Wednesday Wow! Freebie!

I'm linking up with Curious Firsties again this week to share the WOWs of my week. It has been a very pleasant week that ushered in the first snow for the kids to play in. It was probably less than an inch, but even that gave the feeling of magic.

The first of many snowmen!

A personal wow happened for me this weekend. My husband and I found ourselves all alone in the house for the first time in twenty-two years. We spent the day Saturday hiking and driving up the west coast of Lake Michigan. It was so much fun to be together and enjoy each others company. We found all kinds of beautiful works of art carved by the Creators hand! This was my favorite...

 I thought this root sticking out of the ground was WOW!
Can you see the beak and eye? Pretty cool.

My students are so excited about reading. I daily recommend books to different students and has it ever caught fre. I "catch" them recommending books to each other all the time. This week we all laughed when these two students started to recommend the same book to each other. They begged me to take a picture with one person holding a word bubble of what one boy sad to the other. I have a spot in my room where students can display books they recommend and it doesn't take long for the whole class to get excited about Scaredy Squirrel's latest adventure or Fly Guys newest mishap to occur! I smiled today when I heard a boy say, "Don't tell me any more about it, I want to find out for myself!" It doesn't get wower than that!

My students would probably say a wow for their week has been this poem and following directions worksheet I created for them. They love these following directions pages and I hope your kids will enjoy them too. Monster Wrangler Mike's graphics were the inspiration for this poem. I love these little turkeys and I'm guessing your kiddos will, too! Click the picture below to get it free or if you can't bring yourself to take a freebie from me you can buy it HERE!!

I'm thinking about Highs and Lows for the week. I'd love for you to link up this Saturday as I share my highs and lows for the week. 

Poetry Slam and Freebie!

I was going to link up with Barb at Grade ONEderful, but the collection is closed!! I thought I had one more day to squeeze myself into her monthly poetry slam. Would you like some apple poems anyway? I have one and Barb has a bunch...I mean a tree full. I'm sure she'd love you to stop by and pick some up. Head on over and tell her an owl sent you!

I love using poetry to teach reading. There are so many ways to introduce vocabulary, work on sight words, search for adjective, verbs and nouns and the list goes on and on! We read and re-read poetry every day and our lives are fuller and richer for it! Enjoy this original poem and a fun song, too! Click on the picture to get a copies of these sweet poems/song!

Have a great week!!

Do you love this clip art? Kari Bolt is AMAZING go HERE to check out her store!

Kindness Matters! Freebie

I've been in a bit of a quandary over my classroom theme this year. Can a teacher do owls two years in a row? What about four? Is it boring to do it six years? NO!! I realize the students coming into my care look forward to being one of my owlets. I briefly considered dragons as a theme. I really love dragons. I just couldn't get past "I'm dragon into first and second grade!" It just doesn't have the feel I'm after. Dragonettes may fear that their teacher would breathe fire on them. I've had teachers like that and I had to be dragged into school those long years.

Then I read two blog posts that really changed my thinking. Barbara and Kimberly both write such thought provoking meaningful posts. I know that I can always have a cup of coffee with them and get something nutritious to go along with my morning joe. Their blog posts, which you can read HERE and HERE rocked my mind...literally!! I've decided my theme this year is "Kindness Matters". It does. Kindness matters and if every school in my town, state, country, world took on a theme like "Kindness Matters" we might be able to change the world.

I'll have one rule this year. Can you guess what it is? Be kind! Be kind to yourself. Be kind to your teacher.  Be kind to your classmates.  Be kind to your schoolmates. Be kind to the world! You could use cute little bees to decorate it. I'm not going to. I still have enough cute owls flying through my classroom to make the room inviting. My "Be"s are just going to be. I'm going to strive to show you how I bring kindness into my classroom during the year to stress to my students that kindness matters.

Look how the kindness of an Oreo cookie changed some of these bad guys...

I've written my own Poetry to go along with this video and my first classroom book will be each child's response to the prompt "Wonder if I gave an Oreo cookie to..."

Who would YOU like to give an Oreo to?

Click HERE if you want more classroom ideas to go with the theme of kindness. The best way to teach it is to be it!!

I hope this qualifies as poetry because I'm linking up with... 

Sentimental Journey

Thank you KPM Doodles!

Oh my goodness!  So much to do and so little time!  I have something big planned for the next four weekends.  The best big weekend will be the one coming up when I get to go to a much anticipated wedding!  My nephew Ben is FINALLY marrying his sweetheart, Leah.  They have been together for what seems like forever, but usually separated by the state of Michigan!  They'll finally be together and they'll practically be our neighbors.  I know those newlyweds are going to want to spend TONS of time with their aunt and family!!  Be sure to come back next week and see a picture of this cute couple!

I've been doing lots of blog hopping and getting fresh ideas to help me finish out the year.  Because it is National Poetry Month and because I am feeling very sentimental about my class I've written a poem.  My challenge to you is to write a poem for or about your class this year. Include special memories and treasured thoughts that you have regarding your year.  This year has been particularly special for me as I have been with my class for two years in a row!  They are the first group of firsties I have had since my maternity leave 21 years ago.  I have enjoyed them and loved them so much.  Well, I'll let my poem tell the story...

Thanks for joining me on this sentimental journey!
Jenny

Thank you so much to my new friend, Renonda for helping with my button!  Snickety Things has become a favorite blog of mine.  Now Renonda has started blogging about books...Which I love!
She makes the most beautiful cakes...Yum!