We're Off to See the Wizard...

Hello again!

I wanted to share another unit I created earlier this year.  

I read The Wizard of Oz with my children each year.  I love reading it aloud to my first graders and they always seem to be glued to it.  Thanks to some amazing teachers, I've been able to purchase several of their units and it's always fun to pick and choose from each of them.  I don't like doing the same exact thing each year so it's nice to have a "stash" to pull from.  I love being able to do all of the different activities they develop, but I wanted to have more of a comprehension based unit for my students.  This way, we could read a chapter and then complete the complementing comprehension page(s).   Here's a little peek at what I created:

You can click here to see it in my TPT shop too.

I am so grateful to all of those teachers that have created Wizard of Oz units that I included a "Shout Outs!" page that shows each unit I've purchased as well as the link for you to purchase it too.  The unit includes a cover page and then additional pages that complement each chapter in the book.  There are also a few writing activities for the children to complete at the end of the unit too.

I read Frank L. Baum's original version of The Wizard of Oz to my students.  I chose this version, published by Penguin (Penguin has a whole line of classical literature called Puffin Chalk...the covers look like they were created on a blackboard with colored chalk.)  

I just love the look and feel of this version.

I love exposing my first graders to classical literature but I was also reminded the hard way that it's very important to read the entire book first.  I know...that was rule #1 in our undergrad courses but I was on a time crunch at this particular moment during the year.  We started reading the original Peter Pan during the winter but I had to make a quick switch to a different version after we started reading a few chapters...that Tinker Bell has a real attitude in the original version!  :)

So, I'm trying to change and update what I'm using as read alouds in my classroom this year.  I've read a few great books that I've fallen in love with but I think they have parts that might be a little too heavy for my first graders.  I'll post about those later...because they were amazing.

Have you read any new chapter books that would be a good fit for first graders?  I'd love to hear what you're reading!

Have a great weekend!

Well, hello!

I know…I've been missing in action again!  I'd love to promise you that I'll be more consistent…but I think I just get so wrapped up in school life that my little blog gets put on the back burner.  I've not even had time to blog stalk like I used to…ugh! 

I'll try to be a better blogger though…I'll really, really try!

I have been creating a few things for my little old TPT shop in the past few weeks.  If you follow me there, you've probably "felt" me blowing the dust off of it recently and opening up the doors again.

Our Student-Led Conferences will be in a few short weeks and I wanted a book study that my children could complete on their own and then share it with their families at conferences.  A few years ago I purchased a class set of Jan Brett's The Mitten from Scholastic.  They were like $1 a piece at the time…wish I could find that deal again!  We'll use this book for a whole class read aloud and then the children will each have their own copy to use to help them complete the book study.

Click here to see this unit in my TPT shop!

We're in need of a little extra help with contractions, so I created a simple matching activity for the children to use to practice on their own or with a friend or two.

Click here to see this unit in my TPT shop!

Our school mascot is a pirate and it's our annual Pride Week this week.  It's a week that we celebrate the pride we have in our school, district-wide. We've been reading Peter Pan but we're also going to be reading a few more fun pirate stories.  One of my favorites is Tough Boris by Mem Fox.  I like to use this book to introduce adjectives to my children so I whipped up a little activity for us to complete together.

Click here to see this unit in my TPT shop!

It's also "testing season" for us and I'm in need of some literacy activities that the children can complete independently while I'm doing one-on-one assessments.  There are 6 literacy centers in this packet that will serve as a review and/or extra practice for us!

Click here to see this unit in my TPT shop!

And since I've been MIA for several months, I'm going to hold a quick flash sale in my shop for today, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day!  Everything is 20% off for the rest of today!

Here's hoping your 2014 is off to a wonderful start and that hopefully,  I can get back into the swing of things again in blogland!

Take care!

I Found a New Book for Us!

Hello Friends!

So we haven't had sunshine for a full day in practically a week now!  I actually lost track of the time...it is seriously gloomy outside.  The sun will pop out for like a minute or two and then it's cloudy and raining again!  What gives!?!?!  I think my flowers are actually drowning!

Needless to say, I've been busy organizing things for next year at home and am starting to get the itch to get into my classroom.  It's still a little too early for that though, right?  My classroom is being used next week for Safety Town (a pre-k "safety school" taught by our local police and firemen) and since I don't need everyone seeing my mess, I'm going to avoid the temptation to get in there and start setting things up.

I went to the book store in our mall (which is not my favorite book store...the books are shelved so poorly and I always cringe when I see poor displays of amazing books for kids).  Anyway...surprisingly, I found a new book for us!

The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt

The story begins...

"One Day in class, Duncan went to take out his crayons and found a stack of letters with his name on them."

Each crayon has written a letter to Duncan explaining why they have "quit".  The red crayon feels overworked because he's used all of the time...even on holidays (Christmas and Valentine's Day). The purple crayon is on the verge of a nervous breakdown because Duncan will sometimes color outside the lines and purple feels that he is just too gorgeous to be put outside the lines.  Beige is sad because he's always a second thought to brown.  The white crayon feels empty because althoughDuncan uses him, without a black outline no one even knows he exists...and the black crayon is tired of being used just for outlines.  

 Each color has a complaint which is written with tone and humor.  The illustrations are great...each letter is written in a handwritten font and has "kid-like" drawings as the illustrations.  

Sorry this isn't bigger for you to see...it got blurrier and blurrier!

I think I'm going to use this book at the beginning of the year when teaching my kiddos that first graders use a lot of details and colors in their work.  I love the letter idea so I'm thinking about having letters posted around the room with other supplies...like maybe the pencils will write a letter like this...

Dear First Graders,

I am very fragile.  I love to be sharpened with your teacher's favorite pencil sharpener, not chewed by humans.  Please don't eat me this year.  I'm not good for human teeth or stomachs.

Sincerely,

Pencil

Or...

Dear First Graders,

I know you love to use me to create things, but please don't use me as lip gloss or a lollipop.  I do my best work with paper and can't wait to help you create some fun art projects this year.

Your friend,

Glue

I paid full price for the book but just found it on Amazon for $11.30...check it out!  I really think it's a winner!  I linked the picture above to Amazon to make it easy for you to add it to your cart!

I'm going to start brainstorming some letters for other supplies and areas of my room...oooh!  I could even do the drinking fountain...

Dear First Grader,

Please don't lick or kiss me, I'll bring the water to you...

(Ha! Ha!  School drinking fountains seriously gross me out!)

I'll be sure to post what I create!

Hope the sun is shining in your neck of the woods!  

If it is, send some of it to Northern Ohio!

Steven Kellogg Comes to Furry Elementary!

So...apparently I'm a once-a-month type of blogger during the school year!  :)

My school had the most incredible day this past Friday...Steven Kellogg came to visit us!  I saw him speak at Mazza in Findlay, Ohio in November of 2011 to a group of adults and was so amazed and inspired!  I could barely sleep the night before just dying to know how he would be with our children.  It's a good thing I couldn't sleep because I got a late night invitation to eat breakfast with Mr. Kellogg and a few teacher friends!  Ummmm...yeah...I was so stinkin' excited!  A good friend told my friend and I that we were like a couple of kids at a Disney Character meet and greet!  I sat right across from him and his english muffin, fruit, and poached egg with coffee!  It was such an amazing opportunity!  We got to hear about a book that's going to be released this fall that literally made me tear up.  He collaborated with Patricia MacLachlan to write Snowflakes Fall in honor of the families in Newtown, Connecticut.  You can read more about it by clicking here.

Our school was decked out from floor to ceiling with Steven Kellogg inspired artwork and decorations!  You can check them out on the photo page of my website at www.shivermefirsties.com

When it was our turn to go to his presentation, my class was so pumped!  Even my ones who "don't like to read" were glued to him!  It was awesome!

My niece and I with Steven Kellogg!

We gave our families the opportunity to order books prior to Steven's visit so that we could have them autographed for their child.  He signed probably close to 400 books or more when it was all said and done.  He then made this illustration and wanted us to copy it and send it home with all of the children.

It was so great to watch the children look at their autographs (he personalized every single one of them) and their illustrated poster at dismissal!  They were talking to each other about their books and the characters and they were making connections.  It's what I dream a primary school should look and sound like every day!

So...if you're looking to bring an author to your school, Steven Kellogg is definitely worth it! Definitely a memory to last a lifetime!

Hope everyone is doing well and seeing the light at the end of the tunnel!  We have 23 days left...full of testing, testing, testing...and getting ready for 2nd grade!

10 Days and Counting!

That's 2 full weeks with children who are bursting with the excitement of Christmas...BURSTING!
I know you know how it is!
We are in full Christmas survival mode! :)

A few weeks ago I posted this picture...

That's me with Mo Willems!

My good friend and I spent the weekend at The Mazza Museum at The University of Findlay in Findlay, Ohio about a month ago!  I love attending this event!  Each November they gather several authors and illustrators together for a weekend of book signing and presentations.  It's so cool to listen to the authors and illustrators talk about their craft and their lives!  Oh...that's Erin and Philip Stead in the background!  I think they're my new favorites!  Their stories are just sweet and kind and their illustrations are just amazing.  A Sick Day for Amos McGee was actually illustrated using wooden blocks that she carved!  So amazing!

 

We also got to meet David Ezra Stein...

John Muth...

and David McCauley...

Such a great weekend!

Speaking about weekends...I think I only have 2 more shopping weekends until Christmas and I really haven't even started shopping!  It will get done...it always does!

Hope everyone is getting their Christmas Cheer on!

One Proud Teacher!

I'm so proud of my first graders!

I need to give you a little background information...go ahead and get comfy...

So I'm really starting to like this whole departmentalizing thing!  I still get stressed out about all of the details sometimes, but I'm really enjoying being the reading teacher!  I have a long way to go with the kiddos yet...but I'm already seeing growth in their abilities!  So...all is well in the world!

During the first few weeks of school I was struggling a bit with my routine and even transitioning the children from their previous class to my class.  In my heart, I wanted to do a read aloud when they first came into my room, but I was worried that I would not have time to read and get everything else done.  I see each class for 80 minutes.  I thought that the read alouds would have to be limited to short picture books due to my time limits.  I struggled for a week or two and then decided that I wanted to expose my children to some quality literature.  I was going through my library of chapter books and came across Junie B. Jones, which I love to read aloud, but I wanted something a little deeper.  Amber Brown...great book...but wanted more content...Magic Tree House Series....okay...but I was really wanting something to talk about...to really connect with....something that might push their thinking a bit....and then I saw my worn out copy of Charlotte's Web.  Without much thought, I took it to school and shared it with my kids.  When they saw it, they said, "It looks old."  So we talked about my worn out copy and I told them that some of my favorite books look like this...because I liked reading it so much that I read it several times.  We compared it to their favorite toys and/or blankets.  I started reading chapter 1, and they were hooked!  You could literally hear a pin drop every time I read it to them.  God forbid I skip a day, or stop in the middle of a chapter.

Today we finished reading Charlotte's Web.  One of the kiddos asked, "Will we read part 2?"  Some felt like there must be a sequel...love it!  So next week we'll be using Jen's "On the Farm with Charlotte and Friends" unit to wrap up everything!  It's such a great unit!

Click Here to visit Jen's TPT Shop!

I thought it would be fun to have the kiddos design their own spider webs and include a word in the web that described them, just like Charlotte weaved "Some Pig", "Radiant", "Humble" and "Terrific" into her web.  Here are a few pictures of what the kiddos created...

AMAZING!

I also wanted to have a little fun on my classroom blog so I decided to offer a giveaway for my reading kiddos!  One lucky firstie will win their own personal copy of Charlotte's Web.  All the children need to do is leave a comment about the book.   Here's the link to take a peek at some of their comments!  I'm so proud of them!

Click here to peek at my classroom blog!

Their comments truly reflect what we read in class...and knowing that they probably didn't type their comment on their own, they also had to communicate to their parent what they wanted to type and their parent had to have faith in their child that what they wanted to say was true and acceptable.  Every comment is right on target!  I am just so proud of them!

They're dying to know what our next book is going to be...I told them they'd have to wait until Monday!

Happy Friday!

October Currently

Hi Friends!
Here's my "Currently" for October!

So I don't think my "Currently" needs a lot of explaining this month!  Here's a picture of one of my favorite fall books...

Such a fun read aloud!  Lots of screaming...due to a cute little spider who just wants to become the family pet!  He tries so hard to show the family all of the fun things he can do but it just doesn't work...until a surprise at the end!  I'm hoping to put together some of the activities I do with this book and share it on my blog this weekend!  That's the goal!  :)

Off to meet some new bloggers thanks to Farley's rule of 3!