Valentine's Day Sight Words

Valentine's Day is TOMORROW and I can hardly believe it.  Between working all day and the late night feedings with my baby boy life is a bit of a blur, haha!  I was able to finish this Valentine's Day themed sight word packet in the nick of time though and I am excited to share it with you.  Oh, and it is FREE through tomorrow!  Grab one quick right HERE or click on any of the images below.  Here's a sneak peak! 

 HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

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Patriot Day + a FREEBIE

Patriot Day is a special day and I've made a tradition of using it to teach my first graders about national symbols, American heroes, and patriotism.  Here's a look at our day!  And don't forget to scroll all the way down for a  FREE download!

We started by reading as much non-fiction as we could find to help us learn about American symbols.  I just love this set of readers from Scholastic!

When then made our own American Symbols mini-books.  My kids were so excited to be able to take something home that would help them teach their families about these symbols.  I just love when they decide to be little teachers!

In the afternoon we made these simple, but fun tissue paper flags and discussed the meanings of the colors on the flag.  Click here for a link to this FREE template or keep scrolling to the bottom!

While we finished up our flags we had a little red, white, and blue snack.  When students ate a certain color I had them tell their neighbor what it stood for.

I had these American Heroes coloring pages available for a few of the fast finishers and it led to some wonderful class discussion about what defines a hero!

How do you honor Patriot Day in your classroom?

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New Year's Resolutions

New Year's resolutions frequently get a bad rap, which is somewhat understandable considering most people (including yours truly) tend to set impossible goals for themselves.  My philosophy is that small consistent efforts are what really help you accomplish these things.  And since we are on the heels of a relaxing break from school (and I'm feeling more refreshed and renewed than I have since June!), now is a perfect time to set a few small and simple (yet powerful) goals as teachers.

1. Be genuine, true to yourself, and avoid comparing your teaching to that of others.  It's been said before and I will say it again, that teachers are perfectionists.  We love for our lessons to be perfect, our classrooms to be spotless, our students to be angelic, not to mention our love of glowing feedback from administrators.  That's fine, but when you compare your everyday average teaching (which really is pretty good) to the all-star lessons you catch glimpses of on Pinterest and Instagram, it can be downright depressing.  Have realistic expectations of yourself and strive to be just a little bit better here and there.  It will add up!  And whatever you do, avoid that dumb comparison game.

2. Think of each of your students as a whole person with unique qualities, needs, and wonderful complexities.  Strive to make connections with them by simply listening to them and being empathetic.  Create some room in your schedule for them to be explorers, creatives, and collaborators.  Heck, let them play!  Read them stories without an objective other than enjoying a story together. Praise them for their strengths and contributions; let them know that they are needed.

3. Be gentle with yourself.  You have one of the most challenging and rewarding jobs in the world.  While it is wonderful, it is not easy.  Remember to take care of your own needs.  Carve out a little time for yourself during the school day, even if it is just to take a few deep breaths.  Above all, remember that you are enough...simply because you are trying to be.  I don't want to get too sappy here, but you really are so important to your little people and to society as a whole.  Don't underestimate the effect that your efforts will have, in the present and in the future.  You got this, teacher!

Those are the things that I want to remember as I head into 2019.  I made myself a little printable that aligns with my resolutions and my plan is to display it on my desk.  Feel free to grab it for yourself (click here or on the image below). Hopefully it will help us remember that it is the small and consistent efforts each day that lead to great teaching. 

Happy New Year, teacher friends!

Oh, and if you are looking for a few resources to help you with the first few days of school after winter break, I've got some good stuff I'll be sharing soon...stay tuned!

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Apple Activities for the Classroom

I love teaching with a theme that gets my kids excited!  During our big "Apple Week" student engagement is at an all-time high and that is a powerful ingredient for student learning.  Here are five tried-and-true apple activities that have been favorites in my classroom. 

1. READ APPLE BOOKS
Gather as many as you can and make sure they are available to students throughout the week for whole class, small group, buddy, and individual reading.  Try to have a mix of fiction and non-fiction for variety.



2. CREATE A K-W-L CHART
Have your chart posted somewhere in a central place so students can easily refer to it.  Begin by having students write what they know about apples, and then what they might be wondering.  I like to use large square sticky notes for this and stick them right to my whiteboard.  As students learn more throughout the week they can add to the chart.  I also have my students keep their own personal copy (free one available here) in their desks.



3. HAVE AN APPLE TASTE TEST
Students love this!  There are a million different varieties of apples out there so I like to stick with trying three different colors of apples.  I usually pick up Granny Smith for green, Red Delicious for Red, and Golden Delicious for yellow.



4. GRAPH THE RESULTS
After students try the apples and pick the one they like best I have them come pick up a paper apple of the color they chose.  I have them stick it up in a bar graph layout and then we use this (free!) taste test paper to graph and discuss the results.







5. LEARN APPLE FACTS
Read a non-fiction book apples (or two or three) to your students.  They will be fascinated to learn new interesting facts about such an everyday object.  You can also sort out apple facts from opinions with this pocket chart activity available here.



6. SET UP APPLE CENTERS
I have my students do a variety of centers while I am meeting with guided reading groups.  During our themed weeks I like to put out some options that fit with the theme.  Some ideas (available here) include three digit addition or sight word building.





7. DO APPLE STAMP ART
This is a fun one!  Slice apples in half and insert a thick popsicle stick.  Put out paper plates of red, green, and yellow paint.  I gave my students a large sheet of paper and had them draw a background image before doing the stamps.  These turned out so fun!








8. APPLE SKIP-COUNTING
This is one of the first Pinterest freebies I ever discovered, haha!  I have my kids do it every year because it is great practice and they really enjoy it.  Click here for this freebie from Reagan Tunstall.





9. DO APPLE SCIENCE
Use this awesome and easy freebie to conduct some simple apple science experiments and get your kiddos thinking and hypothesizing.





10. MAKE APPLESAUCE
This is by far one of the most memorable days of first grade for my students...and it actually doesn't take as much effort as you'd think.  I plan to do a whole post on this and I will link it here when it is ready.



I hope you enjoy doing apple activities with your students!  If you are looking for an apple resource with lots of great activities, click here!

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Lucky Charms Graphing Freebie

Hello, friends!  I apologize for the silence on the blog as of late.  You see, I kind of had my first baby (hurray!) and am spending every waking moment with his darling little self.

Cute stuff, right?  He is the sweetest thing and James and I are just crazy about him. My six week maternity leave was full of cuddles and sleepy sweetness.

Unfortunately though real life has to set back in at some point and I am back at work.  It has been beyond hard, but while I am certainly missing my sweet baby, it has been nice to be with my sweet first graders again.  

This week we will be celebrating St. Patrick's Day and I've created a free little graphing activity that you are welcome to use if you like!  My students have always enjoyed sorting out their Lucky Charms, collecting their data, and representing it in a bar graph.  I hope that you and your students enjoy this as well!  

Click above, below, or HERE to download this activity for free!

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Halloween Number Handwriting {FREEBIE!}

Hey friends! I've noticed this interesting trend in my life. As my pregnant belly gets bigger my blogging gets more and more sparse. I'm doing my best, but, you know, what can you do? This precious little baby likes to sap mom's energy!

I'm excited today to share a fun little Halloween freebie that I hope can be useful to you. My kiddos always seem to need a little nudge or a bit of TLC when it comes to number formation.  We often overlook number formation what with the glaring light of correct letter formation in our faces, but both are important.  We want our students to be able to clearly convey the numerals that represent quantities.

SO, in an attempt to snatch some motivation out of the Halloween buzz running rampant in my school, I created this handwriting packet.  The pages run from 0-10 and include modeled formation, opportunities for independent practice, and images that convey quantity.

Click HERE or on any of the images to snag it for free!  

Happy Halloween!

  

   

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Earth Day Freebies!

I'll tell you the truth. I do my best to stay on top of my weekly planning, but every now and then things get a little bit backed up!  You know the feeling?  Yeah, not my favorite.  It is times like these that I go looking for quality activities that require little prep but are still a productive use of our classroom time.  In case you are in the same boat as me this week here is a little freebie for you!

This fun packet has six no-prep pages that are all ready for you to use this week on Earth Day if you like.  Click right here or above to download!!  

Happy Earth Day!

                   

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