Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day!

M-O-T-H-E-R

"M" is for the million things she gave me,

"O" means only that she's growing old,

"T" is for the tears she shed to save me,

"H" is for her heart of purest gold;

"E" is for her eyes, with love-light shining,

"R" means right, and right she'll always be,

Put them all together, they spell "MOTHER,"

A word that means the world to me.

-Howard Johnson

Happy Mother's Day!

Kathy

P.S.

I'll be taking a break from my blog. I will be back on May 24.  Take care and stay healthy.

Teacher Appreciation Sale

TEACHERS PAY TEACHERS appreciates you
and so do I.
You are simply fabulous!

In honor of your dedication and hard work TPT is having a Teacher Appreciation Sale for 2 days.
Yes, it's true. Two days of shopping fun!
May 7 - 8th, Teachers Pay Teachers is offering 10% off of everything you buy!

Plus, I am having an additional sale of 20% off all of my TPT products. So that equals up to a 28% off sale! WOW! WOW! WOW!

That's something you don't want to pass up. And you don't have to leave your house. You can even shop in your pajamas!

Please remember to use the TPT promo code, TAD13, during check out to receive all your discounts.

THANK YOU SO MUCH.

YOU ARE APPRECIATED!

Kathy

Laugh Out Loud #9

Time for a little classroom humor.

Imagine first grade students working during center time. One of the centers is learning the months of the year.  There are month cards to put in order, a recording sheet, a month matching game, and some writing paper to practice writing the names of the months.

After center time is over, the teacher gathers up the writing papers at the months center to have a quick look at how the students did. Here is a copy of one of the papers.

Notice how nicely Chloe wrote the months, not in order, but she did her best. Then at the end of her writing she added, "can I eat now."

Ooookay! Kids do say (write) the darnedest things.

Anyway, please come back for a visit on Sunday, May 5, for a very special post. You'll love it!  It's wonderful news!
See you then!
Kathy

Learn to Listen

Are the end of the school year wiggles and jiggles multiplying?

Are your students having a difficult time being good listeners?

Is it time to review what a good listener looks like?

Start by reading this book by Howard Binkow, HOWARD B. WIGGLEBOTTOM LEARNS TO LISTEN. Please click on the picture to link to amazon for a summary of the book.

I love the way Amanda at the blog, FIRST GRADE GARDEN, extended the reading experience by creating the poster below after reading the book to her class. What a wonderful idea!

Please click on the poster below to link to her blog and read how she uses it in her classroom.

Thank you Amanda for sharing this!

Take Care,

Kathy

Science with Raw Eggs

I love science.  Especially when it wows!

Well, this science experiment is guaranteed to wow! Try it with your students and try it with your family. They'll love it.

I found this experiment on the blog, Ordinary Life Magic. She got it from SteveSpangleScience.com.

(You can visit the sites by clicking on the links.)

You will need a pie pan, a raw egg, a toilet paper tube, and a glass of water.

(She also did the experiment with 4 eggs!)

Build your tower and then push the pie pan or tray very fast sideways, out of the way. The pie pan or tray will go flying but the egg(s) will fall straight down into the glass(es) filled with water. Be careful not to hit or move the glasses. It looks amazing!

I've linked to Christephi's video demonstration of it on YouTube so that you can see it in action. Please click on the link to view.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=8r101PAI3Zs

Have fun!

I love the quote by Ms. Frizzle,

"Take chances! Make mistakes! Get messy!"

Kathy

Bathroom Passes & Sneeze Squirts

I have tried so many different ways to remind students to wash their hands or "get a squirt" of hand sanitizer after coming back from the bathroom. Bathroom passes get lost or even worse things happen to them in the bathroom.

I found this idea on Pinterest and really like it.  When a student leaves to go to the bathroom he/she takes the girl or boy hand sanitizer and places it on their desk and uses it when he/she comes back from the bathroom. That way, hopefully, they have washed their hands and now get an extra "squirt" of cleanliness. This idea comes from the blog, 3rd Grade Thoughts, but I can't find the original post.

If you don't have desks perhaps a student can leave some sort of name tag by the hand sanitizer and then return the name tag to a chart or container when they return from the bathroom.

In my classroom I use a "Sneeze 'n' Squirt" hand sanitizer.  When someone sneezes they go and get a squirt of hand sanitizer from the "Sneeze 'n' Squirt" bottle.  Anything to kill those germs! Please click on the picture below to print a copy.  Then glue it onto a bottle and cover the label with clear contact paper or clear packaging tape. This will keep the label from getting wet and soggy.

P.S.

If you get a moment please visit this brand new website http://www.playcreategrow.com.

It has some fabulous craft books and wonderful children's books! Coming soon is the Magical Mailbox where you will be able to create letters from magical characters. 

Have a Magical Day!

Kathy

Drop Your Frowns!

I love this!

During spring break last week, I spent a week vacationing in Sedona, Arizona.

I went to the Western Dinner & Show at Blazin' M Ranch in Cottonwood. It was very entertaining and lots of fun! One of my favorite parts was right when you walked in the gate was this sign, "Welcome - Drop your frowns in this here bucket and pick 'em up when you leave."

In other words, get ready to have fun! (Leave your problems outside!)

I think this would be great to post right outside our classroom doors.  So both, parents and students can read it!!!

Here I am enjoying the rugged high-desert rock faces and remarkable vistas!

Thank you Arizona for a wonderful time!

Kathy