Wonderful Winter Stuff:)

Well, we are settling back in the groove and it feels good.  Report cards just went out, DRA testing is over for this 6 weeks, and TPRI testing is underway.  I am feeling a little blue lately with all the big holidays being over, but looking forward to the growth I'm already seeing in my sweet kiddos at this point!  

To brighten things up I have been researching a few winter activities and just wanted to share:

I think we are going to do most of these on Friday as a culmination to all we are learning about this week!

There's nothing like a little warm and toasty hot chocolate to get you in the winter spirit eh?  My principal made this delicious hot chocolate and brought it to school for all of us one day - it is sooooo good - I thought it'd be fun to share it with my students - the recipe is on pinterest, just search crockpot hot chocolate, or click on the link above the pic to take you there - YUM!  

http://pinterest.com/pin/79376012152172195

Also from pinterest, if you search the wonderful Heather Price, you will find this free snowy contractions activity with contraction puzzle pieces.  I introduced my kiddos to contractions this last week and they are rockin' it!!! Cara Carroll at www.thefirstgradeparade.blogspot.com also did a super cute activity with contractions - see her blog for details!

And finally, I've been searching for an activity to do with marshmallows!!!  This one is a super fun dice game where students roll the dice, add that number to 10, and use marshmallows as their markers!  Great for teaching addition by 10's!  You can find it here www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Toasty-Tens-Mini-Marshmallow-Math, under Easy Peasy Primary Resources - for FREE!!!

Hope these help you get through the winter blahs this next week!  Its always better when we make it fun, right?!

Martin Luther King Jr. Day

As part of our curriculum we have to discuss Martin Luther King Jr. and his contributions to our world.  I am so glad we had to discuss him and was thrilled to see my 1st graders actually "get it" when we discussed what his dream meant and what he wanted for his children, and for all of us.  We started out by reading this book:

A Picture Book of Martin Luther King Jr.

I think the kiddos really connected with this one because it talked about him when he was a kid and how he was treated by others, etc.  

Then we completed this mini unit by the gracious Erin Eberhart - thanks Erin!

Just go to www.teacherspayteachers.com and search Erin Eberhart to get your FREE Martin Luther King Jr. mini unit!  I know it may be too late for this year but you can file it away for next year!

Back in the Groove!

Oh man, it has been hard coming back from break, is anyone else feeling this way???  Anyone else needing to pump a little more caffeine into their veins like me???  Anyhoo, we jumped right back in with a little measuring activities brought to us by the well-known Investigations curriculum...here are some of my kiddos measuring fish:)  They actually thought this was kind of fun!

And thanks to Cara Carroll at The First Grade Parade and www.theteacherwife.blogspot.com, I conglomerated their two ideas to have my students create these Happy New Year faces - LOVE them.  They wrote their New Year resolutions inside and we discussed a lot about making/setting goals, etc.  

Gotta love this one - yes...I would take her home:)  And...I think she's getting pretty close, don't you?!!!

And how cute is this??  Should I tell his mommy???  I wonder if she's seen the evidence of this resolution???

We read this book before starting the New Year faces...its one of the ONLY books I (or one of my teammates rather) could find about New Years...anyone else out there have any good ones - I'd love more ideas, I searched and searched - this one is pretty cute!

And...since we were talking about all things "new", I threw this one in there and talked about how we all sometimes want to be someone new but that we are all perfect just the way we are...it was a great segway into Martin Luther King Jr. Day by the way:)!

SO...how's it going for you?  Are you off to a great start?  Feeling refreshed and re-energized?  Well, thank goodness for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday is all I have to say...best of luck to you in this new year!!!  I am praying for lots of energy and inspiration to be creative!!!  Hoping the same for you!