One of My Favorite Projects

I love the fourth grading period of first grade. It's the time of year when everything comes together. It's also the time when I break the monotony of my usual weekly reading fluency and comprehension homework and start assigning projects!

The first project of the grading period is the Magic Tree House Book Bag Report. My STARS are obsessed with the Magic Tree House series, so this is one homework assignment that they are excited to do!

*Now, this is in no way my idea. If your kids love Magic Tree House, and you haven't visited the Teacher section of their website, you are MISSING OUT! There are some fabulous resources on their site for FREE!*

I start by sending home the explanation sheet I created, a blank "My Magic Tree House Book Bag Report" sheet (can be found here), and a paper lunch bag. Here is the explanation I send home:

I send home weekly homework in a homework folder on Mondays, and it's due back on Fridays. For most of the school year, I send home a leveled reader or reading passage with comprehension questions for the kids to complete. This Book Bag project takes the place of three weeks of the leveled reading homework. Since there are always kids who can finish a book in a few nights, I offer an extra credit project for those "early finishers." 

For the past three weeks, my STARS have been reading, drawing, and rehearsing, and today was the big day!! This was our first big opportunity to show off our Speaking and Listening skills, not to mention comprehension!! I absolutely love watching these presentations. I emphasized rehearsing, and they ALL listened and did SO WELL! I was one proud teacher today! 

Here are a few of the completed bags: 

For this project, they are supposed to draw four pictures of events from the story that will help them retell the plot. Then they add objects to the inside of the bag that relate to the story and will also aid in their retelling. I had a few STARS who wanted to tell us every. last. detail. of their book, bless their hearts, but most of them stuck to a few details from the beginning, middle, and end and did a wonderful job incorporating their pictures and objects. 

Here is an example of a completed "My Magic Tree House Book Bag Report" and the rubric I created using RubiStar:

Here is an example of an extension project for extra credit: 

He made a diorama of the tsunami from his book heading straight for the main characters, Jack and Annie. So awesome! 

One thing I will change for next year is to assign presentations on two different days. I forgot how long they take! Book Bag presentations took almost 2 1/2 hours today. Of course we didn't do them all at once, but even with them spread throughout the day, I still had several who were struggling to be good audience members. Overall, though, it was a great day! 

Next up on the project list is a Career Day speech! Look for that post next week! I'm even MORE excited for that one! 

I hope you all have a blessed Easter weekend! :) 

Liebster Award

Welcome to all of my new followers from the Blogger Meet Up Blog Hop! Congratulations to the winner, Angie Henry! I hope you enjoy all of your amazing prizes!! 

I'm writing today because Brittany from Nifty in First Grade nominated me for the 

This award is given to up-and-coming bloggers who have fewer than 200 followers as a way to welcome them to the blogosphere! So nice! 

As a nominee, my job is to answer Brittany's questions and share 11 random facts about myself before nominating five other new bloggers! 

Here are Brittany's questions and my answers:

1. What grade do you teach? What grades have you taught? How long have you been teaching? 

I currently teach first grade and LOVE IT! This is my seventh year of teaching, and the only other grade I have taught is Kindergarten. I am licensed to teach up to ninth grade in Language Arts and Reading, but I'll stick with first for as long as I can! 

2. Which book do you read to your class every year without fail? 

I always start the year off with First Day Jitters by by Julie Danneberg, and Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes is never far behind! My first graders have also been really into the Magic Tree House series! 

3. If you weren't a teacher, what would you be doing? 

It's a good thing I couldn't answer this question in 2007…otherwise I probably wouldn't still be teaching! My first year of teaching was an absolute disaster! But, I stuck with it, and I can't imagine doing anything else. Since I have two beautiful little girls now, I would definitely be a stay-at-home Mom if I weren't a teacher. I'd also love to be a children's book author!

4. What is one thing you're just dying to buy for your classroom? 

This one is easy…I want some Boogie Boards! They were given away at the Indiana Blogger Meet Up, and they look awesome! And now that I see that Amazon has them for $19.99, I may need to go ahead and just buy one to try out!

5. What's your non-teaching guilty pleasure? 

Um, I have a little bit of a TV obsession. My favorite shows are Friends (re-runs are on daily, and I may or may not be able to quote pretty much every episode), Grey's Anatomy, Glee, Chicago Fire, Parenthood, and Modern Family, and reality shoes like Keeping Up with the Kardashians, The Bachelor/Bachelorette, The Voice, and even Teen Mom on occasion. I'm sure I'm leaving some out. Whew, that's a little embarrassing! 

6. What is your favorite book that is not teaching related? 

My favorite book that I've read for pleasure recently (bed rest) was Heaven is for Real by Todd Burpo. Read it!

7. What is one thing on your bucket list? 

I want to meet Keith Urban or Justin Timberlake in person. I would die one happy woman. 

8. What is your favorite restaurant? 

I can't pick one! I love Biaggi's, Bonefish, Olive Garden, Jason's Deli, and some local favorites like El Patron, G.D. Ritzy's, and Lic's. I'm definitely not a cook, and I love going out to eat!

9. Who would play you in a movie about your life? 

Blake Lively or Reese Witherspoon. I loved Gossip Girl, and Sweet Home Alabama is one of my favorite movies!!

10. What's one thing you could eat every day? 

If someone could make them calorie-free and still taste amazing, I could without a doubt eat donuts every day. 

11. What inspired you to start blogging? 

I have thought about it for years, and I actually reserved this blog name two years ago, but it took me over a year to actually post anything! I have admired so many teacher bloggers for so long and wanted to be a part of their world. And I have to say, blogging and meeting other bloggers has been so inspiring and motivating! I'm so glad I joined the party! 

Next up: 11 random facts about me: 

• I married my high school sweetheart. 
• I think pets are weird. 
• I'm a freak about grammar and spelling. I edit everything.
• I can clap with one hand. 
• I broke my nose in fifth grade when my knees hit my nose on vault during gymnastics practice.
• I love Zumba. 
• My dad took me skydiving for my 18th birthday. 
• I studied abroad in the UK one summer in college. 
• I could kiss my babies 1,000 times a day, and it would never be enough. 
• I work well under pressure. Too well. If I don't have a deadline, it won't get done. 
• I'm going to Vegas this summer!!

Now that you know a little bit more about me, I would love for my nominees to answer the same questions and tell us 11 random facts about themselves!

Here are the rules:
1. Link back to my blog as the one who nominated you.
2. Nominate five blogs with fewer than 200 followers.
3. Answer the questions I posted.
4. Share 11 random facts about yourself.
5. Contact your nominees to let them know they have been nominated.

 

<a href="http://kindergartenglitters.blogspot.com/"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7si_AuCy8QOv5TF98lQmbAa2CtvHAEYXlzr5MPkMirHQoenpVr0ZkJmui875uVzZPn74fcIaqdHgjb0P724C_h6nStU4j3oSwwxuVIrHYAnFINp-t6Mkl2gaPMWeEn8KTLz35cu8DP3pn/s1600/button.png" alt="Kindergarten Glitters" width="150" height="150" border="0">

Thanks, Brittany! This was fun!

Blogger Meet Up Blog Hoppin' Giveaway!!

Thank you for joining me on this Blog Hop!!

As promised, here is YOUR chance to benefit from our amazing blogger meet up! 

One great part of the blogger meet up was a "teacher tool swap." Each attendee was asked to wrap up his or her favorite "teacher tool" to give to another teacher at the meet up. We played a fun little pass the gift game, and then took turns opening our surprises! 

The tool I received was this pack of Frixion Pens! They are awesome! 

This was me awkwardly modeling them at the meet up. :) 

Thought I better take a pic of what these babies can do to give you a better idea. If you follow me on Instagram, you've already seen this pic, but seriously I'm in love! 

I actually said, "Wow" out loud at my desk yesterday morning when I saw how well they erased! 

Every teacher at the meet up also received a door prize (or "humpback whale," if you will), and I was SO excited about my prize! 

I won a CLASS PACK of Crayola Dry Erase Crayons!! Who doesn't love Crayola?

They are perfect for those times when you don't want what you've written to accidentally rub off if someone's sleeve hits the board. I used them to write vocab words for a chapter one of my small groups was reading. 

No accidentally rubbing those words off! But they do wipe completely clean when you're ready. Perfect!

I learned so much in a few hours at this meet up, and I, along with all of my blogging buddies, want to share a few of these tips with you! 

First, I learned I needed to be more "social," so I joined the club that is Instagram, and it really is as fun as they say! Plus, most of the teacher bloggers you already know and love are on there.

 I didn't see the purpose before because Facebook already includes pictures, but the pictures on Instagram are way more fun! And the best part is your newsfeed doesn't get bombarded with political rants, mug shots, and game notifications! Awesome! 

Along those same lines, I learned about some fabulous photo editing sites/apps to use when posting photos to Instagram or a blog (or just for fun). 

I've been obsessed with using Phonto lately for Instagram photos like this one: 

(Yes, donuts are therapeutic.)

Other fab sites/apps I learned about include PicMonkey and A Beautiful Mess.
So much fun!

Bottom line: no more boring pics from this girl! 

My third and final piece of wisdom is great for any of you who are just starting out with blogging like me, or maybe you've been blogging forever but never knew how to add the link to your blog when commenting on others' posts.
Surprisingly, it's really easy!

I Teach. What's Your Superpower? has created several pages of tutorials for new bloggers, and this was one of them! 

You just insert your blog title in this HTML code (replace mine with yours): 

<a href="http://wearefirstgradestars.blogspot.com/">First Grade STARS</a>

Then copy, paste, and voila! A clickable link to your blog that you can add to your comments!

And now for the BEST PART!

THE GIVEAWAY!

One very lucky person who follows the hop all the way to the end and completes the Rafflecopter will win ALL of these prizes and MORE!

So keep on hoppin' by clicking the button below to hear from the next fabulous blogger!

Spring Blogger Meet Up

I told you on Friday that I would be going to the Spring Blogger Meet Up on Saturday, and it was AMAZING!

I have to admit, I was pretty starstruck being in the same room as Dana from Common to the Core and Mel D from Seusstastic, not to mention listening to them give blogging tips!! I have followed those two wonderful ladies for what seems like forever now, so it was awesome seeing them in person. They, along with Mr. Greg and Holly Ehle (our fabulous hostess) lead a great "blogging tips and tricks" session. 

That alone was worth the drive, but there was so much more! I couldn't stay for the whole weekend, but I was able to attend the luncheon, teacher tool swap, and blogging tips and tricks session. Check it out! 

Had to snap this pic (my light was red!) as I was pulling into the resort. 

Melanie from Schoolgirl Style donated all of the cute signs, name tags, and poms! So cute!

 Holly put this whole incredible event together, and she is the absolute sweetest person (not to mention an amazing event planner)! Here she is being Oprah and giving away all of the fabulous prizes from our generous sponsors. 

All I could think about at this point was the Dane Cook Humpback Whale sketch (warning: bad language!). 

It was AWESOME!!

See?? Every attendee received everything in my right hand, and my "humpback whale" was a Class Pack of Crayola Dry Erase Crayons!! Thank you, Crayola! 

Scentos donated these brand-new, not-even-in-the-stores-yet packs of their scented markers! AND multi-colored scented pens that won't be released until later this month! They are amazing. My three year old wasn't happy when I wouldn't let her have them. Sorry, Love. These babies are going to get me through a week of extended days next week! 

All of these wonderful companies made for some very happy teachers! 

Thank you, Vera Bradley, Jamberry Nails, Erin Condren (designing a Life Planner is on my list this week), Scentos, and Kaeden Books! 

But my favorite part of the day was reconnecting with a teacher friend from college, Brittany Banister, and meeting her crew of teacher friends, Tiffany, Jena, and Lindsey! Thanks so much for letting me be a part of your team for the day, ladies! You're all amazing! :) 

What a great way to kick off Spring Break! 

Look for another post coming soon with exciting information about how YOU can benefit from this amazing event! 

Five for Friday: My First Week Back!

I'm linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for this week's Five for Friday! What a week it has been!

I was an absolute nervous wreck on Monday morning. We're talking Janice-breathing-into-a-paper-bag-and-choking-on-the-receipt kind of anxiety. It was my first day back since August! But, my wonderful coworkers surprised me with a little pick-me-up. I have a *slight* addiction to Diet Mt. Dew, and that totes adorbs bag was filled with deliciousness. 

{Just so we're clear, I don't actually say, "totes adorbs," in real life, but I do type it on occasion.  According to this post, though, I don't actually have to stop saying it (or typing it) for another year.}

Anyway…

My first day back went VERY well, and it was St. Patrick's Day! I had my kids do a little "I'm lucky because…" writing. We started with brainstorming with an idea web, then used our ideas to write rough drafts, and ended up with these: 

We used paper from Stephanie Stewart's Leapin' Leprechauns pack, and made some shamrocks to accompany them. We need to work on sentence structure and a less-is-more attitude about exclamation points, but otherwise, they did a great job! I especially love the "I have a good life!" closing. :) 

A very nasty stomach bug is going around my school (and everywhere I think), so these have been my best friends this week. 

Thankfully my in-laws have been watching my little loves at my house this week, so every day I came home, immediately changed, and washed my hands up to my elbows before holding my girls. Then I wiped down my phone and anything else that could be harboring germs. I didn't want to take any chances! I'm really hoping these next nine days away will give the virus a chance to die once and for all. 

I found out this week that I have been selected as a presenter at my district's eRevolution Conference this summer! I'll be presenting about using Kidblog with kids of all ages. If you'll be in the southern Indiana area this summer, you should definitely plan to attend. Registration should begin soon! 

And finally, I'm officially on Spring Break, and I'm SO EXCITED about the Spring Blogger Meet-Up in French Lick tomorrow! Holly Ehle from Mrs. Ehle's Kindergarten Connections has absolutely outdone herself planning a fabulous event, and I can't wait to meet the 50+ other teachers and bloggers! 

That wraps up my week! Happy Spring, everyone! 

Anchor Charts: Low Tech, High Impact

I've been visiting my classroom once a week after school for the past couple of weeks to try to wrap my brain around the fact that I will be back there soon.

Every day.

As the teacher.

Keep in mind that I have only taught this class for eight days this entire year.

EIGHT. As in the first three days and the following week. I'm hoping I remember all of their names. Did I mention we also have a new (to us) principal this year?

So much learning has taken place in Room 1 that I was overwhelmed when I walked in. And I know how much learning has happened because my wonderful sub created anchor charts with my students throughout the year and plastered them all over my walls. If you are new to anchor charts, check out this blog post for some tips.

During my first year of teaching, I didn't understand the value of being able to refer back to our learning at any point in the year. Honestly, it's a miracle I survived that year. I still get emails from job search websites if that gives you any indication of my desperation. But as time went on, and my skills improved, I began using anchor charts without really knowing it. My second year of teaching was also my second year teaching kindergarten (bless you, kindergarten teachers, by the way), and I created letter charts with my class each week and hung them on the clothesline across my wall of windows. I don't know if the kids ever looked at them again, but they were there.

It really wasn't until my fifth year of teaching that I began using anchor charts with intention. That year I read The Daily Five and The CAFE Book, which transformed my literacy instruction completely. I'll never go back to traditional stations. Side note: Did you know there is a second edition??

 Sorry for the terrible picture quality. These were my Daily Five charts from last year. 

Now, in my seventh year, I create anchor charts for EVERYTHING and refer to them as often as possible. I have learned that many of my learners need the visual cues to trigger their memories. I'll post pictures of some math charts soon, but I took a few pictures of the reading/writing/grammar charts that my sub has created and posted in my room to share with you.

We've all pinned the world's cutest anchor charts created by such fabulous and artistic teachers like Cara Carroll, but mine will never be so cute. The point is, it doesn't matter how cute they are. What matters is that they are created WITH the kids (you can go back and "cute them up" later if you want to), and you refer back to them often to help trigger their memories from your original lessons. I organized my room this year so the kids know to look on one bulletin board for math charts, another for writing, etc. so they are not just scattered all over the room.

This is posted in my classroom reading area. 

Don't mind my archaic student computers in front of the writing board.
The "What Writer's Write" pencil is Cara Carroll's idea. 

OK, how genius is this?! It's hard to tell from the picture, but my sub taped transparency sheets over the Character, Setting, and Plot areas so she can write with dry erase markers for each story they're reading without having to create a new chart. LOVE IT! 

With so much emphasis on technology, it's easy to forget sometimes that we can still make a huge impact on learning "the old fashioned way." Yes, I could create charts on my interactive whiteboard (and there are definitely times when I do), but then they wouldn't be readily accessible for the student who struggles to remember that a caption gives information about a photograph while another forgot how to write an opinion. Anchor charts allow my students to access information when they need it while still remaining independent.

I could have every piece of cutting edge technology out there at my disposal (how awesome would that be?!), and I would still need my chart paper, easel, and scented markers. Keep calm and chart on, friends.

Want to make your own "Keep Calm" poster? Check out the Keep Calm-O-Matic, one of the many useful resources I've discovered through Twitter!