Dr Seuss Week!!!

Well its only Monday... but our week has gotten off to a great start!  In honor of Dr. Seuss' birthday this week, we are having a different guest reader come everyday and read their favorite Dr. Seuss story.   Today was our first guest reader... who happen to be a 2nd grade teacher at our school.  The kids LOVED it.  What a fun way to be exposed to a variety of Dr. Seuss stories... and what a great way to squeeze in more re-alouds!

I dont have time to go into great detail... but we have a ton of FUN activities planned for this week.  Hopefully Ill be able to capture them for you to see. :)

Math Math Math!

Lately I have been trying to focus a lot of my time on my math stations.  I recently received in the mail, the long awaited new Debbie Diller Math Stations book.... Oh my word- I never knew it was possible to love teacher books more than I love Debbie Diller's!  This book has definitely inspired me to make my math stations improve.

Something we are getting ready to work on in our next chapter is MONEY! I am so excited to pull out the money rhymes!!!

Also in my math stations, I try and have a variety of options on each cabinet shelf...  I continue to hit time really hard.  I also am trying to incorporate a lot of addition and subtraction activities.  My kiddos need this so badly!  Something I put in a station is...

 

Snowman Addition

I love this idea.  

My kids love using the dice... they love it so much that they have "misplaced"(aka- stolen/taken them home!) all of my dice.

Word Work Addition

This is fun too. 

 My kids can practicing their spelling words while also 

practicing addition and subtraction! :)

I am continually working to improve my stations... and for that I need some ideas from you!
Do you do math small groups?  How do you group your kids?  How often do you meet?
Also, for math stations where and how do you store your materials for each station? Baskets? Tubs? Shelves?

fashionable late... or should I say WAY overdue!

Hello to my blogging friends!
Oh how I have missed updating my blog, and reading all of your AMAZING posts.

The last 3 weeks I have been one BUSY teacher, between conference and becoming a homeowner!  I have been busy decorating and organizing my new home, I kind of forgot to blog/didn't have internet!  WOW how nice it is to be back (somewhat) into my routine.

While I was away, I received the STYLISH AWARD!

Thank Sarah at http://snippetsbysarah.blogspot.com/ for giving this award.  :)

Here are the rules for receiving this award:

1. Thank and link back to the person who awarded you this award.
2. Share 7 things about yourself.
3. Award 5 recently discovered great bloggers.
4. Contact these bloggers and tell them about the award.

7 things about myself (in no particular order): 

1. I was a cheerleader for 7+ years- high school and all star teams.

2. I have had 3 knee surgeries, and my knee is still messed up!

3. I have 2 wonderful sisters that I love dearly.

4. I love sushi.  My friends and I get sushi weekly! :)

5. I am a Starbucks addict. Ahhh I love coffee!

6.  I absolutely love summer.  I cant wait for this winter to end. 

7. I am officially a homeowner! :)

Point to the Word...

Small Group Reading: 

In my reading small groups, we do a lot of echo, and choral reading.  I like to have my kiddos following along pointing to the words as we read/they listen. I along with them find it BORING to use their fingers... since I am so creative this weekend- haha.  Ive decided to make these lil guys- 

I know my kids are going to LOVE them- with the little wiggly eyes and the fun little pom pom ball.

Simple cheap and fun... My kind of thing!

Enjoy! :)

Sadly I probably wont be posting for a few days... I start conferences tomorrow and we all know how BUSY AND TIRED we are after those!   Hope to post some new ideas soon- maybe Wednesday or Thursday.  Hope my blogger friends have a great week. 

Brain Feelers!!!

Here are the long awaited pictures of the CUTE brain feelers aka brain feelies as I've been calling them all day!

Attached also is a list of labeled questions I used on my brain feelies! 

List of reading brain feeler questions!

NOW FOR THE SURPRISE... don't get too excited, because it isn't that cool- 

I am a sucker for new fun cute things that can be used in my classroom, and today I have the brilliant idea of making NEW pointers!  These are only the first few that I've made- cute, not the best but a start! I bought a cheap package of dowels from Walmart, and the fuzzies are from there as well. :)

arent they cute?!! 

I know my kiddos are going to love them!!!

excuse the horrible picture of myself! haha... 

Hope you all love the new fun brain feelies and cute pointers! :)

Something new is coming....

You all have something to look forward to!!!
Ok so like I promised, on my TO-DO list are the brain feelers.
Tonight I made my questions on labels.  Tomorrow after I the finished product is done, I will attach the questions for your use, along with my pictures- requested by some blogging friends! :)

(Dont worry this is just a screen shot...) 

Brain Feelers

Ok so I am totally LOVING the brain feelies that Miss Knight has shared with us....

Im always coming up with questions to ask, but having these fun little sticks with questions already typed up and ready to go- looking cute might I add!
Ahhh so fun.  Certainly on my TO-DO list this weekend :)
That TO-DO list is getting a little ridic!   Oh well, the life of a first year teacher is always crazy right?!!

Do you have anything fun you do to strike up the comprehension after reading a story to your kiddos???

MY NEW BEAUTIFUL BLOG!

Ok so who loves my new beautiful blog?  I DO! I absolutely LOVE it.  This is was not my doing....
I have to say a special thanks to Miss Claire Knight!  What an awesome job she did- wow... total blessing.
and... its a crazy world, but we have mutual friends/we both worked at Kanakuk and didn't even know it! AMAZING! SMALL WORLD- but God sure knew what he was doing! :)

I dont have anything AMAZING to share tonight- a few teachers and I volunteered at the Homeless shelter so I am just now getting home sitting down on the couch in my comfty clothes! :)

TEACHERS... DRUMROLL PLEASE.... THANK GOD ITS FRIDAY!!!!!


FYI: check out Miss Knight's amazing cute GIVEAWAY!

Pop!

Kids love games... especially when they get to play a game at school.  A friend and I play this game in our first grade classroom ALL the time.  The game I am talking about is POP!  Ok so you all know those popcorn buckets in the $ section at Target (my favorite store!).... I use these for my players to keep track of their cards.

Attached are the POP rules, and POP playing cards. The first set is lower and uppercase alphabet letters.  I am currently working on our high frequency words to play POP with.  I'll post them when their done. :)

Enjoy... I know your kiddos will love it!  Put it at a station, play it in small groups, or even play it to review spelling words.  

Pop Directions

Pop Rules

ABC Pop Cards

Here is the second form- again lowercase and uppercase cards... these are football.
Football Whistle Cards!
Football ABC CARDS!
Football Rules!

Here is the last one for today...  This is baseball themed.  Instead of ABC, these have simple words.
Homerun Rules!
Homerun Cards!

Sorry pics still wont load... :(

If you would like the doc on word feel free to email me... I know how it goes and your might want to tweak things!  Id love to do that for ya.  :)

The Blogs NEW LOOK

Ok... So I want to make my blog cute like all yalls!  However, I just cant seem to figure it out.  Can someone please tell me how to either use a Leelou blog template or how to make a blog header with my blogs title in it?!  Or better yet, can someone just do it for me!? haha.

Let me know because I would love to make my blog look cuter!!!!

Meet the Teacher!

My bloggy friend is doing a fun Teacher linky!!!  And I'm playing along, too :)

If you want to link up, check out  Cara at The First Grade Parade.

To start off... (sorry no pics the uploader still isnt working :( )

My name is Brooke.

I am a first year first grade teacher in Nebraska.

I went to the University of Nebraska at Lincoln and received my bachelors in December 2009. GO BIG RED!

I recently bought a home and move in about 2 weeks... so excited! :)

I am the oldest of three girls.  Im 24- yikes!  My birthday was on January 30th so Im still not used to that number...

My family has 4 dogs- two labs and two tiny yorkies.

Want to know more... Just ask!  Im an open book!

Q: What would you be doing if you weren’t a teacher?                                            

A:  Right now, Id love to be a cheer coach.  I cheered for 7+ years and still love every bit of it!  When I get married and have children... I would love to eventually some day be a stay at home mom!

Q: What are your hobbies?                                                                                   

A:  Ummm…its weird to say that teaching feels like a hobby sometimes!  Working out, going to cheer competitions to watch my sis.  Attending Church and Bible Study.

Q: When you were little, what did you want to be when you grew up?                    

A:  I always said I wanted to be a teacher!  I have dreamed of being a fourth grade teacher... however now- I could never see myself doing so!

  

Q: What are your guilty pleasures?                                                                  

 A: Starbucks, Baby Blue, Red Mango, The Bachelor, Biggest Loser, One Tree Hill, Pretty Little Liars!

Q: What is your biggest fear?!                                                                        

 A: Spiders!  ICK... those things scare the crap out of me.

Q: When you’re on vacation, where do you like to go?                                   

 A: I love to go anywhere warm!  My favorite place however would have to be Atlantis- Nassau, Bahamas! ahhhh paradise on earth.

                                                          

Q: What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?                                                 

A:  Let go and Let God!

Q: What do you value most in others?                                                                  

A:  Honesty, Kindness and Loyalty!

Q: If you could have lunch with anyone in the world….living or dead…who would it be?                                                                                                               

A:  Jesus, and my college friends!   And then I’d love to jump into the bloggy friends lunch with Babbling Abby, First Grade Parade and Fabulous in First!

Now tell us one random thing about yourself:

I won first place in the science fair in 8th grade!  I am far from being a sciency person... it is prob my least favorite subject!  haha...


Now it’s time for YOU to join the party!!!!  Here’s what you need to do:  Write a post titled “Meet The Teacher”.  Start with a brief “biography” and then copy & paste the Q&A {using your answers, of course!} 

                                              

R to the RANDOM!

Ok so I havent exactly spent my snow day as planned... I slept in- woohoo!  But I have been quit the lazy girl today!  I've been sitting on the couch for hours today... working on grad school homework.    Now Im getting to some new things for stations.
I guess I hadnt realized till yesterday that I needed to update my stations... and I only realized because one of my sweet boys said "Miss Samson when are we going to get new fun stuff for stations?"  haha!!!

So here are a few things... sorry there are no pictures... the blogger pic is not working!  As the title above says R- to the Random... I am very random on my stations ideas today.   Not feeling real creative!

Todays first NEW addition to stations is for the Word Wall station... Word Wall
This second worksheet is Clap the Word, this is a great one for kiddos struggling or needing extra help with syllables.  Word Work
The third worksheet is a BIG BOOK worksheet- my kids need something to keep them stay focused and to make the station have a purpose, so here is one really good one. Big Book Form!

Maybe Ill gain a creative spark in the next few hours... stay tuned :)