Blog Bargain Bonanza!!

Lesson Plan SOS Teachers

Crazy for 1st Grade

Primary Perspective

Erica Bohrer

Growing Kinders

One Extra Degree

Fabulous in First

Made for First Grade

Babbling Abby

Cara Carroll

We know in this busy time with the school year ending, assessments piling up, and days that go by way too fast, it's easy to not take the extra time to tell the people you see everyday that they are appreciated.  Well, we wanted to take a moment to say that we appreciate you!  We have truly been inspired by all of the talented teachers out there.  Keep working hard, keep doing all of the great things you do, all while knowing that your hard work does not go unnoticed! 

Happy Teacher Appreciation Week

We would also like to give a big 'ole hip, hip, hooray to Paul at TpT.  We knew we wanted gather a bunch of our favorite bloggers and run a SUPER SALE for Teacher Appreciation Day, but TpT's maximum discount is 20% off and, honestly, that just wasn't enough of a sale to us!!  The great part...he agreed!  Having him match our discount was wonderful!!  Thanks, Paul!

Did You Participate In Take Your Child to Work Day?

My daughter did! Here's her Top 10 list from the day (in her words and spelling):
1. Getting to meat all of the kids.
2. Turning the eggs there class is haching.
3. Playing with the kids at recess.
4. Doing the lunch count.
5. Taking attendence on the compuper (anyone else thinking Rachel from Friends and her "compuper skills"??)
6. Getting a turn to sit with each table of kids.
7. Saying good morning and good by to the kids.
8. Painting the paper balloon in art.
9. Working the copy masheen.
10. Eating lunch with my mom.

I snapped this picture of her as she was writing her list.

I am also going to give this sheet to my students who went to work with a parent so they can journal about what they did. Click the link to download the file:  From the desk of...My Day at Work

In the spirit of the day, our classes talked briefly about what they wanted to be when they grew up. I had preprinted each child's photo and they used this to top off their illustration!

Click the link to download the file below:  What do I want to be when I grow up?

Gallon Guys 'N Gals

Gallons, quarts, pints, cups....oh my!
Today both of our classes learned about capacity and created our version of
Gallon Guys and Gals!


Our version includes a photograph taken of just the child's face!
After printing up the pictures in black and white, the student then used their face as the Gallon Guy or the Gallon Girl!

Look at me! I know all about capacity! :)

Here are the paper sizes:
*1 blue 12 x 18 piece of construction paper
*Body (gallon):  1 orange 6 x 8 piece for each child
*Upper arms (quart):  2 yellow 1 x 4 pieces for each child
*Lower arms (pints):  4 green 0.5 x 3 pieces for each child
*Fingers (cups):  16 small light blue pieces for each child--for this one I just cut thin strips on the paper cutter and took my scissors and cut them into thin pieces.

If your students are ready for a challenge (as my third graders were!), then have THEM measure the pieces!

This smartie is measuring the 4 pints that are 1/2 inches x 3 inches.

This student is working on the 8 pints!

What a good-looking group of gallon guys n' gals!

Here is the list of measurements: Look at Me! I Know All about Capacity!

If you do the activity, here's a header for your bulletin board!

Click on the title to print the file from google docs: Gallon Bulletin Board Header

We extended this lesson by learning about the customary and metric measurement systems.

The students created a graphic organizer and placed each unit of measure in the correct category: distance, height, amount, weight, and temperature. Check out the lesson here on TPT: Interactive Measurement Graphic Organizer

We completed this after reading the book Measuring Penny. Have you ever read the book? I love that story! Or any story by Loreen Leedy!

In this adorable story, Lisa has a very important homework assignment- measure something in several different ways. What did Penny select to measure?

Her dog, Penny!

 She has to use standard units like inches and nonstandard units like paper clips to find out height, width, length, weight, volume, temperature, and time. I keep on meaning to make a homework assignment based off of this book...one day...I also would LOOOVE to have a therapy dog come into our classroom one day and act as Penny....another day!

What an awesome, hands-on lesson that would be :)

A Mother's Day Activity Too Cute to Pass Up!

Ready to bring a HUGE smile to the special ladies in the lives of your little sweeties?
Here's just the thing!


First, collect empty water bottles from the students about a week before starting the project (store the bottles without the caps on for a few days so they have time to dry out).
This should be NOOOO problem since we all have been recycling for Earth Day...right???

Next, have them write a message to their mom (or other family member).

Then, they can cut it out and roll it into a tube small enough to fit inside the neck of the bottle. Be sure the message is facing the outside! The writing paper is sized to open when put inside the bottle.

Finally, send home the bottles and secretly have your students float it in the tub, put it in the
 shower, or even hide it in the dishwasher!! Anywhere they put it, this keepsake is sure to bring that warm and fuzzy feeling to its special recipient!

My own kiddos surprised their grandma by hiding a bottle in the fridge in the same spot as all of her "regular" water bottles!   

 One thing to keep in mind...

-You may want to have your students write their messages in pencil first and then trace it with marker because once the paper is put into the bottle...it's in there for good!!

Click here to download the 3-page file for free from Google Documents:
Message in a Bottle

Toy Trade: Don't Throw it Away! Give it Away!

Happy Earth Day! Looking for a way to extend your Earth Day lessons into next week?
Hold a Toy Trade!
Simply have your sweeties bring in one of the many fast-food toys they have sitting on the bottom of their toy box.

**Be sure to have a couple extras on hand in case some "forget" to bring one in**

Start the activity by teaching them the saying, "One person's trash is another person's treasure," and discuss times in their lives when they found this phrase to be true.
Did they find a super cool toy at a garage sale?
Did they give a toy they grew out of to a younger neighbor who is putting it to good use?

Extend this discussion by having them show the toy they brought in.

Then, it's time to trade! 

Usually we do this activity with our own students, however, this year we are going to buddy up our classes! The more, the merrier, right?!?!

Big decisions, big decisions! These girls are "double trading"!

Great trade girls! The little girl who got the squirrel in the Toy Trade was so excited about it that she wrote a story about it later that afternoon during writing workshop!

The teachers even got in on the action! We traded sugar for sugar. :)

Equal trade, you know!


This is also a great "life lesson." One student didn't want to trade with anyone for anything. Another student didn't like the toy that he ended up with and was "pouting." On the other hand, other students were jumping up and down like they won the lottery with their new toy. Some very thoughtful students traded for a toy they knew their younger brother/sister would like! This was a great way to teach all the students to have appreciation and gratitude for the toys that they have, even when they think they are "trash!"


When everyone is done with the trade, give your kiddos a few minutes to enjoy some time with their new toy! End the activity by having them complete a reflection!

If you want to host a Toy Trade with your class, click on the above image or the link below to get the lesson from our TPT store:
Toy Trade!


Have fun trading!

Hunting for Prepositions

We thought of one more idea for how to use those cheap plastic Easter eggs for a grammar lesson! Do you teach prepositions? This is such a quick, easy lesson that you can use with your students!

Give each student an egg. Have them hide the egg (so that it everyone can still SEE it). Let your students hunt for the eggs and write a complete sentence, using a preposition, to explain where the egg is.

This student has her clipboard and found an egg!

She is writing a preposition to describe where the egg is.

Seriously? One smart little bunny put their egg right next to The Tale of Peter Rabbit!!

I wouldn't even have thought of that!

The light blue egg is AGAINST the book!

Or, the egg is ON TOP OF the white book shelf.

This one is just too cute!

The hot pink egg is ON TOP OF Arthur's lap.

Here is what I used with my students:

Click on the file to print up the pages from google documents:

Hunting for Prepositions

              Remember how we egged our prinicipal and assistant principal this week?

(As you can see, our principal loves Donald Duck!)

They loved it!

Our students were so eggcited when they wrote a letter back today!

We got two emails today!

Here is how are assistant principal responded:

"Dear Students, How eggcited I was to receive such an eggcellent egg yesterday. After an egghausting day of meetings, I was really tired. I was so eggstatic, I wanted to give you an eggstra recess. Sorry, I can't do that! You students are eggcellent writers. I hope you have an eggstraordinary three day weekend!"

Did you "egg" your principal yet? :)

Egg Your Principal!

In a very nice and respectful way, of course!


Buy one of those HUGE eggs that are probably on sale right now. Tell your students that they will be filling the egg with egg-stra special letters that they will write to their principal. (We also egged our assistant principal!) Of course, we used this as a mini-writing lesson and reviewed some egg-cellent word choice that they might use in their letter, such as the ones listed below:

 
They created some words on their own, too!

Students then egg-celled at writing an awesome note:

"Hello, how are you today? I am eggcellent. I think you have an eggstraordinary office. Tell Mr. Z I said hello. You are an eggspert for creating Jeopardy for us. I hope that you have an eggciting Field Day."

"I think you are very egg-celent and nice. I like when you talk in public. You are so brave.

You are a very nice person."

I placed all the notes in the egg, sneaked into the office of our principal and assistant principal and officially "egged" them.

You could also have a couple of your students act as official "eggers" (not sure that is even a word?!) and deliver the egg and "You've been egged" note to their principal!

Click on the file below (not the image) to download the file for free:

 You've Been Egged!


Go egg your principal before Easter! :) 

Save the Eggs!

Eggstra, eggstra, read all about it!
Your class is on a mission to save the Easter Eggs in your town from being trampled on at its annual Easter Egg Hunt!


What will your students turn their eggs into?
A pig? A chick? Spiderman?


This activity has kept our students smiling for years! Start by picking up some plastic eggs. Give one to each child along with the letter explaining the family project and brainstorm egg disguises.  

Here are some egg-citing ideas to get the creative juices flowing:

Ms.Dean....your students did a great job with their egg disguises! I love the "spider!" :)

Look at the leprechuan!

After their "eggs" return to school, have your students complete the writing activity about their newest little classmates!

Look at this students egg-citing news page...he drew his "egg" about to get stomped on by a foot and picked up by a hand!

We created a class book and placed the book next to the egg disguises in the hallway.

We don't know who enjoyed the display more...the adults in the building or the other students! :)

If your class wants to save the eggs in your town, click on the file preview below to purchase it for $1.99.

"Hoppy" Monday! :)

Turn Off the TV Week!

Are you interested in having your students take the NO TV challenge??? It officially starts on Monday, the week of April 18-25! Since we have a shortened week at school and will be doing Earth Day activities with our students this week, we are pushing this back to the last week in April. However, we are posting this idea today if you are interested! :)


First of all, why should you bother doing this challenge with your students? Read the startling statistics:

INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT TV

• Number of 30-second commercials seen in a year by an average child: 20,000
• Number of minutes per week that parents spend in meaningful conversation with their children: 38.5
• Number of minutes per week that the average child watches television: 1,680
• Percentage of children ages 6-17 who have TV's in their bedrooms: 50
• Percentage of day care centers that use TV during a typical day: 70
• Hours per year the average American youth spends in school: 900 hours
• Hours per year the average American youth watches television: 1500
• Percentage of Americans that regularly watch television while eating dinner: 66

Source: turnoffyourtv.com
For more info, go to the official Turn Off the TV website: Turn Off the TV


Check out some of our ideas for how to incorporate the challenge into your classroom!

Have your students put this caution sign over all of the TV's in their house. And since you will be doing this challenge with your students (RIGHT?!) then you would do the same!  :)

Nicole added the caution tape for some extra motivation for her own children.

Part of the fun of this unit is that the students recieve a one minute (literally one minute!) phone call FROM THEIR TEACHER!! When we call (the kids have no idea when they'll get it), we ask the students one question, "What are you doing right now?" And of course, we are hoping they say, "Playing with my friend" or "My homework" or ANYTHING else besides "Watching TV!"

At the end of the week, we create this bulletin board which is transformed into a TV with a remote control.

Title of the bulletin board: Look what we were doing when our teacher called!

(Best part? You don't even need a cutesy border!! The silver border of the bulletin board becomes part of the TV!)

Students place what "channel" they were on when the teacher called them. For example, if they were playing with their dog, they were on Channel 7 which is Animal Planet. Were they eating a snack when the teacher called? Then they were on channel 3, the Food Network. Students place the icon of their channel on the bulletin board.

Now you have an instant pictograph where the students can analyze their results!

Another picture of the "remote control" part of the bulletin board!

Up for the challenge? Click on the preview below to purchase the file from our TpT store:

By the way, if you REALLY want a challenge....GO SCREEN FREE for the week!