Rockstar Classroom Theme

Each year my school votes on a school wide theme to use with Character Education. Our theme for the upcoming school year is going to be Character Rocks! So I decided that I would change my classroom theme to go along with it!! :) (PLUS it will also match my blog!! Yippee!!) I have been tutoring two days a week this summer in my classroom so I have been working on things here and there so that when August arrives I (hopefully) won't be in back to school panic mode!! ;)  One of my first projects was to make an ADORABLE scrunchy border that I found on Pinterest!! You can check it out over at Peace, Love and First Grade! She gives AMAZING step by step directions with pictures! :) Here is what my finished product looks like:

This will be my Math Meeting Board!

Here is a closer view of the scrunchy border

Also did you notice the super cute shape posters below the board?!? They go PERFECT with my new theme!! They are from my friend Katie over at Little Warriors and they are FREE!! Click on the link to go check them out!!  Little Warriors Shape Posters FREE!!   This is going to be my new word wall! I plan on putting the high frequency words up as we learn them on magnets. I had my word wall higher on my wall last year and I think it was almost too hard for the kiddos to see/notice, so I am excited to see if this will work better! If you like the zebra word wall letters click on the picture or the link to check them out!  Zebra Word Wall Letters  

 

 My favorite thing that I have made this summer is my Record Welcome sign that I have hanging right outside my door. I had some old "books on records" (like the books on tape/CD that I use now), but obviously did not have any use for the records. These worked perfect because they are about half the size of a regular record. I made the little letter labels to fit in the center circle. I used the "Rock Electric" font that I found over at The Inspired Apple, to make the letters. Thanks Abby!! :) It's PERFECT for a Rockstar theme! :) I just glued the letters to the records with a glue stick, then I glued the records onto some zebra ribbon with hot glue! If you would like the Rock Star Zebra Welcome Letters to use for your classroom click on the link or the picture to grab this Freebie!! :) Rock Star Zebra Welcome Letters

I don't know about you but I am LOVING my new theme so far! It is so fun to make new things for the new school year!! What will your classroom theme be?    <a href="http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/8470007/?claim=n97sdxrutdy">Follow my blog  

Earth Day Craft Freebie!!

Here is a super fun Earth Day craft that I did with my kiddos this week!! They loved it!!!

After learning about Earth Day and recycling we discussed other ways we could help the earth. The students were given this writing prompt to tell what they could do to help the earth. After writing down our ideas, I gave each student a blue circle to cut out. I had printed off each of their pictures and had them glue the blue circle to the bottom of their picture, so that their head was sticking out over the circle. Then they cut shapes out of a green piece of construction paper to make it look like the earth. I gave them two dye cut hands to glue down (we glued the bottoms of the hands to the back of the earth and then wrapped them around to the front). I also gave them the words to cut out and glue down the middle of their earth. We glued our craft and our writing prompt side by side on a large piece of construction paper. The students LOVE crafts that involve their pictures!! :)

Another example of the craft :)

If you enjoy this activity click either of the pictures above or the link to download!!

Earth Day Craft

Leave me some feedback if you can use it with your kiddos!! :)

On another note, today is my birthday!! My students were sooooo sweet!! I didn't even know they knew it was my birthday! One little boy brought me a beautiful plant! I got so many sweet cards, and little gifts from them! Some of the teachers decorated my room- tropical theme because they know I LOVEEEE Jimmy Buffett and anything tropical/beachy. A mom brought in mini cupcakes during our snack time and a card that was signed by all the kids! :) SOOO AWESOME!! It just reminds me that I work with some pretty AMAZING teachers, parents and students!! Love them all!!

Amphibian FREEBIE!!

I am back with the amphibian freebie that I promised!!! :) We finished our amphibian unit this Friday and one of the activities we worked on throughout the week was an amphibian booklet. The booklet has a page to write facts about amphibians.

It also has pages to describe four different amphibians (frogs, toads, newts, and salamanders). After learning about each of these amphibians we completed a step by step drawing and wrote a sentence or two describing each one. There is also a page at the end to write about their favorite amphibian! :)

Frog page example

Toad page example

Click the pictures above or the link to download for FREE!! Amphibians Booklet

Also if you have not done so check out my frog life cycle writing activity and craft!!!! This froggy is super cute and when you open his mouth the life cycle is underneath!!

Click the picture to head over to my TPT store and check it out!! :)

If you can use the Amphibian Booklet leave me a comment or come follow my blog!! I love to hear from you!! :)

Baseball Hat Freebie!

We ended our baseball unit today! The students had a blast this week and were SUPER into this unit!! If you have not done a baseball unit with your class, DO IT! You will not regret it and the kiddos will love it!! Head over to Katie's blog at Little Kinder Warriors and her TPT store to check out her Baseball Unit!! This has everything you could possibly want in a baseball unit!!! She has SO many fun ideas that your students will enjoy!!! :)

She also has a math and literacy centers pack to go with it!! Check it out!!! - Baseball Centers

I don't know about you but my students are definitely ready for spring, warm weather and being outside! I think this unit reminded them that warm days are ahead! I even had a student bring in baseball donuts!!

YUM!!!

For those of you who enjoyed my cardinal hat - from my last post, I created another adorable baseball hat to go with it!!

Since not everyone is a Cardinals fan, I have made an alternative (equally awesome) ;) baseball hat for you!!

Front view of baseball hat

Side view of baseball hat

 This hat can be run on any color that you wish! You could run it on your school's colors or any team of your choice! I have added this as my first product on Teachers Pay Teachers!!! Please click on any of the pictures above or the link below to head over to TPT and download both patterns!

Baseball Hat Patterns

I hope you enjoy! Please leave me a comment below if you were able to use this in your classroom! I love to hear feedback!! :)

Baseball Season!

It is hard to believe that it is already April!!! :) Since Monday was the St. Louis Cardinals Home Opener we started our baseball unit!! The kids are already in love with the activities!!! Katie Mense from Little Warriors  is one of my co-workers from last year and also a great friend!! She LOVES baseball!!!  She created an AMAZING baseball unit that has TONS of activities in it!! My firsties are having a blast and it is only Tuesday!! :) You can check out this unit by clicking the link! Little Warriors - Baseball Math and Literacy Unit

One of the activities that we worked on today was the "Baseball or Ballet?" craft and writing activity. The students loved this!! First we listened to the story Baseball Ballerina by Kathryn Cristaldi.

Then we talked about how you can choose which hobbies you enjoy based on what you love to do, rather than if you are a boy or a girl. My kiddos were really in to this! About half of the boys and girls chose baseball,
and the other half chose ballet! :)

This student chose baseball

and this student chose ballet!

 Thank you Katie for this awesome idea!!!! Click on one of the pictures to head to her TPT store and check it out!! 

Since we are also Cardinals fans at my school (super close to St. Louis) I created a Fred bird hat for the students to make and wear!

Front of the hat

Side view of the hat- check out the tail feathers! :)

To make this hat I started by giving each student the hat and the hat bill run on red construction paper. I had the students cut these pieces out and we folded on the dotted line on the hat bill. This makes a flat tab that can be glued onto the base of the hat to make the bill stick out. I had my students put the dotted line underneath so it wasn't showing on the hat, but you can do however you like! :) Then I gave each student the STL circle to cut out and glue to the middle of the hat. I had them set the hat aside and then I gave them the black piece for the head and the white for the two eyes. We cut out the pieces and glued down the eyes. We also then attached the hat just above the eyes. When that was finished, I gave each student the top and bottom pieces of the yellow beak to cut out. We again folded on the dotted line to make the tabs to glue down. We glued down the bottom piece of the beak first and then glued the top part of the beak right on top of the bottom tab (bottom tab was hidden under the top tab). While the students were cutting out their feather for the back of the hat, I walked around stapling the hat (red strips of construction paper) to fit their head, and stapling the bird on the front of the hat. The feather also has a fold line to make a tab, and I stapled this tab to the back as I was walking around. If you would like the masters to make the hat click on the pictures or click the link here- Baseball Hats I hope you enjoy!! Happy baseball season!!!

Easter Bunny Hats and more Easter Fun!

Since Friday was our last day before Spring Break we had to finish up our Easter activities! One of the activities was our egg hunt! With the help from several parents we had enough plastic eggs for each student to find 9 eggs! :) I have some amazing and helpful parents!! Each student was given a number on their Easter bag and all of the eggs had a number written on the outside with a black Sharpie. The students could only pick up an egg if it had their number on it.This way everyone got the same goodies! :)

Our giant stash of Easter eggs! :)

We also made these Easter Bunny hats!! The students loved these!! They especially loved the cotton ball tail on the back of the hat! :)

Front of the bunny hat

Back of the bunny hat

I drew the bunny head, front paws and back paws. Then I copied them onto white construction paper and had the students cut out the pieces. They colored the inside of the ears, nose and inside of the back paws pink. Then I went around to each student with a long white strip of paper and sized it to fit their head. I had the students glue the bunny head and the front paws next to each other and on the back I stapled the two back paws with a space in the middle for the cotton ball. You can attach the cotton ball with white Elmer's glue or you can staple that on too. :) I also stapled another white strip of paper from the back of the bunnies head to the back of the hat. (You can see this strip in the photo showing the back of the bunny hat.) And there you have it! An adorable Easter Bunny hat! The kids LOVED these! Almost as much as the egg hunt. ;) If you love the bunny hats as much as I do, click on the link or on one of the two pictures above to download! Easter Bunny Hats

I hope your students get a kick out of them! Please leave me a comment if you are able to use these in your classroom! :) Happy Easter!

First Post Ever and Some Easter Fun!

Hello blog land! :) I am super excited because this is my very first post EVER! I am looking forward to sharing ideas and classroom activities with all of the FABULOUS teachers out there! This week my first grade class has been working on an Easter unit, and I have a few Easter goodies to share with all of you! On Wednesday our class listened to the story Flop-Ear by Guido Van Genechten.

In the story Flop-Ear realizes he is different from the other bunnies, because one of his ears stands up while the other flops down. The other bunnies laugh at him, and make jokes about Flop-Ear. After reading the story our class discussed ways that we could show kindness to Flop-Ear. We made a bunny craft and the students wrote down ways that they would be kind to him. I drew a bunny and copied the pieces onto white construction paper. The students cut out and colored in their pieces. Then they glued them to their writing prompt. If you would like a copy of the project click the following link: Bunny Craft and Writing Prompts

Included is a copy of the craft, and two writing prompts (in case you do not have the book I included an Easter bunny prompt that can be used as an alternative!) If you can use this activity in your classroom please leave a comment! :) I would love to hear your feedback!

Here is a boy example (the bow is under his chin)

Here is a girl example (the bow is in her ear)

We also learned about oviparous animals this week! We read stories about animals that lay eggs, and we sorted pictures of oviparous animals onto a class chart. Students picked one oviparous animal that they would like to see pop out of their Easter egg!

If you would like a copy of this activity please click the link below:
The Day My Easter Egg Grew Legs Writing Prompts

The students enjoyed playing a "scrambled egg" spelling game. Students had to find an Easter egg and inside were scrambled spelling words. Students had to figure out the spelling word and rewrite the word correctly on the line.

We also did a step by step Easter Bunny drawing and wrote a short story about our Easter Bunny.

We have been very busy working on our Easter fun this week!! Tomorrow is our last day before Spring Break, so we will be having our Easter egg hunt and some other fun activities to wrap up our unit! I plan to post some more pictures tomorrow! Thank you for stopping by! If you liked any of the ideas please leave a comment below! I am looking forward to posting more soon!! :)