Science/Social Studies Work Station

I LOVE Debbie Diller and her workstations.  She has changed my teaching life!  Today, I want to welcome you into my Science/Social Studies Work Station.  Right now we are in a science phase:  Monarch butterflies!!

Here is a close up of the books.  The book that is propped up on the right, Starting Life Butterfly is AMAZING!  I actually got it at....Bass Pro Shop!  Can you imagine?  They  have really great animal books for kids.



 My sons and I went for a walk Sunday evening and found some milkweed by our road.  There are four eggs!  I noticed this afternoon that we have had one hatch!!  I can't wait to show the kiddos tomorrow!

I hope that you have enjoyed checking out our Science/Social Studies Station.  Tomorrow:  ABC Word Study Station.

Happy Tuesday!!

Math

I apologize for not having more pictures up today.  I forgot to take my camera out of my bag! 

Does anyone out there use enVision math?  What do you think of this series?  Have you found anything that really works, or doesn't?  I am a creature of habit, and it has been hard for me to figure out which components are the most beneficial. 

I am going to try to take pictures of the next leg of the tour of my classroom and have them up tomorrow. 

Happy Monday!

Come on in!

Welcome to my first grade classroom!  Come on in.  Look around.  Let me take you on a tour.  Each day I will take you to a different spot in my room.  This is a view of my classroom from our door.

Today, I would like to invite you into my Calendar Area.

The first thing that we do is talk about what day it is, the new piece of the pattern puzzle,etc.

Next, we talk about what day of first grade it is.  Then, if it is a 2, 5, or 10, we count until we get to that number.

The next part of our calendar routine is to use money combinations to make the day of first grade.

Finally, we look at the place value chart that we use to build the day of first grade.

This year, I have added a new component to my calendar time.  I purchased Mrs. Carroll's Calendar Companion from TPT.  I LOVE it!!  I have a magic theme in my room, so it seemed natural to call it their Math Magician Book.  I got the binders for $.60 each at Walmart!

I hope that you enjoyed the first leg of the tour!  More to come! 

The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day!

Okay...I don't want to be a Debbie Downer, but today was so crazy I just had to write about it.  It started by my oldest (who is in Kindergarten this year) being weepy when I took him to bus duty this morning.  He has not cried about school once...he LOVES it...so I am not sure what that was about.  So before my day had even officially begun, there were issues!

Later during our writing time, we were brainstorming ideas on how friends help each other, when one of my kiddos jumped up from the floor screaming that he had swallowed it and was crying hysterically.  Needless to say it took me a minute to find my voice!  As it turns out, he had brought something to school from home, had it in his mouth (why, I'm not so sure), and you guessed it....he swallowed it!  He is fine and, after he returned from the nurse, we all had a nice long chat about how we only put things in our mouths that have to do with food and eating!  Sigh.

At lunch, one child tried to walk out of the line without paying for a juice.  Another student had her cookie stolen and eaten by the girl who was sitting beside her.

To put it mildly...I was ready for the day to come to a close!  Here's to hoping tomorrow will be better.  It would have to be, right?!?!

Odds and Ends

Today during math time, most of my children were out of the room being tested for Reading Recovery.  Since I didn't want to start something new without the others, we played Compare.  Compare is essentially like the card game War.  The children get into pairs and each group has a deck of cards.  After they have divided up their deck, they each flip over the top card.  Whoever has the highest number wins!!  My firsties had SO much fun today! 

On a totally different subject, I would like to share how much I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the Bucket Filler ideas that I have seen on different blogs.  My kids adore being able to write notes to one another and make others feel good about themselves.  I ran out of bulletin board space, so I created my Bucket Filler area on the side of my filing cabinet.  It has worked out really well:

I got this idea from Mrs. Carroll at the First Grade Parade.

Happy Tuesday!

Blogging Newbie

This is a new adventure for me...the blogging world!  I have been stalking my favorite blogs for a few months now and have gotten TONS of awesome ideas for my classroom! 

Wednesday was our first day of school.  I have a GREAT group of firsties!  They were all so excited and eager to begin first grade...and I didn't have any criers (shew)! 

My main concern for the coming week is our math series.  My county adopted a new series this year:  enVisionMATH, published by Scott Foresman-Addison Wesley.  I think that it is going to be great, it is just overwhelming to learn a new series.  Does anyone else use enVision for math?  Suggestions and advice would be greatly appreciated!

I hope that everyone has a great Monday.  Classroom pictures to come soon!