Sayin' Goodbye to 2012

Ending of a Year... 2012

It has been one cray-cray end to a busy GLORIOUS year! 

Seriously!

It’s been a while since my last post…I have no idea where the time 

has gone!

It’s crazy to think that half the school year is over with... total SADSVILLE!

I so HEART this group of FIRSTIES! Well every group for that matter... they are all very unique!

We have been very blessed in 2012... so here’s to many more blessings in 2013!

Some of my blessings came in the form of discovering many AMAZING educational blogs and PINTEREST!

I have learned more about being an EXCEPTIONAL teacher through the sharing and valuable resources, experiences and ideas from YOUR teaching blogs!

So with a very GRATEFUL heart I want to THANK teachers who take the time to create and share their

many talents!

Your gifts are a blessing beyond measure!

Total inspiration from very gifted teachers... loved that I also found Teachers Pay Teachers! WOWZER... made my life LOTS easier!

So I took all my new wealth of ideas and lessons and put them to work.

 I would like to share a little of what I remembered to capture and share how our projects turned out. 

Let's start with Fairy Tales and Patterns... 

There are so many great ideas out there! 

I took a little of what I found and put it together to fit the needs of my Firsties...seeing how I have 16 boys and 6 girls, my boys wouldn't be diggin' 

all the girly stuff! 

We brainstormed using a Circle Map, different wishes.

Then I made available 2 different options for their writing craftivity. 

Boys chose the wand... girls the sparkly slippers! Big Surprise...HA! 

The adorable "Sparkly Slippers" craftivity were borrowed from Ms. Leslie Ann over at Life In First Grade...LOVE her!

So be sure to check out many of her FAB ideas and lessons! 

Amanda over at Mrs.Terhune's First Grade Site has a super cute FREE 

"Fairy Tale Unit" that I downloaded and used.

It has super great activities for many different common fairy tales! 

I did a quick mini assessment on patterns in small groups when we worked on this skill... I love how they turned out for being an assessment! 

My bilingual pairs did a super great job...love how mini foam shapes and stickers inspire them!

We also worked on 2D & 3D shapes this 9 weeks. I came across (some where on PINTEREST) a cute activity on 2D shapes that I just had to share their creativity!

Prompt: "At first it was a _______. Now it is a _______."

 I can't seem to locate the original source for this activity so if it's your cutsie idea please let me know so I can give you your well 

deserved credit! 

I did a Tree Map assessment on 3D shapes.

I handed 3D shape cards to each student and depending on what they were given...they had to draw a real object that resembled the 3D shape and glue it in the correct category on the Tree Map!

Gingerbread Unit...workin' on fables!

 Loved this year's unit...we focused more on different points of view in Fairy Tales & Fables! My Firsties loved seeing things from different POV from main characters in each story...who knew!

I read different versions of the Gingerbread Boy and Girl...many FAB stories out there...I went crazy on Amazon and the book stores! HA! 

Love me some Gingerbread anything stories! I adore this cute little unit that I found on Teachers Pay Teachers by Linda Kamp! 

You have to check it out...you can get your copy here!

 My FIRSTIES have a thing for mustaches...but like who doesn't have a thing for mustaches! 

I was over the moon HAPPY when I came across Cara's Mooseltoe Unit! 

Super duper cute and FUN activities..but I didn't expect anything less from her! So here is how their craftivities turned out...LOVE them!

I have to say my sweeties have learned a thing or two from their teacher about decorating and details...MELTS.MY.HEART!!! 

Well folks that's all I have to share with y'all from my IPhone...sorry about the quality....I know it isn't ideal! 

Wishin' y'all a Happy New Year! Looking forward to posting in 2013!

Christmas

Wishin’ y’all a …

Can't STUFF This!!!

A Quick Thanksgiving Share:

Here's a little of what we've been workin' on for this year’s Thanksgiving season.

First off a throwback to the 90’s with some M.C. Hammer remix…with “You Can’t STUFF THIS”! Hahaha

I have to admit there is a video out there of me bustin’ some moves with my adorable lil' FIRTIES!!! 

Ok, so now on to my picture share...

I will post later in detail about our craftivities

Wishin' y'all a HAPPY THANKSGIVING and many blessings!

On A Roll!

WOWZERS! Two post in one day...I must be feelin' better! I have been sicky pooh all weekend...sadsville for suuureee! I have nothing done for next week. Nothing like workin' under serious pressure!

I am linking up with the Farley from Oh' Boy 4th Grade and you should too! Time seems to be flying by so quickly! December will be here in no time! YIPPIE!

New BLOGGER Friend

Howdy Friends!

Yay! I am super EXCITED!

I just wanted to share with y'all that my MENTOR 

has started a teaching blog! 

Ms. Wolff is SUPER DUPER AMAZING!

Hayley took me under her wings 4 years ago when I started teaching on her 2nd grade team! 

She is the reason I have a solid teaching foundation! 

No lie! I observed her for like a week (I was new to the whole teaching world seeing how I was an accountant before) 

then I was set free! Talk about SCARY.... yikers!

She will ALWAYS have a SPECIAL place in my heart...she is one ROCKIN' teacher!

She also ROCKS the THINKING MAPS!

If you are needing some new ideas for Kinder (well any grade for that matter) or how to incorporate more technology in your classroom! She is definitely your go to gal! 

So check out her blog and start following!!! I just <3 her!

Crazy For Kindergarten

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