What it's all about...

I had one of those moments this afternoon...teachers know what I mean. One of those times where we get a glimpse into the effect we are having on little people and their family's lives everyday. One of my former first graders came back to see me with his mom. They had heard I was leaving at the end of this year and wanted to come by and say thank you. It was this mother's genuine expression of thanks, even a year after I had her son, that reminded during this last week of school of the impact I've had over the past four years. It was refreshing and I hope to have more moments like this in my new school. To all my former students and their families, yes it is true I have been teaching you, but in all honestly you have taught me more about myself and this world in the past four years then you will ever know. Thank you GPMS family!

The final stretch...

The countdown is on! It's that time of year that all teacher's look forward to. This year I have mixed emotions because at the end of school I will be packing up my first grade classroom and making a big move. Our family is moving closer to family, which we are so excited about. Everything is about to change, but I've had quite the ride at my current school and learned so much about myself as an educator. I know these past four years have served me well and I'm excited about my next teaching adventure!

So how have we been filling the last month of school? Well, our testing is over (horaay!) and we are in the review phase for most standards. Currently we are reviewing our 4th quarter SOLs in science and social studies work stations. The kids LOVE it! They are already so good at station procedures, so this was an easy thing to introduce at the end of the year. We have 6 stations and spend about 15 minutes in each. This also allows me to pull guided reading groups for a second dip of instruction or administer end of the year assessments. 

Poster Making Station: Here we were actually reviewing the social studies standard about our community. Students draw a black and white outline of different places in their community and then use water colors to create a poster. Many students also took it upon themselves to add labels : )

Reading Station # 1& 2: Our school is lucky enough to have an amazing leveled book room. This year we got leveled science and social studies texts that the students LOVE. The photographs are beautiful and very high interest. After I work on the books in reading groups, I add them to one of the science/social studies reading stations.

Teacher Table: Here we may work on a content guided reading book or another skill that students need to review from our science/social studies unit.

Sorting Station: We love to sort! Students are working on a President's Day/Columbus Day/Independence Day sort. After modeling the sort in whole group, I move the sort into this station. Students practice it and then write/draw the sort in their Science/Social Studies notebooks.

Discovery Education: Depending on what we are reviewing students watch and write about a video clip from Discovery Education. On this day we had to improvise because 3 of the 4 computers were on the "blink" so students had to cozy up to one computer. They did a great job and I actually liked it better because they would stop and have conversations with each other about what they were watching. They then record their learning in their Science/Social Studies notebook.

I also have an Observation Station, which I forgot to take a picture of. This is a station where I bring in various items to observe. I really want my first graders to understand what it means to observe and use your five senses to record what you really see, not what you think you see. It's harder to teach then you think! I put out magnifying glasses and colored pencils and let them have at it in their notebooks. Observations Station and Poster Station are the favorites! I like this time of year because there are more opportunities to allow students a creative outlet. There is so much you can do to tap into their creative sides within science and social studies. Students who struggled with certain concepts are able to explore and express their ideas in a different medium and it seems to be making a difference!

Spring Is In the Air....Isn't It?

This year, more then most, I am very much ready for spring. The winter seems to have dragged on and on and I'm ready for some warm recess days!

So this post comes at a perfect time because we just embarked on our annual corn crop unit. Every year the first grade, with the help of our awesome instructional assistant, grows corn from seeds in our school garden. We start the seeds in peat pots inside and nurture them until they are strong enough to be transplanted in the garden. I enjoy this unit every year because each class puts their own spin on it. It is such a high interest activity and a great way to allow the students to have control of their learning.

This year we had a particularly rich discussion that covered science and math topics. First we explained to the students how corn grows from these seeds. The students were amazed that such a large plant would grow from a small seed. They also made a lot of connections to other places they had seen a kernel of corn. One students said, "This looks like the stuff at the bottom of the popcorn bag!" So then we talked about all different things that come from corn.

Each child got a seed and planted it in the peat pot. It's amazing what hands-on, high interest activities do for classroom management! They squealed at the feeling of the cold, damp peat and the squishy sounds it made as they pressed their seed into its new home.

After planting the seeds, we made a graph showing how long we thought it would take for the seeds to sprout. Although this seemed like a simple task, it turned into a very rich conversation about fractions. Who knew! The students had to decide if they thought the seeds would sprout in 4 days, 6 days, 9 days or 11 days (we even squeezed in that calendar SOL). I will have to snap a picture of our graph and upload it so you can see our results. Most students thought it would take about 9 days for the seeds to sprout, however, there was one brave soul who thought it would only take 4 days. While creating the graph the topic came up if we would be waiting for just one seed to sprout or all the seeds. Here is our intense fraction conversation...what if half of the seeds sprouted? Would that be enough to determine that the seeds had sprouted for the purpose of our graph? How do we show half of 18 peat pots? They knew a half meant 1 out of 2, but weren't sure how to translate that to a group of 18 (understandably). So I showed them how to make 2 equal groups out of 18 and that meant 9 in each group. So as a class we decided we would say the seeds had sprouted when 9 or more plants had sprouts. How about that for a first grade math conversation!

Remember that one lonely soul that thought it would only take 4 days for our seeds to sprout? He was right! And unfortunately absent on the day we checked our plants but I was proud of him because we all know how tough it is for first graders to take a class vote and be the only one to vote for one of the choices. More then half of our plants sprouted in 4 days and they are now getting nice and tall on a bright sunny window sill. More to come when we transplant them outside!

Silence for Sandy Hook Elementary

Time PLEASE slow down!

It's that time of year...the holidays are upon us! I don't know about you, but I am certainly feeling the crunch to find the perfect balance between addressing all the material and sharing the spirit of the season with my students. Here are a few peeks at our Thanksgiving unit.

This adorable poem came from Deanna Jump. I added the food cards for the students to choose what to eat instead of turkey. This turned into a great vocabulary and visualization lesson as I added a response sheet for students to fill out after filling in the blank. 

I have always loved morning messages. This week we got really into making lists of our favorite Thanksgiving foods. I shared the pen and had students come up to the front and help me sound words out. We are also still working on mastering that /th/ digraph. 

What holiday unit is complete without an I Know an Old Lady Who .... book? After reading I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Pie, students talked with their partner about what they would eat if they were the old lady. Even though this was an easier writing assignment for us, I took advantage of the simplicity of the project by reinforcing capital letters and punctuation, as well as spacing. I love how they came out and they really brighten up our hallway!

This last part is from before Thanksgiving but I wanted to share our first attempt at non-fiction writing. During shared reading we read about worms and worked on topic, main idea and details. Then during Writer's Workshop we constructed on a brace map (see below) where we charted our new learning. Students then used the map to help them write an informational book about worms. They loved trying to write their own "Fun Facts." 

Feeling Very Honored

I debated about whether or not to blog about this, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized how much my blogging has impacted my latest achievement. This past Thursday I was named my school district's 2013 Teacher of the Year. Myself and 49 other nominees from around the city were recognized at a program and reception on Thursday night. I am completely shocked and honored to have been chosen as Teacher of the Year. The best part so far has been the excitement and school bonding that has happened since I was announced as the top teacher. There was an energy in the halls yesterday at my school that I have never felt. I'm so happy to share the recognition with them and hope that it serves as a catalyst for a terrific rest of the school year. To all my blogging friends, thank you for always serving as a source of inspiration and encouragement. A lot of who I have become as a teacher started with this blog.

Very honored!

At my Channel 8 interview with Morgan Dean on Friday morning.

Hurricane Update

What does a teacher do while waiting for a hurricane? Catch up on tv shows and organize that black hole of a teacher's bag! Stay safe everyone!