Rules Rap!

Hey guys! I got this fabulous back to school idea from my friend over at First Grade Fever! I did tweak the song to fit the rules in my classroom. What a fun and engaging way to learn the rules! I bet my firsties won't soon forget this catchy song and the rules to go with it!

I posted the video of my kiddos singing the Rules Rap on my classroom blog. Click HERE to view!

Silly Sally Patterned Writing and FREE DOWNLOAD!

Hello there! We've been spending a lot of time this week working on rhyming. One of my most FAVORITE activities we do is based on the book Silly Sally by Audrey Wood.  We choral read the story, find the rhyming pairs, then brainstorm other animals that the students could meet on their way to town.

Each student picks an animal, then creates a rhyme (we do this whole group). Students fill in the blanks on the writing sheet, draw a picture to match, and I take their picture. I have the students stand with their legs apart, hands in the air....then I develop them, cut them out, and the kiddos glue their upside down picture to their paper. I display these in the hallway for Parent Night!

Enjoy the pics and a free download to use with your class.

Silly Sally

The Future's So Bright....We Have to Wear Shades!

Here's a bulletin board in my classroom -- the students just LOVE it! Sunglasses were from Walmart. I took the pics on the first day of school. The sun cutouts have the students' names on them.

Meet the Teacher Link up!

Linking up with Blog Hoppin' for Meet the Teacher Monday! So.....here goes!!

Here I am! My name is Gena. I'm obsessed with coffee, smelly markers, photography, and live music. My favorite band has a song called "Pig". Any guesses?? :)

I graduated from Kansas State University in 2004 with a BA in Elementary Education. In 2008 I graduated from Emporia State University with my Master's in Curriculum and Instruction. I also obtained National Board Certification in 2008, EMC-Lit. National Boards was a grueling process but definitely the best professional development ever!

This is my 8th year of teaching -- all in first grade! I just love it!

This is my lovely family. My hubby and I have been married for 7 years. We have an 18 month old son, Carter. Carter is my greatest joy and makes me laugh all the time with the funny new things he's saying. He loves to torment our dog, Cooper. We have such a happy little family!

I'm making this short and sweet, as I have lots of school stuff to do, we started back last week! So happy to be a part of this great learning network. You guys are awesome!

-Gena

Back to School Buses!

This is one of my favorite back to school projects -- these buses always get lots of positive comments when they are displayed in the hallway!  I got this idea sometime ago from a Mailbox Magazine.

Here's what you'll need:

• 9 in yellow paper square
• 2x9 in. black rectangle for bumper
• two 2x3in black paper rectangles (tires)
• 3x5in white paper rectangle (window)
• two 1x2 in black for lights
• Orange, red, black, and white paper scraps
• crayons
• glue
• scissors

You'll need to round the bottom corners of the short side of each tire, glue them on. They glue the bumper on. Round off the top corners of the bus. Glue small black  rectangles to go at the top, add red and orange circles for lights, and 2 more red circles for tailights. Round off corners of the white rectangle, draw self portrait in window. Add a label with the students name for the license plate. Write a bus number on the bus, and add black stripe detail.

We also took a white crayon and added some detail to the tires.

Hope you all have a great start to your new school year!

Classroom Rules - Graphic Organizer

YAY for a great first couple of days of school! I have a great group this year!

While some are getting straight into the curriculum, I take time the first week to really talk about procedures and classroom rules. Putting forth the effort now will mean great rewards later on.

Today we talked about our 4 classroom rules and made anchor charts for each rule. I wrote the rule on the top of each chart, then we made a T-Chart for "What this means" and "What this does NOT mean". The kids did great with this and it really showed them some great examples and non-examples. I will keep them posted and refer to the when needed.

Welcome To Our Classroom! (Warning:Tons of Pics!)

Where did the time go??! Our first day with students is TOMORROW! I'm so excited to see my new group of firsties!

My room is all set and ready to go for the most part! Enjoy the tour! (click pictures to enlarge)

**NOTE: I have a portable classroom. So I basically have the space of 2 classrooms. LOVE the space, but hate hate HATE the paneling! I did what I could to cutesy it up!

 This is what you see when you walk in the door.

 These signs will change throughout the year, and greet students when they walk in the door. 

 Word Work center

 Focus boards

 My desk

 Birthday and job boards

 smart board and word wall

 daily schedule displayed on whiteboard, document reader, and teacher stool

 The crayon art I blogged about a few weeks ago. LOVE! Under that are the math tubs.

 This will be Work on Writing center. The empty bulletin board will have writing ideas on it eventually.

 This is what you see from the door in the second room of my classroom.

 Student art will hang on the colored rectangles in the back of the room.

 The poms I made.

 The tree inspired by Pinterest. 

 Student book boxes.

 Author study area....August author is David Shannon

 5 little monsters poem and hand puppets -- idea from Deanna Jump.

 Whole group area with classroom library. Shelf idea from Jessica Meacham. 

 Books, books, and more books!

 Student cubbies

cozy reading nook

 Daily 5 CAFE menu

 small group meeting area -- will finish the crate seats the weekend

 Students will make these to hang above their chair.

 This bulletin board will also include pictures of the students wearing sunglasses.

 FIRST DAY! TOMORROW!

Cute new cup made by a coworker

Guest Blogger for Kleinspiration!!

I had the pleasure of guest blogging for Kleinspiration today! Hop on over to Kleinspiration to read about my top SMART board resources! I also included a couple of fun free SMART board downloads for you all!

Calling All NBCTs and Candidates for National Boards!

I'm curious to see how many National Board Certified Teachers we have in the blogosphere! I love to help teachers on this journey and encourage teachers to go through this intense, but very worthwhile, professional development!


I obtained National Board Certification in 2008. Best decision I made in teaching hands down. My certification is in Early and Middle Childhood Literacy (EMC-Lit). It really made me think about my teaching, what I was doing in the classroom and how it was impacting my students. 


If anyone is currently going through the process and has questions, I'd love to hear from you! My email is on the sidebar. If you are an NBCT, leave a comment and let me know!

Willoughby Wallaby Woo

We play a lot of name games the first week of school, and this is one of my favorite name activities! It's fun for the class, brings lots of giggles, and practices phonemic awareness. Win win win!

Go HERE to hear a sound clip of the song Willoughby Wallaby Woo. We use this song and change the lyrics to the names in our class. So fun! I usually sing "Willoughby Wallaby Wate".....and the class sings, "An elephant sat on Kate" and so on.

Here is a printable that I use with my class. The students either draw their picture under the elephant....or I take their picture and they glue on their pic. They fill in the blanks to complete the page.  It can be put on the wall for a display, or made into a class book.

Click the pic to download! Hope you are having a blessed Sunday!

Cloud Inspector

I'm starting to think back to school plans and I love starting the school year with our weather unit. I saw this on Pinterest and decided to try to make it. It includes 10 types of clouds. Print it on cardstock, put a stick on it, cut out the middle square and venture outside for some cloud inspecting! Students look through the cut out square and can easily match up the cloud in the sky to the pictures to figure out what type of cloud they are looking at. Way cool, huh?

Click on the picture below to download...enjoy! If you like it, please follow me if you aren't already and leave a comment!

I arranged the cloud pictures so that the students will be able to identify the high, middle and low lying clouds. This is a great illustration that shows that:

Here's the original from Pinterest. I can't wait to inspect some clouds with my firsties!

 

End Your School Day with Laughter

One of the favorite things I do in my classroom is end our school day with a "Joke of the Day". It ends our day on a positive note, sends the kids out of my classroom with a smile on their face, and gives them something to share with their family when they get home.

I tell the students the joke and then we practice it so they can tell their family. I had so many parents tell me that their child would tell the family the joke right when they got home or at the dinner table. Spreading the laughter -- that's what I like to hear!


As a bonus, we can discuss idioms and plays on words. Jokes can be a great teachable moment! 


Here are a few of my favorite joke books:

Before you know it, kids will start coming to school wanting to share their own jokes! :)

Laughing children are the best, give it a try! 

Chrysanthemum First Day Name Activity

Hello fellow teachers! I just love reading how everyone is gearing up for the new school year. Your ideas are so inspiring, keep them coming!

This is a favorite activity that I do with my class on the first day. I'm sure many of you do as well. It's just a great way for the students to get to know each other.

We read the book Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes. Then we talk about our special names, graph the letters in our names, do various name games. I send this home on the first day. We then share a few over the course of the week. The kids just LOVE sharing about their special name!

Here's the sheet I send home. Feel free to download if you wish...just click the picture and give me some love if you use it!