Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas from my family to yours!!

Have a Wolfelicious day!

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Christmas Presents, iPads, and Math

I can't believe Christmas is right around the corner.  I swear, the older I get the faster the year goes.  Here are somethings we have been working on and up to.  

Oh Math!!  Oh Math!!  Oh Math!!
This week we worked on ways to make 10 to add.  
You talk about tricky!  This is a concept that is very tricky.  I spent a lot of days helping the students understand how to do this.  We started out using manipulatives and our song...

We're moving on up!  Moving on up.  To the top tens-frame.
(My kiddos love this song and it seems to really up them)

Once the students were understanding this concept better we practiced ways to make 10 to add without manipulatives.

I have always been a big fan of the snowman ornaments.  This year I did a twist on them.  I made them out of construction paper and then had them laminated.  I love how they turned out.  I hope their parents do too. 

This past week we didn't have a lot of curriculum we had to fit in so I was able to work on somethings that my students needed to work on and also make some Christmas crafts.

Here is a great free project.  It is called Stocking Stuffers and is from A Cup for the Teacher.

The students made a stocking and then decided what they would put into their stocking.

I had them pick 6 different items and then they had to color their stocking. 

This year I decided to make a different kind of project.  I decided to have the students draw on plates with Sharpies and this would be one of their Christmas presents for their parents. I had the students make a rough draft on paper first.  This way I could check it out.  I learned that less is more on the plates.  I think this would be a perfect gift to be displayed year after year.

I am originally from Ohio and I love Buckeyes.  One of my friends surprised me with a bucket of Buckeyes!!  It made my day!

They were SO delicious!!  I had a difficult time sharing them. 

This year I had to figure out a gift for my child's teacher.  I wanted something she would like and treasure.  Although I always love gift cards I wanted something homemade to give her.  His teacher loves  Dr. Seuss.  I thought up an idea in my head and started creating it.

First, I went to The Home Depot and got my supplies.  I got wood and had them cut it into 12 inches.  Then I got a thinner piece of wood and then had them cut that.  I laid all the pieces on the floor so I could see what I was visualizing in my head.  It was working out.  Then I grabbed some paint and headed home.  

Next, I painted all the wood black.  I was very impatient.  I had a difficult time waiting for the black paint to dry.  While the black paint was drying, I created the words on my Silhouette Portrait.  I cut the words on vinyl.  Once the words were all ready to place on the black wood, I took them off the backing and placed and pressed them down where I wanted them to go. 

Then, I painted the different pieces of wood either red or white.  Whatever color it needed to be so it would look like a hat.  The next day, once the paint was dry, I pulled off the vinyl.  Then I glued the pieces together with wood glue.  I also screwed a rod to help all the pieces stay together.  Once the glue was dry and it was staying together I sanded it a little bit.  I wanted it to have a little bit of a worn look.

I love how this turned out.  I don't think the picture does it justice.  It looks SO much better in person.  My son was super excited to give this to his teacher.

We had a very excited week in class because our iPads were finally set up and we were able to use them.  I did my first lesson with the iPads, The Basics from the iPad Essentials- Series 1.

Then we got to practice our math with Smart Cookie Math.

I loved watching how engaged all the students were. 

Check out their faces.  They are really into what they are doing on the iPads.  I think it is just want the kids of today need to make learning fun. 

This year my classroom parents ROCKED at gifts.  Check out what I got for Christmas.

A wreath of gift cards!!  What??!!!  Awesome sauce!

Mustache ornament!!  Awesome sauce! 

Mustache necklace.  Awesome sauce!

Tervis Tumbler with a mustache and Wolfelicious on it.  Awesome sauce!

I got SO many amazing gifts!!  Thank you all so much!!

I hope you have a great Christmas!

Have a Wolfelicious day!

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Turkey Baster Challenge and Charlie Brown Thanksgiving

Last week we only had two days of school and one of those days was our Thanksgiving feast/party.  We really didn't have curriculum in place for this week since it was so short.  I knew this was a great time to try out another STEM lesson.

I was checking out my favorite store (TPT) and I came across the perfect STEM lesson for this week.  

The Turkey Baster Launcher Challenge.

BINGO!!!  

PERFECT for turkey week!!

The question presented to the class was...
 How far can you move the ping pong ball using the turkey baster?  

They were only allowed to use the items I gave them.  Nothing else.

I saw great teamwork out of most of my groups.  They were coming up with different ideas on how to make the ball go farther.  They were using the tape measure to measure how far their ball went.

My students enjoyed themselves SO much!  I will definitely do this lesson again.

If you want the lesson, check it out!  

Turkey Baster Launchers
Check out lesson {here}

We also had our Charlie Brown Thanksgiving.

Say what?!

Yep, that is correct!!  A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving.  

I came across this idea on a blog last year and I knew I HAD to do it.  It fits me perfectly!

So what is a Charlie Brown Thanksgiving?  Well, you serve the items that Charlie Brown serves to his guests.

Toast (buttered)

Popcorn

Jelly Beans

Pretzels

Chips

My students LOVED this.  I couldn't believe how many of them said that they loved the bread!  I thought that was funny!  Bread?!!  Yummy!!

Have a Wolfelicious day!

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Calendar Thinker

Do you do calendar every single day?

Do you love calendar?

Usually, I don't care for it.  It is SO repetitive that I even get a little bored.  I know if I am bored with it, then so are my kiddos.

UNITL...

I started incorporating things for the students to do while we were working on calendar together!  

I came up with my Calendar Thinker!

WIN! WIN!

Not only are we working on the calendar skills every day, but we are also working on tons of the standards daily.  

Plus, when I see the students are having trouble with a certain concept, we review it during calendar.

Practice makes perfect, right?  The more the students practice the skills the better.  The more likely they will go into their long term memory.

I absolutely love this packet!  My students use it daily.  When my students come through the door in the morning, they first do their morning work.  Once that is finished, they head to the 'cozy corner' (my carpet area) and start working on their calendar folder.  Once the announcements are over, everyone has to go to the calendar and we begin the calendar.  I go through the big calendar bulletin board on the wall and the kiddos do the corresponding pages in their folder.

It has SO many skills in it!

I walk around while students are filling out the pages, making sure they understand the different concepts being covered.  It gives me a quick understanding of who comprehends the concept and who needs more work. 

Do you want to know the concepts in the packet so far?

My Stache (Money)

More, Less, 10 More, 10 Less

What Time Is It? (Big Clock)

What Time Is It? (Watch and Clock)

Part, Part, Whole

Part, Part, Whole

Part, Part, Whole and Fact Family2

Hundreds Chart

Today's Number (Tens-frame= 10)

Tens- Frames

Today’s Number (Tens-frame= 20)

Today's Number (Tens-frame= 50)

Count Back

Count On

Count Back and Count On

Measuring (inch)

Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow

Odd or Even

Put the papers in a clear sleeve pouch and reuse each day.  Save paper!!

I put the papers in a plastic folder so they are ready for each student everyday with a dry erase marker and a sock for the eraser. 

My plan is to add more pages throughout the year as I see fit!

Do you think your kiddos would benefit from this packet?  If so, check it out!

Check it out!

Calendar Thinker

Have a Wolfelicious day!

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STEM, Technology, and Calendar Thinker

Have you heard of STEM?

Science, Technology, Engineering and Math

I have heard of STEM and always wondered what it really was.  I think incorporating Science, Technology, Engineering and Math into lessons would make learning more fun and the students would use lots of different skills.  After looking and researching more about STEM, I knew I had to try it with my class.  I found a lesson that I wanted to try and I just jumped right in.

I decided to try the Cup Challenge with my class. 

I gave them the challenge question and explained some rules to them.  Then I said, "Go!"  

I decided not to assign different kids in each group with a job because I was curious what they would all do by themselves.

The students quickly and eagerly got started trying to complete the mission.  The groups of 4 or 5 were working together!  They were brainstorming.  At first they just stacked all the cups on one another.  Then, the coolest thing happened.  One table thought to stack them up differently.

Once the other groups saw this kind of stacking, they joined in with their group.  They students were working together and measuring.  The excitement on their faces was unbelievable.

I could tell they were really enjoying completing this activity, but they were also learning.  Coming up with more ways of how to get their stack taller and taller.

I did have to step in a couple times and remind them not to be so loud, but the loudness was all about how excited they were to complete this assignment.

After 20 minutes the students had to stop.  Then we filled out a paper about their experience documenting their learning.

To some people this my seem like playing, but the learning experiences they were getting were awesome!

Cooperative learning

Math

Engineering 

and more!

I am by no means a STEM expert, or even close.  This was my first STEM lesson. I thought it was a great experience!  I plan on doing more in my classroom.  The students were really engaged in their learning!!  Who doesn't want to see that?!

Have you done any STEM lessons?  I would love to hear about them.

Friday was a HAPPY day!!!  

I had a special delivery to my classroom.

20 ipads!!!  Oh my!!!

Oh happy day!!!  Oh happy day!!!

I can't wait to incorporate the iPads in my teaching!  Wish me luck in setting them all up!

This week we worked on poems.  Poems are SO difficult for first graders!!    

Here is one that made me smile.  I love reading their writings!  It is so neat to see what they come up with.  We did some of the poem together.  They had to come up with the rhyming words. Here was their outline.

When I am late, I ____, ____, and _____.

I _____ and _____.

Then I ________.

The red line had to rhyme and then the green lines had to rhyme.

Here is what this one says:

When I am late

I skip, walk, and I jump. I

huff and I puff.

Then I hump. 

I feel students should be using technology.  This is how they are going to grow up.  It is necessary for them to learn how to use it.  To help my students learn using technology I have signed my class up to use the mobile lab on Thursday's.  Or what I like to call it is Technology Thursday.  I have scheduled my class to use them until mid-December so far.  We have used Spelling City to help us with our spelling words and Connect Ed to help us with our reading.

I have finally made a new product!  I am super excited about this product!  I printed it off and have it ready to go for Monday.  During calendar this year I have had the students write and do the calendar problems in their folder.  This is a great way for the students to stay engaged in their learning.  I decided to make my own version so I could put in it what my students needed work on. 

Check out my new product!!  Calendar Thinker!

Have a Wolfelicious day!

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