Wow! It's been a while. I'm not so great at keeping up with this apparently. However- a little justification- we have been taking our standardized state tests this month, going to meetings, getting ready for the end of the year activities, preparing for next year, etc.
 For some reason, after we take our BIG test, the kiddos think they should be done! Gone for the summer... And they don't understand why they aren't!
Sooo... to keep the little goobers engaged, we have been doing a lot of literacy and math centers. Thanks to the wonderful bloggers who are consistent about blogging (not me), I have been able to find so many great activities for my classroom! And I've been motivated to share a few math thingys I have made- nothing fancy.

Monster Math Addition

Monster Math Subtraction

I hope you enjoy them! Simple concepts... My kids just need the practice. Happy middle of April everyone!

Hello all! Some weeks I am very thankful for Wednesday night. It means that the week is mostly over! This is one of those weeks. Partly because I started the week out tired from my speedy trip to Texas, and partly because tomorrow night at midnight I am going to see The Hunger Games!! I love LOVE the books. I have been so excited for the movie and am thrilled that I finally get to see it! Woohoo! However, this means that Friday will be spent in an exhausted state. At least our week had a good start!

Due to our long weekend and St. Patrick's Day being on a Saturday, the leprechaun visit to our classroom went unnoticed until Tuesday. :) Really, after Hubby and I got back from Texas (after a LONG 10 hours in the car...) I dragged him up to my classroom to help me!

This is what my kiddos found when they came in Tuesday. Actually the last picture was taken after we had our St. Patty's Day treat. That's why it looks a little sad...  The leprecuaun left us Lucky Charms, green Sprite, Rolos, and gold coins! As well as a giant green paint and glitter mess all over the floor...

We did some great activities with our Lucky Charms! We sorted, graphed, tallied, and interpreted our data. We did estimates of how many marshmallows were in the box and added the kids totals together to find out!

Click here for our Lucky Charms activities!

The kids also did some Lucky Day writing. We are making a class book. :)

Last week, we did leprechaun writing. We wrote about where we would hide our gold if we were leprechauns. They had some great answers! I found the leprechaun pattern in some of my mom's old 1st grade things and thought they turned out pretty cute!

Well, this post has been hard coming! Typing is rather difficult for me at the moment. I had an unfortunate incident with the paper cutter in my classroom last Monday and lost part of my finger. My left index finger at that! All those letters that get typed with that finger! At least I'm right handed. *Phew!* So.... I've had doctors appointments and they said it is healing nicely! Again... *Phew!* However, the way it is wrapped up makes typing slow going. So anyway, there it is! Happy Hump Day, all!

 

Hello all! I've been in a creating mood lately. My coteachers and I are in the process of revamping our reading/literacy/small group time, and I've been searching ALL over the internet for great file folder games to use with my kiddos. Thank you to all of the amazing bloggers who so willingly share their fabulous creations!


I've also been on the hunt for great math games, and I've found so many! Now for time to use them... I heard about a great teacher in my building using math groups instead of teaching the concepts whole group. I'm sure most of you know about this already, but I just never saw it working in my room. Well, I've decided to try it! We will see how much progress we make this late in the year, but it is going to be the way I start next year!


My class right now is learning about fact families. We did some adorable fact family houses yesterday to make into a class book. Most of my kiddos are pretty solid with the concept, but several are really struggling. I made this today during my few minutes of peace. It is the first thing I'm sharing outside of my building! How exciting! I hope you can use it!

Hello all! I am welcoming myself to the blogging scene. I know, a little late. However, there is just too much good stuff that needs sharing! So here I am.


I'm Heather. I teach a wonderful and crazy bunch of first graders in Southwest Missouri. I love what I do and the people I work with. Many of the ideas I get to share are either from the wonderful first grade ladies I teach with or from my amazing mama who has taught for many years. Lots of good ideas!


Speaking of my fellow teachers, we were among the privileged teachers who saw Dr. Jean Feldman speak in Springfield on Tuesday. She is fantastic! So energetic, active and creative! And everyone in the room was thinking, "If only I had her energy!" She shared so many wonderful ideas. Check out her website at www.drjean.org. She has also recently started a blog! you can get to it from her website. She posts a wonderful new idea each day.

Here we are with Dr. Jean! Tiffini, myself, Dr. Jean, Mary Lou and Hope! (We are missing one fabulous member of our 1st grade team. She had a beautiful baby boy and is out on maternity leave!)
She was kind enough to take a picture with us. We all look so tired! We were dancing and singing all morning!


I can't wait to come back and post some brilliant creations from my kiddos! The brilliance is not necessarily mine, as most teacher ideas have been stolen at some point... Lucky us that it is allowed!