Money Freebie

We are still FIVE days away from our Spring Break.  Five.  I'm not sure if I'm going to make it! 

I'm trying to wrap up money so I created a little assessment.  The students have to match the word to the coin and then write the value of each coin.  The coin clip art is courtesy of The 3AM Teacher.  Her graphics are awesome!

CLICK HERE if you are interested!

I'm going to go enjoy this beautiful evening!

Happy Thursday!

Money, Money, Money

We've been working on money for the last week or so in math.  The kids are doing quite well with identifying the coins and their values, but we're having some trouble counting mixed coins.

I decided to turn one of my literacy stations into a math station to give extra practice.

Let me take you on the ten cent tour....

I have included some of my money books.  If you haven't read it, Alexander Who Used to Be Rich Last Sunday is really cute.

I got the penny and hundred dollar bill puzzles from Target's dollar aisle a few years ago.  They are quite a challenge.  Especially the penny because the puzzle is round!

In this basket are some counting coins wipe-off books.

This tub contains a hodgepodge of money "stuff."  There are flashcards, puzzles, piggy banks with amounts written on them and the kids have to make the same amount, etc.


I have a question for you.  Do you think, what with our society being one of debit/credit cards, that our students are sometimes lacking in money knowledge?  I know that I am guilty of just using my debit card - I rarely carry actual money.  I am anxious to hear your thoughts.

Happy Monday!

How Does Your Garden Grow?

I love all of the seasons, but I especially enjoy spring.  Working in my garden, flowers in bloom, warm temperatures - I love it all.

Teaching about plants is one of my favorite units.  When I did my student teaching in a first grade classroom ten or so years ago, I made a big book that shows the parts of a plant, what plants need to survive, etc.  It is showing it's age, but I still enjoy using it:

The yellow parts of a plant signs are on Velcro.  Each child will have the opportunity to match the vocabulary word with the picture.  I also have one with a tree where the students have to identify the roots, trunk, branches, and leaves.

This past summer, I found the neatest thing at the kids section in Bass Pro Shop.  I have found LOTS of neat science things there.  This is a great way to help students understand the plant parts:

This kit contains three plastic tubes, peat pellets, and a package each of carrots, onions, and radishes.  We planted the seeds and borrowed some space on one of my neighbor teacher's window ledge to put our "garden," since, as many of you know, I don't have a window in my classroom.

We can't wait to watch our garden grow!

We will be planting some other seeds, which I will blog about later in the week.

Happy Sunday!

You've Got Mail

My bloggy block has broken!  Shew...I was worried there for a little bit!

In Writer's Workshop this week we have been working on writing postcards.  On Monday, I read this book to my class: 

I modeled writing a postcard for them by writing to my sister.  On chart paper, I drew a "postcard" showing where to put the address and the place to write the short note.

I discovered this book and I read it to my class on Tuesday:

The family goes to the beach and every page has a postcard that they write to their grandmother telling her about their trip.

On Wednesday and Thursday, the children worked on creating their own postcard in their writer's notebooks.  When they finished, the student and I would have a writing conference and edit the note together.

Since we were learning about writing postcards, I thought it would be neat to do the final copy on a real one.  I bought a bunch of different postcards and each student was able to choose their favorite.  Total excitement.  I was surprised at how enthusiastic they were about their writing!  Here's a picture of one of my kiddos hard at work:

After they had finished their postcards and I had checked them, I told the students that they could keep the cards.  One of my firsties raised her hand and said with the most serious expression, "Forever?"

This was such a fun and cheap writing assignment.  I think it cost me $8 and change for twenty postcards and it was something that they talked about for the rest of the day. 

I am going to go enjoy this beautiful spring-like day!

Happy Saturday!

Linky Party: K-2

This is such a neat idea! 

CLICK HERE TO CHECK IT OUT!

I'm sorry it has been awhile since I last posted, but I have a little bloggy block.  I hope to work through it soon!

Happy Wednesday!

Dear Mrs. Nunley,

In Writer's Workshop, we have been working on writing forms.  This past week, we've been focusing on letter writing. 

On Monday, I introduced letter writing with this awesome book:

This book is really neat because it has fairy tale characters writing different kinds of letters to each other.  For example, the first letter is an apology note from Goldilocks to the Three Bears!  Each letter is in a page that is made to look like an envelope.  My kiddos thought it was the neatest book!

Throughout the week, we read books with letters and then practiced writing our own. 

One of the books that we read was:

We then pretended that we were our pets (or our favorite animal) and wrote to our owners.  Here is mine (I took a picture, but I left my camera at school):

                                                 March 8

Dear Mrs. Nunley,

I miss you when you are at school.
Can we play fetch this afternoon when
you get home?

Love,
Iron Man


(I know what you are thinking....Iron Man?!  We got Iron Man when my oldest was four and we let him name the puppy.  That crazy name has worked well when telling stories to my firsties.)

My students were so excited about work on writing time.  They had so much fun with the assignment!

Does anyone have any other great books that you use in your classroom that focus on the characters writing letters?

Happy Saturday!

Schoolhouse Rocks

Tonight was our first grade PTA program.  Oh, it was too cute! 

Our amazing music teacher taught them the songs and the motions.  Our grand finale was singing Fireflies by Owl City.  We turned out the lights in the gym, and then out came the surprise.  They sang and did the motions using...glow sticks.  It was breathtaking!  I wish that I had been able to take a picture to share how great it was.

I'm off to bed...it has been a long day!

Happy Almost Friday!