Day 42 It's a Jungle Out There and $25 TpT giveaway!

I found Marie's blog last night --It's a Jungle Out There is a kindergarten blog...but she also creates things that can be used at other primary levels as well.

For the next few days you can enter to win a fun Valentine's Giveaway.  A $25 TpT gift certificate! I would be in heaven to be able to spend another $25 on TpT....how about you?

For those of you who haven't celebrated your 100th day...here is a great freebie she made:

That would look cute in the hallway next week!  It's a freebie on TpT.  Click HERE and go download it!

Day 40 obSEUSSed

Two of my favorite days are coming up:  the 100th Day of school and Dr. Seuss' birthday.  I love the 100th day and all the fun I make of it.  Counting, hopping, skipping, and "math-ing" our way through the day.  Going from two digits to three is awesome when you are in 1st grade.  (I don't feel the same thing about changing the tens place though when it comes to my birthday!) Funny thing about counting...I love to count everything but my birthdays anymore!

Dr. Seuss is still my most favorite of all.  I grew up reading his books.  I got my first copy of The Lorax from a magazine that it was printed in before it was published!  I still have it because my mom tore it out of the magazine and I put it in a folder that...since I keep odd things from forever ago...I still have in my trunk.

So Seuss is not celebrated on just one day or one week in my room.  He is honored ALL month!  I do a special focus each week on one of his books.  Each year I mix it up and don't always do the same four books.  But if you don't know where to start, there are plenty of blogs out there with lots of great ideas posted.  I will post what I do too...and you can also check out my Pinterest page with lots of fun finds on there.

Dr. Seuss is magical.  He started writing on a bet and thank heavens he took that bet.   During March my good readers turn into amazing readers, my so so readers turn into confident readers and my non-readers actually pick up books and try to read!  His words are fun and make kids forget they are trying to read...but instead they just enjoy reading so they too can feel those words roll over their tongues because they are just that much fun!

Mel at The Seusstastic Classroom has a great blog.  I posted about her in January.

I found another teacher so obsessed with Seuss that she named her blog after him as well. Victoria says it herself...she is a little ObSEUSSed with Seuss.  That is the name of her blog:

She has a lot of great ideas linked to THIS blog page.  She had a little linky party a couple years ago and you can find other blogs linked their ideas to her page.  She also has a huge Pinterest page soley dedicated to the great and powerful Seuss as well :)

So, on your mark, get set....SEUSS!

Day 34 Teacher Blog Spot

Yesterday I posted about my thoughts on Common Core.  When searching for Common Core blogs to link up, I found this blogger.  Teacher Blog Spot is a teacher who has a position most recently as a math coach.  Although she doesn't have an actual classroom right now, she has taught from primary through middle school.  So she has a rich background from which to draw from.

She has a lot of math help on her blog (makes sense when you are a math coach) but she also has a category she titled Seasonal Ideas.  <--Click here to go straight to the category. They have had some great math day themes at her school.  There are some VERY clever ideas for 100th day as well.  It got me thinking!

I also think it would be fun to do the estimation jars at our upcoming Art, Auction and Ice Cream night!!  This would be something fun for the students since they don't have money to spend!

Like I said she is a math coach, but she has other cute and clever ideas that she has found and shared.  I love this Name in Lights bulletin board idea for showcasing star work!   It would also be a fun way to highlight your student of the week as well!



Thanks for hopping by...come back tomorrow to see who else I find in my journey through the internet!

Day 32 A Cupcake for the Teacher

Starting February off with something sweet!

Here is a fun primary blog.  It is full of very creative ideas and clever art and crafts as well.  Teri is a young energetic 1st grade teacher from New Jersey.  Her blog, A Cupcake for the Teacher is full of ideas.  She also has a Teacher's Notebook and a TpT store and has quite a few fun freebies as well.

I am always looking for something different to do with my first graders.  They LOVE Art Friday in my class.  It really stinks that I don't get to do as much art as I would like. Every time we have an inservice day or a conference day it takes away my art day :(  But when we do get to the art/craft day...they know it's a special and fun treat!

I found this fun Groundhog activity on Teri's blog.



















I already had my stuff run for the special little rodent...but I put it in my file to consider for next year. I hate to do the same exact thing every year :)

If you haven't had your 100th day yet...our school's will be on February 19th (the day after President's Day) there are still a lot of clever 100th day activities out there to try.  Teri has 5 fun centers that she did with her class.  A couple of them, like the 100 compliments and the recording sheet for what your friends brought was a neat idea that I hadn't come up with before.  

And just as an aside, our 100th day would have been the Friday before, which would have been perfect timing from a teacher's point of view, but some very naughty kids decided they wanted to get out of school a day early for Winter break and started threatening some of the local high schools with veiled threats of 'shooting them up' or 'blowing them up'.  Nice thing that Facebook :(  So to be on the safe side, and just a couple weeks past Sandy Hook, all the local districts decided that an extra day off was better than worrying about the thousands of students trying to enjoy their final day of school in 2012.

Day 31 It's About Time Teachers

January is almost over so it's time to start thinking about all the fun that February brings.  One of my favorite days in February is the 100th day.  Not because that means that we are more than halfway finished with the year --which seems just crazy to me-- but because it is so fun to see the students so excited about a number!  Moving from 2 digits to 3 digits is amazing...awesome...wonderful...in the eyes of a 1st grader.  Perhaps that's why I have stuck with 1st grade all these years.

Today's blogger is Barb.  She has the blog called: It's About Time Teachers.

Now there are many meanings behind that title, but for Barb, she collects clocks and knows a lot about dusting and winding them I would assume.  She must have a big collection because she has had more than 30 years of teaching experience.  She has seen phonics come and go and come back again. She has taught with Dick and Jane, Dr. Seuss and everything in between.  I am sure she has seen more versions of the Standards than any teacher deserves to see in their lifetime and all her kids have learned regardless...because she teaches!

So like me, Barb's mind is thinking 100th day too.  She has a fun post with 100...yes, 100 ideas for what you can do on the 100th day of school.  Now nobody is going to get through all 100 things...but I'm sure you can find quite a few to help you through your 100th day of school.

And for those of you who have already had your 100th day because you must have year round school or something along those lines...just file this one away in your folder on your computer or pin it on Pinterest for next year!

Day 29 Mrs. Lee's Kindergarten

Whoa...put on the hopping brakes!  I was getting lost in today's blogger.  Julie's kindergarten blog is full of great ideas.  I got so into reading through her posts and ideas that I forgot what I was doing...posting about her blog!

Here is the first thing to distract me.  These are those jumbo lip smackers.  First I flashed back to junior high when the Bonnie Bell ones were so popular.  There were coupons in all the magazines for getting free ones.  They had quite the marketing strategy going because everybody had them.  Well, now here is a new use for all those lip smackers...

Use them to make smelly stickers!  

This is an awesome idea!  Thanks Julie!

Then with 100th day on the brain...I saw this cute idea she used on the 100th day of school.      They counted by 10's to 100.  But with first graders and counting dimes, I will make it 10 cents a scoop and a $1.00.  

Here is a subtraction center.  Awesome cute idea for finding the missing addend of 10.   I was trying to figure out where she got the link for the flowers/suns when I got further down her page...

And I realized it was part of her weather unit!  lol...I was thinking math and flowers....not weather and suns.  Here is her link to this unit:  What's the Weather?....perhaps it would be a great thing to look for during the big sale this weekend on TpT.

Day 21 Wolfelicious

Today's blog should get an award for the most colorful header!  It's what caught my eye and drew me in...so good choice there!  The name was the second hook -- Wolfelicious

April teaches Kindergarten in Florida.  She is full of energy...which is amazing considering she is a mom to an active 3 year old boy and getting ready to have her second child in about a month!  She is getting ready to go out on maternity leave and she is doing the most amazing thing...she is planning her whole 10 weeks off.  When I did that, my co-workers thought I was crazy.  It is so nice to see I'm not the only crazy one out there! lol

April teaches in Florida and down there they have already had their 100th day of school. They made the cutest hats...I'm thinking I might need to make these with my 1st graders cuz they are so stinkin' cute!

Click HERE for the actual post.  But here are the pictures of the clever hats they made.

Aren't they cute...the hats too? 

April has a TpT store and a store on Teacher's Notebook as well.  Visit them and see more of her great kindergarten ideas!  

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