Faves and Wants Linky!

I've linked up with First Grade Smiles for a Faves and Wants Teacher Wishlist!  I have to say, it was fun to think about what I have that I really use and couldn't live without and dream a little about what I wish I had in my classroom!

MY FAVES!

1.  Top of my list...my new computer!  I bought my first ever laptop and first ever Apple MacBook Pro back in October!  I have never regretted it and now I'm not sure how I ever survived without it!  I can work on the couch and get to create and surf whenever I like!!!  Let's be clear...I bought this with my own money!

  

2.  My awesome printer and lots of ink to print all of the great games and lessons on TpT!

+

3.  Expo Low Odor Dry Erase markers in lots of colors!!

4.  White Cardstock to print all the wonderful games I find on TpT.

MY WANTS!

Ok, these two items are not related or equally priced!  The contrast cracks me up!

1. Every year I think about ordering these for making Anchor Charts!  I always talk myself out of it and just use the Crayola Markers I get for the kids.  Maybe next year!




2.  This is what I really WANT!  This year we finally got iPads for our classrooms...although, only 3 each, it's better than nothing.  Now, I would love to have a t.v. to use like a "smart board."  At my school, primary classrooms have only recently come into the technology age.  Now that I have a little, I can see where I want to go!

Hey, if I'm gonna dream, I'm gonna dream big!!

3.  Ok, these are wants, but they're on the way!  I ordered these!  I couldn't help myself!  I consider them school supplies!



4. And then of course there's my never ending TpT wish list...it keeps growing!


I've linked up with another great blog... for a fun March Linky Party!  There are some great ideas on here for St. Patrick's Day!

Have a great rest of the week!

Owl Pellets

This year, my teaching partners and myself rearranged our year long plan in order to teach our National Symbols unit around Election time.  But, I have struggled with this plan all year.  I am such a creature of habit, clearly.  I'm the only one in my class having a hard time with the change, because obviously the students don't know any differently.  So, currently, we are in the middle of our Owl Unit (which should be in October).  The kids are having a blast.

Our chart for what we want to know about owls!

Bones and fur!

We invited our 5th Grade big buddies to help us dissect owl pellets!  We sorted and counted our bones. We made predictions and recorded our findings in our owl pellet booklets.









We finished up our "Fun Froggy Friday" with a great owl art project we found on Pinterest.

These direct draw owls were done on dictionary pages!  We will finish them this week by coloring in the feathers!  I'll post a completed project this week.

I'm off to have dinner and get some sleep!  Have a wonderful last week of February!  

The Desk Fairy flew in for a visit..

So my post today is funny! Maybe, it's one of those "you had to be there" moments, but I think all of my teacher friends will appreciate it.  I have the most wonderful little class this year.  I truly do love them all.  Now, don't get me wrong, I have some challenges, but don't we always have some challenges?  

One of my favorite incentives for my class (I'm big on incentives!) is a visit from the Desk Fairy when a student's desk is neat and organized.  I got this idea from Pinterest, of course, and found Christina Bainbridge's cute freebie http://www.bainbridgeclass.com/deskfairy.pdf  for Deskerella.  Deskerella only visits about once a week, but it sure does help with those messy desks.  You never know when she may be in town, so you have to be ready. 

When Deskerella is making a visit, my daughters usually help me out in the morning (it keeps them busy while I get ready fo the day) by looking for neat desks.  My youngest daughter, loves to write a note to the class from Deskerella on the white board.  It's written very small (fairy writing).

I always have to make sure certain kids get a "visit" or it will send them into a tail spin for the day, and I'm not going there.  One such kiddo is  a wonderful little guy who has autism.  He is one of my little cuties that really needs to have Deskerella visit.  He gets so excited.  On rare occasions, his desk hasn't been the neatest, and my harsh judges (daughters) have passed him by.  It really starts off the day on the wrong foot, so now, I quickly neaten up his desk and then he gets a card!   Well, he has taken to writing messages on the white board to express his feelings.  This is one from our latest visit from Deskerella: 

I love it!

(And here is the funny part.....)

He isn't as happy with our Adopt-a-Grandparent Volunteer:

Translation:  Why is she here every day?  (Mad face)

Luckily, she doesn't know what the note on the board was about....I don't think she even saw it!

Here is another love note for the desk fairy 

from another student, promising to neaten her desk for next time!

I hope you enjoyed this little post!  Be sure and check out the desk fairy cards!  She can really work wonders for teaching organization!

President's Day Freebie!

Over here on the West Coast, it's only 8:45!  So unfortunately, some of you may not see this freebie until tomorrow!  It will work all week long, so I hope you grab it!

I've been busy this weekend creating on my computer and having fun with my kiddos.  My hubby took my oldest daughter to her volleyball tournament for the weekend, which left me at home with my younger three girls!  We had a nice girls' weekend!  We fit in some shopping, a long walk in our wonderful city park, and a chick flick, Safe Haven!  It wasn't as good as the book, but are they ever?

I also played with my blog and redid the background and banner!  I made a new blog button, too.  What do you think?

I think these little froggies are so cute!  They look friendly, too!


I've created my newest product for my TPT store, Froggy's Fix-its!  I like using DOL, board bloopers, whatever you want to call it, with my students, so I thought I'd make it more appealing for them!  Since we are the Froggies, we now have Froggy's Fix-its!  I think they'll love the official title!

At my school, we integrate the curriculum as much as possible, so this freebie is in honor of President's Day.  I am also posting one to go with my current unit about Owls!  Check it out in my store!

Have a great week...it's a short one!

Giveaway!! and St. Patrick's Day!

My friend over at Fantastic First Grade Froggies is having a giveaway to celebrate 100 Followers!  You won't want to miss this Giveaway!  She is offering some of her own wonderful products from her TPT store!  Head over and enter!

I also just finished my new St. Patrick's Day Jackpot Game!  I can't wait to start playing it with students!  Be sure and take a look.  I think your students will enjoy playing it!  Click on the picture to check it out!

New Products and a Freebie!

I have been working hard this weekend to get some new products finished!  Be sure and check them out in my TPT store!  I used them in my classroom today and asked the kids for a review!  They loved them and wanted me to make more!  That's very rewarding!  The second page challenge really provided some "aha" moments!  One of my little guys explained how he filled in the chart first and then noticed that the "fill it ins" were missing the same numbers!  That's the idea!  Yay!

 

Try it out this week with this Valentine Theme Freebie!  Just click on the image to download it at my TPT store!  I hope your kiddos will enjoy them!   Have a great week!

Read "Owl" About it! :)

We started our unit on OWLS today!   I am so excited because I love OWLS and I love teaching this unit!  I have been teaching this with my first grade team for many years now.  This year I am using some pieces from several units and freebies I have found on TPT and am loving the additions to this unit!  Now, I normally teach this unit during fall and incorporate a study of bats with it.  So I am having to wrap my teacher brain around this change.  So far so good!  I made the transition today drawing comparisons between penguins and owls. Then we just brainstormed what we KNOW about owls.  The kids did great.  I was so impressed with their prior knowledge!

This is one of the great units I bought on Sunday!  You should definitely check it out here.

It is 119 pages of great resources.  Today I used the great vocabulary words and definitions for an introductory exercise!

I'm going to be honest, it wasn't planned!  I just realized my students already know quite a bit about owls.  So I activated their prior knowledge!  I passed out vocabulary words that we will be using during this unit (and during our field trip tomorrow) and then read the definitions.  When I read the definition, the student holding the word walked up and we put them together!  It was a great little impromptu activity!

Tomorrow we head to our local nature center for a presentation on Raptors!  The kids are so excited and I have to say, I'm looking forward to taking them!  They are a great group!

When we return we'll do some writing about our adventure for sure.

Now for the hundredth day celebration.  I teach at a K-8 Charter School.  We celebrate K-3 with 100 minutes of fun activities.  I didn't have my camera with me at the festivities, but my teaching partner did!  Head over to her blog and check out her post.  She also has a great Valentine Freebie!



Have a great week!

Moving from Penguins to Owls!!!

I am slowly learning how to edit and upload my photos to the blog!  So anyway...

Here are some of my cuties during our penguin unit.  We had so much fun! 

We measured ourselves against the Emperor...guess she is a little shorter than the big guy!

We got in height order without talking!  Very challenging!

And painted life size penguins!  So cute!

Aren't they cute?  We are moving on to Owls tomorrow and I can't wait to use some of the great products I bought during the sale!  What did you buy?  Do you have any recommendations for owls?

Please leave a comment if you have a suggestion for a TPT product I should check out for my Owl Unit!  Thanks!

Susan

Superbowl Freebie ....with a penguin!

In honor of the fantastic Superbowl sale over at TPT, I've posted another freebie math worksheet.  I just finished up Penguins in my class, but my kids will love this as a morning warmup.  It isn't that involved, so it will great for a quick little seat work/ brain booster for the morning!  Just click on the link below to go grab your freebie at my TPT store!  While you're there, be sure and check out my other products that are on sale!

Use the promo code SUPER to get an extra 10% off your purchase!   

Happy Superbowl and a Sale!

Wow!  This has been such a busy week and a wonderful week, too.  I have had a blast with my first graders!  I love teaching weeks when you feel like you really taught!  We finished up our Penguin Unit and the kiddos did an amazing job!  This week we:

• completed an Emperor Penguin Report
• drew and painted life size Rockhopper Penguins
• made 3-D models to display our penguin nests
• compiled all of our penguin projects into a Penguin Portfolio
• AND presented our projects to our big buddies!  

I'm so excited about how much my little firsties learned!  The big buddies asked questions of the little buddies and my kiddos answered with confidence!


I am having trouble uploading photos, but I took some great pictures of my kiddos!  I'll keep working on it.  In the meantime, I have a new product that I put in my TPT store!  Go check it out, but don't buy it today!  Wait until Sunday, when everything will be up to 28% off for the SuperBowl Sale!  All of my products are 20% off.  When you enter the code SUPER, TPT will kick in another 10% off and that adds up to 28% savings!  Check it out!

Check out my new packet now, but shop on Sunday!

I also linked up with some other TPT sellers.  You can check them out here:

linky party .

Don't forget to build your wish list!   I know I'll be shopping!  I might watch a little football, too!