End of the Year/Graduation

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I want to share some of the things I've done in the past at the end of the school year. Last year my daughter graduated high school, and we had a HUGE party for her. I wanted a really special way to display the dozens of cupcakes that we had and came up with the graduation cap you see below. The bottom of it is a wash tub that I spray painted blue, and the top is a piece of foam that I also spray painted. The tassle was made out of yarn. It was a huge hit!

 

 

At the end of the year I have each of my students make a handprint for me to hang in the classroom as border along the top of my wall.  I have handprints of students who will be graduating high school next year and I teach 1st grade.  Students love to come in once in a while and see their handprints.  Parents come in at open house from year to year to see their babies' handprints.  I started this the first year I began teaching at this school and I treasure it.

 

For more end of the year ideas please click on the graduation cap above.

Earth Day Fun!!

Oh my gosh!  Earth Day was FUN!!!!  I saw some ideas on Pinterest and did some tweaking.  My kids had a BLAST!!

Math Center Idea inspired by Pinterest

Click on the picture for more AWESOME ideas for math. 

I  saw someone use this idea on Pinterest for practicing writing sight words, and it made me think about math.  Why not use Playdoh and Legos for adding numbers??  I used a cookie sheet and stuck it in my math center.  I LOVE PINTEREST!!

Spring Cleaning

 

Last year I decided this look had to go.

 

 

So, I tried this look.  I had my daughter cut up poster board to fit.  While it looks cleaner, it also looks boring.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I added some construction paper, and I like it better.  The look is still clean and not too busy to distract my students, but this adds some much needed color.  I could label these if I wanted to, and I think they'd still look clean. 

We'll see what the kids say Monday morning.



Freebie

The first 3 people to leave a reply on my blog will get this new game for FREE!

 

Just leave your email address in the reply, and I'll send it your way!

Mother's Day

I know that I'm hitting my blog pretty hard the last couple of days, but oh my its busy in my classroom, and I really want to share with all of you.  Here's a cute project my students will be working on soon to prepare for Mother's Day.

 

The clay pot is from Dollar Tree.  I used torn pieces of construction paper and glued them to the outside for color.  Then I took lima beans and turned them into rocks.  Throw large lima beans, a splash of rubbing alcohol, red, green, and yellow food coloring into a bag and shake.  Out come "rocks."  The flower petals are fingerprints, and I'll probably have my kids put a picture of themselves in the middle. 

Poetry Month

I've got a new product in my TeachersPayTeachers store that I've got at an introductory price of only $1.00.  I will be updating this file with more and more poetry work by Robert Louis Stevenson, and the price will go up.  I wanted to let my blog followers know about it so that you could get it now for only $1.00 and get all updates for free.  My students love working with his poetry.  This product begins with his poem "The Rain."

Freebie!!

Grab this freebie for metamorphosis if you'd like. It's simple and to the point, but it helps me check for understanding with my students.

 

 

Metamorphosis

I love this time of year!!!  Testing is over and spring is here!  I love teaching about metamorphosis, insects, plants, and everything Spring! 

I just finished updating a PowerPoint presentation on metamorphosis and put it in my TpT store.  I hope you come check it out.  Click on the butterfly below to get a closer look.



I also included a game with this product. 

Here is a cute project on the stages of metamorphosis that my students are working on.  Who knew there were so many uses for pasta.  I used food coloring and rubbing alcohol to get the color.

If you click on the picture above you can see more 1st grade projects on my Pinterest Collaborative board "1st Grade Projects."
As always, I'd love to have you follow my blog!!  If you have trouble following, please click on "Already a member? Sign in."  This seems to fix the problem  :)



School Supply Thoughts

As we move closer to the end of the year we begin to dream of sleeping in, going to our favorite vacation spot, and getting to those chores we can't seem to get to during the school year.  However, before we leave for our summer break, most of us are asked to think about the beginning of the school year for just a moment or two.
It is tradition at my school that we give our school secretary a list of school supplies that we'd like to have on the "Back to School" list that will crop up about July in Wal-Mart. Before you develop a list I thought I'd share a few ideas that I've implemented now for a few years, and I've received great feedback from parents because of them.

     *Use classroom money given by your district or personal money to purchase a class set of things like scissors and crayon boxes to keep year after year.  I spent $20.00 years ago on a class set of scissors, and I still have the same set and they work great.  All my students have the same crayon box and it fits into their tub perfectly because I can choose the box.  The greatest part is nobody feels inferior because their box isn't as nice as their neighbor's box.

     *Collect $10.00-15.00 from each parent.  This will allow to purchase a couple of boxes of Kleenex rather than attempting to store 50 boxes.  I also purchase the pencils and eraers with this.  All the students have the same color of pencil and this keeps them from arguing about whose pencil is whose.

     *If you do collect money from your parents, keep all receipts and offer to show them to any parent at any time that they ask.  In all the years I've done this not one parent has asked to look at my receipts.

This may not work for everyone, but I've loved it.  I get what I need when I need it and don't have to store a large amount of supplies. 

Just wanted to share something that might come up for you before school is out, and can help you prepare for the upcoming year.

Celebration Time!

My students are finished with their testing!!  They worked so very hard and I'm truly appreciative to them for wanting to do well.
I had great parent support also.  My students reported they went to bed on time and ate a good breakfast.  I also had several parents send nice snacks for students to have.  They felt so very special during this time, and I know that extra special feeling helped them during the test.
I'm glad it's over!