Teacher Appreciation Sale, Art, and Recyclable Earth Day Projects

It's teacher appreciation time and Teachers Pay Teachers® is having their yearly Teacher Appreciation Sale.

Graphics by Zip-a-dee-doo-dah Designs

All items in my First Grade Schoolhouse store will be 20% off during the sale. Remember to use the code TAD 13 at checkout to get a total of 28% off!

Spring has been our topic of discussion and study in my classroom . . . frogs, turtles, and bugs included. Thought I would share some of the turtle line art that the students completed. This was a directed art lesson on drawing and lines.

The children all participated in the same directed lesson, but what makes them so special is the creative twist the children give to their drawings.

I also wanted to share our Earth Day projects. Instead of our regular homework, our first graders created either something useful or a craft out of a recyclable. We displayed our projects in the multipurpose room and invited other grades and parents to view them.

This is a sample of the variety of projects that the children created.

a bouquet of flowers made from egg cartons and plastic colored straws

This one is so practical . . . a place for everything.

a robotic toy . . . named Dude {made from a box that once housed a chocolate bunny}

pink piggy bank from a plastic liter bottle {stuffed with play money}

This is something I need. It scoops up dog food.

It was a fun and exciting way to end our week of Earth Day activities.

Enjoy the rest of your Sunday. 

Teacher Appreciation Week Sale

Teacher Appreciation Week Sale at Teachers Notebook starts today. It will run from May 4th at 12:00 am CST to May 10th at 11:59 pm CST.

All items in my First Grade Schoolhouse Teachers Notebook store are on sale for 20% off from May 4th through May 6th, 2013.

You can enter daily to win a $100 gift card from Oriental Trading during the Teachers Notebook Teacher Appreciation Week sale.

Have fun shopping!

May Currently Link Up

It's hard to believe that it's already May. I'm linking up with Farley's Oh Boy Fourth Grade May Currently.

I'm a total morning person. I'm one of those people who wakes up and is full of energy. I love the quiet  and, of course, a freshly brewed morning cup of coffee. I get so much done in the morning. One of the perks of getting up early is listening to all the birds chirping and singing as they start their day, too. That's what I'm listening to right now. Great way to start the day.

It's countdown for us. I'm loving that we only have a little over a month left of school. It's a BUSY, BUSY, BUSY time of the school year, but the anticipation of summer gets us through it. We have a countdown chain in our classroom. It was a suggestion of one of my students. We decided to make the chains in alternating blue and yellow colors. Yellow for the summer sun and blue for summer fun in the ocean and pool. It's an end of the day ritual now in our classroom - cutting a link off the chain.

The school year is coming to a close. I keep thinking about the running "To Do List" in my mind that keeps growing. Do you have one of those?

Memory Albums

Assessments

Report Cards

Volunteer Breakfast {I'm chairman of the committee.}

First Grade Play

Spring Open House

End of Year Field Trip

Etc., Etc., Etc.

The last trimester of school always seems to fly by. End of the year "To Do" things always get done, but I can't help thinking about them.

I just received a school iPad. It's for teacher use in the classroom. So excited! We'll have iPads for students to use in the classroom next year. Our kindergarten and first grade students will be sharing them. I don't own a personal one, but after getting one to use at school, I'd love to have one. Seriously wanting one.

Our days are longer now. That means more time for longer walks. Needing a new pair of walking shoes for afternoon walks and for "pug walking."

Relax, relax, relax. Enjoy the weather, family, and friends.

First and foremost, I just look forward to enjoying each day. I feel extremely fortunate that I have the summer off. I especially love the days that I have nothing specifically planned and can just enjoy a relaxing day.

Link up and find other May Currently blog posts here.

Zoo Animals Writing and Field Trip

This past week was a busy one. We celebrated Earth Day throughout the week and went on a field trip to the zoo.

Our trip to the zoo started with a bus tour to get a snapshot of what we wanted to see. We were able to see more animals than ever before, because they were out due to the overcast weather.

Some of our favorite zoo animals:

The male lion was one of the first animals we saw. He sat there lounging the whole time we watched. At times, he even turned to look at us. The children who had never seen a real lion before were amazed! {Me too, such a majestic animal!}

One-humped camels.

We saw several adult giraffes and even got to see a pair of 6-month old calves.

We had to see the elephants. The zoo has an "open enclosure," so the public can see the "behind the scene" activities with the elephants.

And what are these? Peccaries. We had just finished our study of the rainforest, so the children were so excited to see the peccaries.

The reptile house is always a "must stop" for the students. Snakes are their favorites. Lots of "oohs" and "aahs" as we walked along the enclosures.

With all the excitement about what the children saw, writing and sharing was a natural extension of the zoo trip experiences.

Zoo Field Trip Printables includes a couple of zoo trip writing and drawing activities. 

graphics by Fancy Dog Studio and KPM Doodles

For other zoo animal writing activities see:

What Can You Write About Zoo Animals?

Reading to Learn About Zoo Animals

Click on the pictures to purchase.

Our first graders visit an ocean institute, walk to a nature center, see a play, and visit the zoo for our "first grade" field trips. What are some of your class field trips?

Earth Day Activities

We will be celebrating Earth Day with activities throughout next week. 

Two of my Earth Day library finds:

Kids Can Recycle by Cecilia Minden, PhD

Kids Can Keep Water Clean by Cecilia Minden, PhD

Both books have large, colorful photographs. The print is large and at a reading level appropriate for most of the students in my class. 

I created Earth Day Writing Packet {Freebie} to go along with our Earth Day reading and discussions.

Click on the picture to download {free}.

Our first graders have an Earth Day project for homework this week. They will create either a craft or  something useful from a recyclable. I posted some of last year's projects. We set all the first grade projects up in our multipurpose room and invite the classes and parents to view the projects. It's fun to see all the creative ideas. I'll share this year's projects after Friday.

This is the letter to our parents.

Graphics by Melonheadz Illustrating and  KPM Doodles

We send home a page of pictures and links for ideas.

Earth Day Crafts

Planetpals Crafts

Crafts from Recycled Products

The children write about their project, too.

Graphics by Graphics From the Pond

Earth Day themed math activities will also be part of our week.

Earth Day Math Centers First Grade includes 6 math centers with an Earth Day/Environment theme.

I'd love to hear about the activities you have planned for Earth Day.

Happy Earth Day!

Five for Friday Link Up

Today I am linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for Five for Friday Link-Up. I love her blog and first grade ideas. And, she sells personalized stationery. Visit Doodle Bugs Paper to see her store.

I have been on spring break this week and loving every moment of it. With the extra time, I've created a couple of spring writing packets that are filled with FUN writing activities that can be used throughout the spring season. 

A spring writing first grade packet . . .

A spring writing kindergarten packet . . .

We have the most wonderful school garden at our school. Maddie, one of our first grade teachers, has a passion for all things gardening. We even have a master gardener who volunteers at our school and helps to keep our garden growing and educates our children about the garden. 

We also have a school orchard, but more about that in another post. 

Some garden pictures . . .

The children love digging, planting, and tasting some of the vegetables that are growing.

It's especially fun for the children this time of the year to see all the wildlife creeping and crawling throughout the garden. I wish you could see the excitement on their faces when they spot a butterfly or bug.

You might not be able to see the sign, but it says worm composting. The children especially love learning about composting. I was excited to find out that many of the children have experience composting at home.

Would you like to find other bloggers from your state? Diane from Fifth in the Middle has created blog buttons for each state in the United States. She has lists on her blog of bloggers who have linked up from each state. It's a great way to see and meet other bloggers from your state. 

I'm a California blogger . . .

Click on the picture to link up and get your own state blog button.

Have you seen these crayons at Target®? Not only do I love the assortment of colors, but the titles are so much fun. They can tie into so many themes. They're perfect for center activities. A special box of crayons is such a great motivator.

dandy candy . . .

I thought I would use these at holiday centers like Valentine's Day, Christmas, or Halloween with candy-themed worksheets. {a great substitute for real candy}

cupcake my day . . .

Now wouldn't someone with a birthday love to use these crayons? Or how about using them with If You Give a Cat a Cupcake by Laura Numeroff?

glitterati . . .

 Any ideas for these?

Some of the crayons in each box are glitter crayons. Extra special! These are the ones I purchased, but I saw an assortment of boxes with catchy titles. I saw a pirate box and mermaid box, too. You can find them HERE.

As I've said before, our district is in the process of implementing the Common Core Standards. First grade will fully implement the standards this coming year. Throughout the year, our staff has been attending workshops to help prepare us for the change.

Our most recent workshop was a Common Core Standards English Language Arts workshop. One of the web resources given to us was Common Core Conversation.

Free resources at . . .

Click on the picture to go to the site. Click on the tab at the top that says "Free Common Core Resources" to find free resources for the Common Core Standards.

This was the first time I've linked up with Five for Friday at Doodle Bugs Teaching. It was fun. Check out her blog to link up and see more Five for Friday link ups.