April FoOoOlS Day, Lunchbox Linky...SPRING BREAK!

Holy Shmoly,

April FooOols!  Whoever you are, you sweet little funny person who UN-followed me...come back now, I'm on to you....aPrIL fOoLs!  I went to bed last night, March 31st with 500 followers and woke up this morning, April 1st to 499.  Hardy har har har - you can come back now!!!!!



Was this last month nutty or what?  I'm so gladly welcoming spring break - we're going to enjoy a staycation and I can't think of any better way to spend it!  Something else that's nutty...

...this would look MUCH better if it were hugging a yummy chai tea latte from Starbucks - but a 7 Eleven iced mocha will have to do.  This little cutie is from my bloggy buddy Staci over at Going Nutty! In Miss Squirrel's First Grade - just because!  She really made my day - it came right after that insanely busy week....thanks, darlin'!  If you like it, go visit her blog, follow her, and then convince her to have a bloggy giveaway...I have my eye on the one with the 'stache!

In any spare time I could find {which wasn't much - so I'm only 6% through...ha - that's Kindle talk - I never know what page I'm on, or what chapters I've read, just my percent read} I decided to hunker down and read....

I think I'm gonna like it!

....and I'm a little late to the party, but....I couldn't pass up the opportunity to be nosy.  I've loved peeking inside your lunchboxes!!!!!  Mine is no great shakes, but I did realize I have quite the lunchbox collection...

Totally depends on...nothing....when deciding on which one I'll bring.  It's whichever one is at home and not left in the car or the classroom. 

I'm usually a leftover queen - whatever we had for dinner the night before, ends up in my lunchbox the next day. If there's nothing left over, I'm a total snacky-lunch person.  My lunch might contain:

No great shakes.

First grade has the "brunch" hour - our kids go out to recess first at 10:45 - a noonaide comes and gets them and also takes them to lunch afterward {30 minutes outside}.  Luckily,  I have a duty-free lunch hour...I'm just not sure how I would cope if I had to eat with my kiddos. Not sure about your lunch rooms but ours is a circus!!!!! When I go down to the lounge to grab my food {heat it up if need be}I usually chat a bit while it's nuking, then stop by the office to grab my mail and chat a bit in there and then go back to my room, shut my lights off and work and eat in the peace and quiet.  I have to go pick my kids up from the cafeteria at 11:45 so that's a full hour to regroup and get ready for the afternoon.  Ahhhhhh.....

Happy Spring Break!!!!!!

Roses Are Red, Violets are Blue - I've Got Some Poetry Just For You!

Can I have two evenings of conferences, please?  Comin' right up! 

Spring conferences are "as needed" and you've heard me brag about this bunch a few times - so, needless to say, I don't need to conference with too many.  As much as I can't wait for summer vacation - I'm sort of dragging my feet.  You just never know what the next year will bring {Kids under tables, kids slamming doors, kids running away, kids throwing wet toilet paper balls up on the bathroom ceiling...} and this year has brought lots of smiles to my face.

I finished typing up my poems from our poetry collection and thought I'd share them.  Hopefully you find a few you can use now and at the end of the school year.  I have one or two for each month {give or take}.  I put mine on chart paper and put the collection below in a duotang notebook that the kids keep in their personal bookshelves to read during Daily 5. I blogged more about it {here}. 

Black and white cover {in case you're frugal like me} and the whole packet.

Clipart: Scrappin' Doodles, Cre8tive Hands

Front cover only - in case you like it colorful

Hope you can use them!!!!

I put The Hunger Games on my Kindle....you know what I'll be doing over spring break...

...and blogging
.......and drinking coffee
...........and having at least one all day pajama day
................and blogging
..................more coffee
.....................and building a fort or two with the kitchen table chairs
..........................and blogging
...............................and having a Nerf gun battle

Yeah - I've got plans.  BIG plans!

Happy Saturday!

I'm feeling pretty chipper right now - tiredly chipper - but chipper, nonetheless!  Loose ends are being tied up all over the place.  Pancakes were made by a super nice dad...BONUS!  Have I ever told you that I don't cook?  Not a thing. I burn water.  That's about all I have to say about that.

Report cards are completed.  Just have to look them over one final time and that'll be enough of that. 

All that's left are conferences and then it'll be smoooooth sailing! 

I keep hearing mention of these books...Hunger Games...ever heard of 'em?  I guess there's a movie out there too. I think I'm going to have to spend some time reading over Spring Break {which can't get here soon enough!}. 

I thought I'd share the activity I used for my observation with you. Hope you can use it.  We've been talking about Mental Images.  I teach the kids that mental images can be made using all of your senses. A great oldie but goodie for imagining what things might sound like {and look like if you don't show them the pictures until after you've read the page} is The Napping House by Don and Audrey Wood.  That sweet book is FULL of glorious sounds.  The kids have fun sharing with one another the different sounds they were imagining in their minds: snoring, purring, yelping, sighing...

So, prior to my observation we had talked about making mental images for what we might see or hear.  The kids were pretty well versed on what visualizing is.  At the beginning of my lesson we decided under which Cafe' header "mental images" should go.  Great discussion and the kids knew right away COMPREHENSION! 

Then we read this poem....{love this happy little poem}...

Click the Picture to Download!

I always have the kids close their eyes or look up - yup, I tell them that looking up sometimes helps me see things in my "minds eye" a little better.  {Sometimes I wonder if sharing my little quirks is such a good idea - I also tell them to flush the toilet with their foot, and tape a white crayon to our classroom window when we want a snow day}So we closed our eyes and listened to the poem and imagined...

Great conversation happened after that about what other senses we might use when making mental images.  I told the kids since my science teacher husband wasn't able to create a contraption that would allow for me to see inside their heads they would have to draw their mental images for me again today. {The other day one of my kids thought she solved this problem for us by suggesting we draw our very first ones...she was BEAMING with pride!} 

In addition to drawing what was hiding inside their noggins they had to circle the senses they used when visualizing.  Most circled the obvious and a few circled "hear".  Now, in my mind there is nothing to hear when reading that poem, but I'm not deeming that answer "wrong" just yet.  I wrote on those papers "Tell me what you heard and return to me" so we'll see what they come up with.  Any thoughts on what they might have been thinking? 

Would it be wrong for me to go to bed at 8:00 on a Saturday night?

Do You Wanna Know Who Won? {I bet you do - come take a peek!}

Hey Everybody!

The observation went wonderfully, my sweet little first graders pulled themselves up by their flip flops {although technically, it's March, and in Michigan it should probably still be their BOOTstraps} and did an amazing job.  Lots of big thinkers and hard workers.  My principal made me feel like a million bucks and I can now breathe....okay not yet, I still have pancake making {tomorrow} and report cards looming...but by Sunday - I'll be all smiles!!!

Speaking of smiles - I have three lucky friends who will find themselves grinning after they find out they've won this big 'ol giveaway. 

Without further delay....{There ya have it - go to it...get counting....}

Awww, I'm just foolin'...but I gotta keep the suspense at an all-time high so you'll have to scroll waaaaayyyyyy far down to find out just WHO the lucky three are.....

......Hey, I'm down here - HA!   Hope I didn't lose ya!  Ready? Are you really ready?  Are you really, really ready?


FIRST PRIZE goes to....
#229

Rebecca!!!!!!!!! Who said...

I love your new look! Very cheery! The yellow polka dots are super cute!! I follow all 7 blogs!!
Rebecca
Teaching First

SECOND PRIZE goes to...

#231

Constance!!!!!!!!!! Who said...

I follow all of the TpT and/or TN stores listed above.

THIRD PRIZE goes to...

#91

Tammy!!!!!!!!! Who said...

I feel lucky when I win an AWESOME giveaway like this!
Tammy
First Grade at Klinger Cafe'

Many congrats girlies and thanks to everybody for entering.  I'll get everything sorted out with the awesome bloggers who participated, tomorrow!  You'll be hearing from us very soon! 

Happy almost weekend - and thank you SO much for all of your kind words yesterday - I read them and thought "I'm not the only one whose been here...I can do this!" 

Wayyyyy Overwhelmed

Hi Everybody,

Wow is about all I can muster at the moment.  Wow.  My oldest was sick for a couple of days and being the nice boy that he is - he shared his germs with Momma and Daddy... {Which, after telling this story to my first graders, this morning one of them reminded me of this book}...

Click on the picture to listen to Robert Munsch read this book - SOOOO funny!

My guest teacher on Monday was so sweet but didn't quite do the job that was left for her to do and then they weren't able to get a sub until just before lunch for me yesterday{when I stayed home with the MAJOR sickies}....only a fellow teacher can know what that meant for me walking in the doors today. 

Evaluation that was supposed to be yesterday has now been rescheduled for tomorrow...AFTER an assembly, and NOT at the usual time we typically do it which will throw them off.  Combine that with the unusually warm Michigan weather...well,  I don't have a cotton pickin' clue what I'm going to get tomorrow.

Okay, so the long and short of it - I'll be annoucing the winners for my giveaway tomorrow instead of today as planned.  We have a charity basketball game that we're going to tonight {That I completely forgot about...no report cards for me tonight}...

So consider it another day to, ummm, to - uh, enter my giveaway if you haven't already or maybe blog about it, or cross your fingers, or think happy thoughts for yourself about being a winner, or just a time to leave me a comment about anything....


<> 

Click Here to Enter

Honestly, this isn't a feeble attempt at getting more followers, or more entries, or anything like that. Just me being waaayyyyyyy overwhelmed!

April is Poet-Tree Month

Hi Chicklets,
This is going to be quick - I'm home with a sick boy who is on the mend so it's taking some doing to keep him on the couch.  I've got report cards to do and a messy house to tend to.  I wanted to show you what I'm cooking up.

April is poetry month - I love sharing poems with my kiddos all year long.  Kids love poems and you can work on so many skills when studying a them{spelling patterns, word wall words, inferencing, mental images, etc.}.  My kids LOVE the ones that make us giggle {Douglas Florian is a funny favorite}. 

Each year we create a "Poet-tree".  It ends up looking something like this...

I found this one on Pinterest which brought me to this blog {here} such AWESOME stuff!!!!

Once I get it all together I'll share mine with you.  I end up copying a leaf  for them to write their own poems on - either when they finish something early, during Daily 5/Work on Writing, or they can take one home with them and write one there.  When they complete a poem we attach it to our "poet-tree".  SOOOOO adorable!

Like I said, we work on poetry throughout the year by doing a poem every couple/few of weeks. I used to do a poem a week, but I have a hard time keeping up with that now that our curriculum is so FULL. So sad because we all know poetry is such an important literacy experience. 

One way we work on poetry is with our "Poetry Collection".  During the summer I copy the packet of poems, the cover, and put it all in a duotang folder.  I also have each poem on chart paper.  When I first introduce the poem we read it together, look for words we know, spelling patterns, etc.  We read the current poem as often as we can and they keep their collection in their "bookshelves" {where they keep their just right books for Daily 5}.  Then the kiddos are sent to their desks to illustrate their poem.  I have about one or two poems for each month.  I'm in the process of re-typing them right now.  Here's a teaser...

Cover

First Poem - Beginning of School Year

I'll make them available for you once I'm finished with the entire collection.  

One more thing and then I REALLY need to get to gettin' on my house cleaning and report card doin'...

Jeannie over at Kindergarten Lifestyle is hosting a linky party for you to link up, find new bloggers, and maybe get a few more followers yourself!  Once the linky party is over she plans on putting all of the linked up blogs onto a Pinterest board - what a great idea!

Go link up or just head on over and find yourself some more fantastic blogs to follow!

Click {HERE} if you haven't entered my giveaway yet...winners will be announced this Wednesday!

Linky Party ... Check HER Out - Bow Chicka Wow Wow!

Did you know there are a lot of hottie totties in blogland?  No kidding.  There are a lot of blogs that just make my draw drop.  Make me do a double {or triple, or quadruple...} take, cat calls and all! Wert whirl!

My very first bloggy friend, Rebecca over at Teaching First, is having a 400 follower Pay It Forward Linky Party. If you have a freebie, a giveaway,  or a linky party of your own she wants to you link up over on her blog!!!  Rebecca has a heart of gold, would give you the shirt off her blog, and this 400 follower celebration fits her to a 't'. 

Click Here To Join In The Fun!

I've got a sick boy at my house so I spent some time in my classroom today getting ready for a sub. {You just sighed for me didn't you??!}.  I'm breaking out like a teenager over here because of the stress.

Pimple Perpetrators

1. Assessments

2. Report Cards

3. Sick Boy

4. Tuesday Observation {Bright and early, the day after a sub, will my classroom be a shambles?!?}

5. Sub Plans





I'm torn between which way to be productive tomorrow. Clean the house? Do report cards? Which one would you do?

P.S. Thank you bunches and more for entering my giveaway.  If you haven't yet, maybe you can take a couple of minutes and give her a go!

Just click {HERE}..

Clean House? Report Cards? Clean House?  Report Cards?