Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Get Some...

Here are some complimentary pages to accompany any End of the School Year Memory Book!


The first page is for students to write kind thoughts about their classmates. This can be done in addition to an autograph page. Provide students with the “One Thing I Like About…” page. Each student will write their own name in the rectangle. Then direct students to rotate around the room with a pencil and visit each of their peer’s desks. At each desk, students will write one nice comment or compliment on one line. Remind students to write neatly, use only one line, leave appropriate comments, and write their name after their comment. Upon completion, every student will have a page of comments and compliments to remember their classmates by.


The second page is for an end-of-the-year election! Read each description to the class. Provide explanations if necessary. Students will think of a classmate that the description describes and write that student’s name on the line. Inform students that they can change their votes as needed. However, they can only write another classmate’s name once. Upon completion, gather the election pages and tabulate for results. Sometimes teacher’s votes must help decide.


Last, here is a cute little poem that I found on the Internet years ago. 
I like to give this poem to my students on the last day of school along with a little gift {usually pictures or a slideshow video of class pictures from the school year}. 


{Click here for an End of the Year Game Day idea!!}

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

End of the Year Memory Book

As the end of the school year approaches, help students reflect by creating their very own End of the Year Memory Book. This keepsake includes the following pages:

  • Memory Book Cover 
  • About this Year 
  • My Favorite Things 
  • My Favorite School Lunch
  • My Favorite Recess Activity 
  • My Favorite Subject
  • My Favorite Book 
  • My Favorite Class Activity 
  • My Favorite Field Trip 
  • I Will Never Forget When 
  • The Funniest Moment 
  • Special Letter to My Teacher 
  • What a Friend 
  • Next Year
  • Autographs

There are 18 pages in all. As students (and teacher) anticipate summer break, start wrapping up the year by writing about the journey. 
Click {here}!

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Saturday, April 28, 2012

Now Why Didn't I Think of That?!?

Have you ever tried to have first graders sit in rows of 3 facing forward? I tried it *briefly* my first year teaching first grade. I found out the hard way that first graders move all day long and so did their desks
Where did my neat little rows go?
With 23 students this year, desk logistics have been a source of irritation. So, I decided to wrangle these desks into submission and take charge. Say hello to my new buddy, "Cabl E. Ties"!
You can even put a mark on the floor so students know exactly where to realign their rows. Now, why didn't I think of that!?! Thanks, Mr. Tie!

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Go Green!

Teach students Earth friendly concepts 
with...
Enjoy! 

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Jellybean Math Fun!

I love mixing food and math together!! I know my kiddos love it, too! So here we go...it's jumpin' jellybean time!!

Provide each student with a bag of assorted jellybeans.
Have students look at their bag and make an estimate. Next, have students count to verify their actual total. As a a challenge for those smarties, have them find the difference between their estimate and total. Students will then sort their jellybeans by color and color their graphs accordingly.

Have students record their color totals using tally marks and finally with numerals. Next, students will analyze their delicious data by comparing quantities using greater than, less than, and equal signs.

Once students have compared quantities, they can write responses about their data. They will identify the jellybean color that they had the most of, the least of, and write equations using two and three addends. Included in this unit is a free response form for students to write about their jumpin’ jellybean graph and jellybean data.

Next, students will embark on a jellybean survey. They will ask their classmates whether they like jellybeans or not, collect, track, and organize the data.


Finally, have students create their own survey. What would they like to ask their classmates about in regards to jellybeans? Students will then collect, track, and organize their data.

Head on over to {TpT} to get your 9 pages of jumpin' jellybean math fun!!

Monday, January 2, 2012

Get Your Kagan On!!

Winter break officially ends tomorrow. Like me, I'm sure my students are bummed, but excited. I know their minds will be elsewhere…Seeing their friends; Is it time for recess; Hey, guess what I got for Christmas; I can't wait to play with my new…

I learned a long time ago to embrace the notion that the first day back from any break is not going to be jam-packed with curriculum. Let's just say that I've learned to incorporate these distractions into a framework. That's where Kagan Structures come into play. For the first part of our school day, students will interact with their peers and describe their holiday excitement using various Kagan Structures. Some of the structures I can adapt include: Jot Thoughts, Draw It!, A-Z Brainstorming, Four Corners, Body Graphs, or Puzzled People


Kagan Structures engage every student, and require every student to participate. What a great way to refocus the class on procedures, expectations, and teambuild. Just throw in topics like Winter Break, Santa, family, gifts, and toys…what else could you need on your first day back? {A couple Red Bulls, maybe!?! HA!!}