[Johnny Appleseed] and a shout-out to Heidi of Swamp Frog First Graders

I'm so far behind, I can actually see my behind, lol.

So. . .when i realized that Johnny Appleseed's birthday is THIS WEEK (as in September 26th!!!), I freaked out a bit.

(And then I realized that actually knowing the birthday of Johnny Appleseed is kind of freaky in and of itself, lol).

But, Heidi of Swamp Frog First Graders to the rescue with her super cute Johnny Appleseed Craftivity and Math pack.  So excited to use this pack this week!  Her post also includes links to online resources that are a perfect fit for first graders learning about Johnny Appleseed.  :)

I LOVE the rubric attached to the math page.

Seriously going to use that on a lot more stuff than just this one math page.

In our classroom, we'll be combining Heidi's pack with my newly created Research Writing pack.  I'm excited to see the finished result as my littles research and write a biography about Mr. John Chapman.

So. . .if you're behind like me, or just need a super fun Johnny Appleseed activity that has learning value, check out Heidi's post.

Have a great week!

Remember, tomorrow is Tuesday and I'll be posting over at Latter-Day Crafters.

See you back here on Wednesday.

[HINT! HINT!]

If you LOVE the ROLL and SPELL activities, you're definitely going to want to stop by the Latter-Day Crafters Blog tomorrow (Monday, June 11)!

That's all I'm going to say.

But, trust me, you'll really want to stop!!!  ;)

Have a great week!

[Ideas] It's one of those writing trait thingies

Remember a few posts back. . .the one with the cute binder covers?

The one where I talked about our year long adventure in creating a writing resource binder?

Yep, that one.  :)

I have been exploring blog-world for things to add to my little resource binder and found this incredible idea from Connie at Welcome To First Grade Room 5.

Seriously a brilliant idea!

I wish I would have done this earlier in the year.

But I'm not that smart.

We did it yesterday.

My kids were super excited to have a "list" of writing ideas!

They worked on their own pages as I completed one on the projection system.

I'll have to take some pictures to add.  Adorable!

It was then time for our last writing assessment of the year.

Complete silence as they worked for over 30 minutes writing/illustrating.

Oh, if Connie lived by me, I'd be taking her a giant bag of M&M's as a thank you!

(That silence and hard work was exactly what this frazzled teacher was needing!!).

And the stories?!

Oh.My.Awesome.

Looking for an idea sheet to help your writers?

You need to stop over and visit Connie first - leave her a little comment love, and then stop by my Facebook page for the link to pick up today's Facebook Friday Freebie.

Oh, and it's FREE LISTING FRIDAY on Latter-Day Crafters!

Interested in selling your handcrafted items or teacher created materials?

Stop over and check it out!  Today you can list 5 items with NO LISTING FEE!!!

Have a great day!

[awesome *custom* giveaway from LuckeyFrog]

Jenny over at LuckeyFrog's LilyPad is holding a super easy to enter giveaway over on her blog.

What's she offering?!

A custom designed printable lesson plan for the lucky winner!!

I've been using custom made lesson plan pages for years.

They take for.e.ver to design, but are a real time saver for busy teachers!

What are you waiting for?

GO!

Visit Jenny, leave a comment, follow her blog, and YOU might be the lucky winner!!

[SUPER CUTE FREE CLIP ART FROM THE 3AM TEACHER!!]

Sorry for shouting.  :)

Just had to get your attention!

Today, Saturday, March 3, until midnight only, The 3AM Teacher is giving away an a.dor.a.ble set of Kevin Henkes themed clip art from her TPT store!  Head over to her bloggity blog to check out the details!  You won't be sorry!

http://the3amteacher.blogspot.com/2012/03/late-300-follower-celebration-freebie.html#comment-form

Hope you're having a fabulous weekend!  We are!

Breakfast out at our favorite breakfast spot, visit to a new toy store where I scored an awesome dingy (ding-y as in the sound, not dingy as in the color of half melted snow) bell, groceries (to complete what we need for our meal plan next week, plus a few things needed to ramp up our food storage - total UNDER $70!!), gas for Betsy (my car), and a really big drink, then home for a day snuggled in jammies and blankets enjoying the sound of the kiddos playing in the snow, playing Just Dance - the Michael Jackson version, playing Webkinz on the computer, and playing toys all while reading a really good book and eating delicious peanut butter M&M's.  Yep.  It's been a great day!  :)

Now - RUN, don't walk, over to The 3 AM Teacher, check out her awesome FREEBIE (remember till midnight tonight ONLY!), and follow her blog.  She's super generous with her talent and her copyright!!

{HEART to HEART}

I know, I know, 2 posts in a day.

Let the blog police arrest me if they will, but this just needed to be shared.

If you haven't been to visit Heather's blog yet this morning, GO!

Just click on the image to be inspired, uplifted, blessed.

She's posted the most beautiful reminder of WHAT our job really is.

Thanks, Heather!

Happy Monday!

[Check it out!] and AlphAbetical Order recording sheet edit

Wendy over at McKlhinny's Center Stage is a fairly new blogger with LOTS of great ideas for center time.  You'd be doing yourself a BIG HUGE WONDERFUL favor if you headed over there, became a follower, and incorporated some of her FABULOUS ideas into your classroom center/rotation/learning station time!

And now. . .this is the reason I clearly should NOT create activities when I am sick.

Seriously.

And guess who had to point out the error?!
One of my darling littles.

Yeah.

Nice.

La, la, la. . .whatever.  ;)

Alphabetical.  It has 2 As.  2.

It's fixed now.

Here is the new download (click the pic to be whisked away to download land).

Happy Friday.

[sick]

I really meant to have something new and fun for you today.

Really.

But somehow, I've managed to catch the stomach bug that half of our faculty has had.

Yep.  Delightful.

In the meantime, check out Lory's blog Fun For First!

She has darling freebies and a cute new blog!

See you tomorrow. . .

[a NEW blog that is FABULOUS!]

Finally feeling almost human.

That was a BAD sinus infection.

Uuuggghh.

I've been playing on Pinterest.

Probably too much.

But I found a new blog that you're going to LOVE!

http://mrstsfirstgradeclass-jill.blogspot.com/

She has such great ideas!  Hop over and say hi!

You'll be glad you did!

[The Three Snow Bears]

Mrs. Cole over at Cole's Little Pups just created an awesome unit to go along with Jan Brett's storybook The Three Snow Bears. This would be perfect for January when we come back with our firsties and need something fun and educational to get them back into the swing of school!

Hurry over to her blog - she's giving away 2 copies to kindergarten teachers, and 2 copies to first grade teachers!  :)

[Don't Eat] game boards

Prepared not Scared has downloads available of Reindeer, cookies, and elves.

So cute.

Perfect for a quick game during the day (since we know that keeping the attention of our little monkeys this week is going to require a LOT of extra tricks!!).

Make sure you leave her a comment if you download these games.

Good luck this week...

[The Liebster Award]

THANK YOU Amanda of The Kindergarten Chick for nominating me!  This award is for newbies, and its goal is to spotlight up-and-coming blogs with less than 200 followers. If awarded, you must:

♥ Copy and paste the award on your blog

♥ Thank the giver and link back to them

♥ Reveal YOUR top five picks and leave a comment letting them know


Here are my picks :

Shelly at Asprec's Apple

Only in First Grade

Laurie at First Grade Lyon's Den

Teacher Kimbo - The Adventures of a First Grade Teacher

Fredia of Frogs in First

and. . .First Grade Superstars (comments are not available, but this is a great blog with a fabulous list of online activities for first graders!)

Now, run, check out these fun new blogs, become a follower, and have a great day!  :)

PS:  The pink eye seems to be well under control after a day of rest and hot compresses.  Mrs. White will be so relieved.  ;)

[so many blogs, so little time!]

Kim over at The Teacher's Lane is hosting a linky party (click on the name to take you right to the linky party, click on the button to take you to Kim's blog). 

Link up your blog by grade level.

Wow.  So much inspiration all in one place!

Thanks, Kim!



[Brilliant!]

I've always used "Power Towers" with the number of the day to help my kiddos begin to visualize the addition process and understand that you could create a number in many different ways (the buzz word for this in education currently, at least in our district, is NUMBER BONDING).

The kiddos didn't always understand the process, and yes, it was a bit confusing, but I hadn't taken the time to work out something better.

Awwwww, cue angels singing. . .and enter Fran of Kindergarten Crayons.

On Tuesday, I was blopping (what Luke calls blog hopping) through Fran's blog, and found this post:

http://kindergartencrayons.blogspot.com/2011/06/another-kind-of-stripping.html

She offers the "5" book as a freebie on her blog.

It's brilliant.  Makes so much sense.  I'm totally using this in my classroom this year!

Hmmmm. . .need to figure out if she's posted the other numbers somewhere on her blog. . .or at her TPT store.  I NEED these!!

I know she's a kindergarten teacher, but so much of her stuff is adaptable for first grade or perfect for the start of the year.  She's incredibly talented and generous with her materials.  So, what are you waiting for?  GO!  Check out her blog!  You'll love it! 

You're welcome.  ;)