We're Off to See the Wizard

When school starts back in August... we will be following the frameworks set by the state.  Our main read aloud novel will be the Wizard of Oz for the first 9 weeks.  I am getting pretty pumped and I've already started preparing!!!  Here's what I have started already...

I ordered my red glitter Toms... and I think the kidlets are going to FLIP!  That being said... did you know that in the novel... the shoes are actually SILVER!?!?!  They chose red for the movie because it showed up better on the big screen!  Yeah, I'm gonna need another set of Toms now! I need to be ready, right?

I bought the Oz  pack from Melonheadz (clip art crush!).  I projected it & traced onto posterboard!  I have 6 done now... all colored & ready!   SO stinkin' cute!!!  I also printed some on transfer paper & going to make shirts with  different characters!

When the OZ movie was being released a few months ago, I picked up a stuffed Toto at Books a Million.  I am also planning on ordering a witches hat from Amazon/Ebay.

I made my Oz pack especially for my firsties... and I can't wait to use all the components when school starts back.... it is full of yummy goodness!

I also made a graphtivity where the kids vote on their favorite character... graph the class results, answer questions about the data, and can make themselves into the characters from the novel!  This is going to make an adorable bulletin board... just sayin'.

My last step is to sit down, read chapter by chapter... come up with comprehension questions to make a book companion.  I am on chapter 7... at least it's a start!  This product will be geared towards the older kidlets... but I am really glad I am taking the time to read it now... it's neat to see the ways that the novel is different from the movie so far!

Have you ever done Wizard of Oz with you class?  What types of activities or fun things did you try?  I would LOVE to hear your ideas... or if you'd leave a blog post if you've written about it!  Hope y'all had a great weekend!

It's Currently Almost July... Shut Up!!!

It can't be July already, right?  I have to go back to work in less than 4 weeks... not even sure how that's possible!  Farley decided to post her Currently up a few days early since she was headed out for some vacay action.  So... I'm linking up early as well...

Listening to my kidlets watch TV and laugh is one of my favorite sounds.  They finally get the jokes... and it's just neat to watch.  They seem so at ease without the stress of school and being so scheduled all the time.

Loving... being able to sleep in.  I use that term very loosely.... my boys still get up pretty early (7ish).  BUT that is still WAY better than waking up around 5 and trying to race the clock to get to work by 715 for sure!  Even though I am still struggling with falling asleep and staying asleep... it's nice to know that my days allow for downtime if needed!

Thinking of making another IKEA trip.  My list of things that I want for my classroom far outnumber the amount of dollars in my fun money account!  I went earlier this month when we did our family field trip, but I think that I need to go again... a girls trip... just sayin'

Wanting a clone of me to do the cleaning.  I am not quite sure how the house gets so messy.  I am the only girl so I'm guessing that's part of it... but HOLY MOLY...  I have been trying to get it organized and uncluttered.  I rented a carpet cleaner and EWWWW!  I was shocked to see the dirty water... anyone else had that happen... please say yes!

Needing for my washing machine to be fixed.  I noticed a few days ago that it wasn't spinning and the clothes were still soaking wet @ the end of the cycle.  I tried washing a smaller load, tried running it empty...  finally called Lowe's and since it's still under warranty... they had a service guy come yesterday.  The belt is broken and he's hoping to get back out here around Tuesday or Wednesday {I'm not a happy camper}    I've done laundry at a friend's house and made new friends at the laundromat!  I also tried to go all MacGyver and investigate the issue one night after my sleepy time medicine...  I lost.  Here's what I look like now... and this is just one side!  PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT: let the trained professionals go all MacGyver on your appliances.

Tips/Tricks/Hints:  I say be authentic, be you, and be patient!  I think that blogs should be AUTHENTIC reflections of you.  My life can sometimes be messy and I know that is true for everyone.  I don't always post about the lessons that are awesome, my awesome family, my awesome..... {blah, blah, blah}.  I think people sometimes want to read about the lessons that flopped, the time you went all crazy mom on your kidlets, or when you almost murdered your spouse for leaving the towels on the floor AGAIN (ahem).  You have to be YOU... you can't write your blog to sound like someone else's... or make your products to be like someone else's. You are creative and talented... and if you're PATIENT... people will see just how awesome you are!

I hope that you are all having a great weekend!  I'll talk to y'all soon!

Freckle Juice... Don't Mind If I Do

Judy Blume's Freckle Juice is one of our read alouds for 1st grade here  in Georgia... and I am super stoked.  I loved this book when I was little... and it's just as awesome as an adult.  I just finished up my Freckle Juice unit and it was super fun to make.  It has comprehension questions (and an answer key), a graphing activity (Do you have freckles?), a story map, a recipe template for the kidlets to make up their own secret juice, and a craftivity where they make Andrew and decorate him with blue freckles!  Eeeek!

My firsties are going to flip over this book and this pack.  I can't wait to use their recipes and craftivities to make a kick butt bulletin board.  Especially since I just started using my Silhouette Portrait to cut out letters, etc.  I picked up some glitter cardstock type paper @ Hobby Lobby last week.  I need a header for my white board that says "Learning Targets"... so I am trying to decide if I want it to be with glitter letters or with vinyl.  I am going to try out both and see what looks best.

I have been on summer break for a month now... and will be back at work in less than a month.  My brain is busy, busy, busy making lists of all that I want to get done before July 25th.  A teacher's brain never stops, huh?  I hope that you've had a great week so far... and that your weekend will be amazing.  Talk to y'all soon!

A Day In the Life

I am linking up SUPER late for the Day in the Life linky over at Second Grade Nest.  I took the pictures in May and never got around to writing the blog post {sigh}... BUT it's summer time... and I'm gonna link up now! :)

 Here is a typical day in pictures mostly...

615am...  almost time to wake up the kidlets

640am... headed out for school

get into the car... it's like herding cats to get everyone buckled and settled

almost to Starbucks... rocking out to XM :)

foggy morning... country road

Can I get an amen?!?!  Coffee!!!  

Pulling up to the school @ 7ish

My hallway

My desk... time to get organized/focused!  

Schools out... happy hour @ Sonic

end of the day...happy face! 

We're home... finally!  

...and my 2nd job begins

Disclaimer: This was a bit different than normal... the hubs and I decided to do date night.  So I fixed the kidlets some Hamburger Helper (don't judge)... and he and I went out for dinner and a Wal-Mart trip {class supplies}.

Supplies to make dirt cake @ school the next day

My fab babysitter stayed and made pudding for our dirt cake! 

I decided to make saltine bark for the grownups since the kids were having treats!  

Retire on the couch to watch Hells Kitchen with the hubs....

We teachers live a fab life, huh?  Haha... definitely not glamorous, but it is my life!  I hope that y'all are having a great Tuesday.  The kiddos and I are headed to the pool in a bit... hoping to beat the rain.  Talk to y'all soon! 

Five For Friday {What Day Is It Anyways?}

I love summer...  I didn't even realize today was Friday until I saw another person's Five For Friday post!  Is it Friday?  What the heck is today's date?  I dunno...  who cares... IT'S SUMMER!  Ok... let me reel that back in... check the iPhone... yep... totally Friday (the 21st for anyone needing to know!)... and I'm linking up with Doodlebugs! 

1)  Last weekend we had a spontaneous family trip for Father's Day...  packed up the kidlets and headed towards Atlanta.  We had no plans other than seeing Superman @ IMAX.  Although I secretly started planning a hotel stay near IKEA {let's keep that between us}.  We hit up Target, IKEA, went to see Superman, went swimming at the hotel... and the boys were DYING to order room service...  We let them jump on the beds... they were in little human HEAVEN! 

view from our balcony... the boys were awestruck!

Lunch @ an awesome pizza joint... brick oven anyone? 

That's right... this easel came home... along with many other classroom purchases! 

2)  I got a box from Books a Million this week... man, I love getting packages.  I have been wanting to read Teach Like a Pirate by Dave Burgess since I heard other bloggy friends saying what a great book it was.  I have started it and am really liking it so far... stay tuned for more reflection later (TBA..hehe)

3)  I went on a spontaneous ride along yesterday with a co-worker to drop one of her kidlets off at camp.  We left for Asheville, NC (about 5.5 hours from here) yesterday around 7am.  We shopped, had a yummy lunch at Farm Burger (highly recommend), got pedicures... stopped at the farmers market... then crazily decided to go ahead and drive on back home last night around 930pm.  I climbed into bed at 315am this morning.  I am draggin' people...  BUT... I did buy a new pair of Chacos on the journey... and that makes my heart sing! 

4)  I am trying to get organized..... with my electronic files.  The files are winning.  I am transferring all my "stuff" to an external hard drive... and I have decided I am a PDF hoarder {hangs head in shame}.  I also met with my team this week to chat about this school year... there's nothing quite like putting pen(cil) to paper and making a good ol' fashioned list! 

5)  I also ordered a Silhouette Portrait and it was delivered today.  It is still in the box... we are just staring at each other!  ... and I may have forgotten to order the vinyl..... 

I hope y'all have had a great week... and that your weekend will be amazing!  Remember that if you use Google Reader to catch up on all your bloggy favorites... it is going away.  You can keep up with me by checking out the Blog Lovin' link on my sidebar! 

Ice Cream... Who Doesn't Like Ice Cream?

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

 

Ok... I'll admit it... I'm not a huge fan of ice cream!  I'll wait while you let that register!  Hehe!  In high school and college I worked at an ice cream shop and I ate myself stupid on the frozen stuff almost daily. {It's actually where I met the hubs!}   Now I probably have ice cream 1-2 times a year.  My personal kidlets LOVE it (and the hubs, too!).  While school was still in we dedicated a whole week in our classroom to ice cream..... and my firsties were ecstatic.  If you are familiar with Reading A-Z... then you know they have a leveled reader (L) titled How to Make Ice Cream.  It has the list of ingredients and gives specific directions.

We spent all of Friday morning after our reading and spelling tests shaking our bags to make ice cream...  they got to jump around/dance/shake the bags for about 8 minutes. 

After the kids had their fill of shaking... {"My hands are so cold!  Can we eat it now?"}... then we were ready to check out our ice cream!

It was a lot of work... I"m not even gonna lie.  I had back-up though.  One of my co-workers had a student teacher so she came down to give me a hand with measuring, etc.  Here we are mid-process!

We both made several centers to use for the week. Hers were so stinkin' cute!  Check out these links (some are freebies!)  She is so hard working and creative...  be sure to leave her some comment love if you have a minute! 

 I also went shopping on TpT to buy some materials.  I found Amy Lemons Fraction Sundae pack and they turned out awesome!  The kids took their work very seriously... and made all kinds of connections {example... one kid realized that 7/7 was the same as 1 whole... happy teacher moment!}.  Check out our uber-cute bulletin board with the finished products!

When we were done making our sundaes... I had several extra scoops left over... so I had the kids make ice cream cones and write their fractional parts on index cards.  I just made some ice cream cones real quick out of brown construction paper. 

The kids had a blast with every thing we did throughout the week...  they made some great connections... and knowing they were trying to earn ice cream on Friday really made behavior issues non-existent!  EVERYONE wanted to make ice cream!  Have you ever made ice cream with your kidlets?  Hope y'all are having a great Tuesday...