Five for Friday *Linky Party* January 31

What a fantastic week it was!  It's amazing how quickly the week goes by when you have two days of school cancelled because of the cold weather.  We have been trying to cram everything in that we missed plus some.  I still haven't had a full week of school since Christmas break.  How crazy is that?

I am linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching to share some of the things we have been doing this week.

1.  School was cancelled on Monday and Tuesday because of the blizzard conditions and cold weather.  I am hoping we have had our last -35 degree temps with windchill.  Monday was supposed to be a report card for teachers.  We got to work at home instead and do them.  I wish I could stay in my pjs EVERY report card day.   Tuesday was our 4th no school school day for  kids.  We've had 5 snow days in January now.  This is crazy.  We could get 12+ inches of snow and still have to go in.  We got almost 6 inches of snow on Thursday and school was not called off.

2.  When I got to school on Wednesday I got to use my Green Screen and ipad.  I had written a grant for them.  The Green Screen came a couple weeks ago...but the ipad took forever to get here.  My principal handed it to me Wednesday morning.

The Green Screen is really big.  I took pictures of my kids in front of it. I then had them draw pictures.  I merged the two together...which made it look like the picture was their background.  The kids LOVED them.  I wish I could share the pics with you...but the ipad is so foreign to me.  I still have to figure out how to get the files onto my computer.  I tried to email pics to myself but they didn't send.  

We did our plays for Reader's Theater in front of the screen.  I recorded them.  I am still trying to figure out how to get the pictures they drew behind the plays.

 I am having a love/hate relationship with my ipad.  I am not sure how to use it.  AT.ALL.  Please let me know what APPS I need to add for my first graders.  I want to use this for more than my Green Screen.

 My kids drew the setting of our play on big paper.  I took pictures of their pictures and will be merging the video together.

3.  We learned about the Chinese New Year.  One of my first graders was so excited when she got to school.  She said that she is Chinese and had the biggest grin on her face.  Another student asked if we were going to meditate all day because that's what they do in China.  UM?!?

4.  We started our discussion about the 100th day of school.  It will be on February 20th....provided we don't have any more cold days.  In order to get ready for it, we discussed what a 100 year old person might look like or what they might wear.  My kids gave me lots of fun responses.  I then showed them pictures of people who are 100.   We talked about their wrinkles, hair styles, clothing, etc.  I then told them that they were going to get to dress like someone who is 100 on the 100th day of school.  One of my sweet, little girls asked if we'd be making fun of the old people by dressing like them.  They have the biggest hearts.

 I went to Goodwill and bought some pjs for me and some of the other first grade teachers.  My 10 year old son smelled one of the gowns and said that it smelled nasty.  I smelled it too and was dry heaving.  I think it's been in a storage bin for over 50 years.  LOL!  I'm hoping a little bleach will get the smell out after several washes.

5.  Finally, I started to prep for our Valentine's Day projects.  We will be making Abe Lincoln hat mailboxes.  We will read the story, Abe Lincoln's Hat.  In it the author says that Abe kept his really important papers in his hat.  We will make our own hats and kids will put their important cards to one another in it.

 We are also going to be taking two candy canes and will be taping them together to make a heart shape.  Kids will make cards for someone they love for Valentine's Day.

It was a short week, but very productive!  I hope you are all safe and warm.  I have been thinking about all my southern friends who got stuck because of the storms or who saw snow for the first time.  What crazy weather we are having.  Have a great weekend!
Sara

New Year's Day, 80's Day, Chinese New Year and Winter Olympics

I cannot believe that January is here...and before you know it, it will be gone.  This year is flying by fast.  I haven't been the best at blogging and am trying to get better.  After our move next week, I'll have time again to do the things I want to do.  In order to keep my sanity over the next couple weeks, I am looking ahead and planning my weeks out.

January is packed with fun!  We are going to be doing lots of fun activities from my New Year's Day pack

There are tons of fun activities in the pack.  There is a mini book explaining what New Year's Eve and what New Year's Day is.

There are tons of printables and this fun crown that kids can make and wear.

You can find this pack by clicking here.

On January 16th we will be celebrating our 80th day of school.  We will be doing tons of fun 80's day activities.  The kids will be wearing 80's clothing that day as well.  

You can read about this day here.

You can also find the pack here.

We will also be learning about the Chinese New Year.  My kid's LOVE this day.  It falls on January 31st this year.   We'll be doing lots of fun activities from this unit that you can read about here.  I think I deleted pictures from my phone.  Once gone there....they must have been deleted from my blog.  :(  So...there are a bunch of blank spots on the bottom.   You can find this unit by clicking here.

There are lots of math and literacy activities in this pack.  

Kids will put numbers in order and they will do skip counting.

In February we will be doing lots of fun things.  Groundhog's Day, Presidents' Day, the 100th Day, Dental Health and the Winter Olympics are things will be learning about.  

I am excited for the Winter Olympics this year.  Figure skating is my favorite to watch.  

I just added this fun unit that you can find here.  You can read about it in this post.  We will be doing lots of races that encourage teamwork throughout the two weeks that the Olympics are occuring.

I have a sample of what kinds of activities are included in my unit above.  You can find it here or here.

I am overwhelmed with all that will be happening soon!  I hope you are having a great year and are staying warm.  I am happy that our winter break was extended by one day.  Our governor called off school in the entire state of Minnesota on Monday because it is going to be too cold. I am so glad we have someone that looks out for the safety of our kids.  

Sara

Chinese New Year

Being that Monday was the 100th Day of School, we had to wait until today to celebrate Chinese New Year.  I let my parents know that we were going to be celebrating today.  The kids walked into the room to find these decorations that I got from Party City.

I was surprised this morning when one of my kiddos brought in a bag of things from China.  He was adopted from there when he was a baby.  So...we started the morning with him sharing his story.  It was so sweet.  I wish I would have had a video tape going.  He brought these things to share with us.  The rest of the kids were so excited and had so many questions.

 A book about China...

 Money...the kids thought this was so cool!

 Tiny shoes that he said he wore when he was a baby!  So adorable!   The kids wanted him to put them on. 

 Chopsticks.

 A fan!

After looking at all the items we listened to a song on our Smart Board!  The kids LOVED this.  We listened to it a few times throughout the day.  They will probably be singing it in their sleep.

You can find the words and the song from Diary of a First Grade Teacher's Blog by clicking here...Chinese New Year song and words.

We did some literacy activities that you can find on my Chinese New Year pack here...Chinese-New-Year-Math-and-Literacy-Centers

 We sorted sentences.  We decided if they were telling sentences, asking sentences or excited sentences.

 We looked at words and sorted them according to common nouns and proper nouns.

 We read sentences and put the correct end mark on them.  I love using my doc camera and using my Smart Board so that everyone can see.

Cutting out nouns and gluing them into the correct boxes.  They had to decide if the words were common nouns or proper nouns.


We ended the day by making Chinese New Year Lanterns.  We will put them together tomorrow when the glitter dries.

When they finished these, they colored some coloring sheets with the Chinese New Year animals.  They colored a snake and all of the animals to go with the Zodiac signs.

You can find the coloring sheets by visiting Tori's Teacher Tips...here...chinese-new-year.  You can find tons of free worksheets for the Chinese New Year. 

It was a great day! 
Sara