The One About Dr. Seuss

Yes, I know.

I know this post is terribly late.  Horribly Late.  No good, very bad late.  I'm sorry.  But, remember the break?  Well, it happened but the teaching continued.

Do you celebrate Dr. Seuss' birthday?  I mean, what's First Grade without this momentous occasion?  The Father of Children's Literature.  Did I just coin that?  Probably not, not my luck.  But it's true.  I'm a huge Dr. Seuss fan and, as it turns out, so are my kiddos this year.  They tore his books up.  In fact, I still have all of my Dr, Seuss books up on top of our library's shelves where we keep the books that relate to what we're studying or interested in.  The kids just keep going back and I don't have the heart to put them away yet.  But I will soon.  Oh, that reminds me, I have to put out my Easter books!  I can't believe I forgot.  Sorry for my squirrel moment there (you know, like the dog in Up).  Anywho.  

Dr. Seuss, yeah, that's where I was.  I have a whole day of fun activities planned.  Dr. Seuss Day is what I call it actually.  It's always the Friday closest to his birthday because, let's face it, only a Friday can support such craziness and fun right?  I do many different activities throughout the day but sadly I did not get a picture of them all here.  Even though my iPhone is never more than a few feet inches away from me, we still got so busy I couldn't capture it all fast enough.  I'll detail the big things here for you and show you some of my favorite pictures.

Now, I am by no means claiming to be totally original in these ideas.  In fact, you likely do most of them yourself.  I just wanted to share what I love about the day.  Maybe you'll relate.]?  Maybe you'll get a new idea?  Maybe you'll just read along with me?  Who knows.  I'll list my resources at the end in case you want to hunt them down for yourself.

This year Dr. Seuss Day coincided, completely by accident, with our Science unit on Earth's Resources/Recycling.  It was totally random, but I think I'll orchestrate this from now on because it worked out so well.  After learning all about resources and the 3 R's, we read The Lorax.  The movie, although they have all seen it a gobzillion times, is still quite relevant so they were pumped.  I was surprised at the number of kids who had not actually read the book!  Gasp!  We read the book and related it to recycling and caring for the planet.  This led to a discussion about what we can do since, maybe just maybe, the Lorax was referring to us at the end of his book.  Each student then chose one thing they could do to help the Earth and wrote it on a little Truffula tree.  We hung these up on our door.  Sorry no pictures :(  But the kiddos loved it and came up with some great ideas.  We also did some comparing and contrasting with my beloved Venn Diagram as we worked on comparing the book to the movie.  

On Dr. Seuss Day we started off around morning snack by reading One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish.  I then gave them each a handful of the multicolored goldfish crackers and they sorted and graphed them.  Eating was off limits until their final count had been tallied and recorded.  We then shared our results.  Turns out that the usual color, orange, is by and large the most common color.

One of the other activities we read was I Can Read with My Eyes Shut.  The kids thought this was hilarious and it led us into a discussion about gifts and talents, whether or not they're done with eyes open or shut.  We each then created our own sheet stating what we could do with our eyes shut.  I collected these all and made a book out of them, giving each student a copy.  They loved having everyone else's page to read.  It was fun

No celebration in my class would be complete without a hat, so of course we made a Cat in the Hat hat.  It never ceases to amaze me what you can do with copy paper and a sentence strip!  

We also read Bartholomew and the Oobleck.  This is one of my favorite books and I always try to read The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins prior to it, if I have time and remember, since he is the main character in both.  Of course, we then make our own oobleck out of water and cornstarch, with green food coloring.  This is so simple but it never fails to impress them.  I got applause with it this year.  Seriously, applause.  I mean I couldn't take all the credit, I found the idea long ago on the Internet.  But I did let them clap, my adoring fans.  I mean, who am I to deny them that?  So we made this and talked about solids and liquids.  We haven't covered this yet in Science so I'll be able to use this when we do to connect it all.  I explained the basic idea of a non-Newtonian fluid and then let the kids get their hands in it.  The expressions on their faces was priceless and I with I could show them all to you.  They LOVED it I tell you.  I'll show you Braeden's picture, it's a good example of the general population's.

The final activity of the day came with Green Eggs and Ham.  They've all read this before and when I pulled it out, they instantly knew what our activity would be!  As it turns out they do like it Sam!  I went easy with the ham part this year, opting for ham lunch meat as I haven't found a great way to get green meat?  The eggs though?  That's easy.  Those little guys tore it all up.  All 18 of them.  I only had one container of lunch meat and one dozen eggs.  What was I thinking?  I could have easily used triple that amount.  You'd have thought they had never eaten eggs or ham before.  That or it is just their all-time favorite meal.  Regardless, I've made a mental note to up the count for next year's activities!

The day ended, along with out green eggs and ham snack, with watching the first half of The Lorax.  I mean, after a day like this I needed a little bit of down time and they had been amazing.  They deserved a little movie time.  Plus, it did tie in with our Venn diagram and discussion from the morning!

All in all it was a very successful day.  Nothing too fancy or extraordinary, I told you that before.  Just great opportunities for learning fun!  I did other small things throughout the day with some other books, but these were the biggest.  How about you?  How did you celebrate?  Did you celebrate?  Any tips, tricks, or ideas you'd like to share?  I've already created a board on Pinterest for Dr. Seuss activities for next year.  I got it started this year but did so too late to incorporate much.  There are so many awesome teachers out there with amazing ideas!  I can't wait until March 2014 to do it all over again!  

Thanks for hopping by!  

- Oh the Places You'll Go - Jodi Southard: fun-in-first.blogspot.com

- Dr. Seuss Noun Sort - Mrs. Saoud: primarygraffiti.blogspot.com

- Dr. Seuss Rhyming Memory Match - Michelle Tomaszewski: thecolorfulclassroom.blogspot.com

- Oh the Punctuation You Will Use! - Annie Minor: awesomein1st.blogspot.com

- Oh the Thinks We Can Think - Abby Mullins: theinspiredapple.blogspot.com

- Seussy Synonyms - Christie Berlener: first-grade-fever.blogspot.com

- The Lorax - Rachel Friedrich: subhubonline.blogspot.com

- A Unit for March 2nd - Rachelle: whattheteacherwants.blogspot.com

  

  

The One About Groundhog Day

Yeah, I know what you're thinking.  "What are you doing posting during the middle of the day?  On a school day?"  Well, truth is I am home with Braeden.  He has the flu.  Yep, it hit us finally.  Amy stayed home with him on Monday and I was out yesterday and again today with him.  Luckily he seems to be on the mend and, fingers crossed, might return tomorrow!  So I've been out and now will deal with the aftermath of having a Sub for 2 days.  Now don't get me wrong, the sub I have is great.  I love her.  But a Sub is still not me.  The kids will still be crazy when I return.  Things still may not get done or, gasp, done the way I would do them.  I bumped some of the fun things I was looking forward to for when I return so that all awaits me tomorrow (I'll return even if Braeden doesn't, Amy will stay home again).  So tomorrow will be a blur of busyness.  Luckily I did take Jackson and Stella in so I was able to set out and prep the room a bit and get the papers from yesterday to grade.  At least I won't get behind in that.  I have grandiose plans of doing my lesson plans today, or at least most of them, so Friday (my usual lesson planning day) is easier.  We'll see if that happens.  I do apologize for not posting yesterday.  I totally meant to but got caught up with laundry, dishes, a sick kid, and creating for TPT of course (I posted 3 new items!).  But here I am today.  The grading is done and laundry and dishes are caught up.  So, time for blogging and more TPT has arrived.  Oh, I just realized I have strayed, surprise, from the title of this post!

So, Groundhog day was Saturday.  This is one of my most favorite days to celebrate in the classroom and it is highly underrated!  I go all-out really and we have a mini unit on groundhogs.  Usually I try to do a lot of it in one day, Groundhog Day, but since it fell on a Saturday this year I decided to spread it out over the course of a week.  Then I ended up missing part of this week so I'll still be cramming it in when I return.  But I'm still looking forward to it!  What do I do?  Funny you should ask, I was just about to tell you!

Well, for starters, last year I found this neat online site called Project Groundhog.  If you have never heard about it before you should totally check it out!  It pairs you up with classrooms across the country to track the weather and communicate for the 6 weeks following Groundhog Day.  It all culminates with the kids deciding if Punxsutawney Phil is a reliable source when it comes to predicting the weather.  Like I said, last year was my first year to do it and I, and the kids, loved it.  So I had to do it again this year.  It is fun and gets the kids involved in a hands-on way.  I highly recommend it for you next year.  

So, that's how it starts.  We have a class Groundhog and her name this year is Rosalinda, totally chosen by the kids when they voted.  We will spend at least this week, and maybe some of next week, studying groundhogs, their way of life, and all about them.  I created a Groundhog Fun Book that you can find here in my TPT store and we will do that as a culmination of our studies.  Also, on this Friday, as part of my Thematic Study, we will make hats, of course, and create a huge burrow (butcher paper over chairs.  The kids will take turns crawling in the burrow and then crawling out to see if they see their shadow.  Said shadow will be caused by another student standing on top of a chair (the sun) shining a flashlight down on them.  I love this part and the kids do too!  They get into it and make cute little groundhogs.  I'll try and post some pictures of all of this once I get them uploaded and edited to hide faces!

Groundhog Day is also special for me because it marks the 1-year anniversary of my TPT store!  It all started a year ago with this FREE resource, an I Have Who Has: Groundhog Day game!  We will of course play this on Friday as well and I'll leave it out for a week or so because the kids love to play it themselves when they finish their work.

So, what about you?  Do you celebrate Groundhog Day?  If so, what do your activities include?  If not, start planning for next year now!  Maybe I'll meet up with you on Project Groundhog!  Are there any special days that you feel are neglected and love to celebrate in your classroom?  What are they?  Well, regardless, enjoy the early spring that Phil has predicted.  Also, head on over to my TPT store to check out my first ever product and play it with your students!  Enjoy!

Thanks for hopping by!  

The One About Christmas Crafts

Well, again I've been away for a bit.  But, I'm sure you'll understand given the season.  I think for 2013 I'll make a resolution to blog more.  Both here and at my personal blog.  Although, come to think of it, I think I make that resolution every year.  Alas, life intervenes.  Anywho.

So, today was our last day before Christmas Break!  Not to rub it in to all of you who still have school until tomorrow or Friday.  Thankfully it was only a half day.  This is good because that is already a half day more than my kids had left in them!  Know what I'm saying?  Monday and Tuesday flew by and went surprisingly well.  In between specials and practice for our Christmas program/Advent Service we just barely got in all of our projects.

I didn't go all out this year as I have in the past.  I just played it low-key.  As it turns out, that worked out well since Christmas Break fell during a funny time this year.  Such is the case when it's on a Monday/Tuesday I guess.  I still managed to fit in my 2 favorite crafts though.  Sometimes I think I should try something new, but these 2 have always been so reliable and easy to complete, even in the busiest of times.  So I keep them around as my good old standbys and I add in some smaller new things every now and then.

I thought I'd try and get this post out there since some people (like I often am) may be looking for some last minute ideas to fill the time during these crazy last few days.  That or maybe you'll hold onto the idea for next year?  That or I can just share the ideas!

The first one is a little writing craftivity I've done for so long that I've forgotten where I got the idea from.  It's super simple and cute.  I love it because it has a uniform set of directions/procedures but the kids can personalize it in so many ways, they are always individual and different.  Plus that and I love me some reindeer at Christmastime so this is right up my alley.  All you need is a large sheet of dark brown construction paper, a smaller sheet of light brown construction paper, red construction paper scraps, the writing paper, and crayons/markers.  The kids do their writing first, why Christmas is special for them, and then assemble the reindeer.  I also like this because it's somewhat of a tiered activity, everyone can write something; from the stronger students to those who are not the best writers, they all turn out beautifully.  This is my standard hallway bulletin board display during Christmas and let's get serious, who doesn't like a board-ful of reindeer grinning at them?

Cute huh?

Here's a close-up of Braeden's.  Having your own kid in your class means you can always show their work and not worry about parental permission!


The inside of Braeden's reindeer: "I'm going to Kansas.  I get lots of presents.  It's a lot of fun.  My smile on my face says I'm happy."  Excuse his handwriting!  :/

Cute huh?  I absolutely love it.  Nothing too fancy but it just makes me smile.  Plus the kids adore it too.  The next craft is the gift I have the kids make for their parents.  Again, it is nothing super fancy, but I have gotten many compliments over the years from it.  I'm honestly stoked to finally have one for myself this year!  Yet another perk of having your own kid in your class!  It's just a standard issue noodle craft, but I am a huge fan of making an ornament with the kids' pictures in it each year.  In my mind the parents look back year after year and fondly remember me and all of the fabulous things their child learned/did in First Grade.  I know, probably delusional, but you never know.  It's a nice thought though right?  Plus, maybe they'll remember me in 20 years when they're rich and famous.  I'm just saying!  :)  I start with using the "O" die cut on poster board because the oval shape lends itself better to the picture than a circle, at least I think so.  The kids decorate 2 wreaths (because there are many different family situations out there) any way they please with noodles.  Then I spray paint them.  I take their pictures in front of our classroom Christmas tree and then hot glue those in myself.  Sorry kids.  * On a side note I gave myself a wicked bad hot glue gun burn this year.  I was assembling these and singing along, acting silly of course, to Christmas music, when I got a huge glob of hot glue on my thumb.  A student who was watching me then told me that's what happens when you use a hot glue gun and act silly.  Out of the mouths of children right?  But He was right!  :)*  Ok, back to the post.  Then I have the kids choose where their noodle bow goes (top or bottom) and hot glue that and the hanger on.  There, not too hard at all.  Plus it's super inexpensive and wallet-friendly, always a plus.  Like I told you, nothing fancy, but a great keepsake.  Again, I'll reap the benefits of having Braeden in here and show you his.

Cute huh?  Well, I love it!

So that's about it.  I make other small crafts every now and then but this years that's about all we had the time for.  We also made paper plate angels and popsicle stick reindeer but I'll post about those later.  This post is getting a bit long and I don't want you to be bored.  Plus, I really should be cleaning my room from today's party and the fun of the first semester.  I just had to take a blog break.

So, tonight is our Christmas Program/Advent Service and then I'll officially be on Christmas Break!  I hope those of you with a day or so more left survive!  I'll be thinking of you!  I'll share my secret: coffee (lots), smiles, recess, and crafts!  Again, I hope to blog more often over the break and then again in the new year!  I have some great things in my mind to create for TPT for January so hopefully that will get done!  Stay tuned!