Mr. President

I have always done an informative writing with Washington and Lincoln each year but I wanted to be extra cute after we made our MLK Jr. Writings.  So I did a little research (a.k.a Pinterest stalking) and got a few ideas for these president studies!

First we start with a few NF books and Unitedstreaming videos then we make a simple bubble map for each president.

 

Then we used Washington and Lincoln to talk about analogies.  I was able to get a lot of out of the presidents!

Won't you be my Sweetheart!

Well, now that school is out and my brain can slow down and think I decided to share the rest of my pictures before I deleted them off my phone! I had every intention this year to be a better blogger but reality set in and I got totally distracted! Until right now I always wondered how people like Mrs. Carrol could keep up.....and then I discovered blogger on my phone! Bahaha- I've had it on my phone all year but never sat down to use it! Until now....

So - here is our valentine craft that we love to do each year! I've done it in kindergarten and in first grade and it's always a hit! 

I think this was a cat?

So there you have the cheapest craft ever! Paper and 1 box of sweet hearts :) 

Problem Solving ~ Solved!

Ok, So....With the new math standards for Texas making extreme changes in their rigor for first grade, our district has decided for K-2 to beging teaching with the new standards this year. 

Well, you can see the challenge already......the gap in curriculum and standards.  This has been a huge pull your hair out priority for my grade level.  How do you teach a child to problem solve at the highest level without curriculum or resources that have enough "meat" in them? 

So, challenge accepted, I have been making my own resources to suppliment the gap.  One resource I have made is mini journals that have the "Rigor" and vocabulary that our curriculum checks have been using. My students LOVE to work through these and discuss the different ways to problem solve. 
We typically work most of them together, discussing, explaining, and checking as we go.  I am trying to get them to be independent in their problem solving skills, not just tell me an answer!

Here is a link to a few of the Strategy Builders on my TpT store.   I will get the Back to School, October, and November strategy builders posted soon! 

 

February Strategy Builder

 

 

 January Strategy Builder

 

 December Strategy Builders



Busy little bees!

We have been moving fast this semester! We will start with MLK Jr.  My kids loved making these simple MLK Jr. crafts!  It was super easy and quick since I already had the face cut outs and eye cut outs as well! 

I love the handle bar moustache! HAHA!

 

Then we covered Landforms and Bodies of Water

 

We were kinda fast and furious with this topic so we just made our own maps and labeled the landforms.

 

Last Tuesday was our 100th day of school and we had a great time!  I made a bunch of 100's chart puzzles for the kiddos to do and hid 100 Hersey's Kisses in the classroom that we hunted down.  We couldn't find #43 for the longest time.  Finally as I was wrapping things up with the whole group at the carpet one of the boys jumped up and RAN over to the paper towel holder and found the sneaking thing on the handle of the paper towel dispenser.  It was pretty amusing to watch his face light up :)

 

My favorite Pinterest find from last year is the 100 digit creation!  This year now that I am back in First Grade I had to step up the rigor just a bit!  We wrote a story about our 100th day creation.   

I bet you wouldn't have guessed this one was written by a girl, lol!