Day 17 3rd Grade Gridiron

Here is the perfect blog for the big game this weekend...The 3rd Grade Gridiron.

I'm a 49ers fan...have been since moving to California from Florida as a kid.  (Before that I was a true blue Dolphins fan...my parents were even lucky enough to have Miami Dolphin season tickets during their "Perfect Season" -- I got to watch the game at home with my little sister and a babysitter -- oh well)

Now I live in North Idaho...and until this season, the Seahawks, being the closest team, have not been worth watching....we thought we were on track this year...but they lost last weekend...so now it's back to the Niners for us.

Now sitting down watching a football game doesn't happen for me.  I am not a good sitter.  I am a good stander and do-er.  I don't know if it's why I am a teacher or if it is from being a teacher, but I have the need to multi-task.  So I will probably be on my laptop looking for new blogs and ideas to pin and post.  But if you ask my boss...I'm working on my report cards...really....I am!

Dana's blog is from Atlanta.  A place I have been to one time...and that one time it snowed while I was there!  This week Dana has some great freebies for Martin Luther King Day...in case you are like me and haven't done that lesson yet, head over and get her free banner and puzzle pages to go with your lesson.

Day 13 Teaching with Love and Laughter

I found Lori Rosenberg's blog this morning and I can hardly tear myself away from it to blog about it.  She is amazing and her resources are amazing and her writing ideas are amazing and it looks like her school is amazing -- she gets to teach writing to k, 1 and 2.

Wow, what a concept, getting to teach something you really, really love A LOT and getting the quality time to do it!  I bet that school must have the most awesome writers.  In my school we have such a push on math and reading  that we just don't get as much time with writing as I would love to have -- and that I need to have to do it well.

Plus there is the planning time.  Planning every subject and teaching them is so time consuming -- at least right now with all the aligning to the common core standards now.  I am just starting to feel comfortable with knowing the standards...and it's January!  It's like a new pair of shoes that are a struggle to break in and you keep having to wear them to school! :-)

Back to Lori's blog:  Teaching with Love and Laughter

She has amazing writing ideas and she shares them on TpT as well as on her blog.  She also has some fun freebies.  She has a fun Winter Rebus Story on her blog and TpT store right now.  (Yet another Florida teacher with creative winter/snow themed activities -- ha ha!  Makes me think I should be doing tropical rain forest activities with my students -- It's warmed up to 11 degrees outside right now and it's 9:30 in the morning!)

The other thing Lori has are some great giveaways and contests.  Right now she is giving away a fun Learning Resource game called Sentence Buildings.  Head over to her blog and enter to win.  I know my firsties would love this for a center!

Here is what I'm drooling over right now!  Grammar Review Sheets for First Grade.  There are 30 review sheets and they cover Common Core skills.  The skills are the same on each day, but they get progressively harder.  I can't wait to download this one from her TpT store!

Day 12 Teaching with Hope

I love the title of Hope's blog: Teaching with Hope  We all have to have at least some hope to be a teacher, don't we?  We hope our teaching will stick, we hope the kids do well next year and beyond, we hope that the principal doesn't call another meeting after school, we hope for a few more hours in each day, we hope that summer gets here soon, but not before we have managed to fill those little ones heads with everything they need to know before then!

She is a 3rd grade teacher in Oregon...welcome fellow Pacific Northwest Teacher/Blogger! There don't seem to be as many of us as there are from the southeast.  Perhaps their days are longer and they have more time ;)  Or perhaps there is something in the water that gives them more energy to use more more waking hours and less sleeping ones...not sure :)  But if they were to bottle it and sell it on TpT they would make a lot of money -- especially from me!

She created a very cute Skip Counting book to help teach those 2nd and 3rd graders the patterns involved with learning multiplication.  I used something similar to this when I taught 2nd and 3rd grades.  The visual part of this really helped some kids over the hump of connecting addition to multiplication.

While at her TpT Store...I also found this freebie.  LOVE it!  My first graders will love it too!  I know we just started using Vowac this year...but this one is a fun one for their poem book that they do at centers.  It never hurts to use more than one trick --- or poem as the case may be -- to teach a skill.  One of them is going to stick like glue!

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It could be yours!!

Day 11 My Silly Firsties

Last weekend I got lost on TpT.  I forgot what I was even looking for at some point.  You know how that is?

You find a cool freebie on the Sunday Free Download TpT Email that comes out, 

then you visit one of the seller's stores, 

then you search for something else, 

then you visit that seller's store, 

then you follow them to their blog, 

then you visit one of the blogs that inspired the last blogger,

then it reminds you of something else you were thinking about looking for...

and all of a sudden you realize that the dogs want to go out again and the timer for the dryer went off...twice...

and what started out as a quick "just checking my email" turned into "your lost in the maze of the internet looking for the perfect activity to finish those darn lesson plans you have been dragging your heels on all weekend."

Ok, so this 1st grade blogger stopped me and brought me back to reality...or rather, my true purpose...finding another blog to feature on my 365 Blog Hop Challenge.

Today's blog is by Haley in Dallas, Texas.  Those Texas ladies are real prolific bloggers!  Is that where the saying "Go Big or Go Home" comes from?  I don't know, but whenever I come across a Texas Teacher...I'm never disappointed!

My Silly Firsties is full of great ideas.  If you are new to setting  up a classroom or you just don't like how things are rolling for you and you want some great ideas to reorganize yourself...and your students...check out her back to school post.  Her classroom is so organized and well thought out.  Now that I have read it, I want to start my year over again! lol

And in her spare time, Haley creates some great stuff to use with her class and has shared them on TpT.  Some are freebies too.  I love the game UNO and love using it with my students.  Haley has a great sight word version of it in her TpT Store.  Check it out!  

Welcome to my 365 Blog Hop Challenge Haley and anyone else who stopped by today!  Be sure to Follow me and find out who I discover next! Maybe it will be YOU!

Day 7 Sugar and Spice

What better way to start the work week than with a little Sugar and Spice.  Christina is celebrating her blog's 1st birthday this week. Congratulations!! And to celebrate she is having a HUGE give-away -- with some help from her friends!

Hurry on over and you have a chance to win lots of amazing activities that she -- and her blog friends -- have created.  You have to be entered by January 8th!  I have yet to win any of these contests...so since I entered,  your odds of winning are even better!!  :) tee hee

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This way you won't miss any of the blogs I find in my hopping!  You can also find me on Facebook : Primary in Idaho 

Day 6 Teacher Idea Factory

Today's blog -- Teacher Idea Factory -- has creative artwork to go with the creative title!  I think this is my favorite blog header that I've found in my hopping!   Kelley has lots of creative and new ideas that she both sells and shares.

I've come across this blog before through my hopping ways, but her December freebie caught my eye.  She has over 50 freebies on her blog--click HERE for the link.  The Sweet Story Adjective writing was a cool idea!  And I still get to use it because we haven't had our Christmas party yet!  (loooong story)

The best snowman art project ever is HERE.  I plan to do it next Friday during our art time!  So easy, so cool, so calming...that was what sold it to me.  After a two week vacation and five full days of teaching...Friday needs to end on a calm note!  (for me and the kids!)

Day 4...It's Friday

What better blog to focus on for the first Friday of the New Year than T.G.I.F. !!

Thank God It's First Grade.

(That's what you were thinking wasn't it?  lol)

Susan teaches 1st grade in Las Vegas, Nevada.  Fortunately what she does in Vegas isn't staying in Vegas! (couldn't resist saying that).  Read through her blog and you will be delighted with her clever creations and you will be inspired with her fresh energy.

Sometimes, after teaching 17 years, I need a kick in the pants reminder to be excited about the little things.  Susan's blog does that for me.  Her blog and her writing just oozes enthusiasm -- for her students, her family, her creations and just life in general!

She has a TpT store with lots of great goodies she's created.  Head over and check some out.  There are some fun freebies as well.  Here is the Penguin Freebie I just downloaded!  Can't wait to add it to my centers this month!

Day 3 of Blog Hopping

I teach 1st grade, but I love to see what 2nd is doing (I spent 3 years with second graders). I think spending time at the grade above you currently teach is truly a valuable gift.

I know exactly what my 1st graders need to do next year which makes it easier to prepare them in the long term this year.

I do have to admit I get a little sad having to give up my competent and independent end of the year 1st grade workers each June only to start from scratch with end of the year half-day kindergarten kids again in September.  <<big sigh>>

But at least I know I'm good at getting them ready for the world of learning...or so the 2nd grade teachers tell me.  Is that perhaps because they don't want to exchange their kids for my potty accident, runny nosed, dragging shoe laced first graders??  Nah...they would love to do 1st grade :) lol

When I search for ideas, I always visit those 2nd grade teachers.  They tend to have some fun things that can challenge my kids that need challenging.  The first 2nd grade blog I am sharing is called Pirate Girl's Education Invasion.

She calls her kids Mrs. Powell's Pirates.  I love that! Pirates?  That got me wondering where she was from.  Well, where did pirates hang out?

Well, in warm places with lots of ocean of course!  This is a sunrise, not a sunset...that should narrow it down to the East side of our country.  

She lives in Florida!  Gorgeous, warm, tropical, Florida.  I was born there and my parents moved us west when I was 10, but that beach picture truly calls to me.  Perhaps the foot of snow outside my window and the fact that the low tonight is supposed to be 9 degrees (brrrr) only adds to the desire to be somewhere...anywhere....warmer!

So, Merinda....if we all show up on your doorstep for Spring Break, will you have room for us?

Day 2 of My Challenge

Day #2 

I discovered this blog just last week.  I found it as part of Google+.  I have no idea how I became part of it...other than the fact that Google Chrome or Google+ or some googly thing invited me.  But there is a huge network of teachers on there.  And +Sarah Winchell is one of the teachers I found.  (Isn't it cool how if I just put a plus in front of her name it just directs you right to her Google profile :)  

The first thing that drew me to her blog was the title!  Yup, I eat, sleep and dream first grade.  I even got to the point where I keep notepads everywhere...like on the bathroom counter...because when I'm in the shower cool ideas pop into my head and I have to write them down right away or I will forget them! lol

Sarah has LOTS of experience.  She teaches 1st grade in North Carolina.  She has been teaching for 27 years!  Wow!  Her blog, I Dream of First Grade, is full of great ideas and advice from a veteran who absolutely loves teaching the little ones!

Pop on over for a visit!

Martin Luther King Day Ideas

Here are some links to ideas to use when studying about Martin Luther King...

You have to start with a good book.  Here are a couple good ones I've used:

Martin's Big Words

A Picture Book of Martin Luther King, Jr

My First Biography: Martin Luther King, Jr

Then after you've read a good book or two to build schema...then you can move on to planning and plotting and writing and interpreting.

Here is a freebie I made...this is a sample of what the finished product could look like.  It is on my TpT store with the writing template.  Feel free to use it :)  Click HERE to download.

Here are some other teachers with some fun and clever ideas...plus some other sites too:

Classroom Freebies

Free coloring page on TeacherVision

Kinder Alphabet 

Flying into First Grade

This is a good video on Brain Pop (I had never found this site before.  It's cool!)

Crazy for First Grade

Check out this Fingerprint Peace Dove art project.  It's amazing!

Free Kids Crafts.com

Poem Freebie

Word Search

This site has a historical narrative for you to read if you are rusty on the details of Martin Luther King Jr's life.  

Well, that should get just about anybody started.  If you still haven't found what you need, then pop over to TpT and search for free Martin Luther King stuff.  There is quite a bit more on the site.

A couple of back to school freebies

Here are a couple things I created for my class this year and thought I would share.  Sometimes it's tough to start from scratch and finding something that will help you out is always good.

This is my parent survey. I send it home the first day so that I can grab those parent helpers and get them trained right away.  It's posted as a freebie on TPT...I am still learning how to post things on there. Here is the link:

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/1st-grade-Parent-Survey

This second one is a simple, quick list for the end of the day.  Now that I'm at a school with bus pick up I want to keep all 22 kids going in the right direction...especially if I end up with a substitute.

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/How-do-you-get-home-graph

Enjoy!

I hope that the beginning of your year is going well so far!