TpT Teacher Appreciation Sale!

my entire store will be on sale! 

super cute sale graphic by Beth from Zip-a-dee Designs. 

happy teacher appreciation week! 

Flash Giveaway! TWO Black History Units!!

quick! we are half-way through the short month of february...have you covered any black history?? it's not too late!! mrs. amy lemons was nice enough to share her unit in this give away! you could win...

amy lemons' amazing black history pack

mrs. tabb's "let's celebrate black history" 

and all you have to do is simply "like" us on facebook to enter!

you can also follow us on GFC, and tweet about it daily for extra entries! 

the winner be announced next sunday and the units will be emailed immediately. 

good luck! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Beyonce Concert TpT Sale! 28% Off!

if you're like me, you might be shopping during the game and pausing to watch the halftime show...

i'm joining the fun! everything in my store is on sale, yeah! 

Black History Highlights!

i know. i know. i'm never here anymore. it makes me sad too. i feel extra irrelevant as a teacher on maternity leave. it is wonderful being at home though- the little lilly bug is nearly 4 months now. i can't even deal. anyway...

i am so bummed that i'm not at school to teach this unit. it was so much fun last year. so much fun that i am going to share some snap shots of the babes doing it last year. 

i love teaching this unit because it's exciting and celebratory! i know black history can feel like "segregation, SLAVERY, BUS BOYCOTTS BLAHHH!!!"  letsbehonest. it's a bit harsh. it's no wonder why primary teachers stop with mlk day! no, not this unit. this unit it fuuuuuun. this unit does this: 

a) celebrates famous artists...poets, musicians, and dancers- all with corresponding books and activities! 

 {dancing with bill "bojangles" robinson}

{marian anderson, opera singer: comparing and contrasting music!}

b) celebrates famous inventors- did you know the inventor of the "super-soaker" was an african american? (me either!) this unit gives your kiddos a chance to be inventors! 

here is what you do...

1. explain what an "invention" is and how to make one. make a fancy teaching chart because y'know...that's what we "do". 

2. pull out all that crap stuff in your cabinets that have been there for 10 years and put it out. watch how excited your kiddos get. it is really funny.

3. have them sketch out their invention.

4. after they sketch and build...they get to apply for a patent! these may be approved or denied. 

5. if approved, then they are awarded with an "official"  patent! 

this day is my favorite day in the unit! 

c) celebrates famous african american scientists! 

i love this day because you also get to pull out all of the cool science materials that your district spent thousands on but you never get to use.  you read cool books and profiles on famous black scientists and you let them go-to-town. 

and d) on the last day you can create a mini-book that includes all of the awesome black americans that you've studied all week. you can even write a mini-biography on them if you're feelin' researchy. 

honestly, i know that in the busy schedules we all have -what with all the testing, report cards, and ongoing assessments, there just isn't time for a lot of "extras." if i'm really being honest, when i taught this unit it got  about 30 minutes a day for a week. it was all about being set up and ready to go when the kiddos came in so they could spend time learning. i stuck the unit read alouds in shared reading and interactive read aloud time in order to maximize the time spent in this unit. it doesn't have to be lengthy to be awesome, in my opinion anyway. 

thanks for reading this lengthy post- hope it helps you this february! 

click the image below to purchase!

oh. and one more thing. march is women's history month. i'm thinking of creating a similar unit only with you know...women. 

i'll give one free black history unit to the first three people who leave a comment (with an email address) telling me if you think you think you might be interested in a unit like that! 

xoxo

Resolutions: Posted With An Hour of 1/1 to Spare.

I spent far too much time making this cute...but that is usually how I roll. Happy 2013! 

Elaborations found here! 

Get Your Students to Discover Dr. King: Inquiry

So. I'm still on maternity leave and it is friggin' awesome.

 I mean...who wouldn't love to stare at this little darling all day?

stop it. if you could eat babies...nomnomnom. is that weird? yeah it's weird. sorry.

I've been spending most of my time over at my other piece of e-estate crafting and cooking but I would be remiss if I didn't do my best to share the things we did for our Black History unit last year. Sadly, I won't be able to teach it this year so I'll have to recycle some photos! 

So. Black History. 

There is something to be said about teaching kiddos about this sort of thing when they've never heard of it before. Part of me feels like I'm putting this heavy burden on them. I mean, I look at my little daughter who doesn't have a clue about anything and think about what it'll be like for her to realize how things were in our country. I wonder how she'll process it all.  I wonder if she'll really get it. Looking at a class full of cute little faces is the same. Hard. I don't believe in not teaching it at all though.  It's important to know that we should celebrate and not be afraid of differences. I just believe that you really have to teach this with care and thoughtfulness. 

I knew that I could easily read a book about Dr. King , make a rainbow craft and call it a day but I thought I'd see what would happen if I laid out some books and photos of Dr. King and let them inquire. 

I did this in Kindergarten last year and I was amazed at what they figured out without me saying one. word. After I let them explore, I charted their statements (shown below). Then, I finally read aloud Happy Birthday, Martin Luther King 

After reading, we verified what they had gathered from their inquiry. If it checked out, we put a check mark next to it. We also added things that we learned after reading. 

The most interesting conversations came from the page in the book that shows Black kids and White kids in a park and there is a sign that says "WHITES ONLY." I asked the kindergartners what they thought about that and it was really interesting to hear their thoughts. They initially said that they should change the sign to say "WHITES AND BLACKS ONLY" but see...I teach in a pretty diverse school. When this was suggested, one of my little Hispanic kiddos spoke up with a resounding, "what about me?" 

Heavy. 

They quickly realized that there didn't need to be a sign at all-- and that all people should be allowed to play. Lovely. 

Kids are so smart. 

The cool part? They learned that on their own. I didn't do a whole lot of teaching. 

We then did a poem about Letting Freedom Ring and made "Freedom Bells." It was nice because the materials needed to make the bells are things that nearly every classroom has tucked away in a cabinet. 

I'll be stopping by for the next few weeks to share some other items from this unit. I hope you'll join me! 

Below is a preview of the unit, which includes the Dr. King activity. 

 Click to purchase! 

Happy 2013. 

New Blog Design for a NEW YEAR!

just look at it. awww. modern, simple, clean.


<a border="0" href=http://anotherdayinfirstgrade.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1325.photobucket.com/albums/u621/mrstabb/blogbutton_zps2a43f51d.jpg"/></a>

 i like it. 

do you? grab a button. 

happy new year! 

oh, and baby in a santa hat. you're welcome. 

p.s. i have always designed my own blogs but i know nothing about web design. this was created in powerpoint. do you have to use photoshop to create blog templates? help. 

Meet My Daughter

Yeah...remember when I said I might be able to crank out a unit? Yeah...not happening because of this:

Yeah. This is Lillian Grace, Lilly for short. She's amazing. Thanks for your emails and comments asking about my babe. 

 Details and birth story can be found here. 

I'll get back to the teacher blogging after I get done ooooing and ahhhhing...which might be awhile. 

Just Stopping By...

...To share a picture that was drawn for me today.

yeah. I know.

{you can giggle, we certainly did}

My daughter is due *THIS* Sunday and I'm still full time in the classroom.

Little funnies like this certainly help the time pass!

I do have a new unit I'm thinking about...it's actually a MATH unit which is totally weird for me but I've been having a lot of "ah-ha" moments this school year. We'll see if I can crank it out before I crank the baby out :)

Happy almost Hump Day!

The Why Behind What I Teach: Prepping to Leave My Class For Maternity Leave!

Man. Thinking of leaving your classroom full of kiddos is not easy at ALL. Today is September 1. My daughter is scheduled to come in the world on the 30th. If she comes early, I could potentially be only a few weeks away from leaving! I need to get ready to hand my class off to our building sub like, now. I made the mistake of making a list of what I need to do in order to feel like I've left her in a good place before I leave and it stresses me out! The sad part is, I've been semi-preparing to do this since the first week of school but this whole September 1st thing snuck up on me!

disclaimer: {The person taking over my room is very bright and more than able to pick up the pieces and keep it moving without my doing ALL of this.  This is more for MY comfort than anything else. I want to leave feeling like I've done everything I can to set my kids up for success!}

*complete running records and leave notes for small group instruction to move the kids along (cueing system strategies)

*take their fast draft assessment writing pieces and finish labeling them along the TCWRP writing continuum and grouping them in order to figure out next steps for writing.

*start paper work for existing and new students that I feel will need to start the CORE team remediation process.

*schedule parent teacher conferences (which is always super fun) oh and they fall just a few days before I'm due.

*leave detailed notes and assessments for all students in case the sub has to do the conferences for me (oh my word).

*various school assignments that we are asked to do (drill down and put specific interventions in place for struggling kiddos that we identify, for example)

*and the most important one, sitting down and showing my sub how I plan and decide what to teach in my room. I've spent a lot of time really trying to know WHY I teach what I teach and I'm no where near where I want to be but she told me she wants to keep going with what I'm currently doing, so it seems important for me to share this with her.

I decided to type up a document to leave with my sub that spells out why I teach certain things and what resources I refer to constantly to make it happen. It's at the bottom of this document.

I'm hoping it is helpful to her...it makes me feel better, anyway. SO I'm wondering if I should add anything. Do any of you teach these things for specific reasons? Would you find this helpful? Let me know!

Click for the full document

*not responisble for spelling and grammar errors while entertaining "pregnancy brain." https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B_UOhX0NlYYUa09lUDJDUURYQUk

A Teacher's Baby Shower

I'll start by saying that this is not a teaching-related post and I'm sorry for that BUT the shower that was thrown for my little daughter was a teacher's dream!

I just have to do a photo dump and share :)

The theme: Children's Books!

I found inspiration here and there and then me and my planning team went to work.

(Yes. Yes I was a psycho who begged my friends to let me help with my own shower. I'm sure a lot of you control-freak types like me can understand!)

Starting with the invitation...can't handle the cuteness....

The venue... a DARLING book store in a darling part of town called "Broad Ripple"

The room and table decorations...

Chicka Boom, Madeline, and Corduroy...

and the book themed menu...I love the Corduroy Button adorned glasses!

De-Licious Cake Pops!

Then, we have the baby shower stations...

Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse suggested that my Lilly needed some accessories like the character Lilly....Headband making station!!

Side Note: Those flowers were hand made out of my old shirts!

Julius, Baby of The World...Onesies making station!

photobooth and piggy bank stations...

advice, wishes, and party favors...a bookmark and tea for cozy reading time!

So, it was pretty much the most epic shower ever. I loved it and my friends did such a great job! I did get to plan but I wasn't allowed to set up anything...so I still walked into quite a sight!

Well, I'm off to attempt to enjoy the last few days of summer before we go back to school!

Classroom labels for FREE! :)

Your comments were so encouraging and sweet concerning my room! I've been back in there a little bit to finish up some things and make copies for the first week (my inner teacher-goddess is performing a triple axel...sorry, too much 50 Shades for me!). 

So I had quite a few emails and comments asking if I would be selling the lables that I used on TpT...and honestly- I'm way too lazy for that so I'm posting it for free BUT that means I'm not going to be doing anything fancy or adding anything (again, too lazy). I'm simply uploading the document that I used in my room last week. There are a few blank labels that you could use to hand-write what you might want instead of what I have here. Feel free to grab the freebie and label away.

Hope you enjoy it! Yay for classroom cuteness on a budget!  


Click the pic below for the labels!

How I Decorated my Classroom For Under 25 Bucks!

Ok, first, I should admit that really I spent $50.00 BUT that's only because I couldn't pass up a rug from IKEA that was $30.00. But the rest only cost me around 25 bucks, I promise! 

Side Note: 

{I spent all week in my freaking hot classroom sweating and struggling to pick things up at 6 months pregnant but I pretty much got it all done! I am teaching summer school during the whole month of July and didn't think I'd be in any position to do a classroom at 8 months so yeah, we had to move now!}
I had some awesome helpers this week...my husband, sister, brother-in-law-to-be, and my BF, Ashley! They came in and hooked my class up in like 3 hours! 


{anyway}

I have come to realize that if I have access to butcher paper and a color printer, I can decorate my entire room and barely spend any money.  

I have been using the whole idea that you can pick-two-colors-and-stick-with-it-theme as opposed to a theme-theme (like two years ago, I did the whole monster theme from the Trends line and spent about $150.00 on borders, name tags, decorations, etc...never again) I've also done themes in the past like Hollywood, Monkeys, Ocean, etc... 

Now- it's just...colors! I chose blue and green because I already had lots of things in those colors and because well, they're pretty :) 

Here is what I bought: 
Scrapbook paper: $4.00
Fabric to make curtains and a table cloth- $12.00 
Tissue paper for pom poms- $6.00 


What I already had on hand and therefore free: 
Ribbon in my two colors (blue and green)
Book Baskets in my two colors 
Cute file folders in my two colors 
Flowers and vases in my colors 
Reading Pillows in my two colors 


What I needed to create and make or print: (all in my two colors- and cute!)
*I created all of these items on my computer and printed, laminated, and cut out! 
Word Wall Letters 
Book Basket Labels 
Cubby Labels 
Name Tags for desks 
Author Study Folders and labels 
Pennant garland (using scrapbook paper, ribbon, and a stapler) 
Pom Poms 
Curtains to hide items that aren't super cute in my guided reading area
Scrunch border for all my bulletin boards 

OK ...time for a picture review! 

Here are a few 'befores" 

Took me ALL WEEK to sort, level, and label! Whew! More on that below. 

{note the ugly color behind the whiteboard-I cover it with paper soon!}

GRRRRRRRRRRR! 

And then, three hours later after a very bossy me and very helpful friends...

TADAAAAA! As you can see, I've selected a few colors to carry me through the room. Behind the blue paper was an ugly color that I had to cover. Then, I did the scrunch paper border (free).

 More on that below. 

 Dr. Seuss Bookshelf! Oh and those are the word wall labels I made :) 

there's that IKEA rug that made me spend $50.00 instead of 25.00 hehehe

 Not quite done with this wall but there is the garland made with scrapbook paper and ribbon. Eyeball some triangles and staple away! Cheap but still cute! 

Ready to display student work! 

Ahh the scrunch border. It's going around pinterest like it's a new idea which makes me laugh because we've been doing this for years where I'm from! If you've never done it before, it's awesome because it is FREE! Here is how you do it: 

Put up your base color on the walls (I chose blue) and cut strips of butcher paper in your secondary color ( I chose brown).  See strips of paper on the triangular bookshelf!

Ball it up like a wad of paper headed to the trash!  (How cute is my little sister?)

Un-wad the paper and do what I like to call, scrunch and staple :) You may have to tuck in a few wayward strips of paper but it's very forgiving! Thanks for your help Ash! 

Staple, staple, staple. And laugh. :) 

Did you notice the pom balls?? My new obsession. 
Here is a Quick Pom Ball Tutorial (incase you haven't seen this done before- SO super easy!)  Notice the chevron and polka dots?  I diiieeeeee! Found at the local party store! 

All you need is 8 sheets of  tissue paper per pom pom. 

1) Fold accordion style. Back and forth all the way. 

2) I use a simple rubber band to hold the middle. I find that when I fluff it, it is much more flexible. Also, this would be the time to tie a string around the middle so it can be hung. 

3) Round out the edges by cutting a curve. 

Then pull one sheet apart at a time until you have a fluffy pom pom!

Also, I made lots of basket labels for baskets. I decided to do buckets organized by author, theme, series, and genre. I got this really cool bookshelf that had twelve slots. I decided that I would showcase my authors in this cool little thing! 

It was a great place to display my fav. authors all the way around! 

I love the fact that I can include my author study folders! 

I sorted my book pile mess after I took care of the authors.

lots of time spent on scholastic.com trying to figure out guided reading levels! 

some genre baskets...

and series baskets! 

The rest of my library can be found in browsing buckets (on students desks) 

aka the books that:

 a) I couldn't level because they were too random to find online or

 b) I wanted them to have exposure to them or

 c) I didn't know what else to do with! 

Also, below is my guided reading area where I'll pull small groups. That is the fabric I used to make the curtain (found at Walmart for $2.00 per yard!) and I use the term "curtain" lightly because I made it with a stapler. Sure did. I eyeballed the length, stapled the fabric, and shot it through a tension rod. Did the trick and looks decent from a distance! 

 Don't you dare even judge me! :)

Also, there is a closer look at the paper garland made with scrapbook paper and ribbon! 

So this is the longest post ever but I hope you enjoyed it! I was just so darn proud of myself for spending barely any money that I had to share. :)
Happy Summer!