I was able to accomplish today. Not sure if it will stay this way BUT for the most part I am HAPPY with the way I setup my desk and what will be the Phonics/Writing area!

I love making little nooks for my students...the BEST part is yet to come DECORATING!

I hope everyone is enoyin' the last of their Summer Vacay! 

I will be back with pictures on how my classroom turned out. 

Get your...TEACH ON!