Perfect Picture Book Friday- Groundhog's Special Secret

What a crazy week this has been! We started out the week with the Chinese New Year! Then yesterday, we celebrated the 100th day of school. And I was sick. As. A. Dog!!!! Oh my goodness you guys, I had the most terrible sore throat on Wednesday night. I had a hunch I shouldn't go to school yesterday so I quick emailed my bestie at school with sub plans.

What would one do without a best friend at school, right?
Are ya with me???

Luckily, my usual suspect of a substitute was available and willing to tackle the 100th day of school with my little firstie buzzers. I had this cute shirt all planned out and then, bam! sore throat hit. Also luckily, I was able to get in to my doctor right away at 8:00am yesterday and she told me I had something bacterial going on. A something closely related to strep, so she put me on a kick bootie antibiotic and I'm feelin' like a champ today!!! Good thing, because I did a LOT of managing these 27 little ones today....

Well, let's get to the perfect picture book, shall we....???

Groundhog's Special Secret
Written by: Iris Hiskey Arno
Illustrated by: Renee Graef
Scholastic Incorporated, 2003, Fiction
Suitable For: ages 5 and up
Themes/Topics: Groundhog's Day, Seasons, being a good friend
Opening: "Lila twirled around and around in the candlelit den. On the wall, her shadow spun like a whirling top.
"Time for all groundhogs to be in bed!" Papa called.
"But I'm not tired!" Lila cried. "I can't possibly sleep all the way until spring!"
"Now, Lila," Mama said, "everyone else is in bed and Uncle Wilbur is about to head for his den."

Brief Synopsis: Lila doesn't want to go to sleep because she is not tired. Uncle Wilbur challenges her to be the first one awake, but when she does wake, Uncle Wilbur tells her to go back to sleep for a few minutes. But instead, Lila goes above ground!

Links to Resources: There are some WAY cute craftivities out in bloggy world right now having to do with Groundhog's Day! Check out this burrowing activity, craft and writing from Cara at The First Grade Parade. I love the Smartboard lesson to introduce it. I'm so doing this on Tuesday or Wednesday next week!
There's also these way cute activities from Mrs. Cupcake over at A Cupcake for the Teacher. I can't wait to share in the fun with my little buzzers next week, too! I know there are MANY more on TPT or TN so go check that out, too! Oh! And don't forget to show your kiddos LIVE footage of the groundhog actually seeing or not seeing his shadow next Thursday, too. They LOVE that!

Why I Like This Book: I love this book because it is a fun way to introduce Groundhog's Day to those little ones that HAVE NEVER heard of it, or so they say. :) It's a cute little tale that kids can relate to--the-not-wanting-to-go-to-bed-and-the-waking-up-early-with-excitement thing of course.

For more perfect picture books with resources, or join in the fun, please click here!

Have a GRRREAT weekend!
Marcy

Honey Points and Some AWESOME Giveaways!

I have to start off by asking a question...

Do you use token economies in your classrooms? Pa-lease let me know...

I found this way cute idea and now I have NO idea where it came from. So again, if it's yours, please let me know so I can give credit where credit is due!

It's called "Honey Points". It goes along with the bee theme. Each kiddo has a cute little paper taped to their desk with a honey jar. Each time they are caught doing something great, they get a tally. At least, that's how I am playing it.

As a class, we came up with a GREAT list of rewards, such as:
*extra computer time
*get a special email to their parents telling them how great their kiddo is
*play a game with their favorite teacher

There are a TOOOOOON more.

So, I'm wondering how many "honey points" each thing should cost. I just started yesterday (Tuesday) and some kids have 3-4 points already. What do y'all think?

Any and all input is appreciated!

Thanks!
Marcy


Also, I have to mention some AWESOME giveaways in the bloggy world:

Jennifer, at Herding Kats in Kindergarten, is having a 250 follower giveaway!

 Hadar, at Miss Kindergarten, is having a February Goodies Giveaway!

Robynn and SueBeth, at Busy Bees (love the name, by the way), are having a Valentine Giveaway!

Penguin Parade

Happy Monday!

Who else is excited that the Bachelor is on tonight? I honestly think that show is what gets me through the week nowadays. I have a love hate relationship with it, but I can't miss it!

I don't know about you, but my kiddos were loving learning today! Haha...this morning we started out with the Scholastic News about the Chinese New Year. That was fun. I love how they have a little video snipet to go along with each catalog.

Then, we read The Runaway Wok. I don't know if you are familiar with this book or not, but it's really cute. I got it from Scholastic, so I have the c.d. too. LOVE the c.d.'s. It's not that I don't love reading out loud, but every now and then, having the music just sets the mood. This book was AWESOME for teaching about another culture. The music in the background, the voices of the readers, and the illustrations were fab-u-lous.

Then, we completed a Venn Diagram about how the Chinese New Year compared to our New Year. Yes, it could have been WAAAAY fancier, but I whipped it out of nowhere so I had no plan to fancy. Sorry Nancy...

This afternoon, we switched gears and focused back on penguins. We had been talking about all the different species of penguins, 17 to be exact. I read this book and it's awesome:

Then,the kiddos choose partners this time and they actually did pretty well. A little noisy, but they got the job done and their penguins turned out great. They had to measure how many inches tall their penguins were in real life.

Then, label it so all could see. Each group also had to illustrate their penguin exactly how it is in real life. They learned so much and were all engaged, even though the noise level was through. the. roof.

The penguins look great parading through the hallway!

And to top of the day with a little dose of quiet, we played Heads Up, 7 Up for the first time and it was a smashing success!

I hope your day was as eventful and fun as mine! I'm off to a district-wide 1st grade meeting...should prove to be TONS of fun! :)

Marcy

Perfect Picture Book Friday- Deep Snow

I cannot believe I have been missing out on this linky party! Where have I been?? Oh well, I'm excited to start in this Friday book talk!

Not the best picture...sorry I couldn't find a better one!

Deep Snow
Written By: Robert Munsch
Illustrated By: Michael Martchenko
Scholastic Inc., 2006, Fiction
Suitable For: ages 5 and up
Themes: Snow, Winter, Seasonal Actvities

Opening:
"Way out in the middle of nowhere, Ali suddenly yelled, "STOP!"
"What's the matter?" said her father.
"I want to jump in the snow," said Ali.
"No," said her sister Kate, "that is deep, deep, deeeeeeeep snow!"
"I still want to jump in it," said Ali.
"This is not a good idea," said Kate."

Brief Synopsis: I hate to give it away so if you don't want the surprise ruined, read on.
They have to get something out of the snow. I hope I haven't said too much.

Links to Resources: I haven't found any yet....so if you find some, post a comment below and I'll get them added!

Why I Like This Book: Because it's by Robert Munsch, duh! :)
I love the voice in his books. He adds humor in his books which kids "get" and understand. I love using Robert Munsch books to teach how to use voice in kids' writing! I loved using this book today after the 6 inches of snow we received early this morning.....

White Penguins!

Happy Thursday! One more day folks and we have the weekend to relax again. The kids will be CRAZY again tomorrow I presume, but we are expected to get 4-6 inches of snow in my region of South Dakota. I know some of you are itching for snow, but I could live without it! Hopefully though, it will help me con Mr. Hubster to go snowmobiling out in the beautiful Black Hills!

We are learning about penguins right now and I know many of you are also! As I was browsing through the news articles online the other I saw this headline:

"Rare White Penguin Spotted in Antarctica"

I couldn't believe my eyes! I was super duper excited! So, if you click HERE you can be rerouted to the article. My kids loved it!

Isn't it a cutie?

Then, I got to thinking...I wonder if there are any videos of this darling. I went to YouTube and found it! Enjoy!

Marcy

Crazy! and some AWESOME giveaways!

So, today my kids were crazy. They have been inside for recess the past two days and it looks as though they will be inside tomorrow too. SAVE me. Even the usually best kids were out of self-control today. I can always think, it's been worse. Somehow, it's been worse. Kids that throw chairs = worse. Kids that throw two year old tantrums = worse.


Enough venting, on to the fun news!

Kindergarten is a Hoot is throwing a 200 follower giveaway! $20 Target giftcard folks. That's right. You'll have to fight me for it. Okay, well, the random generator will have the final say so there will be no harm done to anyone.






Also, Teaching First is having a way cool giveaway. She has teamed up with four other amazing bloggers to give away 9, yes NiNe, fun wintery packets.




I hope your kiddos have been fabulous for you!! Tomorrow is a new day! For now, the Diet Dr. Pepper and a good run will help me relax later tonight. :)

Marcy

P.S. Thank you Rebecca at Teaching First for helping me figure out the blog button situation. Hopefully I remember that the next time! :)

Winter and a Math Game

I guess it is finally going to act like winter in South Dakota. We have been so blessed (my OLW) with favorable weather the last few months and then today it hit like a ton of bricks. And the kids knew it because I was crrrr-anky today! But I had good intentions with my crabbiness. I needed a reminder that it takes 20 minutes to put on snowpants. And then another 20 minutes to put boots on. And then...well, you get the picture and yes, I MAY be exaggerating. This is the view outside my classroom window.

And although you may not think it LOOKS that bad, it is. It's freezing. It's icy. In fact, we did not have recess outside this afternoon because they playground is one big hunk of ice. My kiddos were "stuck", as I call it, inside for recess. They were overjoyed. I don't know what it is with them and inside recess. You could not PULL me back inside when I was their age. So were playing board games during recess. Have you seen these?

They are these great travel games from Target. I'm sure there are other stores that have them. I just happened to find them at Target. They are GREAT and my kiddos love them. I could use more. We have Hang Man and Tic-Tac-Toe.

Amongst the snow excitement (and clearly, not by me), we played this fun math game using Base 10 Blocks. It's called Race to Flat. Clever, huh? I'm sure y'all have heard of it and I'm behind the times, but I'm okay with that. You use:

The kids partner up and take turns rolling the dice. A feat in itself. When it's their turn, they roll the dice, and place that many ones on the hundreds flat. Then, they continue taking turns. When they get a number with a ten in it, they replace their ones with a ten. The first person to fill their hundreds flat with ten sticks is the winner. Fun! I hope those of you that haven't played it, try it out and enjoy it!

Hope you all are staying warm....it's not the most pleasant weather in South Dakota right now! And to think my teaching best friend and I walked to the gas station for pizza yesterday. That won't happen again for awhile. SAD!!

Marcy

January Currently!

Oh my goodness gracious!
I have always wanted to participate in Farley's Currently... fun, but I never have taken the time to figure it out. Well, I hope I did it right!!! Here's my first one!

And, she hosts this awesome linky party each month at this cute little blog, Oh' Boy 4th Grade! But this month is EXTRA special, because she is celebrating 1,000 faithful followers! I can't imagine!!!! So, head on over and check out the pencil sharpeners she is giving away!!


AAAANND, check out Abby at The Inspired Apple and Kelly & Diane at Made for 1st Grade because they are having an AWESOME Wizard of Oz giveaway!!! But it ends soon, so GO. NOW!

Enjoy your day!

Marcy

M.I.A.

Wow. What a crazy past couple of months. I apologize for being missing in action the past few months.

My dad's tumor on his lung was malignant and it has been a whirlwind figuring that out...holy cats. What they thought was lung cancer actually turned out to be pancreatic cancer. Apparently each type of cancer has its own DNA make up. (I'm learning so much...NOT by choice.) So, he has an EXTREMELY late reccurance of pancreatic cancer and it traveled to his lung, which has never happened before leaving our oncologists, radiologists, etc. totally dumbfounded as to what to do. They finally decided to treat it like pancreatic cancer, NOT lung cancer because of the DNA make up and we are in the middle of treatments.

The last time my dad went through this was almost seven years ago...way healthier and way more agile. This time around, he has severe diabetes that is uncontrollable due to the benign (yay!) tumor on his pancreas. He has no feeling in his feet, due to the diabetes, so he is pretty much confined to a walker or wheelchair. He is on a 24-hour chemo pump, which is refilled each Monday and goes off every 5 minutes. It sounds like a camera going off, which does take some getting used to. The radiation treatments are every day and they are hitting him from 10 different angles. This is causing terrible sores on his lips and in his mouth, causing extreme pain when he eats, thus causing a loss of appetite, which has led to an 11 pound weight loss in the last week and a half.

It has been a blessing to have him around this holiday season, but it is so hard to see my dad in this condition. I do not wish this upon anyone once, let alone twice.

SO that's what has been going on in my life and something had to give. It was this poor little blog. Thank you for hanging in there and for all your thoughtful prayers and emails. They are so heartfelt and it makes me teary eyed thinking about this amazing community I have become a part of. I have been taking my dad to treatment as much as they will let me. I'm not missing out on any family time!! My school family has been amazing and I have a TERRIFIC substitute that continues to amaze me, too.

Needless to say, I haven't been that crafty when it comes to school. I have been using all of YOUR units from TPT and TN to write my lesson plans. :)
My sweet buzzers LOVED Cara's New Years unit that you can get HERE if you haven't yet. We did that all last week and it was a blast. I LOVE some of their New Years Resolutions!!! SO cute.













I am so blessed to be getting a student teacher for the first time! I met her randomly at a bridal show I was at yesterday (yes, I am married but I help out a friend in the photography business). My student teacher is engaged and was there getting ideas and such. I can tell she is a mini-me, so things could get dangerous in this sweet classroom of mine. I CANNOT wait!!! :)

How do you all make your student teacher feel welcome?? This is my first time, so I am so excited, but want to make sure she feels right at home!

Enjoy your week! And I hope you'll hear from me more often now that I am becoming more accustomed to this new norm.

Marcy

Favorite Thanksgiving Book(s) Linky Party!

I have so many favorite Thanksgiving books that I love to read to my students! I am so excited to share them with each of you and with Teaching Blog Addict's Linky Party!

I LOVE Fancy Nancy. In the Spring, we do a whole unit on Jane O'Connor and the Fancy Nancy books. I cannot wait. I love the vocabulary, the interactions with Fancy Nancy's extended family, the teaching of the manners. I love it all.

The next is I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Pie. Hilarious. Not only because I love pumpkin pie, but because of what happens at the end. I'd hate to spoil it for you if you haven't read it, but all my kids then write about their favorite float the following Monday. I hope that wasn't too much information....

The Littlest Pilgrim is another favorite because the poor main character is too small to help on the plantation. It is great for little ones who always want to help, but are "too little". We brainstorm ways and write about how they can help at this years Thanksgiving feast at their house.

I just came across this next book at the Scholastic Book Fair this fall. I love the illustrations and the point of view from the mouse. After reading it, all my sweet little buzzers started writing stories, "If I were a mouse...". It was a great writing workshop mentor text!

And last but certainly not least, my favorite informational text. Pilgrims of Plymouth has real photographs from the National Geographic Society. It allows the kiddos to see exactly how the Pilgrims and Wampanoags dressed for that first feast and in their daily lives. We compare and contrast their lives with ours after reading this. My sweet little buzzers also love seeing how the kids dressed and played!

That's it for now! I hope you had a great Tuesday!!
If you do not have a blog yet, please share some of your favorite Thanksgiving books in the comments section! I LOVE comments!!!

Marcy

What a weekend!

What a relaxing 3 1/2 day weekend I had! We were done with school on Wednesday and had a half day inservice on Thursday morning and I was done. It was GREAT. I didn't accomplish much of anything, other than spend that time with my family.

Thursday after inservice I stopped at Quiznos. Oh my, do I love Quiznos. Great sandwich shop, in case you've never heard of it. I got sandwiches and soup to take out to my dad for lunch. We spent the whole afternoon shootin' the breeze and watching tv. It was amazing time that I will never forget! That night, my sweet hubby, parents and I went to the local steakhouse for filet mignon. LOVED the margaritas, too!

Friday was spent back at my parents making apple pies. We made about 12 pies and it was so much fun! My mom makes THE BEST apple pies and she finally passed down the recipe!

Do you see a pattern? Not one thought about school.....

Saturday I went shopping and started laundry. My sweet hubby went hunting and then we stayed in for a date night at home! And yesterday we went to church, went out to eat again with my parents and then spent the remainder of the day at my sweet hubby's grandmas. She is hilarious!

So, no school anything on this little blog for awhile. I feel terrible. The nearest 2nd grade teacher to me made these way cute poppies and stories for Veterans Day. And she gave me permission to share with all of you. But did I? No...I am not beginning to do them justice with these pictures either. Thank you Cait for sharing!

Did I ever write about our 50th day of school that lasted for a week? No...it was a BLAST though, thanks to Cara over at The First Grade Parade!

Root Beer Floats!




Writing about the 1950s!

 

The Greasers!



The girls!



And my all-time favorite.

I cannot wait to celebrate 50s day every year! It was SO much fun! My new best friend at school and I are going to celebrate 80s day also!!! We are already planning. :)

See.....we have been doing a lot in this little classroom of mine! I just haven't had the time to post any of our wonderful activities! Thank you for stickin' it out with me! Have a GREAT full week!

Marcy

Math Space Shuttle Launch!

Have you guys seen THIS game??

Here's the story behind my math lesson today. I have been focusing on subtracting and my story problems are becoming a little bland. I started looking for this Monster Crossing game, but I couldn't find it during my planning time, of course. But I came across the Space Shuttle Launch game from our district first grade porta portal. LOVE that invention. Would one call that an invention? Oh well, I sure appreciate it!

Anyway, I had the kids fill out their math journal and we were on our way. I turned on the SmartBoard, another great invention, while the little buzzers were getting their whiteboards, markers, and erasers. We then reviewed using a number line to count backwards, like we had learned to do yesterday.

I pulled up the game and the kids were immediately engaged. Like the snap of a finger, no talking, eyes on the SmartBoard, they were ready to learn! (A-lle-lu-ia) They watched for the new equation, wrote it down, and started using whatever "manipulatives" of their choice to solve it.

Since we had been learning about using the number line, many of them chose that.

There were some that deviated and I am totally okay with that.

They had a BLAST, no pun intended. Okay, you're right. That was intended.

If you use this game in your classroom, let me know how it goes! I plan to use it for Math Stations next Friday since they already know it and LOVE it! A win-win!

Marcy

P.S. Bad news about my dad. We meet with the oncologist NEXT Wednesday. I hate waiting games. But from what we know so far, things are NOT looking promising. I'm trying to keep hope but this next week will be a challenge. I'm not good at being patient when it comes to this kind of stuff. Any thoughts and prayers would be appreciated!

On Fire!!!

Well we had our first night of conferences on Tuesday. We have three nights of conferences, yes, three. A whole day of teaching and then conferences from 3:30-7:00. It's tiring. I got home right at seven bells and immediately went to bed. My poor husband. Fortunately, his business is booming so he's been just as busy and went to bed immediately, too! Tonight and Monday night will be the same as well.

But, in the midst of all the craziness, we have celebrated the 50th day of school, in style, thanks to my good bloggy friend Cara over at The First Grade Parade. Cara, you and your 50th Day of School Fun Unit, have been my lifesaver for the past three days. My kids have LOVED every single minute of your fun activities and I have to say, I have to. THANK YOU. More on that to come after conferences. I might be MIA until then.

I just wanted to share the exciting news from Mrs. Moran over at First in Maine!!!! She graciously awarded me with the Blogs on Fire Award! Hot dog! I guess I'm supposed to share 7 things about myself and pass this little award along!! Here goes!

1. I was just diagnosed with patellofemoral pain syndrome. Yes, it hurts as bad as it sounds. It is also known as runner's knee. Just when I develop a passion for running, God steps in and says, "Slow down sister!" So, I will be seeing a personal trainer for the next two weeks for strength training and if that doesn't help the pain, I will be seeing one of the many physical therapists in this city! Sad day. No Disney Half Marathon for me in January. :(

2. I am a competitive cheerleading coach for Dakota Spirit. I coach middle school girls and couldn't love it more. :)

3. My husband and I are contemplating starting our own business. As if him owning his own business and my teaching/coaching career isn't busy enough! We want to start flipping houses. Darn you HGTV for putting crazy ideas into our heads!!!

4. In case you didn't notice from #3, I love HGTV.

5. I'm obsessed with Sheldon from the Big Bang Theory. If it wasn't for my sweet hubby that I am totally in love with, I would be off finding Sheldon.

6. I know this isn't really about me, but my dad is a 6 year pancreas cancer survivor! November is Pancreas Cancer Awareness Month and most states will be holding Purple Light Vigils on November 20 to promote awareness of this terrible disease. I will be speaking at South Dakota's Purple Light Vigil and I feel honored to spread hope to other families going through this struggle!

7. I love to travel. Although my husband does not enjoy flying, he is a trooper and supports my travel addiction.

There are TONS of blogs I could pass this along to. I am falling in love with more of your blogs each and every day!! If you haven't visited these four or First in Maine, GO check them out and give them some love! Don't forget to tell them Buzzin' sent you!!

Today in First

The Teachers' Cauldron

Miss Kincaid's First Grade

First Grade Jabber

Hope your day is GREAT!!
Marcy