Happy February!

Wow.  I cannot believe it is February!  Time is flyyyyyiiiiinnnnnggggg in Room 106!

February

When the kiddos got to school yesterday, I had February's calendar all set up, and they were really excited that I had all the number cards up already (reversed, so you can't see the actual numbers).  Typically, we add the numbers as the days come up, and there is always a pattern with the color of the numbers, but this inevitably leads to someone rummaging through a baggie of numbers to find the right one of the right color that follows our pattern.  So--it only took till February, but--I finally solved the problem :)

Also, Leap Day caused quite the discussion!  I got a lot of looks that said, "Ms. W, how can there just be an extra day every couple of years??"  I love moments like this :)

Collections

Sometimes I come home with a pencil behind my ear.  Other days I will find an eraser or math "tool" (pattern block, tile, the occasional Unifix cube) in my pocket.  About once every other week I realize that a kiddo has given me a lunch money reminder when we are leaving the cafeteria--that I always mean to put in their agendas--and I find it when I get home.  I really should put these in some sort of box to see how much I can collect in a year, but I haven't done this.

Well, today, I hit an all-time high in my collections count.  I wore my hair in a bun and somehow, by the end of the day, had a pencil and a pen sticking through it like chopsticks.  However, I didn't know this...and I made it through the grocery store and on a six-mile run when I got home with said writing utensils in my hair.  In addition to this, I also had five pennies and six multi-colored beads in my pocket.  I should really start taking a look in the mirror before I leave school!

Money sing-a-long

Earlier this week we began our math unit on money, so to get the ball rollin' I taught my class a little song about money--it is one that another teacher taught me while I was student teaching in first grade and is really more of a jingle.  At the end of the song it says, "a penny is one, a nickel is five, a dime is ten, and a quarter's twenty-five."  My kiddos picked up on it quickly, and I think it has really helped them grasp the concept of coin value--a tricky one to get, especially in a time when so much of our spending is with credit cards!

Well, today, as the class was picking up indoor recess things and I was setting things up for math, I heard one of my students start singing the money song.  More of a soft murmur, but the next thing I knew, another one was singing along.  Then, it was as if a magic spell had come over my classroom, because all recess games were picked up, every student was sitting on the rug, and there was a sweet harmony of, "a penny is one, a nickel is five..." swirling around my classroom.  I wish I could have bottled up that moment!

Report cards...check!

I thought that maybe after doing my first set of report cards back in November that maybe they got easier and less time-consuming the more you do them, but that was just wishful thinking :)  Regardless--quarter two report cards are done!  Woohoooo!

Little Bear

Time for another author study!  This time it's Else Holmelund Minarik and the Little Bear series.  There is now a television show about Little Bear, so the kiddos have already been exposed to the characters and the stories, but, as one of my students said yesterday, "(sigh) sometimes the stories in the book are just so much better to listen to when a grown-up reads them than they are on TV."  That's all I need to hear to justify my love for reading aloud to children and to give reason to why I do it so often in my classroom...

There are more Little Bear books in the line-up, but so far, we've enjoyed Little Bear and Little Bear's Friend.

This short week that started off with a teacher workday has flown by, and tomorrow's already Friday!  For everyone that's workin' for the weekend, I hope your end-of-the-work-week comes together nicely!

It's nice to be back into the blogging swing of things...fingers crossed that I can keep up this frequency of posts through June :)

Love from Room 106,
Allie

When I logged on to blog tonight, I have to admit that I was pretty proud of myself that after going for a couple of long spans without posts, I was getting in two in a week!  But I think that last week I must have clicked "save" instead of "publish"...oops!  So tonight it looks like a double-post sort of evening :)

Today we had a teacher workday, which was VERY productive!  Hopefully in the coming week or two, you will be able to see the fruits of today's labor :)  Those filing cabinets I mentioned last week?  Well, they're filling up quite nicely!  I cannot believe the amount of resources that I have been lucky enough to collect: starting in practicum experiences and student teaching in college and now in a classroom of my own, it's amazing how fast the collection grows!

Not too much to report on from the kid-front today (since they weren't in school!), but here are some of the notable things from the past couple days since I've written last!

Back to 21

Remember the excitement of getting a new student?  Well, my class and I were also able to feel the pang of losing a student last week.  One of my student's last day was on Friday, which was really tough.  When you spend almost 40 hours a week with a kiddo, you and the other kiddos get attached!  It was hard to say goodbye, but we made a lovely going-away book, and spent some quality time together as a class on this one's last day.  And, as you could probably predict, we read some great books :)  These were the two we read for saying farewell on Friday:

Quotables

Student 1: "I think I lost my library books, Ms. W."

Student 2: "Did you look in the laundry?"

Student 3: "Did you check the top shelf of your dresser?"

Student 4: "Did you look under your sister's bed?"

Student 1: "I forgot under her bed!  I'll look there tonight!"

Student: "Ms. W, that book gave me a sore throat."

Me: "Really?  How'd it do that?"

Student: "It had a lot of words.  It hurt my throat because there were a lot of big words!"

Student 1: "Ms. W, I can count to 100."

Me: "That's great!  Can you show me?"

Student 1: "One, two, skip a few, 99...100!"

Me: "Haha, that joke was around when I was in elementary school."

Student 1: "Well, then it came back!"

Student 2: "Wait...is that really true, Ms. W?  Was it really around that long ago?!?"

Student: "Ms. W, I'm so excited for my lunch today.  My mom packed me a very special one."

Me: "What did your mom pack you that's so special?"

Student: "My favorite--a peanut butter and banana sandwich!"

Me: "Yum!  I had peanut butter and a banana on an English muffin for breakfast this morning!"

Student: "Really?  You eat those kinds of sandwiches, too??"

(This was almost as good as the day my students found out that I lived in a real apartment instead of at school or in a hotel!)

I'll leave you with a quote that I found in an old notebook I found when I was cleaning my classroom earlier:

"The best teachers teach from the heart, not from the book."  --Unknown

It can be really easy sometimes to just follow the directions of teachers manuals and think that it "does the trick," but I am a true believer that students know exactly where you are teaching from.  When it comes from the heart, it's just better.  Like when your mom makes you a peanut butter and banana sandwich or you read a book good enough to make your throat hurt...it's just better.

This week is off to a great start...can't wait for the kiddos to be back in school tomorrow.  Room 106 is just, well, better, with 22 people instead of only one :)

Love from Room 106,

Allie

Bring on the snow!

(Oops--sorry for the delayed post on this one!)

This morning was our first delayed opening of the year...we got a nice little frozen mix on Sunday night that coated the roads in the county juuust enough for a 2-hour delay.  The nice part was that the county made the call for the delay right before I went to bed, so I got to sleep in a little bit instead of finding out in the morning!  Some highlights of the day:

Math Organization
I always think it is so neat the way kids' minds work.  Today, we continued studying collecting data and showing representations of it, and we surveyed our class for everyone's ages.  (Ms. W did not participate in this survey!)  I knew that the kiddos were going to be stacking cubes together to show their age with the height of a "tower" as we call them, but the only instruction I gave was to "put your tower on the ledge by the board when you're done making it."  After giving that direction, I immediately thought that I needed to be more specific, but decided to let it play out.  Sure enough, just "putting your tower on the ledge" was enough, because this is how my class decided to organize their towers--neat, huh?

We went back as a class and added the labels and numbers afterwards.  Just wanted to share some fun we're having in math!

(Also, at the beginning of our unit on data collection and representation, we read these two books.  They were about sorting and classifying--the 3 Little Firefighters was targeted for a younger audience, with easier patterns and attributes, and Dave's Down-to-Earth Rock Shop was a crowd favorite.  The rocks that were talked about in the book were real, and the class was so interested in them!)

Winter books
Books, books, and more books!  With the "changing" of the seasons (Mother Nature really needs to get a grip on things--there was a wintery mix this weekend, but last weekend it was in the 60s!), here are some treats that my class enjoyed :)  Some great winter reads...

Surprises
What makes for a great surprise?  New furniture!  Now I just need to figure out where to put these new additions :)

The chair is oh-my-heavens comfortable, so that will obviously be going right behind my desk.  And the filing cabinets are on wheels...genius!  I'll keep you posted on their new homes!


Speaking of additions...
We've got a new student in Room 106--I can't believe I haven't mentioned this before!  I will admit that I was nervous to be getting a new addition to our class because we've been the same 22--21 students and me--since September, but everyone (including the teacher :) ) has made a great adjustment.  When I found out that we'd be growing by one, I was nervous about what it would do to the vibe of our class, but a friend reminded me that it wasn't just my class and myself that were going through this change, it was our new student, too--it was just the reminder I needed to make the transition easier!  We're now one big(ger) happy family!  (If only the teacher can keep remembering to make one extra copy!)


Teeny Tidy is back!
Our Desk Fairy visited again this morning, but this time, instead of leaving the class a treat, she left individual treats for students who had clean cubbies.  Her note:

Dear __________,

Thanks for picking up your things,

It means so much to me!

It shows me you are working hard,

To keep your classroom clean.

Since it seems that you have taken the time,

To make sure your belongings are neat.

I thought it would only be the right thing to do,

To leave you some sort of treat.

So, since you left for the weekend

With all off your things put away,

You may move your color to blue,

At the start of this school day.

Keep up the great work all day long,

And maybe I'll be back to visit soon.

Until then, keep working hard--and help your classmates, too!--

To make such a clean classroom!

Happy cleaning!

Love,

Teeny Tidy

Another Tomie de Paola post...
Okay, y'all, I'm giving you a warning here...I'm about to go on another one of my Tomie dePaola kicks.  Not like it's never happened on the blog before, but I thought I'd start with a heads up before someone starts reading and thinks to themselves, "gosh, does this Ms. W ever stop talking about this author?!?"


Sure enough, our curriculum has an author study of Tomie de Paola :)  My class has already heard a number of books by this favorite of mine, so for our author study we did more of a character study in Room 106 and read all of de Paola's Strega Nona books.  After about a week and a half, we read our last Strega book today, so I thought I'd show the final list of what we read.  I'm sad that the series has come to an end, but excited that my class has embraced Strega Nona like I have and have enjoyed some fabulous literature.

Of course we started off with this one--and I am lucky enough to have received a signed copy from a friend for the holidays!  Very exciting for my kiddos to see an autographed book :)

Who could forget Strega Nona's faithful helper, Big Anthony?  Our school library just got a copy of this one, and I swear it is permanently on loan to my class--one student checks it out, and as soon as they check it back in, another student checks it out again!

Perhaps the coolest thing to me, though, was talking to a student's mother at parent/teacher conferences and finding out that this student only asked for one thing for her birthday last week: a Strega Nona book.  I left school after that meeting with such a full heart to think that reading inspires more reading; as someone who grew up as a bookworm--and still is one today!--it is touching to see that love getting spread around a little bit more!

Hope y'all enjoyed these updates...no more ice on the roads, so off to bed this teacher goes!

Love from Room 106,
Allie

If 1st graders ruled the world...

So, I have a confession: I've been a little distracted lately.  And by lately, I mean for the past month or so that I've gone post-less.  I figure that when my mom mentions my blog in our family holiday card and when my brother tweets "can we get another post?" that would be a good time to contribute to the blogging world again.  So...I'm back!  I've decided that I need to make a better effort of writing on MY blog instead of spending so much time on Pinterest and looking at teacher blog after teacher blog after teacher blog after teacher blog :)  (Okay, to be honest, I'm not actually going to stop doing those things, I'm just going to make sure I carve more time out to talk about Room 106!)

But I digress...on to the latest of our first grade adventures!

If 1st graders ruled the world: Martin Luther King Day
This may be my new favorite topic to teach in social studies.  I don't know what it was about talking about MLK or hearing my kiddos talk about what they knew about him and his contributions, but it was fun, enlightening, and uplifting.  When I asked my class what they knew about Martin Luther King, Jr., what his contributions were, and why he is important, these were some of the responses I got:
- "He said it was okay to be different."
- "He dreamed of great things."
- "Martin Luther King wished that we could all drink out of the same water fountain."
- "He would have loved our class...we're all different!"
- "He made this announcement once about things, that things should be change to be more fair.  There were signs that said things for different places, and you had to follow the signs depending on what you looked like, which was bad.  So when he grew up he said that he had a dream, and in his dream, we all get to be friends.  All we had to do was mix 'n fix!*  Mix the people together and it just fixes stuff!"

So precious.  So innocent.  Forget the age restrictions--I vote a 1st grader for our next president :)

*In reading groups, as part of our word study, we "mix 'n fix" words with magnet letters.  The kiddos spell a word that they are given, and when a teacher sees that it's spelled right, they get to "mix" the letters (scramble them) and then "fix" them (put them back in order).  I love that this student used word study terms to describe MLK's contributions!


...more MLK
We did an "I have a dream..." activity where the students made dream clouds for us to hang in our classroom.  (I will admit that I found this on one of my Pinterest/blog searches, but cannot remember where, or I would give that teacher the credit they deserve!)  Here's what we did:

I cut out cloud shapes from post office boxes...priority boxes are free, and I find many uses for them--or parts of them!--to be used in my classroom.  Because they are cardboard, the kiddos can trace them easily.  Then, each student thought of a dream they had.  On one side they wrote "I have a dream," and on the reverse, they wrote what it was...

"I have a dream that we will treat people with respect"

"I have a dream that we will help your family"

"I have a dream that we will be honest"

"I have a dream that we will learn at school"

This isn't the best shot of the finished products, but all the clouds are hanging in the back of the room above my desk.  With all those positive thoughts above my head, I feel like I've got the best seat in the classroom :)

Along with our clouds, we made mini-books about Martin Luther King's life.  The kiddos were shocked to learn that he was married (to Coretta Scott King), that he had four children, and that he won the Nobel Peace Prize.  Their discovery that MLK was a real person was almost as good as their reaction to finding out that teachers don't live at school!

(Side-note: when talking to a parent today, the parent mentioned how excited her daughter had been to come home and tell her all about Martin Luther King, Jr.  She told her mother, "did you know that he had a wife?!?  Yes, he was married!  It was to a woman named Cotton and they had four kids!"  I'm sure Coretta Scott King would be flattered!)


Synonyms
I was giving a reading assessment this morning and and the passage that my student was reading was about animals that are racing.  At the end of the assessment, one of the prompts that I was to ask this child was to show them the word "fast" in the text and ask if they could think of a word that meant the same thing as fast.  This student looked and me and said, "yes, Ms. W, I can think of a word that means the same thing...let's see...lickedy-split!"

All I could do was smile to myself because this is the term that I use when the class is moving slowly and we need to speed things up--the typical scene in Room 106 is that I clap my hands together and say something like, "boys and girls, we've got to get to P.E.!  We need to clean up all of our math tools and get our classroom in order...lickedy-split!"  And then the class turns into vacuum cleaners and BAM! the room is clean.  It's crazy (and flattering) to me that these kiddos are like sponges to everything that is said and done around them :)


Baha Men
Last week, I was asking one of my students about some of his spelling words for the week, and as we were reviewing them, I pointed to various words and asked him to use them in sentences.  I got to the word "who" and asked him if he could figure out how to make a sentence with the word and he looked at me, thought for a second and said, "who...who let the...who let the dogs...out?"  I lost it, y'all.  I got lost in my own little fit of giggles for about three seconds before I realized that the reason I was laughing--the song "Who Let the Dogs Out" by the Baha Men--was written seven years before my kiddos were born.  Yes, y'all, the hit that we all know and love (and can sing all of the words to) came out in 1998...


Just those couple of updates for tonight--many more pictures, books, and lesson updates from the past month to come soon!  Hope that you are able to enjoy the things that my kiddos say and do as much as I adore it :)

I can't believe Hump Day of the week has already passed--Happy Thursday tomorrow!

Love from Room 106,
Allie

Rain, rain, go away...

I feel like I've used this title for a blog before, but wow!--the rain today was relentless!  Luckily, my kiddos have the routine of indoor recess down, so not going outside isn't as bad as it was the first couple weeks of school.  Still, though, Mother Nature, if you could send a little less rain until winter break (I wouldn't mind some snow!), Room 106 would thank you!

On to the good stuff...

To add to the dictionary:
chree = tree
ont = aunt (when you say "aunt" with a short o sound instead of a short a, this actually makes a lot of sense)


Alexander books
This week, we began our social studies unit of economics; Monday and Tuesday we learned about needs and wants, and today we began studying saving and spending.  As an introduction, I read the class Judith Viorst's Alexander, Who Used to be Rich Last Sunday.  In this book, Alexander has a dollar, but instead of saving it--like his brothers do--he spends every penny of it on things he just wants, not things he needs.  The kids loved it, and it was a great review for needs/wants and introduction to the importance of saving money/implications of spending it.

 (You may know/ remember Alexander from his terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day...)

Overheard in 1st grade:
This afternoon, as my class was lined up to walk out to the bus, I heard a few of my students talking about how they have "long names" and "short names."  (Translation: full names and nicknames.)  One student said, "Well my name is [first name] [middle name] [last name].  It's really long.  What's your holy name??"  I couldn't help but smile--he meant to ask "What's your whole name..."


Take away
We're really getting into subtraction, and my kiddos are really getting the hang of it!  We've started on story problems, and this makes so much of a difference--the children being able to picture a story really helps them to "get it."  We've read a couple of books about subtraction...and more to come in the next couple of days!

Exploring numbers
We began doing an exercise called "Today's Number," where we pick a number and see how many ways that can make it.  For example, the number 2 could be:
- February is the 2nd month
- When I hold up my thumb and pointer fingers, that is 2 fingers
- 1+1=2
- 2 is written as two
- In tally marks, 2 is  | |

Here is some of the great work that my kiddos produced!

More Marc Brown
I love Arthur books, but when I was at the library this weekend, I found a great book written by Laura Joy Rennert and illustrated by Marc Brown, and as I giggled to myself thumbing through it, I figured my class would love it, too.  It's a little long, so we only started the book today, but so far, Buying, Training & Caring for Your Dinosaur has been a hit!

Fingers crossed for some sun tomorrow!  I hope you all are having great weeks--we're halfway through!

Love from Room 106,
Allie

Happy Monday!

Oh!  It feels so great to be back on the blog on a more regular basis :)  A couple of happenings from this Monday in Room 106:

Sharing
Our fresh produce this afternoon was oranges.  They were cut into slices, so thank goodness they were super-easy for my kiddos to eat!  We usually have an extra piece of produce or two in our basket, but this afternoon, we were actually three oranges short :(  When I noticed this, I asked the class if anyone would be interested in sharing with their classmates, and I could not contain my joy as every hand shot up in the air with an orange slice to share.  Looks like the season of giving has begun in my classroom--there was enough citrus to go around this afternoon!

Reading Growth
So, we have a fabulous book room at school, with book sets galore for all of us to use for our guided reading groups.  Well, I have to admit that I am really great at checking books out of the book room, but not always so great at returning them.  When I went to put books back the other day, I was beside myself with pride for the progress that my kiddos have made this past year--some of the books that I was putting away were ones that my students read about two months ago, and waiting this long to return books showed me the growth that they have made.  Let me tell y'all, teaching in the grade where children are supposed to build their reading foundations is a lot of pressure, but moments like these give me faith that in June (fingers crossed!) all my kiddos will be leaving me completely ready for second grade!


Just a short one for today...more as the week goes on!

Love from Room 106,
Allie

Back in the swing of blogging!

Oh, it feels so nice to be back in the blogging world!  And after that last marathon post, I have promised myself not to wait that long between posts again--there was just too much to write!  (I wish I had taken a picture of how many Post-It notes I had collected with tid-bits on each one...)

Anyway, here's a re-cap of our Friday in Room 106:

USA!
On Friday, my kiddos took a test about schools, communities, families, and transportation of the past, present, and future.  First of all, they rocked it--every single student!  That was pretty darn heartwarming.  For part of the test, the children had to draw pictures of what schools, communities, families, and transportation would look like in the future.  One thing I found interesting (and patriotic) was that about half of the class, in their drawings of future schools, drew buildings with flags in front of them.  Though we say the pledge of allegiance every morning, and they see our flag flying out in front of school before they enter in the mornings, it is not something that we've ever explicitly discussed.  I just thought that was pretty neat...


Information Recall
This past week, we really stressed that communities were places where people live, work and play.  My goodness, I think those kiddos could recite those three things in their sleep!  Which reminded me of when we studied habitats earlier this year, and that the four things animals need to live are food, water, air, and a place to live.  After our past, present, and future test, just to see what would happen, I asked if anyone remembered the four things animals need; since they were so great with the three things that happen in a community, I wondered if they still remembered information from October.  Well, lo and behold!  They remembered!  Looks like they've been reciting those in their sleep for the past couple months :)  It's sticking, y'all!


Arthur
Marc Brown--add him to the list of other authors that I adore.  Arthur books have been around for over 35 years (honestly...did you know that Arthur just turned 35?!?!) and I know my kiddos enjoy them today just as much as I did almost two decades ago as an elementary schooler myself.  I would challenge you to find a kid who doesn't like Arthur and find his life somewhat relate-able to theirs (except, of course, that Arthur happens to be an aardvark with animal friends).  Writing about situations that children often face, Marc Brown's 30+ Arthur books are classics!

As part of our Marc Brown author study, we read Arthur's Tooth, Arthur Writes a Story, and Arthur's Teacher Moves In.

I love the tooth book because some of my kiddos have not lost any teeth yet (and some have lost as many as six!) and this story shows that it's okay I'd you haven't lost a tooth yet and that we all lose teeth and grow at different paces.

The book we read about writing a story was great because it teaches exactly what we teach our kids about writing--that it is easier to write about personal experiences because they've happened to you first hand  In this story Arthur starts writing a story about his dog, Pal, but doesn't think it's creative enough so he starts writing an extravagant tale of two-stepping purple elephants on the moon, a story which no one really enjoys. He ends up getting praise for his original story--it's like Marc Brown was following our curriculum when he was writing this book :)

Reading about Arthur's teacher moving in was just a fun, kind of unrealistic story of Arthur's teacher, Mr. Ratburn, coming to stay with the aardvark family after his roof caves in from the snow.  He eventually moves out and goes on to live with other students, to Arthur's relief.  (My favorite part of this book is when D.W. discovers that teachers don't live at school!)  This one brought questions from the class like, "Ms. W, would you come stay with me if your roof came down?" and "Ms. W, if you came to stay at my house, we'd have so much fun!"  At least I know I have options if my roof ever caves! ;)

**Trivia fact about Marc Brown: did you know that his children's names are woven into the illustrations of many of his Arthur books?  They're names are Tolon, Tucker, and Eliza--next time you read an Arthur book, check it out!


Fresh produce
You may remember that our school is part of the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program; every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, the kiddos at school get to try a different fruit or vegetable.  Since the beginning of the school year, we've tried many recognizable fruits and vegetables, but also more unique ones.  All have been quite tasty!

This week, we had the chance to try pomegranates on Wednesday and grapples on Friday.  I learned that pomegranates are pretty difficult to manage (you have to pick the seeds away from the skin, and be careful that the juice doesn't quirt you, because it stains!) but that the kiddos loved them.  And I've learned that a grapple looks like an apple, but is crunchy and tastes more like a grape (really crunchy!).  I'm so thankful that my class is lucky enough to have these tasting experiences.


Cynthia Rylant
Along with reading some of her Henry and Mudge books, this week I read When I Was Young in the Mountains, a great book to talk with my class about the difference between past and present lifestyles.  It focuses mostly on the community and family aspect of what we were learning, and the kids enjoyed it.  It is also one of those perfect-length books--not too long, not too short, and juuuust right for an introduction to a lesson :)

Mo in DC!
So, by now I think we know that I have a list of favorite authors, and Mo Willems is definitely high on that list.  As if it was wonderful enough that my mom donated some Mo books and stuffed animals to my classroom when she visited, I found out from a teacher-friend this weekend that Knuffle Bunny is playing at the Kennedy Center in DC.  Dream.Come.True.  Most of the shows are over winter break, and it's a little late to plan a field trip, but I've decided that I will be going to see the show and have started recruiting others to join me.  If this sounds interesting to you and you're in the DC area, please let me know!


This weekend flew by, and with the speed that last week passed, I'm sure this week will be another blur!  I hope y'all had a wonderful weekend and are ready for your Mondays, too!

Love from Room 106,
Allie