100th Day of School

Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Today was our 100th day of School and WHEW  - I have survived! I truly feel like a superhero when I make it to the 100th day of school. With the daily craziness that comes with being a primary teacher it is very easy to become overwhelmed, the enormous pressure to make HUGE changes in the lives of our students with very limited resources and support is daunting. So my teammates and I like to pause on the 100th day and have a little fun because that is what first grade should be about!

So...here is what we did today!

 My first grade team of teachers dressed up like 100 year old ladies today! WOW! We are stunning, right?! HA!  The kids were so excited when they saw us shuffling out to pick them up together this morning, they were LOVING it!
 I work with an amazing first grade team of teachers and and we frequently have the students rotate through classrooms for holidays or special events. The teacher stays in their own room and our students visits the other teachers, they are in each class for about 20 minutes. Here is a little run-down of what we are planning for each classroom:

Classroom 1: 100th Day Mystery Picture from First Grade A La Carte (This is FREE!) Great activity to practice even and odd. 
Roll A Die 100 Times
Classroom 3: 100th Day Snack - I created this FREEBIE, click here to get it! 
Classroom 4: 100th day books (here are a few of my favorites)
Classroom 5: 100th day Glasses (sorry don't have the link for these but there are TONS on TpT)

I also got the idea from EduKate and Inspire to create 100 year old pictures. This app is called AgingBooth and it is only $1! This is a little before and after of my beautiful daughter.  
Too cute right? 
I printed my kiddos picture onto this template so they can write about life as a 100 Year Old. 
To help them, I provided them with the template:

When I am 100 years old, I am going to be _______ and _______. My favorite thing to do will be _______________________ and _______________________. 



That is all I was able to fit in for the 100th day of school because we are crazy busy preparing for Science Night next week. I will be back this weekend to share a few of our MLK activities. 

Totally Teeth Giveaway!

Thursday, January 2, 2014

Hey All! I have a few more days of break before I return to work and I am spending some time preparing for Science Night in January. Science Night is a big deal at our school and we spend so much time preparing for it. I thought I would share some ideas and information so you can take a look at this fun event.
I just finished and posted my newest Totally Teeth Printables packet and I am so excited to share it with you. I created this packet to go with my Totally Teeth Student book pictured below.
On Science Night, I hang a giant toothbrush for students and their parent to walk through. The kids LOVE this!
To make sure my students are motivated to attend Science Night, and I am not spending the evening alone, I created this fun Guess Who??? Tooth Edition activity. We practiced doing some toothy smiles and I take each students picture. I crop the picture so only their tooth grin is showing. I open the template in Powerpoint, insert a table and randomly put each toothy grin into a cell. I copy one page for each students and they write their guess of who each smile is below the picture. Here is the catch: Students can only find out if their predictions are right when they come to Science Night. I hang the "key" on the board and the first thing they do when they walk in their room is run to the board to see how many they got right. So fun! The best part, most of them don't even correctly identify their own smile. HA! 

This activity is highly pinned on Pinterest and so many teachers have asked for the template so....I have included it in my Totally Teeth Printables packet :) 
Students display their Totally Teeth Student book on their desk. They share this book with their parents and discuss: Parts of a Tooth, Dental Do's and Don'ts, Tooth Traditions from Around the World and Tips for keeping their teeth healthy. 

On the back bulletin board, we display their Tooth Fairy craftivity and writing prompt. (Also included in the Totally Teeth Printable packet)

They teach their parents all about Dental Health Vocabulary with their toothy Vocab book. 
They share with their parents the activities in our January Math Tubs: Dental Health Measurement, Graphing and Data Analysis, Roll, Add and Color and Build-A-Word Scrabble. They also share our class graphs: How Many Teeth Have You Lost? Have You Had a Cavity? 
  
I would LOVE to share these 2 units with 2 very lucky people. If you would like to win my TWO Dental Health packets simply:

3. Leave me a comment below with your email address

and you will be entered to win! Two random people will be chosen on Sunday night! I will announce the winners here on my blog and on Facebook. Good Luck!


Congrats to Jennifer and Mrs. Garcia! I have just sent the two units to you via Dropbox! Enjoy :) Thank to all who participated!

Fun and Family! Welcome 2014 Linky Party

Wednesday, January 1, 2014

I am linking up with Blog Hoppin' to share my Family Fun goals for 2014. I have the two cutest girls that I just adore and an amazingly patient hubby. My family is my world. I will admit that I sometimes often find it difficult to balance being a full-time teacher, mom and wife. Everyday is a challenge and there are nights I go to bed stressing about what I could have done better. I have this picture as my screen saver on my phone because it often helps me to stop and remember what is truly important.  

My FAMILY goals in 2014 are...
More family travel! One of our families favorite places to be is the beach. However, since we live in Arizona...we don't get to visit the beach often. I am hoping this year to make at least a few impromptu weekend trips to SanDiego to spend some time together. 
My hubby and I took a weekend trip ALONE to Vegas this year and it was AMAZING. We spent time relaxing at the pool, going to nice dinners and we even got to see two shows. So fun! In 2014 I am looking forward to taking another trip, just the two of us. 

I also hope 2014 bring more time with my siblings. We all live close to each other but our lives get so busy it seems we only spend time together on holidays - and this needs to change. When we were all together on Christmas I insisted that we remake one of my favorite pictures from our childhood.
I know we are huge dorks but what can I say, that's my family and I love em. 
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