October 2013 - Queen of the First Grade Jungle

Busy Teacher x3

I have got a little something for all of you!





They are all three on Sale tonight!
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Halloween Winners

PHEW!  What a fun, quick giveaway!

Here are the LUCKY winners!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Click on the pictures to find the units in our stores!


 


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Costume Capers Literacy and Math Centers AND a Halloween Giveaway!


Taking it easy is really, really hard for me.  I constantly feel the need to be doing…something…anything.

So while I have been stuck on the couch, I have been creating like crazy. 

Last night I finished up my Costume Capers!  I will be printing these soon and getting them ready for my parent volunteer who will slice them up for me on Friday!

Here is a closer look at the Math section...

...and here is the literacy part!

Although I am in 2nd now, I plan my Math Work Stations and Literacy Centers for complete independence so if you are a first grade teacher who wants these for small group or if you have high kids, they may still be a good fit for you.  Here is a look at the Table of Contents:



If these don’t fit your class’ needs, there is always my first grade packet!



I am also getting SUPER excited about heading back to school on Wednesday.   I would be totally bummed if I missed all the fun that I have planned for the next week. 
 Here is a peek at the units I will be using to make that Halloween fun happen:


AND last but not least Creekside Teacher's Wendy the Witch Set

You can also read about Wendy the Witch on Tracy's blog HERE.


What better way to share all my Halloween fun with you all then a giveaway!?!?!

Since Halloween is right around the corner,  the giveaway will only run for 24 hours!  Please enter in the rafflecopter below, and I will be back tomorrow evening to announce winners and share a behavior management technique I am trying out!

I will pick one winner for each pack so that means LOTS of winners!

<!--EndFragment--a Rafflecopter giveaway
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Five for Friday with some Freebies from my BED!

1.  No, I am not just being lazy... I promise.

I actually had surgery.  Without getting into too many details, I had a mass removed from my abdomen.  

Some super sweet girls that I have become buddies with through the internet sent me these gorgeous flowers!


I wanted to say a special thank you to sweet Kelley for being such a great support system after my surgery! It royally stinks to find out there is something wrong in your body, and it is SO nice to have someone to talk to about it!

2.  Nash and Emmie got their pictures done.  This is just a shot I snuck over the camera lady- I can't wait to share the REAL prints with you!


3. I FINALLY finished my Convention Camp Unit!  I put this packet together so I could spend about 2 weeks with my kids going over some concepts that they learned in first grade, but I wanted to make sure they were SOLID on before we moved on to Nonfiction writing.
These posters are currently hanging in my classroom!  I just LOVE them!

And here are the centers that come in this pack.  I will be using these centers during Daily 5 next week to even further nail down these skills.

AND last but not least, here is a page straight from the packet explaining how my kids were in charge of their own learning with these printables!

4.  My brother came to visit and brought Nash and Emmie some Halloween books.

That means I have to start preparing Halloween activities!  Luckily I already have some paid and free products just in case I decide to nap instead!!!



4.  With Halloween quickly approaching I had to scramble to order Nash and Em some Halloween costumes.

Am I the only mom that tries REALLY, REALLY hard to get her kids to dress up in duo?!?!

I am pretty darn successful at it too...



THIS year Emmie insisted on being a mermaid so Nash agreed to be a pirate! So I headed to my second favorite place to shop-Etsy!  I found this great store and this GORGEOUS mermaid dress for Emmie! I know this won't be the last time I am visiting this little shop :)


5.  And last, but definitely not least- I am currently a teensy bit obsessed with this show...


Anyone else??








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Publishing Party and "FEAR" Cake

One of my top goals this year is to convince my kids that they are writers.

Writing is not just something your teacher makes you do.

It is a way to express yourself. 

I feel like one of the best ways to get through to my kids is to give them authentic purposes for their writing.  As we neared the end of writing personal narratives, we decided to have a Publishing Party.  We invited the principal, the class across the hall, and few other guests!  The kids were pumped and worked extra hard to polish up their final pieces. 

On the day of the party,  I typed up a list of our favorite authors (In Cara Carroll fonts of course).


 After I cut out the names, I glued them to a big piece of butcher paper.  The paper would serve two purposes.  One- I could hang it behind the kids as kind of a backdrop.  Two (and much more importantly) the kids would see THEIR names by some of the greatest authors out there.  
They grinned from ear to ear.  They got my message loud and clear (they also tried really hard to get their names right by their personal favorites).


 One by one the kids read their personal narratives to their audience.  
 After we read we celebrated a little more with a little snack, but don't worry- we were back to the grind the next day.  I can't WAIT to celebrate our informative writing next time!

This week I took a little break from our reading series to do a Patricia Polacco author study.  If you follow me on FB or Instagram, you know I am borderline obsessed with Polacco.  NO ONE tells a story better than she does. Yesterday we read Thundercake and so of course we had to make some!  I had already decided that I was going to have the kids write a summary of Thundercake since we are working SO hard on that skill, but as I was making a mad dash through the grocery story to find everything I needed- an idea struck me!

Isn't that how it always works!  I decided that I would much prefer to have my students make personal connections to the book and write about their own fears.  We decided instead of making "Thunder"cake, we were making "Fear"cake.  

So first we brainstormed our fears.  I *may* have had to hide a snicker over seagulls.  
 After we brainstormed our fears, I had them do a little bit of prewriting.  I have found that when my kids fill out an extensive graphic organizer before they write a final draft, that their final draft is almost the "summarized" version.  So I decided I was going to give the kids one pink post-it and three blue post-its. The pink post-it was for their fear and the blue post-its were for the three ingredients that they would add to their fear cake to help them get rid of their fears. 
 We talked about "cooking lingo" and I was blown away by the voice they added to their writing.  

This little cutie said her cake needed a "dash of bravery, a sprinkle of protection, and a cup of happiness"

I was THRILLED with their pieces because they were able to give a one to two sentence summary of Thundercake, a personal connection, and a bit of creative writing when making up their cake recipes! Perfection!

And of COURSE I let them bake!



Smiles, friends- tomorrow is FRIDAY!!!
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Busy Teachers and Social Teachers ALL-in-One

I have to apologize- I have too much on my plate.  I have not completed a 2nd grade busy teacher yet, BUT I do have Kindergarten and my original, first ever Busy Teacher's Best Friend available in my TPT Store for you!  Click on the pictures to check them out!

 
Now because even BUSY teachers need a break every once in a while,
 I was able to sneak away for about 48 hours to see some of my besties!! Here we are (my roomies) in the Opryland Hotel!  
That place is AH-MAZING!  So gorgeous!

I am sure I don't need to introduce you to my friends, but just in case: AbbyMichelle, me, and Cara!

This next picture is probably my favorite from the weekend (not only because Natalie has amazing photo editing skills) because I got to meet two people I have been DYING to meet.  Rachelle and THE Joelle!  I am currently trying to figure out how to set up a playdate between Emmie and Ms. Joelle!

We had two expectant mommies with us so we had a fun little baby shower on Saturday! 


 Here is the amazing photographer herself!  If you haven't ever met Natalie, you must---she may be the sweetest human being alive!

Here is a group picture from after the baby shower!

We were in delightfully fun Nashville so of course we had to go down to Broadway!  I love this photo even though I am pretty sure that we all thought that only our boots were going to be in the shot!  At least- that's my excuse!

I feel so unbelievably blessed to have these women in my life! Not only do they make me a better teacher, but they encourage me, challenge me, and love me for who I am.  I know God had a special plan when he put them in my life!

Have a BLESSED week!

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