Currently in April

Since I had already had a blog post for yesterday, I am fashionably late to the currently party for this month. {This is SO ironic because I absolutely can't stand being late to anything!}

I've noticed that I have started out the last 2 currently's by saying something like this..."I can't believe it's already ______!" And, yes I can't believe it is already April either! I swear I'm not complaining...I DO want summer to get here but when it does, it goes by just as fast! So onto the linky...

*Listening: My cat thinks he is a dog, I swear. When I get home the first thing he wants to go is go outside. He rolls on the driveway, stalks lizards, and eats grass. Yes, very dog-like. I'm guessing he is telling me he really wants to go back out!

*Loving: My husband is a fire chief, so there are quite a few nights a week I am home by myself. He is taking college courses for a Bachelor's degree so when he is here, he is doing homework, reading, blah blah blah. {This reminds me NOT to go back to college, thanks hun!}  So I feel very lucky that he is cooking tonight!

*Thinking: Yes, don't get me wrong...we need the rain. Our Bluebonnets are fading quickly! But I really DO love my sleep and I am such a light sleeper. It should be arriving right at my bed time. Yay--can't wait (sarcastic voice).

*Wanting: While grocery shopping I magically discovered the Easter candy isle and a bag of Butterfinger eggs caught my eye. I've been scarfing them down ever since. I also bought the ingredients to make lemon brownies with a glaze on top....needless to say I LOVE sweets and really despise working out! I have better things to do but I guess loving sweets is in the same territory as working out, unfortunately.

*Needing: The last unit I made has done so good, but I have had NO motivation to make anything else. Maybe a plants unit? Ideas???

*Advice: This is something I struggle with. I like to have everything complete before I leave work and ready for the next day. I also like to stay ahead and plan for upcoming weeks. So, I usually don't leave work on time and have little time at home. I've been much better this year than last but could use a little more personal time at home if ya know what I mean!

I just may be the last person to link up this month! So if you haven't it's not too late : )

Spring, Spring, and more Spring!

It was definitely spring time here in Texas this past week. Lows in the 40's, highs in the 70's, puffy white clouds...and then there's a chance of rain next week with lows in the 30's and highs in the 60's. Oh spring time how you like to tease us all! My firsties and I took advantage of the weather and talked all about spring this past week.

We've been talking about adjectives for the past 2 weeks, so I took this perfect opportunity to mesh the two together to make a cute hallway craftivity.

We took our papers and clipboards and headed outside into the spring sunshine. I set them out on a hunt for signs of spring and had them record what they saw. We found bluebonnets, bees, caterpillars, and ladybugs! I don't think I've ever seen kids so excited about nature!

Back inside, we took our descriptive words we recorded and turned them into the first picture you saw on this post,  our "Spring Adjectives Rainbow".

My kids LOVE BrainPOP, so we watched the one online all about the season of spring and read a short book. We recorded our learning on this flipbook which is similar to the can/have/are organizers, except this time it's is/will/can. 

On the inside we recorded things spring is, spring will, and spring can. At the bottom they had to tell what their favorite thing is about spring and then I had them illustrate.

The next day, we used what we learned to write a spring weather report. They reported the date, what the weather was like, and how they knew it was spring outside. They turned out cuter than I imagined. Especially since this was one of those "last minute" teacher ideas.

"Today is March 26.  I know it is spring outside because flowers grow and I see a lot of baby birds. I see really pretty green grass sometimes."

 "Today is March 26. I know it is spring outside because I see nature grow and new baby animals."

{If you've stuck with me this long click on the picture above and download the FREEBIE!}

The last thing we worked on all week was writing acrostic poems. We wrote one about the beach, school, and our final poem was on spring of course! Here is one of my firsties final copies of their spring acrostic poem.



Our week learning all about spring was a very successful and definitely a FUN one! Now, if only spring would show it's face and stay.for.good! Pretty soon it will be summer and way-too-hot!

 

Five for GOOD Friday and a SALE!

It has been a month or two since I've linked up with Doodlebugs for  little weekly randomness update!  

 

 1. Inferring with Easter Eggs

 I gave my students an egg to take home to put an object in.  They took their clue sheet home and wrote down 3 clues to give to the class. We have been working on making inferences all week. This was a great activity to reinforce how schema and clues work together. And best of all, they had a BLAST!

2. Spring has Sprung

 We talked all about spring this week. We headed outside to enjoy some beautiful spring weather.  I had the kids record evidence of spring for an adjective activity we did later that day using the words to describe spring. We came across a caterpillar and the kids went crazy!

3. God through a Child's Eyes

This is so sweet and fitting for Good Friday that I just had to share God through the eyes of one of my students.

 

4. Inferencing

 We've been working HARD on inferencing. Here are some great ideas we will be working on next week from Mrs. Richardson's Class. She has some fabulous ideas including anchor charts and  inferring with No David!  

 

5. Happy Easter Sale

Come on a hunt with me through my TpT store to find my 5 favorite products that are on sale all Easter weekend! Happy hunting!

 

 

Adjectives you Ask?

What are adjectives you ask? One of my most favorite things to teach! There are SOOO many fun and engaging activities you can do with them. I went about introducing them this week with a few ideas I had wondering around in this ol' brain of mine.

If you're an avid blog reader of mine, you know by now that I l-o-v-e making anchor charts!! Here is the newest to my classroom collection:

{Inspired by Abby Mullins}

 

This is what I used to introduce them. I then put an object on each table. I gave them a sheet of paper and had them describe their object using adjectives.

 

 

Each day this week we talked about a different kind of adjective. First we added number words that describe, then color words, then I had them think about their 5 senses and how we could use them to describe things. Here is our final product with all the adjectives we recorded.

 

 

At the end of the week we used Babbling Abby's Popcorn Adjectives and it was a huge hit!  

 

We used the large popcorn anchor chart and used our schema to write down adjectives on the yellow kernels.  Then I pulled out all the stops...what!? We REALLY get to eat popcorn, and it's not our snack...why yes we do kiddos! From the packet, they got their own recording sheet and recorded their adjectives while eating their popcorn. We made a little craftivity to go along with it. Turned out adorbs!!

 

Here's a few more things we will be doing with adjectives in the weeks to come!

 

 

 

 

What activities do you do in your classroom with adjectives that your kids love?

 



 

Spring Classroom Cleaning and Giveaway WINNER!

As bad as this sounds, I went up and spent a few hours at school on Saturday. Gasp! Why would I want to do that you ask?? Only because our school has the BEST PTA who furnished every.single.classroom with Smartboards!!! Oh yea, you heard me right. This gal got one over spring break!   So I made my way up there, with the help of my lovely mother, and we "flip-flopped" my library and calendar area.  I was SO pumped I got this new gadget that I {of course} went to TpT over my break and purchased a fabulous interactive calendar. Time for out with the old and in with the new y'all! {Thus my reasoning behind the "spring cleaning".}

 

 Needless to say, the kiddos were very shocked to see the new transformation when they walked in this morning! We LOVE using the Smartboard and can't wait to figure out all of the bells and whistles!  If you have ANY advice for my adventure with the Smartboard, I would love for you to shoot me a comment! I need all the help, tips, and pointers I can get!

 

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Thanks to all of my followers who entered my very first giveaway. It was lots of fun to read your comments and watch the entries grow! The winner of the giveaway goes to....drumroll please....... Kelly Witt from First Grade Fairytales! Congrats Kelli! I will be emailing you shortly : )

 

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Last week I linked up with Latoya for her Let's Get Acquainted linky where I came up with 2 truths and a lie. Here is what I left you with:

1. I started dancing when I was 5 and continued until 18. That's 13 years total!
2. I've been driving for 9 years and have had 4 cars in that time.
3. I'm a second generation teacher. My mom also teaches.

Number 1 and 2 are both truths. My lie was number 3. No one in my family is a teacher, I am in fact the one and only proud teacher!

Thanks for playing along in the linky and giveaway!

A {late} St. Patrick's Day and Giveaway Reminder!

One of my pet peeves is people who are late. Well, today I am totally being a hypocrite! We were out on spring break during St. Patrick's day so we did a celebrating fashionably late last week. Here is our celebration in pictures!

 

We just got finished talking about Texas and all of our symbols, so the kids knew exactly what I meant when we talked about symbols from Ireland. We really focused on the clover or shamrock and its symbolism: luck. They thought of ways they are lucky (I don't believe in luck so I would say...blessed!).

 

We also began our poetry unit before spring break. This week we focused on writing color poems. I had them each write their own, and we completed a rainbow color poem together on Friday.

 

 It was a fairly simple poem to write that followed this pattern: Rainbows are a red as... (and continued through each color).

 We had a very colorful week back! Now it's a foot race to the end!

Don't forget to check out my **100 Follower Giveaway**. 

Entries end tomorrow!

SomeBUNNY Loves Your Blog *Linky*



I absolutely LOVE blogging, bloggers, and the whole blogging community! I have learned so much since I started teaching thanks to all the sharing that goes on. One thing I have mentioned before that one thing I struggle teaching is writing. Read my two posts {here} and {here}. One blogger who is absolutely amazing at teaching writing is Susan Moran from T.G.I.F. I adore her blog to pieces!

 

 

This year, I have bought 2 of her writing packets and have been blown away by her creativity, organization, and ideas on how to teach genres of writing. Makes me wish I was a student in her class! Through her posts and packets, she has taught me how to teach my students and I am forever grateful! Not only is she a great writing teacher but I happen to stalk follow her on Pinterest and her sense of fashion, home decoration, etc. is so gosh darn cute!

 

If you haven't been by her blog you are DEFINITELY missing out on some great ideas!

 

 

Don't forget to head over and link up by click the linky picture above and let some"bunny" know that you adore their blog!