Symmetry, Word Craftivity, PDAS & ME:)

Okay....so it has been a full, busy week and then some!!!  I'm not complaining...it makes summer come more quickly for me:)  We are on countdown ya know.....30 more days of 1st GRADE!!!

First of all, I turned a year older this week...insert sigh....oh well, we all do, right???  I had a great birthday and my 1st grade team surprised me with an AWESOME lunch in our conference room, my Firsties were super excited that it was my birthday, my honey sent me BEAUTIFUL flowers and I had a wonderful dinner with him to end the night!!!!!

I had my PDAS evaluation today....insert sigh....oh well, we all have to do it, right???? I did a Writer's Workshop lesson for my evaluation and I think it went SPECTACULAR:)  I used Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. The focus of the lesson was how author's do different things with their sentences in their stories.  (The main objective was to notice that there are different amounts of words in each sentence of the author's piece.) I chose 2 pages to chart the author's thinking. I showed them on the smartboard and we counted each sentence to get the correct number of words.  They were amazed at the sentence that had 16 words in it:)  Firsties are so easily amused, that's why I love them!!! I then modeled a Mrs. Wallace and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day on the smartboard using my own thinking.  LUCKILY for me.....I didn't have to make up anything!!!  I woke up late this morning, rushed to get ready, had NO time for coffee....insert GRRRR......walked out to the garage to leave and my BATTERY WAS DEAD!!!!!  Oh, yes, so I just wrote from the heart!!! I used lots of voice and expression in my story and the Firsties LOVED it:)

A YouTube Video showing a read aloud of

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

Now....onto my Word Craftivity....our theme is Butterflies and Insects this week, so we made symmetrical butterflies and then added our weekly words to them for extra practice.  They were able to decorate their butterflies after that and we hung them in the hallway for everyone to enjoy! 

Here is a picture of the Symmetrical Butterfly Template that we used. Click HERE for a FREEBIE!

Take a chennille stick and connect it.  Then staple it to the backside of the butterfly like the pictures above show.

Here are some of the finished products:)

I hope that you enjoy this little FREEBIE:)  Feel free to download and leave me a ROCKIN' note....I LOVE them!!

Have a GREAT Thursday evening!!!

A Great "Word Study" Site!!

Click on the link below for  a GREAT site to explore words with your students. It makes a great tool for whole group Word Study lessons on your smart board or independent research work on the computer. My "Firsties" love to practice their weekly words this way and after we have completed our lesson, we can print out the Fridge and paste the words in our Word Study Journals. AWESOME!!!

ABCya! ABC & 123 Magnets Fridge Magnets

What Level Are You On???

I found a GREAT Guided Reading idea from whattheteacherwants.blogspot.com through Pinterest, that I am excited to share with you!!!  I will be keeping up with my reading groups this way this year!  So simple, yet so helpful!!!!

Guided Reading Groups

Just a little Pinterest...ing:)

I found a "Pinterest...ing" idea from www.firstgradealacarte.blogspot.com I normally do a child/puppet template the first day of school along with a school bus glyph, but this particular glyph will go along with the child/puppet template better!  I can't wait to use it with my "Firsties" and explore all the ways that we can use our child puppet throughout the year.  At the end of the year, we do another child/puppet and compare and contrast the differences that we've made while in 1st grade! The kiddo's LOVE it! It's a great keepsake for mom's and dad's also:)

The Glyph Key

The Child/Puppet Template

Thanks Kathy!!! I love it;)