DK Findout!

AMAZING! I found a new resources that I am loving in my classroom!  I was looking for a way to extend out reading and science work on the topic of plants and wanted to use our classroom computers more often.  In my search, I found this AMAZING website!  DK Publishers has created an interactive website that includes SO MANY topics in the elementary curriculum.  The quality and choice is as incredible as it is with the books put out by this publisher!

It looks like you can sign up for the site, but my class was able to navigate it without signing in.  There is a search page – just like an online encyclopedia.

My class explored plants, but this is an image from the solar system page.

Almost everything is a clickable link.  Students can access definitions to vocabulary, read, access maps and diagrams, and so much more!  I have just started to explore this site, but it seems like it addresses so many of the CCSS that address technology use in ELA.  It would have great to access on a digital whiteboard!

Check out this amazing resource!

***This post is in no-way sponsored by or affiliated with the company/companies mentioned***

On Being Organized…and New Things!

I’m not going to deny it…this year has been rough for me so far.  For a variety of reasons.  I have written a bunch of posts about it that I have never published, not sure of how much to vent or whine !  At any rate, I have been trying very hard to look on the bright side as I try to acclimate to a bazillion (my students’ favorite word this year) changes, attending college, looking at some new opportunities, and trying to have some semblance of a personal life!

This year I have been struggling with trying to do so many things and feeling barely competent at any of them.  It is easy to become mired in the the stress and exhaustion.  My self-confidence has been pretty rough, especially as I work with many new teammates.  I always wonder what others think of my teaching and how I do things. I frequently remind myself that I need to be a grown up and do my job without worrying what others think.  But the reality is, I do.

Today one of the people I worked with said that I was so organized that it was nice to be in my classroom.  I thought “Me…organized???” as I looked around the cluttery areas of my room.  I even mentioned it to another teacher I worked with and she said that I am organized.  Really??? I surely don’t feel like it.  I rarely show pictures of my room on my blog because I never feel like it looks like the showplace that I want it to.  Compared to some of the amazing rooms I see out there, I feel like I can’t keep up.  Isn’t that the mixed blessing of a world full of blogs and Pinterest? I mean, really, how many of us have Pinterest board with room décor? So, I guess I learned a lesson that what I am self-conscious about, sometimes others do not see the same way.  It really put some pep in my step as I thought about this little compliment the rest of the day.  Such a small comment made my day!

I reflected on the change I was feeling as I drove home and thought that others must be feeling the same way.  A nice word goes a long way and I have resolved to say more sincerely nice things to the people I work with.  We are all working our hearts out and everyone needs to hear it!

We are well into the school year, but I thought this quote reflected my thinking…or overthinking!

Found on thecornerstoneforteachers.com

In my spare time (cough, cough) I put together a couple new things for my store!  I have loved Kate Waters’ books for years!  I actually started a Samuel and Sarah Unit a while ago and it just needed a little more work.  The Mayflower and Tapenum Packets were inspired by the popularity of my first product.  They are perfect for this time of year or any unit on the colonial era. Click on the images to check out the full descriptions!

You can also get all 3 packets in a compressed zip file at a discounted price! Check it out here on TPT!

Colonial Life Research and Writing Mini-Units

A great big thank you goes out to everyone who has visited my store on TPT!  I am so thankful that so many can use the things I make for my own use.  The support is also wonderful for someone who is endlessly attending college!

Have a great remainder of the week!

Our Community Study

I have spent some time on Google Reader this week and have found inspiration and a few great ideas for our community unit!  In our curriculum, we have a brief study of the school community and then study our school community.  It is not an in=depth study of communities, as that is the second grade curriculum. Our study includes learning about the history of our community and comparing then and now.  It is a bit tough because we actually span 3 communities and some families living just on the fringes of our borders and attend our school even though they live in a different town.

My ideas for this week are to use Pete the Cat: Rocking in my School Shoes  to explore our school community.  Since I have 1st graders, they already know the school pretty well, so I am linking this to a map activity.  I have a school map and we are going to walk the school with clipboards to practice using a map.

Visit Harper Collins to download the song!

http://www.harpercollinschildrens.com/feature/petethecat/

I am planning to do a class brainstorm of places in our school and what we do there.  Then we will complete a class book in the pattern of Pete the Cat.  Click on the link below for your copy of the class book and the t-chart for brainstorming!

Laurie at the First Grade Lyon’s Den posted a great idea to create a quilt of school community members where students took pictures of school community members, the added their names and pictures of things they need to do their job.  This is a great idea that I can’t wait to try with my class.

         

The class brainstormed all of the community places they could think of.  It was interesting that they struggled with coming up with vocabulary for the post office and the ambulance station.  It also took quite a long time to add the bank and fire station.  I think I might look and see if I have some mini-books for the kids to work on that emphasize community places.

We did a writing piece about a person who works in our school community last week.  This week I plan to use the same format: class brainstorm, model personal web, students make their own web, model writing, students write and illustrate, to write about a favorite community place.  I always get a lot of kids who like to do the local ice cream shop! Click on the picture to grab your own copy.

Another project I am planning to do is one I saw on a blog, but did not pin it or save the blog name . If anyone knows what I am talking about, please let me know.  The teacher used paper from a roll to make a street and the students designed buildings from the school community to put on each side of the street.  It looked great in the hall.

It is also fun to check out community websites.  I know the towns and villages that make up my school have wonderful websites.  You can learn the names of the people who work in the community and one of the sites even has historical pictures of the town.

We have a lovely old school house and historical museum where we take a field trip.  There are a few retired teachers who put together a wonderful program about life in the 1800’s.  All of us teachers get a kick out of the students’ faces when they learn about all the responsibilities children had at the time. They start to realize that they have it easy!

I hope to have some more ideas for comparing communities, then and now, next week.  Have a marvelous Monday!

Already?!?

How can I be sick already?!?  I knew there was a stomach bug going around, but I thought I was pretty immune at this point.  No, I didn’t catch the stomach thing, but I do have a horrible sore throat and have been sneezing up a storm.  My throat actually hurt so badly that I woke up at my regular school time on Saturday  

What drives me crazy is that I flew through the week and it wasn’t until Friday I started to feel sick. It is amazing how you can keep going until your body slows down a little and then you get hit. I’m sure all of us know how this works!

This week was bizarre!  My kiddos are sweet, but very quiet!  I finally found that science and social studies really spark their interest.  We had a 30 minute conversation about a painting of the signing of the Constitution!  They had questions galore about the time period, and I was in my element as a history lover.  The kids noticed how all of the people were wearing shades of blue and gray and red, so we talked about how stores were different and dyes were made from items in nature.  We talked about powdered wigs and horses versus cars. One of my little ones even talked about how everyone had to garden and hunt for food because they couldn’t go to the store. I think I found my hook this year!

Our wonderful librarian introduced the staff to Pete the Cat, by Eric Litwin.  Now I know many bloggers have featured Pete, but I have to admit that I just didn’t get it until our librarian sang the tune and hooked us up with the author’s website.   In the words of Babbling Abby: Oh.My.Word!  LOVE! 

I am trying like mad to cut down on my school spending, so I ordered one of the books from my public library earlier in the week and it is waiting for me to pick it up now.

   

http://www.ericlitwin.com/

(You can download an MP3 to read the books to the students with the music, rather than trying to sing it yourself – what a saving grace!)

My plan is to use Rocking in My School Shoes as a mapping lesson.  In first grade we teaching map skills and use a school map to teach this skill.  I think Pete will be a great way to kick off this lesson and update it a bit.

As with many other schools/states, we are working on writing curriculum based on the new ELA and Math Common CORE.  I am not naturally a math person, but after writing curriculum, I am excited about expanding my own skills.  Our district just purchased GoMath.  We have never used textbooks – for anything, so to have something so comprehensive is beyond exciting.  I think a few of us even shed tears over this! 

Due to some ordering complications, we don’t have our materials yet and there is a gap between the text and our NYS CORE math.  The text does not necessarily work on counting, number formation, and number recognition for the sake of working on those skills.  However, they are specific state standards, so we decided to spend September teaching these skills.

Nothing is more boring than counting to 100 by 1s. So, I have used some wonderful ideas found in blogland!

1. Harry Kindergarten’s I Can Count to 100 video on YouTube. – My kids are not dancers yet, but some of them are getting in the groove! Harry also has skip counting, days of the week, months of the year and so much more! Now I just need to figure out how to connect to YouTube so that I only get the one video I am looking for.

2. Grade ONEderful share a game called Buzz that my class have loved! It is great for practicing counting skills!

I am also preparing a bunch of math centers for next week to practice counting and number formation.  I made a Roll, Say, Keep game using number cards for number recognition.  Click on the picture to get your own copy.

For number writing practice, I bought a collection of wipe-off books from the Dollar Tree and a center from Scholastic.

       

Sherry Sloan from Kids Count and Jessica Meacham have great counting games and number writing printables  for centers!

Finally, I have printed and am working on laminating games from  Cara Carroll’s Teachers Pay Teachers shop (click the image for the link)

If I can get this all set up, I might actually feel like we have started the year!

Have a great weekend!

Constitution Day

I am a totally history buff!  I minored in the subject in college – I know, boring!  Plus, I taught 4th grade once upon a time, which studies U.S. history from the explorers  up to the Civil War in the New York State Curriculum.  I loved it!!!

So, when it comes to teaching first grade, I often connect American history to our curriculum just because I find it interesting.  I love that we now teach about the Constitution in every grade.  But the question is, how do you make such a document relevant to 5, 6, and 7 year olds?

Here is what I have pulled together the last few years:

1. I bought a copy of the Constitution and a feather pen at a historical gift shop and to show the students.  I give a brief to-do about how, before we were the United States, we were colonies and belonged to England.  When we decided to be our own country, important people in our country decided to write rules about how our country should be run.

2. Since we have a strong philosophy of inquiry-based teaching, I find pictures of the signing of the constitution and important people from the time through Google Images. I print these pictures or show them on the Promethean board.  We make observations about the pictures and talk about the differences then and now.  I think our chat about powdered wigs and clothes is always darling.  Also, someone always points out the fact that there are only men signing the Constitution.

3. We read We the Kids, by Daivd Catrow and talk about the meaning of the vocabulary in the Constitution.

4. In the past, I have played a game where students have no rules and they have to make up the rules themselves.  After playing, they share their rules for the game and we talk about how they came up with the rules, why they needed rules, and what it was like to play with out rules. We compare this to writing the Constitution. Here is the link to the game:

http://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/constitution-day/game.html

5. I have read Do Unto Otters, by Laurie Keller. Actually, our district has a subscription to BookFlix, so we watch the book on the Promethean Board.

6. Lastly, we review our classroom rules and I write them on a paper that looks like an old paper scroll with wording similar to the Constitution:

We the kids of room _____, promise to:

1.

2.

3.

4.

And then we all sign it and hang it in the hallway.  I try to use fancy, but readable writing.  I also have a booklet from The Mailbox a couple years ago where students write and illustrate the classroom rules to take home.

This would be the plan tomorrow.  Of course, I may come up with a totally new plan that is so much better as I stand in front of the class…just because that’s how I do things!

Have a great Friday!!!