Fall Loomy Sale!

Check out my Loomy Bracelet Sale!

In the spirit of fall, I felt like I was over due for a good old fashioned sale. The prices of my Loomy Bracelet worksheets are definitely falling this weekend! Buy each Loomy set for only $1 or buy all three for $3. These bracelets are so much fun! My students love making them. I love using them for centers. They are also great for indoor recess. Some people have been hesitant about trying these because they think they will take too much time. I would be lying if I said the students can make them in 5 seconds. However, they don't take that long to make. The first time we made one it took between 10-20 minutes to make. Now it takes about 5-15 minutes for them to make it, and I teach first graders! Some have become "experts" and they go around and help anyone who needs it. They really help each other out and are so excited when their bracelet is complete. Even if they don't finish making them in time, I just give them a baggie and they ask to finish them at recess or take them home. The more they make them, the faster they are. Try out the FREE Loomy Bracelets too. But don't forget, the sale is only for Saturday and Sunday! Have a wonderful fall weekend!

-OneCrazyS

Lost and Found - Repair Shop

Every year I try a few new things. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't. This year I tried two new things that I absolutely love. The first one is having a Lost and Found box in my room.

I saw it on Pinterest and I knew I had to try it. I have to say that it is wonderful addition to my classroom. My students find things on the floor or around the room and if they don't know whose it is, they just put it in the Lost and Found box. If someone is missing something, they just go look for it in the box. This has cut down on so many small disruptions where students are asking whose things are and then holding it up for someone to identify it. It's quick, easy, and doesn't take up much room. It's definitely a must-have in your classroom!

The second thing I tried this year is something I saw in my best friend Andrea's classroom. She had a repair shop box in her room.

I was intrigued and I asked her about it. She said that whenever a student breaks something or rips a page in a book etc., they put it in the repair shop box for her to fix it. This is also a great addition to the classroom. Whenever anything breaks or gets ripped. I just tell them to put it in the repair shop and I fix it later. It's great! I always love less classroom disruptions and these additions have definitely helped with that. Just some fun ideas for today. Happy day off to all of the Marylanders!

-OneCrazyS

Saving Sunflowers

So, "resourceful recycling" me saw some sunflowers the other day in the mailbox room. I have forever wanted sunflowers for my students to use when we learn about flowers and seeds so I was jumping on this opportunity. There were six of them which was perfect because that lets me have one for each group and then one for me to use as a model. The question was: How do I save these? I'm not teaching plants until the Spring but I have seen people use dry ones from year to year so I knew it could be done. All I've ever heard about drying flowers is to hang them upside down. Awesome! Wait. Where? How? I searched the room high and low and this is what I did:

I just opened a paper clip to make an S. Then I stuck one end through the stem (close to the head of the flower). After that, I hung the other end of the paper clips along some beads that I already had in my room. Perfecto! All of them hanging up nicely without taking up any extra space: 

Now I'm no expert so I have no idea if this is actually going to work. Only time will tell. In theory, I like to think this will work. In a few weeks, I will post the progress of these beauties and hopefully all will be well in the land of flower drying. If you have any tips or ideas for drying flowers please let me know! I can't wait to use these in the Spring (: 

-OneCrazyS

*10/21/14 - Sunflower Update*

Just FYI the sunflowers did dry this way. Over a few days, I came in to tons of pollen on the floor. This morning I came in and found about 60 tiny worms all over my easel. I almost had a heart attack! They were everywhere! So, while I learned that hanging them upside down like this does in fact dry them, next time I will be sure to do this outside. You never know when stealthy little worms are hiding in your sunflowers!

-OneCrazyS

Character and Setting Song

Watch the Video for FREE Here

Get the Puppet Cards, Lesson Plans, Worksheets, and Assessment HERE

Over the years I have noticed that almost all children in first grade love songs. Not only do they love them, but they remember them better than anything else! I have come up with tons of quick little chants to use in my class that my students sing to help them remember key ideas. I do this for phonics, reading skills, math, and even science. I try to make them short and sweet. Before this year, I never video taped myself doing them. While I am aware that I look somewhat dorky while I do it in class, it is a whole different thing to see your dorkyness on camera! I'm just trying to say whatever to that fact and hope that the chants help someone else's students which would make it all worth it. With all of that being said, I have made a video for my character and setting chant. I am aware of my specialness in this video and had to include my super specialness in the ending (: My students love this chant and we sing it whenever we talk about character and setting. They start to sing it on their own when they hear the words character or setting. Not only did I make this video, I thought it would be good to have some resources to go with it. I have several different character cards (boy, girl, cat, dog, bunny, pig) as well as setting cards (house, outside, underwater, castle, zoo, carnival) for the students to use while they chant along with the video. I have also written 4 days of lesson plans and made materials to go with those plans like posters, chant cards, journal cut-outs, worksheets, and an assessment (with answer keys). I'm hoping my little chants and activities can help your students learn and remember character and setting! I'd love to know if you found this useful (: Over and out.

Get the video pack with cards, lesson plans, activities, worksheets, and assessments
Video Pack HERE

-OneCrazyS

Calendar Placemats

Free food for all! No, I'm not kidding! In the county I work in, this is actually true. All of the students in our school are provided with free breakfast and free lunch (if they would like it), how about them apples? Since everyone gets free breakfast, a breakfast bag is delivered to each classroom with milk, juice, and breakfast of some kind. The students are offered a host of delicious items. They get cereal, an egg and sausage breakfast pizza, yogurt and granola, or even french toast for breakfast. So, you might be thinking, how does this work? Everyone comes to class in the morning, unpacks, and then is able to take one of each item back to their desk. As you can imagine, this tends to turn their desks into a big sticky mess! This year I tried to combat this by making calendar place mats. I hate throwing old calendars away because I love tropical calendars and the pictures are just too pretty to throw away. I have actually framed a bunch of these and hung them up in my classroom. However, this year I decided to turn them into place mats. The students just get their breakfast and a place mat in the morning. They throw everything away and shake their mat into the trash can. Their desks are SO much cleaner! You don't only have to use these for breakfast, you can use them to help students with personal space during group work, or even at home if you have a little one!

They were really easy to make. All I did was cut the pictures off of the calendar, laminate the pictures, and then cut them out. Poof! 12 brand new place mats. They look like this:

Now I have to say that if you are using an old calendar, make sure there isn't anything inappropriate written in the calendar anywhere. Not that there would be but you might want to white-out that OBGYN appointment! Just a thought (:

I only had one used calendar so I had to buy another one so that there were enough place mats for each of my students to have one. Any dollar store is GREAT for this! One dollar, 12 place mats. I think that's a good deal (:  I got a Sponge Bob calendar because I know how much my students love him.

Front:

Back:

Well, that's all for today. I hope this is something you can use too! If you have any other ideas of how to use these place mats, leave a comment below! Over and out.

-OneCrazyS

Seasonal Spelling

Hooray for spelling! While I may not be the best speller in the world, I am quick to admit it and I always have my trusty dictionary nearby. This year is the first year that my students have spelling words and they are super excited. We learn the phonics skill in class and practice it in small groups. I can tell who is also studying their words at home! A spelling test every Friday stinks but I truly believe that it helps them to become better spellers in the long run. Last year, I used the same old boring spelling paper all year long because it was the only one I could find with dotted lines. This year I decided to make my own! They all have cute little clip art to go with each month. It's way better than what I was using and my students love it! Take a gander and see what I mean:

Spelling Test Monthly Templates

All of them are blackline so they are super easy to print! Happy Spelling!

Teaching Taste for Dummies

This year my family is definitely on a budget (understatement). With that being said, I refuse to sacrifice good classroom activities because of this. So, my mission this year is to come up with activities that are just as fun and engaging as my old activities but don't put a dent in my wallet at the same time! Teaching the sense of taste is one of those normally semi-costly activities. However, this year I have come up with an activity that is just as fun (if not more than before) and a whole lot cheaper! Not only is my new activity cheaper but it is safe for peanut allergy students too. 

This year I decided to try a Skittles taste test. First I numbered four cups 1-4: 

Then, I sorted my Skittles into four flavors (sort enough for each student to have one skittle) like this: 

After that, I gave each of my students a taste recording sheet. 

You can get it here for FREE:

Tasting Detectives Recording Sheet

Next, I told my students that were going to be given a Skittle and it was their job to figure out what flavor I am giving them. First, I told them to close their eyes and put one hand out in front of them (ask them to make their hand into a cup so the Skittle won't roll out). Then, I told them that once they got their Skittle they should put it right into their mouth but to keep their eyes closed until I told them they could open them. I told them they could open their eyes once I passed out one to everyone and they had all put it in their mouth. You might be thinking, "Yeah right! My students would never keep their eyes closed." Au contraire, I told them that if they opened their eyes and were peeking then they wouldn't be able to taste any more of their treats. If I caught anyone peeking, then they didn't get any more Skittles. You better believe their eyes were closed tighter than a Chinese finger trap! This activity was so much fun. All of the students loved playing detective! The only thing I would do different is I would go over each flavor after they tasted it. For example, I would give everyone the Skittle, have them taste it, draw it and write the word. After that, I would give them all a chance to guess the flavor and then unveil the mystery taste. Today I let them try and draw all of the flavors first and then tried to unveil each one but they didn't remember what they wrote or what the flavor was. They still enjoyed it but next time I would just have them guess and unveil each flavor right after they tasted it. I hope you can use this in your classroom too and keep a little extra cash in your pocket!

-OneCrazyS