Moving on up

Well I have taken a very long break from blogging and school....a whole month and now I am finally getting back into the swing of things. I am finally getting excited about prepping for sixth grade and developing my behavior programs, class schedule, and so on. This next year I am not only changing grade levels but I am also taking on the community service group on our campus. I am really want to do a good job with this because this will be the first year we have this group. I really wanting students to be passionate about their school and helping everything run smoothly. So now....What I need from all of you!

I am needing some ideas for jobs for students to do on our campus and I was wondering if any of you wonderful teachers had some ideas or programs like this at your school. Any and all advice/ideas are welcomed. So if you had/have a community service group on your school site what thing would you like them to do or what do they do?

I am excited to hear what you all have to say.

So much to say....So much has changed!

Well let's start by saying I have had some of the most stressful weeks of my life, hence why I haven't posted in some time. Let's start off with sharing an activity my class did to celebrate Spring Break and Easter. At home I had prepared cupcakes and didn't decorate them because this would be our spring break activity. I got the idea to make bunnies....when I told my kids what we would be doing they freaked out! We had been gone in the library and when we came back my wonderful mommy helpers had prepped everything, we had bunnies all over. To transform the cupcakes into bunnies we used white frosting, pink jelly bellies, mini chocolate chips, black licorice (which they all took off) and marshmallows that were cut in half and dipped in pink sprinkles. Take a look at how yummy our Spring Break treat turned out.

Now to fill all my blogging friends in on the other happenings of my life. After a wonderful Spring Break party with my kids I was off to Seattle to visit my husbands family. A couple weeks before our trip our district had informed 7 of us teachers that there will only be 2 positions available for us next year (this was my stress). So...back to Seattle, I was getting to the airport when I got a call saying that I would have an interview for the position the day after I got back from Spring Break (so all I could think about while on break was if I would have my job next year). Well this past week I had my interview and I have been called back.....My First Year in First Grade in almost over and I will be starting.....My First Year in Sixth Grade! What a change? I am so sad to be leaving the 1st grade but I can not wait to work with 6th grade!!! So...If any of you know any great 6th grade blogs please let me know! I will also be starting a new blog this summer focused on 6th grade.

Thanks to all my Kinder, 1st and 2nd grade followers! I have loved being in first and I will still be following all of you because I am always amazed by your creativity and passion for teaching. Also, if any of you have been in the upper grades before please..please...please...share your wisdom!

Keep following because I will be posting some butterfly projects and the closing project of our Inventors and Inventions Unit!

Inventors and Inventions

This past week I started my Inventors and Inventions unit...My kids are loving every part of it. I also haven't seen them write so nicely with details. I got this idea from Cara Carol of The First Grade Parade. I am using what she has for free on her site but I am also adding to it. Here is a little bit of what I have created. There will be more to come.

Thomas A. Edison

Dear Blogging World.....I have been living such a busy life

So, my life has been crazy....hence why I haven't blogged. I finally feel like I can return back to my normal teaching busy self. I have nothing to post as of now but I am just letting you know, I am still alive. We have been working on our money and weather unit and the students are loving it. Today, we wrote to our parents about our favorite cloud and what it looks like. They have been asking for days to do this but with a minimum day, week it is hard to fit it all in.

I will be posting photos of math and cloud letter writing tomorrow. I also finally have time to create again so I am going to be busy, busy, busy making things for my class.



So if you have every had a crazy couple of weeks and feel like you just can't keep up...feel free to share! Actually please share!

A Little St. Patty's Love

So the other day my teacher friend came up with such a cute idea for a little St. Patty's Day gift. Today my job was to make the little tags to go on the bags filled with Lucky Charms cereal. Here are the tags and when I finishing putting the little goodie bags I will post a picture. Click here for the tags.

Google Forms for Quick Checks

Earlier this week I completed grading a large test my students finished. I was shocked to see that many students had difficulty on the story about reality and fantasy. In response I retaught and discussed with my students this skill. So...I have created a google form which is like an online test to check there understanding....this means no paper waste. The next amazing thing is that is also sorts the data from the form into a spreadsheet so it is easy to identify which students struggled with certain questions. I have included the link to my form so that you may see what I am doing technology wise in my classroom and have a better understanding for google forms in googledocs.

Fantasy vs. Reality Form

Reading Past Tense Words

I have had some kiddos who are struggling to read the suffix -ed. They are able to get the base word but then they freeze because they aren't sure if it says "t", "d" or "ed". I am hoping that this worksheet will help them to practice flipping the sound. If you have any other ideas for this skill please share!

Past Tense Word Sort

Short and Long U and the different spellings

This past week we focused on Long u and all the different spellings. There are so many different spellings that my little kiddos were getting confused so...I created a center for this week.

Click on the image below to view the activity!

What a day...Creating and Winning a Stylish Blog Award

Not having school tomorrow has allowed me time to sit create and enjoy my computer and a little bit of Blogging. When I was checking my comments I had received such a sweet gesture from Mrs. Saylor's Log, the Stylish Blog Award:

Here are the rules for receiving this award:
1. Thank and link back to the person who awarded you this award
2. Share 7 things about yourself
3. Award 5 recently discovered great bloggers
4. Contact these bloggers and tell them about the award

So here I go....

1. Thank you so much my new blogging friend Kim Saylor of Saylor's Log

2. Now the 7 things about myself:

• I am a first year teacher.
• I am a first year wife and have married my best friend
• I love my job...seeing the light bulb come on in their little brains makes my day.
• Running is the best stress reliever. Can't wait for the Disneyland Half Marathon
• Goldfish are my favorite snack
• J.Crew is the best place for teaching clothes because J.Crew Loves Teachers and gives us a discount.
• Last, I love spending time with my friends and traveling to the coast with my Husband (that was really two in one). 

3. These are Five of my favorite Blogs:

• Lindsey at The Teacher Wife
• Leslie at Life in First Grade
• Sarah at First Grader at Last
• What the Teacher Wants
• Abby at Inspired Apple

Again Thanks for the award my new Blogging friend Kim Saylor!

If you give...Mrs. Wiele a....

So this week we are reading the story "If you Give a Pig a Pancake". Of course we will be eating some pancakes with maple syrup! I can't wait. As an extension activity my amazing mentor teacher mention that we should have them write about if they gave us something what would happen. So here is the template I made. This could be used with any of the If you Give stories...Pictures of our Statue of Liberty drawings and the pancake party will be up soon.

Click on the image to download!

Valentines Day Compound Word Activity

I have created a center activity for that very special day coming up....that's right...Valentines Day!! I find it funny that my husband and I don't celebrate this day but I will be doing all things Valentines in my classroom. I hope that you enjoy this center with your students!!!

Groundhogs day and a little bit of Shadow tag!!!

All day my kids kept reminding me that today was groundhogs day and that I promised we would get to go out and wake the groundhog...so we did by playing a little bit of shadow tag after completing our groundhog graphing activities. The best part about the graphing activities was my kids had no clue we were doing math. When I said, "well that was math for today!" They all replied..."You tricked us...how was that math?" Oh it was great they were all learning and really into collecting their data that they forgot they were doing math. I still haven't told you the best part of our groundhog activities...I love running so anytime we have PE time I play with them! Well, they all wanted to catch my shadow so I was running away and ran straight into a mud puddle...barefoot! They thought it was great! Oh what a wonderful day in First grade.

Today we also talked about if we preferred cold weather or warm...well we are Californians so I am sure you can make a good prediction on which my students preferred....

We are off the charts Warm Weather kind of people. You can't tell in this photo but each student wrote their name in the hat so that friends could read the graph and see you likes what....They were really into it. Along with graph I am having the students write a personal narrative about their favorite weather. When out writing process is complete I will share that with you. Stayed tuned for more groundhog activities!

Meet The Teacher

So...a little about me. I am a brand new teacher just out of school. When I tell my parents I am only 23 their mouths drop! I recently married my Best Friend this past July in the most amazing place....Santa Cruz (it is where we met).

Just to let you know how crazy my life has been this year..I am going to give you a little breakdown:

        June 2010: Graduated with a Masters in Digital Teaching and Learning from Azusa Pacific University...Go Cougars!

July 2010: Get married in Santa Cruz

Go to Costa Rice

While on my Honeymoon get a call about an interview

One Week of being back from our honeymoon I get the job and must move away from my husband for a month

August 2010: Start my first teaching job in my home town

September 2010: Husband finally moves to be with me

Our home is in the process of being remodled

November: Finally move into our home but we have no kitchen :(

February: My life is finally normal and my house is FINISHED!!!

Q: What would you be doing if you weren't teaching?A: I am not sure...since I could remember, I have always wanted to be a teacher. If not teaching then still working with students but probably in a camp setting. 

Q: What are your hobbies?

A: I really enjoy decorating and because I just moved into my new home, my current hobby is decorating my house!

Q:When you were little, what did you want to be when you grew up?

A: I have always wanted to be a teacher but for a little while I was obsessed with the weather so I thought I wanted to be a meteorologist.     

Q:What are your guilty pleasures?

A: I love goldfish...I have them hidden in my classroom! I also have to have a Sugar-Free Vanilla Latte almost everyday (it doesn't help that my husband manages a starbucks). I also love to shop...I think I look at J.Crew.com almost 4 times a week, even though I know it doesn't change that much.

Q: When your on Vacation, where do you like to go?

A: SANTA CRUZ....it holds a special place in my heart and I could never get enough Peet's Coffee with Erik's Deli!!!

Q: What is the best advice you ever recieved?

A: To always do my best and to never let anyone tell me that I won't be able to achieve my goals in life.

Q:What do you value most in others?

A: I appreciate when people are real (honest). I like to get to know people for who they are, not what someone else has told them they are or should be. I believe knowing who you are and sharing that with others despite difference is important and is what makes this world interesting!

Q: If you could have lunch with anyone in the world living or dead....who would it be?

A: I would want to have lunch with my grandma so that I could share with her all that has happened in my life. Also Jesus....He is a pretty awesome guy!
Now it's your turn...Let me know a little bit about you and leave a comment. To Link with other teachers visit The First Grade Parade
         

A little Sight Word Help

I am having some little kiddos, who seem to just not remember all of their sight words. So with the help of my amazing mentor teacher we have created a new tool to help them. Each day we will choose 10 words to focus on. Each day the students will write the word and then use it in a complete sentence. So here is the cover and the inside cover, which, is a list of their first 100 sight words! We will be stapling half sheets of newsprint for them to write on. Once they have completed this book they will begin the next! When I have that cover and word list ready...I will be posting! For now enjoy the first 100 Sight Words!

That is my Toad

Our story this week is, "That is my Toad!" My students are loving the sight word pocket chart activities and I am seeing great improvement in their reading. Here is this weeks activity....I have also included Long O words spelled "oa" and "ow"! All you do is laminate and cut out the pieces and hide a toad behind the log. Students must say the word correctly before they may look behind the logs for the toad. The student who finds the toad is the winner. I have provided you with 6 toads but I only use one to make the game a little tricky.  I hope you enjoy!

100 days of School

I think today was not only the 100th day of school but the craziest day of school....as one student share, "I wish school could be like this everyday!!" Well it was a lot of fun and my students brought some amazing 100 day collections. Here they are:

100 piece puzzle of one of my favorite movie....Toy Story 3!

This project was awesome! 100 penguins waddling around the Antarctic with a South Pole! This was great because this week was our penguin week. According to the student's parents she was very determined to create something we were actually learning about.

Tomorrow I will post their: When I am 100 year old self-portraits and if I had 100 dollar writing! I am also going to be spending the weekend creating some compound word activities, so stay tuned!

Complete Sentence Practice

At our school we have ELD deployment time. This is when we get a different group of kids and we focus strictly on their language development. For this week, I have made a word detective worksheet using this weeks sight words. If you use Houghton Mifflin these words are from Theme 6 Week 3! I hope that this is useful to you! Sight Word Detective

Penguins!!!

This week we are learning all about Penguins and I am using some of the wonderful worksheets from Deanna Jumps Penguin Unit! So far the kids are loving it! We will be making our Penguin book covers tomorrow so I will snap a couple of pictures to let you know how they turn out! I have also made a google earth video to help my students understand just how far and how cold it is in Antarctica.....Let's hope they enjoy the trip! My kids are making there book covers tomorrow using this template to create their Penguin. I made this using mostly hearts and ovals. Each piece is a different part of the penguin....enjoy. Penguin Art Template

 They turned out so cute and what the kids loved the most was that they were made of hearts!

Directional Writing about Snowmen

I have not seen my students have as much fun writing this year! I started the week talking about snow and snowmen and then I asked my student to tell me how should I make a snowman. They loved giving me directions. After following their directions, I had drawn a beautiful snowman. This is when it was now their turn to tell me how to write about it and for them to make one giant snowman together. As the week went on, I had them keep writing about how to build a snowman until they were able to do this all on their own. Here is a picture of our class snowman!

I love his giant carrot nose!

This week we will doing all things Penguin (this is our class mascot), the kids are very excited to learn all about our friend Waddles!

EEK! There's a Mouse in the House Activity

EEK! There's a Mouse in the House Pocket Chart Activity

First Day

Well....I have been home alone all weekend so this meant that I would have some time to create! For all you teacher who use HM I have created a pocket chart game with Theme 6 Week 1 and 2 sight words and some long e words. The activity is based on the story EEK! There's a Mouse in the House! Place the homes in the pocket chart and place 6 mice behind any give house. Have students come up and say the word on the house and if they say it correctly have them lift the house to look for the mouse. Repeat this until all mice are found. This will be posted as a google document tomorrow!