After alll...you're my wonderwall :-)

Welcome back!
We have had a restful summer, spent pinning a lot of good ideas on Pinterest!  This Wonderwall was one of the great ideas, so we brainstormed how to incorporate this into our classrooms.  "I Wonder..." charts are so useful to engage student learning, but we liked the idea of having one reusable chart, instead of having to keep up with several charts all year.  So we created our own......

Ta-da!

The speech bubble die-cuts were purchased from The School Box (split a pack with a buddy because there were way more than were needed).  We put them inside a cheap frame from Ikea.  We left a mostly blank piece of paper instead to write what our topic is, or tape a picture of what we are introducing.  The plan is to use dry erase makers to record the students' thoughts (for upper grades you could have the students record their ideas themselves).  A quick and easy project, put together for less than $10!

Shedding our Shells

At the end of each year I read The Hermit Crab to my students. As I read we discuss how they have filled their Kindergarten shell with what they have learned and now they need a bigger shell in First Grade to fill with knowledge next year. We brainstorm ideas together of what kind of things "filled our shells" this year (what they learned). Then I give each student a paper plate to paint with water color (which they LOVE....we don't get to do much painting anymore;) And then I give them pom poms, scraps of paper, stickers, buttons, basically anything you can find to glue on. Then I give each student writing paper to write about what they learned in Kindergarten. It's so cute to see what they come up with..things I may have even forgotten about. Finally, I have a little template of a hermit crab they cut out and I staple to the paper plate (it's a hard copy...I don't have an electronic copy...SORRY!) But it's super easy to do. So if you're looking for a good end of the year activity you might want to try this!

A HUGE Thank You!

So this year when all the office, nurse, custodians, cafeteria worker appreciation days came around I found myself panicking to get thank you notes to everyone. I mean where's the time!?!? So I came up with a template for students to draw a picture and write a little note to everyone and was going to just paste them on Poster Board. But my wonderful para came up with an adorable way to display the notes. I forgot to take pictures of the custodian broom she made out of poster board (so cute) and a tray made out of poster board for the cafeteria workers. I did snag a picture of the one for the nurse (the picture below). Everyone seemed to love them  and the students really enjoyed personalizing their own square.  So if you're looking for an easy way to give a big thank you this is the way to go! To download the thank you card template for FREE click HERE! What other ideas do you have for thank you notes? I would love to hear!

Angry Birds/Angry Verbs

I found this great idea on Pinterest! My students loved using their favorite angry birds characters to practice verbs! Click here to find the Angry Birds templates. I had each student chose their favorite angry bird, colored it, and paste it on paper. Then they had to write sentences using verbs and then they highlighted them. And tada Angry Verbs!

Earth Day Everyday!

Earth Day is such a fun Holiday, especially getting to teach the students the ways they can love and care for our Earth.  I decided to use some of the Natural Resources Unit that I made for Science to help teach my students about Earth Day and wanted to share a freebie with you guys!
Click here to snag your freebie.

Click here for the entire unit!

Lewis and Clark with Sacagawea

Hey all!
Spring Break was so nice, but just left me ready for more! 31 more days of this school year, can't believe it has gone so fast.  It's amazing how much the students grow in a school year.
Well to wrap up the school year we are doing a lot of review.  While going through my resources I thought I would share a Social Studies Unit that I made that focused on Lewis and Clark and Sacagawea.  These historical figures can be so difficult to teach to first graders, but I have found that the reading comprehension worksheets really have helped.  Our standards are supposed to cover vocabulary as well, so the matching sheet in this unit is a great and easy assessment.
Enjoy, click here to grab your copy!

1, 2, 3 Blast Off! Earth Science Unit

Here's a science unit that can be used in any K-2 space unit! To check out the whole unit click HERE!

And here's a Freebie from the unit! Click on the picture below to download your own copy!