Chicka Chicka Boom Boom!!

Wow!  I've got my very own coconut tree!  Kristen at First Grade Teaching posted great directions for this.  I plan to use it in our Word Center for the first part of the year.  Believe it or not - the trunk is magnetic!  A big "Thank You" to my dad (who applied 3 coats of magnetic primer and a top coat of brown and made the base) and my husband (who stripped the umbrella and helped with the leaves). Can't wait to see the kids under the coconut tree!

Behavior Rewards

I just love Sarah Cooley's ideas about behavior rewards.  I borrowed many of her 'bee'-autiful ideas and added a few others. Please visit Sarah's site to read more about her plan.

Parent Communication Binders

I love the idea of a communication folder/binder for first graders. The acronym ideas are so cute.  I've created some F.R.O.G. (Fully Responsible, Organized and Growing) documents to match my room theme. I'm thinking of using this as the cover in a 1"binder.

I intend to use a parent letter explaining the use of the binder and a communication log.

I think labels for a homework pocket and a money pouch might be helpful.

The Frog Pouch labels are available to print, too!

Graphics are from Scrappin' Doodles  - and labels are set for Avery 8163 shipping labels. :)



Pirates - r-controlled vowel /ar/

After purchasing the marvelous unit from The Inspired Apple, we used Kim Saylor's idea at Saylor's Log and let the students create their own treasure maps using words from the Pirate Mark listening activity.   These /ar/ pirate activities sparked us to schedule a Pirate Day.  So more to follow . . . .

Message in a Bottle

Arghh Parents!

Our 1st Grade Pirate Day was a ton of fun.  One of the activities students were a part of was creating messages in a bottle.  Students wrote out their message on worn tea stained paper, and added it to their bottles.