Nonfiction in First - Thanksgiving

One of my 2017 goals is to blog more.  Most of the time it feels like I need to ignore my kids to write so, my posts often get left in the dust. I have got to figure out how to stay up past my bedtime - and my son needs to figure out how to fall asleep before 11pm! Anybody else have kids that just don't sleep!? Currently, I am writing my month-late Thanksgiving post while my kids run in and out of the room leaving messes in their wake! We just returned from Disney World and their Christmas high is still lingering even in the aftermath. At this point I'm just following them around with a dust pan and broom. So, about November...

My class and I did some fun activities centered around the Wampanoag this year. We crafted Wetus (after using this amazing resource by AisforAdventuresofHomeschool to read about them and how they're constructed in a kid friendly way) and we "planted corn" the way Squanto taught the Pilgrims, and we made Thanksgiving timelines too. I used this resource by First Grade Wow to teach about The Five Kernels. I had never heard about this legend before and the entire resource is great. And free! Go download it now! For the timelines, I used an activity from a pack I bought my first year teaching. It's also awesome. Teachers are some of the most creative people!

We enjoyed our candy corn, Goldfish, and Oreos after we planted them.

Hosting Thanksgiving at my home has become tradition and I had fun this year decorating with my mom. We cut some greenery from our yards and found Styrofoam gourds and pinecones at the dollar store to create centerpieces. I also used some authentic falls leaves my aunt sent me from Massachusetts a few years ago that I saved. I'm from Florida so an authentic fall leaf is a thing to me! Haha!

I also love to use the leaves during the Fall season in my classroom. I usually read There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed Some Leaves and Fancy Nancy Fall Foliage before we explore the many shapes, sizes, and colors, of these strange alien objects known as oak tree leaves.

I also made a Cookie Butter Pie for Thanksgiving. It was insane! Here's the recipe I used and I would encourage you to try it for sure. Next time, I think I would do mini pies instead! My daughter made a very cute apple pie. Check out the cute leaf cut-out crust!

I love teaching nonfiction during the months of November and December because between Thanksgiving and winter, there are so many interesting topics. Our December was packed with polar bear and penguins and we also learned a lot about the Arctic. We did tons of KWL charts to anchor our learning, fun experiments, and constructed igloos with icing and marshmallows. I'll be posting those pics soon.

I hope everyone is enjoying their break so far. Happy Holidays!

Cookie Cutter Writing Centers

I have had this pack of cookie cutters that a friend gave me (They were actually part of a #SecondGradeTribe tribe box she sent me! Thanks, Tara!) in my classroom cabinet for a year. I knew I wanted to keep them for something but aside from sugar cookies I had no idea what. Then it randomly dawned on me last week to use them in a seasonal writing center.

 I put the cutters in a bin along with the picture that came with the pack for the kids to use as inspiration. I think it will also be a good idea to label each picture so that the kids can use those words to write their stories. You could also include a Halloween word list. *If you're looking for other Halloween writing ideas click HERE and HERE* 

This is the story we wrote together in a small group, which is how I like to teach most of my center activities

My kids really loved the idea! When I modeled how to trace the inside of the cookie cutter shape and then add details and color, they were literally Ooooing and Ahhhing. It was awesome. They got really creative with their ideas when we were working on a piece together and said I should put a witch in the haunted house window. We wrote the story from her point of view. I was so impressed with their thinking.

 This simple center is so easy to put together and I can't wait to use the same format with all my holiday cookie cutters!

Hurricanes and Halloween in First Grade

Lately, I've been a bad blogger but a super okay mom and teacher. I CAN'T BE EVERYTHING TO EVERYONE ALL THE TIME!!!!!!Okay??! *insert crazy eyed emoji*

Here are my excuses:
1. I moved. (Please see: I guess I'm living in Florida 4EVA because that's never happening again. Girl bye.)
2. I traveled. On a train, to New York, with two kids under five. There were fun parts. I swear.
3. I switched grades. (2nd to 1st and wow what a difference! I miss 2nd grade but I also like 1st a lot it turns out.)
4. I fall asleep dead nightly as soon as my youngest's eyes shut.

I don't know how some of you ladies do this juggling teacher-mom-blogger-etc. act but I'll have whatever you're having with an extra shot.

Nonetheless, we've been pretty busy in our first grade classroom so far this year and we (mostly me) are very excited that this mysterious season called Fall is upon us. I think it's a time of year when the air cools and leaves (not palm frawns) turn brown. Here in South Florida we half-heartedly have ICED pumpkin spice lattes and wait impatiently for January temperatures to make us feel like we get at least one seasonal change. 

We are currently bracing for Hurricane Matthew who should be arriving tomorrow night to my area. Safe wishes to everyone along the treasure coast and the Carolinas too. My students know there is a storm coming so in an effort to make light of the situation we read the classic tale Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs and wrote about what we would want it to rain instead of meatballs (Spoiler Alert: ice cream and cupcakes were the clear winners). Of course I don't have a picture of their writing because BADBLOGGER. (We used this perfect freebie for our writing and cut out pictures of our favorite foods from my unhealthy sized collection of Food Channel magazines.)

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Fall is supposed to mean Halloween not hurricanes! And Halloween math centers are my favorite. Here is a fun way we are practicing our addition facts. I wrote numbers 5-9 on the cauldrons and then number sentences on the sticks for every fact (and tried to reinforce the commutative property). I also created a fact checker page for them to use when they finish sorting. The cauldrons were $1 at Target.
I had a lot of fun making a Halloween themed math and literacy pack to use this month with my first graders too. I love Whimsy Clips Not-So Spooky clipart. So cute! I think my kids are going to especially love the writing centers and the picture prompts! I also wanted to include place value seat work and math centers since we will be focusing on those concepts (oy vey) until November. Click {HERE} to check it out.

{HERE} is a freebie for you from that pack too!

This year I have also been using a self-running PowerPoint presentation I created to run my reading and math groups. The CLEAN UP slide and defining *chime* noise has really helped get my kids better at transitioning to their next center but we are still workin' on it. Click the picture below to see the rotation board options I have listed in my tpt store.

This marks my fourth year teaching and I am starting to feel like I have much more of a handle on a lot of the nuances of running a classroom. I'm excited to see where the year takes me as I am told first graders grow so much in just one short school year! There is tons of foundational learning going on and it's already pretty cool to see how far they've come since day 1. I will post some more from our classroom soon - here's hoping the power isn't out too long. Hurricanes are no fun. Stay safe everyone!!!!