Flat Stanley 2012 Part 1

This year has been very fun as we anxiously check our mail to see whose Flat Stanley has returned!

Here is a first look at where our Stanley's visited this year.

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This Flat Stanley flew to New Jersey to visit my sweet friend Rebecca.  She took him on a ferry ride, a law library and even a plane ride to Las Vegas. She also sent a cute book about exploring New York City.

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 This Flat Stanley flew to Louisiana to visit my friend Candace.  She took him on a vacation to Florida as well!

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 This Flat Stanley flew to Indiana to attend the Super Bowl with my Dad.

My Dad even got my student a Super Bowl souvenir. 

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 This Flat Stanley went to visit my friend Collette in Minnesota.  She is a Dr. and took Stanley to a prenatal appointment.

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 This Flat Stanley flew to Michigan where my friend Dillon is a Sports Anchor for their news.  He took the Flat Stanley to report on the Super Bowl.

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This Flat Stanley went to visit my friend Alicia in Colorado.  They were having a huge snowstorm and Stanley got stuck in it! She also sent a sweet book about Denver for my student.

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 This Flat Stanley visited my friend Kristen in Texas. She took him as she ran in the "Color Run".

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 This Flat Stanley stayed in Arizona and visited my friend Jane who works as a nurse.  She took him in an ambulance!

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 This Flat Stanley also stayed in Arizona with my friend Audrey.  He visited City Hall and learned about how America just celebrated it's 100th birthday.

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 This Flat Stanley flew to Montana to visit Nick's Aunt Lisa. He got to see all the cows on their ranch and learned about the area.

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 This Flat Stanley flew to California to visit my friend Kristin.  She works in a hospital and got him his own ID badge. So cute!

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This Flat Stanley also went to California to visit my friend Hannah.  She is a News Reporter on the San Diego news and brought him to the news station.  She also brought him to the beach and a Democratic debate.

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 This Flat Stanley went to Alabama to visit my sweet Blogger Friend Amber at Bugs, Barbies, and Wedded Bliss.  Her sweet little man Jax and her took Stanley to the library to check out books and even got him his own library card. So adorable. Thanks sweet girl! 

I will be back later to add more fabulous trips that our Flat Stanley's went on. I've got a little man to feed and report cards to work on! Hope you had a fun first look! 

Yes. I am alive.

Slightly dramatic. I know.

 I do realize it's been over a week since I've last blogged.

Life has been pretty busy and I've been exhausted.

First update: Reagan

Poor Reagan was not feeling well this weekend. He refused to eat and complained that his head and stomach didn't feel good. Then came the throw-ing up. Then we noticed the tugging of the ear. We were up ALL night long Monday night. He refused to lay down.

So my mom took him to the doctor on Tuesday morning. Turns out the boy had a double ear infection. And one was so bad it ruptured his eardrum. Poor baby. So he's got drops and medicine and is finally sleeping. Doesn't a sick baby just break a mom's heart? 

I can't leave you with that pitiful picture.

So here is a shot of Reagan driving around with his friend/our next door neighbor Cali.

Second update: School

This week we've been learning about plants.

We started with living/nonliving and tried an experiment to water both and see what happens.

We also sorted living/non living picture cards.

When learning about plant parts, I let the kids explore with their magnifying glasses.

After learning about plant parts and how they grow, we tried a new experiment- Lima beans in a plastic bag. I've never tried planting this way.... and I'm a little honest. The whole wet paper towel thing frustrated me.... so I added soil. Who knows.... 

In writing this week, we continued to write procedural pieces.

I saw the cutest thing on Pinterest and my team and I recreated it.

First we gave the kids bubble gum to chew in class. I know. Real exciting.

We talked about how to blow a bubble.

We then created a flow map to help teach others how to blow a bubble.

The kids then turned their flow map into a procedural piece of writing.

Afterwards we created the cutest pictures of them blowing bubbles.
Thanks to The Teacher Wife for the great idea!

I was really tickled how they turned out.

Aside from the fact that the balloons look a little like something else.

I know. Sick mind.

We've had a great turn out with our Flat Stanley project.

I hope to blog about it later this weekend! 

XXOO

Valentines Day 2012

Phew. I feel like I'm still recovering from all the Valentines Day festivities!

I guess it all started on Friday. Reagan's school had a Valentine craft evening. It was fun to sit with him and his friends and do lovey-dovey crafts. Saturday I attended my friend Sarah's annual Valentine cookie decorating party.  I was pretty lazy and bought pre-made sugar cookies from Walmart. (Who knew you could buy them that way?) It was fun to be "creative" for a minute. But more fun to catch up with friends.

Valentines Day was a crazy day in first grade!

My awesome teammates and I rotated classes throughout the day.

 In Cori's class the kids decorate bags to hold their valentines.

In Lisa's class they sorted and graphed conversation hearts.

In Kate's class they made Valentine hats.

And in my class we decorated cookies. (Boy did my class smell of sugar!)

After all the rotations we had our class party and the kids loved reading their valentines and enjoying their goodies.  I'm sure they were suger-ed out big time that night!

I always get some pretty "spectacular" Valentines gifts from my students each year. Something about the holiday brings out the crazy in these families. Here are some of gifts of love I got. Is  it bad I saw some random moms and kids at Target this weekend really struggling with what to get their teacher. I straight up told them don't waste their money on these candy hearts and dinky things. I don't know about you guys, but I would much rather have small gift card or class supplies! 

Reagan had a fun day at school exchanging valentines with his friends and having a party.

 Reagan got goodies from his Mimi and Papa and cards from his Grandma and Great Grandma.

 He got new Valentines books and some other goodies from Nick and I.

 I made Nick one of these write on prints- thank you Pinterest! 

 And Nick got me some pretty flowers.

I hope you guys had a day and feel very loved! 

Happy Valentines Day!

Happy Valentines Day!

Hope you are surrounded by all the things you love today! 

Lately in First Grade....

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The past two weeks in First Grade we have been talking about the skill of inferencing. 

We practice doing this daily. I would hold up pictures and the students would have to use what they already knew plus the clues in the pictures to decide what was happening and why.  It's a very hard skill for 6 year olds, but by the end they were rock stars. There were also some fabulous ideas I found here in "blog land" that we did as well.

First, we did one of the amazing Cara Caroll's inference projects using the kids' favorites, "No David!"

We read the book and inferred what was going on each page.

Next, the kids had to choose one page from the book and infer what was David doing and why.

They turned out pretty cute!

We also did one of Babbling Abby's inferencing activities - "What's in my teacher's bag?"

We examined what was in my handbag that day and the kids had to infer why I had those items.

They then chose 2 of the items and wrote about them.

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We also started learning about past and present presidents this week.

We ended the week with a president tree map.

We also made little George Washington faces and wrote about him.

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In writing this week we started procedural writing.

To start, the kids and I had a "shared experience" of making chocolate milk. 

They thought it was the coolest thing ever.

After we made the chocolate milk we made a flow map.

Next, each table had to make their own flow maps on how to do something. 

They had a blast and did a really good job!

The kids made flow maps on "How to get ready for school", "How to plant a seed", "How to give a dog a bath", "How to make your bed", "How to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich", and "How to make a gingerbread house".  After the flow maps, each group presented the class.  Next week we will turn their flow maps into writing. 

Alright, I need to go clean my house and do Valentines! 

Have a wonderful weekend and thanks for stopping by!