Counting Challenge Math Mania Freebie

Hey everyone!  Sometimes I wonder and hope there are other teachers like me whose brains are just bursting with so many ideas it almost drives you insane wondering how you'll ever accomplish them all.  Then I do some blog-stalking and I feel so un-alone and know there are other people out who understand exactly what I'm talking about.  Thank heaven!

Anyway, tonight's post is a big of a blast from the past, but I think you're going to like it! (freebie to come...)  Every year I hold a counting challenge in my class.  My little first graders (or kindergartners when I taught them) have to count by 1s, 2s, 5s, 10s, and 25s to 200 to earn their "shooting star" award and a prize.  Each student has a star with their name on it in the classroom and once they pass each one off they get to put a star sticker on that number.

When they finish they get a star prize - in the past they have been filled with glow-in-the-dark ceiling stars, star stickers, and starburst candies, but I may switch things up a bit this year.  I'm also going to redesign my star poster so it matches my Dr. Seuss theme (pictures to come soon - I promise!).  But I decided to share the "Shoot for the Stars" challenge with you for free (click the images to download on TPT), especially since now is a great time to get it ready.

By a few months into the year last year most of my first graders were 'shooting star' counters and eager for another challenge, so I created a shooting-star-challenge-extension called "Counting Stars".  I created stars of a different color, and for this challenge they had to count by odds, 3s, 4s, 20s, and 10s starting with any number, like 7 (7, 17, 27, 37...).

By the end of the year 90% of my students had completed both challenges and we were actually beginning multiplication in math. 

 I know, multiplication in first grade?!  Crazy, it sounds, but my school teaches 2nd grade math curriculum in 1st grade, and amazingly, most of the students pick it up like it's nothing.  It's pretty incredible.  We only learn times facts 0-5, x10 and x100, but it got me thinking of another great challenge idea: "Multiplying til Midnight - It's time to times." (Click the image to get it on TPT).

I didn't actually implement this challenge in my classroom since my first graders don't learn all of the multiplication facts, but I think it would be awesome for 2nd or 3rd grade students.  If you're interested in this challenge, you can download it on TN or TPT.  Enjoy!  Let me know if you try it with your students and how it goes!

Pleasant Surprise Plus a little More {linky!}

What a happy surprise!

Carmela @ Diary of a Teachaholic and Tamera @ My Heart Belongs in First both nominated me for the Versatile Blogger award while I was on my month long hiatus from blogging.  Thank you both so much! 


 In the meantime I stumbled across Amy's awesome linky party.  I LOVED learning a little bit more about some of the bloggers I not-so-secretly blogstalk.  What incredible people there are in this world, right? And I love that so many of them happen to be teachers!! :)  

I reeally wanted to join the linky party and I figured what a great opportunity to kill two birds with one stone.  (Not that I would ever kill an animal...)

So here are some fun facts about me: 

• My husband is my best friend in the world.  Like Lindsey, (The Teacher Wife) my husband and I were married in this LDS Temple because we are 'mormons.'  
• Last week my husband created this adorable card for me.  He gave it to me with a bag of Australian licorice (SO good!) and tickets to Wicked.  SO (bazillion times underlined) excited! (If you read the card carefully you just might be able to pick out another funny fact about us... yes we watch the Bachelor & Bachelorette, and yes my husband is just as cute and clever as Jef :)
• We have a kitty named Lucky.  She is adorable.  I rescued her from the jaws of my parents' dog when she was just 2 weeks old and we had to keep her.  
• I first started teaching in Taiwan so I LOVE Asian kids.
• I'm a few days away from being done with my masters degree!
• I'm the 3rd of 8 children in my family.

I love to craft & create.  Every year we enter the Ivory Home gingerbread contest.  Each entry has to be modeled after one of their home designs.  The first year we entered we won 2nd place and $500!  It was such a pleasant surprise.  Last year we received an honorable mention for "best reindeer".  (which you can't see in the pic - oops)

I also created this fruit turkey for Thanksgiving, just for fun.  :)  

My husband and I love to travel.  We've tried to go somewhere together every year.  Before we got married he came to visit me in Taiwan.  After he departed I traveled to Thailand.  A year later we hopped over to Jamaica for our Honeymoon.  The next year we adventured through Costa Rica.  Last year we relaxed in Mexico and this year we explored Japan.  I can't wait to see where we go next.  Our goal is to visit every continent (with the possible exception of Antarctica :).

Oh and I LOVE to hike.

Well... that's all for now folks!

And the Versatile Blogger nominees are (drum roll, please).....

1. http://simplysweetteaching.blogspot.com/
2. http://mtompkins-wildaboutfirstgrade.blogspot.com
3. http://thegroovyteacher.blogspot.com
4. http://the-learningtree.blogspot.com
5. http://psychedtobeinsecond.blogspot.com
6. http://wilkieclass.blogspot.com/
7. http://sweetnsassyin2nd.blogspot.com
8. http://2ndgradeglanceblog.blogspot.com
9. http://moretime2teach.blogspot.com
10. http://confessionsofateachanista.blogspot.com
11. http://buggyaboutlearninginkindergarten.blogspot.com

 Please go check out these blogs, they're great!  :)

Rules:
1. Link back to the award giver then...  

2. Include the award image in your post.
3. Give 7 ish random facts about yourself.
4. Nominate 15 ish other bloggers for the award. (link to them)
5.  Let them know they've been nominated 

I'm BaaaaCK!

Hey everyone!  I'm back after a few-week-long hiatus that included adventures in Japan, lots of crafting and way too much work on my masters project (BORING!) - Good news is, I am literally, (fingers crossed!) a week away from defending my project and being DONE with my masters degree.  Wahoo!  Go me! :) (Well... that is assuming that my project committee signs off on it.... gulp.  eek.)

It seems like so much time has gone by since the last time I blogged so here's a *brief* little photo stroll through Japan.

The first day I arrived my husband's graduate class and I toured through the tsunami devastation ruins.  It was truly unbelievable.  Nearly a year and a half ago and still much of the area looks like this:

 This school really hit home for me as I imagined being responsible for my own students during such a disaster.  I know some stateside teachers got a taste of what it's like to be teaching during a natural disaster this year with all of the tornadoes, but I personally have never experienced anything more than a drill.  (knock, knock on wood.)

 This photo shows the outside of the school - the spiral staircase shows the previous evacuation site - the school roof.  Fortunately, just a year before the tsunami, the evacuation plan was revised, providing an alternate exit that directed students to higher ground.  If the old evacuation plan had been in effect at  the time of the tsunami all students and teachers would have been lost since the wave entirely covered the roof of the building.  Luckily all of the students and teachers were safe.

 These women survived the tsunami and shared their stories with us.  The woman next to me was actually in the attic of her home clinging to her dog and the rafters when the tsunami split the levels of the home and carried it down the street.  She was buried under the roof and debris and later unburied by neighbors.  She and the dog both survived.

 Here's me hiking under Tori gates in the pouring rain.

Now these have nothing to do with our trip to Japan, but I made them for the culmination of my Patriotic Music summer school class.  We serenaded parents with patriotic music in our craftily decorated red, white, and blue classroom.  Afterwards we celebrated with these delectable strawberries and a layered red, white, and blue drink that I forgot to take pictures of.  Google it - it's worth seeing!  (You can also find instructions on Family Fun).

Well I can't wait to see what everyone else has been up to and show you all of the crafts I've been working on - I decided to undertake a Dr. Seuss theme for my classroom this year.  I promise to be back soon!  

Summer School & I'm leavin' on a Jetplane

I survived!  My husband has been in Japan for two weeks without me and in exactly two hours my plane departs to join him.  Hooray! (For the joining part, not the long flying part)  This week I've been staying with my sister who recently had a baby and teaching summer school.  My school decided to let the teachers have free-reign over their summer school classes this year and I decided to teach a Dinosaur class, a Fairytale class, and a Mystery class.  It has been a lot of fun!  I did a lousy job of snapping photos of all of the fun things we did - but here are just a few:

 We talked about and read LOTS of awesome fairy tales.  Then the kids created their own inside an awesome castle card foldable.

 We talked about lots of fun dinosaurs, wrote about them, drew them, modeled them with clay, and even made our own plaster of paris fossils! 

The kids had a lot of fun with these.  They were tricky for a lot of the kids - but they were thrilled nonetheless.  I had an assortment of flashlights so we turned off all the lights, shut the blinds, and partnered up.  We taped a piece of black construction paper on the wall then ended up using chairs to rest the flashlights on to cast a shadow of the student who was sitting very still in front of the black paper. Then they cut them out and mounted them on paper.  They turned out pretty great and the kids LOVED guessing who each other was.

We made magical wands, plus glittery castles and crowns, but I forgot to photograph those :(

 This picture I added just for fun.  I've been a little bored of my hair recently and I saw a hairstyle sort of like this on Pinterest and thought I'd give it a whirl.  It turned out pretty well considering that I did it all blind.  My favorite part of the photo is my cute kitty, Lucky, who jumped up on the bathroom cabinet to pose for the picture and get the camera flash.  So cute.  

Are you teaching summer school?  How does your school do it?  Is it purely academic review or more like summer camps?

Well I can't wait to hear, but it's TTFN because I'm off to Japan!

Sentimental + end of the year student gift freebie

Last Friday was our last day of school and I was torn between elation and devastation.  I just really love what I do.  Plus, I think the fact that my husband was leaving to Japan in a few days also put a damper on things.  Who am I supposed to enjoy summer with?  :(  sniff, sniff.  But we had a fun last week at school.  I got really attached to my kiddos this year and call me crazy, I've actually kind of been wishing we had school this week. 

 I was a bit of a procrastinator on student gifts and put it off until THE. very. last. moment. I made a trip to Ross and the Dollar store (LOVE them!) and found these goodies.  I decided to do separate boy and girl gifts because I couldn't walk away from the BIG pack of colorful, sparkly, smelly lip glosses hidden behind all the water toys.  I knew my girls would love them!  Then I came up with this gift tag:  (click the image to download a FREE generic version that doesn't say Mrs. Bell)

 I got a little lazy with the assembling, I mean come on, they're kids, it's a gift, who cares what it looks like!?  If I had cared a wee bit more I would have printed them in color and actually cut them in circles or something, but see as how I was cutting them THE morning of the last day of school I think they turned out okay. 

The girl gift contains two lip-glosses, a sour fairy pixie stick, and water balloons.  The boy gift contains goggles, a squirt gun, and water balloon. And guess how much each one cost?  My husband and I calculated just for fun - Only $0.80 a piece!  Pretty good deal, eh?

 

Now of course I got spoiled by my darling students and their wonderful parents since it was the last day of school and these were two of my FAVORITE gifts.  This book, Mrs. Bell's Adventures, details how my student (the author) and I travel in his time machine to each of the different civilizations that we learned about this year including Mesopotamia, Egypt, the Aztecs, and the Mayans.  It is SO CUTE!  (I wish there was a bazillion times underlining button).

 Here's the last page.  Adorable!  This same student gave me the cutest magnets ever for Valentines that were our inspiration for our Mother's Day gift. (See the magnets here)

 

 This was one of my other most favorite gifts.  You've probably seen them on Pinterest. A few teachers at my school have them and I had eyed them enviously a few times and crossed my fingers that one day a student would give me one.  Well my wish came true! I love it!  (And... I must say mine is the cutest one of all, shhhh, don't tell)!

I can't wait to see what fun things other teacher bloggers are doing/giving/receiving!

I've been doing some blog-hopping with my free time and I found some awesome Linky Parties and decided to link up.  Come check them out and link up too! (Click the images to go to the hosting site).

Oh and stay tuned - I've been working on a new unit for My Father's Dragon, and I can't wait to post it!

Students Appreciating Teachers

Last week my first grade team was trying to think of ideas for the last week of school when I had the idea that we should swap students and make a thank you gift for one another with each others' students. 

 It was fun for the kids to experience the other teachers and they were ecstatic about creating a secret gift for their teacher.  I came up with this little booklet and each student made a tissue paper flower then we put them together into a bouquet.

To make the flowers thread a pipe-cleaner through the bottom of several layers of tissue paper cut in various sizes of circles, we used 5, then thread a button through the pipe-cleaner.  Take the pipe-cleaner back through the button then twist the pipe-cleaner ends together to make a stem.

 Each page inside the book contains this simple poem and the students wrote 3 reasons why they love their teacher.  Their reasons, like "you plan really fun fieldtrips, you always help me, you teach us everything" were super sweet and thoughtful. Click any of the images to download the book for FREE. Enjoy!

 This is the gift my students made for me - SO cute.  They each wrote a letter to me on the back of their apple.  They were really sweet. :)