Whole-Brain Mania!

I have been watching this video over and over! I love her style. I used several of these techniques in my classroom today and wow! My favorite was when I had them blow the answer into their hand. Everybody answered and was engaged during my whole mini-lesson. I can't wait to become more "Whole Brained" 

I made these posters to get me started doing more whole brain activities. I have found that trying to incorporate too many new ideas at one time doesn't work. When I break things down into chunks things go much better.  I'd love to share these posters with you. Enjoy!!

Hang in There...Friday is Coming!

This has really been an amazing week! We've learned about the Titanic, set up a museum of 10 and started working on our Gs to send out to 25 schools participating in the Alphabet Letter Exchange. On top of the extra fun I've been so impressed with my classes ability to stay reading, stay writing and stay working on words! I have to share a  picture that shows my students enthusiasm over books...especially ones that have to do with their current favorite subject...The Titanic!

Did you know that the Titanic was a mail ship? R.M.S. stands for Royal Mail Ship. Five mail clerks tried desperately to save 200 bags of registered mail, but the mail and the clerks went down with the ship. To date none of the 3,423 bags of mail have been recovered. Two of my favorite resources for using in our study have been these books.

This is easy to read with lots of pictures. I've been using it
during transition times calling them "Moments on the Titanic"!

Great information in this book! I really
like the photographs.

Our letter Gs are under construction, but I can hardly wait to have them all circulating through the mail. We colored our Gs green. Then we Glossed them with Green Glitter Glue!

I had my first casualty of the year today. One of my little puppies was not his rolly polly self! He seemed to have lost his spark! I could tell he wasn't feeling well. It wasn't long before he complained of his ear hurting. I asked someone in the office to contact his mom to let her know. As we waited to hear back from his mom I told him he could rest on the couch if he needed to. He would go back and forth from the couch to really trying to participate with our activities. Finally our office administrator came down to the room with a message from mom, "Hang in there. I'm coming soon to help you." After he got this message from his mom he perked up and was able to engage more fully. Just knowing that his mom loved him and cared about him made all the difference in the world to this little guy. He lasted until lunch when his mom came to the rescue!

I find that is so true in my own life. When the things of this world start to drag me down I remember that I too have a promise from a loving God. Hang in there...I'm coming soon to help you! 

"The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?"Psalm 118:6 and "Draw near to God and He will draw near to you" James 4:8. It is amazing how good news can change our attitude! Here is more good news for you...No matter what day of the week you are reading this...Hang in there Friday is coming!

What To Wear Wednesday! (Freebie!)

My poor aching feet. I have spent the summer in bare-feet or flip-flops and trying to shove my tootsies into shoes that were probably not designed with comfort in mind has been the worst part of back to school. I've tried to contort my feet into shapes that at a younger age was not a problem, but as I get older wiser I'm coming to realize that comfort is going to have to come first! Here is a glimpse of what I did to my feet this week...

Cute, but by the end of the day, blisters right by my
arches and sore feet!

Natural Soul by Naturlizer? If it is natural to have your toes blistered  and pinched than these are
the shoes for you. I had to take them off as soon as the kids were out the door!

Today I resorted to wearing the flip-flops again and my feet were happy all day. I just didn't feel very professional. I broke down today and went shoe shopping. I have a good feeling about my shoe choice tomorrow. I went to my favorite local store in Muskegon...Go Gear. The people there are knowledgeable and friendly and I love shopping locally. I believe there is some truth to the saying, "You get what you pay for." With that said, I hope I do!! I tried to have them give me a free pair if I blogged about their store...They just laughed at me...I paid full price! Ready? Here they are...

These are going to make my feet HAPPY!

Wouldn't your students pencils like some new shoes? Perhaps they'd like a new topper. I created these toppers to give my students positive thoughts when the "I can'ts" start to show up for school. I like to have my owlets write the word "can't" on a piece of paper, tear it up and throw it away. Now instead of "I can't" they have some "I cans" right on the top of their pencils. Click on the picture if you'd like a copy of your own "I cans" for your pencils to wear!

Graphics by Digital Bakeshop!

I Just Got a Letter!

I have been waiting eagerly for my first "letter" to come in the mail! Today was my lucky day. Actually I found the letter in my mailbox yesterday, but I got to share it with my class today.  I've been a little nervous about what to do with the letter "G"  I get to send out to 25 classes across the US and Canada. Don't worry, I'm not going with my original idea of chewing green gum and having students make "gs" with them and sticking them to the letter. Some thought that would be too "germy" and well I don't want to "gum" up my new Paper Monster laminator. I do have an idea that is simple and germ free! (More on that when they are done!)

I am participating with a group of early elementary teachers to make one letter of the alphabet for classrooms across the US and Canada. That's why I was so excited to get the letter F from a school in California. It wasn't just any school. This school is home to students who have parents serving in the US Navy. These are the children of parents who have dedicated their lives to keeping our country safe and free. They spend six months at a time out at sea patrolling our waters and keeping us safe from harm. I want to say thank you to those students for their amazing letter f and to the teachers dedicated to teaching these special kids. I saw this picture on a friends facebook page and want to share it
with you...

..

So here it is our first letter in the Chick-a Chick-a Boom Boom Letter Exchange hosted by Chrissy from First Grade Found Me. Thank you, Chrissy for your hard work putting this together.  Speaking of Chrissy...She has an awesome giveaway you want to miss. I've entered have you? Congrats to her for her 300 followers!

Thank you to Energy and Science TPT store for the Free USA map!

F is for fingerprints!

Thank you for the amazing letter helping us get to know you better!

Patriot's Day (FREEBIE!)

Tomorrow is Patriot's Day. Tomorrow is a day that those of us who witnessed 9/11 by TV or phone call, or in person will never forget. It was a day when we were able to put aside political  ideas,  and stand as One Country. Tomorrow I will take time, as I do each day, to be proud of being a United States citizen by pledging allegiance to the flag. I also teach my students the National Anthem. I like to introduce my students to the National Anthem on Patriot's Day. I would love to share my copy of the Pledge and the National Anthem with you. I hope that you will take a moment to be proud to be an American with me! I will never forget and I pray that my children's children will grow up with the freedoms and rights that I take for granted.

This is the complete Pledge!

Here is a puzzle to put the basic sight words back into the Pledge!
Click the picture if you'd like a copy.

Abandon Ship!

ABANDON SHIP! ABANDON SHIP!

Thank you,DoodleDarlin'!

Today I was bombarded by Titanic questions. I felt as though I had hit an iceberg. Every time I turned around I heard another question about that fated ship, or that dreaded question..."When is it time for lunch?" We were cruising along so well. We were making such good progress and then another child said, "Can't you just make us a worksheet about the Titanic?" Now a part of me wanted to snap and say "NO! It doesn't fit in the curriculum!" Luckily, the Conscious Discipline side told me to STAR....Smile, take a deep breath and relax. Finally, I relented and said I would make a book that they could read about the Titanic. The band struck up a celebratory note and cheers were heard through out the school...Well, I did get a hooray! Now I've got a problem...I have to come up with a book, write my weekly "Owl About First Grade," do the laundry, clean the dishes, read at least one chapter of my book, play with my new Paper Monster Laminator from My Binding.com and squeeze in a couple hours of sleep.

What I'm getting to is a very big THANK YOU! to a new friend I made. at  
I went to to TPT on the off chance of finding something for first graders on the Titanic.  Kayla has a wonderful unit with some great options that she is giving away FREE! I am so happy that I felt compelled to give her a shout-out and let her know how grateful I and a classroom of first graders are! On the serious side...I love finding something that catches my students fancy and going at it full steam. I can't wait until next week when we make our own Titanics to float in our school sea!

Currently and a Freebie(s)!

I am pretty excited to join up with over 200 other bloggers and Farley to let you know what is happening CURRENTLY! This is my first time linking up,  though I have enjoyed reading many of the  other "Currently" posts from previous months. Some of my favorite blogs have been found hanging out with the "Currently" gang.

It's no secret that I love owls. One of my students asks me every day why I love owls so much. Of course I tell them because they seem so wise and they remind me that Only With the Lords Strength can I do all things! Phil. 4:13. 

 Owls are everywhere in my room this year and even out in the halls. When we walk through the halls we follow the ways of the OWL and you can too! Click on the picture to download a free copy!

Three times a week I get to go read with 7th and 8th graders. Our first book is one of my favorites. How can you not love a book that says, “What a pity every child couldn't learn to read under a willow tree...”  I try to incorporate the daily 5 each day...Word Work, Read to Self, Read to a Partner and Listen to Reading are going well. They have another teacher for English who handles the writing, though we do quite a bit of writing, too! 

Finally, I Have a game for you. I love to share! I hope you enjoy this letter sound I Have Who Has Game! Click on the link to get a copy for your classroom. Click on the pic(k) to get yours!