Word Morphing Monsters MISTAKE!

I can't believe it happened, but it did!  There was a little typo on Word Morphing Monsters.  Unfortunately that typo leads to a BIG mistake that you do NOT want your students to see on the 2nd Word Morphing Monsters activity.   I've corrected the mistake, so if you happened to purchase the original version please go back and snag the revised version.  A message has been sent out on TpT to my followers.

I am SO sorry! Click the button below to get your revised version.

Teacher Quirk #3

Stacks and stacks of piles and piles . . .

You know what I'm talking about AND you know that you do it too!

The day is too busy to put things away in the right place right away. Then the end of the day is too buys to put things away in the right place (especially when you really want to go home).  So you start a stack.

You promise yourself that you're going to clean up, but who has the time?!?!  So you turn the next set of papers 90 degrees and stack it on top of that one. 

This happens over and over until you start a new stack.

Soon . . . you have stacks of papers all over your desk (or room)!

The best part of this visual chaos, though, is that you know exactly (or generally) where everything is if you need it!

Admit it . . . you do it too!!!!

(OC Blog and my dear 3rd Grade Gridiron . . . I'd love to be organized like you! =)   I'll get there one day!  One day . . . )

More Vowels . . .

Looking or more vowel activities?  The Lesson Plan Diva posted one as well!  Check it out!

Math Mobile

Are your kids having trouble recognizing key words and vocabulary that tells them to add or subtract?  Maybe this will help!  Here's a Math Vocabulary Mobile you can do as a small group, whole group, or even center.  Hang one up in class as a reference and send the student mobiles home as reminders!

It's here . . . and it's free!  Hope it helps!

Next up: Vowels

The upcoming skill we are working on in my grade level is long and short vowels.  Have you hit this one already?  If you have, I've got something as a review for you.  If you haven't, I've got a great center for you!

Over the past few years I've been getting more and more twins or siblings split between my class and my friends' classes.  I think I've had siblings who have been twins or born within a year of each other for the past 3 or 4 years!  I thought that this would be the start of a cute center for vowels.

In my new center ("Safari Elementary: Long and Short Vowels) students are going to separate twins into 2 different classrooms based upon their names!  Mr. Long (rhino) is the teacher of the long vowel twins because "rhino" has long vowels.  I wanted to use a giraffe because of the long neck but thought it might confuse them because giraffe doesn't have a long vowel sound.  Mrs. Short (elephant) is the teacher  of the short vowels because "elephant" has short vowels!  After sorting the twins students will make class rosters for each classroom to turn in to you.  I've included extra animal cards without names so you can add your own names.  (Maybe names of students from the class.)  I've also included an extension to the activity for more a more precise formative assessment.

I hope you enjoy!  Click on the preview to snag it from TpT.

Teacher Quirk #2

I don't think I ever continued my list of "Teacher Quirks" . . . .which is strange because I've got way too many!  Here's Teacher Quirk #2:

I get waaaaay too excited about my paper cutter.  I think it may be my favorite tool.  You'd think as a teacher I'd be able to cut nice straight lines, but I can't.  They always go crooked somehow no matter how hard I try.  Combine that with the fact that I'm really ocd when it comes to my materials being neat and presentable?  Then you'll realize how very much I am dependent upon my paper cutter.  I can't quite get the same cuts from the chopping arm cutter at school . . . I like my sliding razor one.

Isn't she beautiful?!!?  Ha!

My complaint about my paper cutter?  I have only one.  I need one for home and one to stay in my classroom!

What are your teacher quirks?

Thanks for the Support!

Thanks for all the support and participating in my celebration giveaway!  The free download link is now closed, but you can still get my Addition and Subtraction Flash "Fries" on my TpT!

Fun Flash Cards!

Check out my new product on TpT!  These French Fry Addition and Subtraction Facts provide a fun way for students to practice their addition and subtraction facts!  These french fries serve as self-checking flash cards when pulled out of the french fry sleeve.  First students will answer the addition and subtraction facts.  (This week my class will be concentrating on composing and decomposing numbers to 10 in Math.)  When done they'll need to cut out the french fries and assemble the french fry sleeve (just cut, fold, and glue).  French fries are slipped answer side down into the sleeve so that answers are hidden until the fries are pulled out!

I'm going to put this in a center next week.  When the project is done they'll have fun flash cards to take home to practice!  The better they know their addition and subtraction facts, the easier other Math skills will come if they don't have to concentrate on those basics!  Students can always challenge each other with these French Fry Facts!  I do these every year and my kids always love it!

Check her out!

Hey y'all!  I just have to say that I am SO proud of my friend, the Lesson Plan Diva!  She was featured as a guest blogger on BrainPop!  (If your school doesn't have a membership to BrainPopJr. I would talk to your media specialist about looking into that.  It's a GREAT resource . . . especially for introducing new topics.)

Check out her article on BrainPop!


Take me to the BrainPop Blog!

Great Find!

As you know, my classroom theme this year is an island theme. 
Well, I ran to pick up some last minute items at Walmart today and wanted to get some beach towels so my kids could roll them out for independent or buddy reading time instead of a rug.  (Then I'll teach them how to roll them back up to store them in a tub.)  Well while I was there I found that their beach towels are now on clearance for $3.50!  And near the beach towels were beach chairs similar to this one

that recline fully and fold flat.  Guess how much?!?!  $5!  I didn't buy any, though.  1-Tight budget.  2-I tend to wear dresses and skirts a lot so this probably wouldn't be the best for me, but if you can swing it it's a great deal!!!  It would have fit great with my theme and wouldn't have blocked any of my new bulletin board either!

Labelling Your Classroom?

School starts Monday and I''m working hard trying to finish preparing!

In my search for labels for centers I found this great website called Environments.  The site is free to join but you do need to create a username and password to access the goodies.  You can create labels for centers using their stock of photos which display children at work at the different centers.  Great for early learners and second language learners!  You can also create book plates, classroom labels, daily activity signs, job signs, etc.  It's worth a look so check it out!

Quick Share!

So due to the rearrangement of classrooms this year all the other 1st grade classes have been moved waaaaay down on the other end of the hall from my classroom.  While it's an inconvenience and sort of secludes my classroom, I'm determined to make this a good thing!  So my classroom theme this year is "Mrs. Wilcox's Wildcat Island . . . Where Learning is an Adventure!" 

In an earlier post I mentioned that we are no longer allowed to cover our bulletin boards with fabric or paper due to the fire codes.  I eventually decided to paint the bulletin board using some of the leftover paint from my laundry room (very pale blue).  Here are a couple of pictures of my work in progress!

Part of my bulletin board (calendar and job tree)

This is my job tree.  Each palm leaf is a job.  I'm going to hot glue little birds with the student name on it to a clip so students can choose the job they'd like for the week.

Around the island with the job tree I'm going to have dye cut sailboats for student compliments.  Each student gets a sailboat.  Students will receive a sticker for each compliment they earn. When they reach 10 compliments they can take their sailboats down to go to the treasure box.  Then they'll start over with a new sailboat!  (I used to do this as a compliment tree using leaves for each student, but I changed it to go with my new classroom theme.)