St. Patrick's Day

Ahhh.  Spring break is here!  Time to catch up on my blog posts.  Here are some of the fun activities we did in our classroom to celebrate!


First, we talked about the various symbols of St. Patrick's day.  The students were eager to share with my how they tried to catch a leprechaun last year with their teacher.  We decided that we would try again this year.  I found a "trap" on the internet and we built them in small groups.  We ended up with three traps that we set around the room.  Here is a picture of what our traps looked like:

The kids loved making them!  They were very clever about where to set them up - one by the door, one by a window, and one at the end of the rainbow on our rug!  Here is a link to the directions from education.com: http://www.education.com/activity/article/craft-leprechaun-trap/

We also borrowed an idea from The First Grade Parade.  We made leprechauns and wrote about why we feel lucky.  Here is what our board looked like:

Our pot of gold.

 

A few student examples.

Finally, I shared a special snack with students - a bag of Lucky Charms cereal with a special message.  But before they were allowed to eat their snack, they first had to sort, tally, graph, and analyze their data!  We used the sorting and tally charts from Made for 1st Grade and a graph and analysis that I created.  The label for the bags came from Pinterest via Teaching Blog Addict.  I could not find the actual post, but I used the sample to create my own.  I will post a link to the label when I can figure out where I saved it!

100th Day of School

To celebrate the 100th day of school, we started by discussing what we might look like when we are 100 years old.  We then created portraits of ourselves at 100.  The students had a great time with this discussion and activity!  Thanks to Jenn Bates at Finally in First for the idea!  http://finallyinfirst.blogspot.com/2011/02/cutest-100-year-olds-ever.html

Here is how they turned out:

We also practiced counting to 100 with "gumballs" and monster eyes:

This idea came from Mrs. Mayas' Kindergarten at http://mrsmayaskinders.blogspot.com/2012/01/100th-day-celebration.html

Have I mentioned that I love Pinterest!

Pinterest is AWESOME!

If you have not joined the Pinterest world, I highly recommend it.  You can find anything and everything!  Here are some ideas that I have used for school.

To celebrate the new year, we created pictures of ourselves with party hats and blowers.  After we talked about resolution and what that means, the students wrote their own resolutions for the new year.  I borrowed the idea from Mrs. Morrow's Kindergarten at:
http://mrsmorrowskindergarteners.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2011-02-07T13%3A57%3A00-08%3A00&max-results=3


Here is how ours turned out:

Also in January, we celebrated the accomplishments of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  Again, Pinterest saved the day.  I borrowed this idea from Kindergarten Art with Mrs. Brown:

http://www.mrsbrownart.com/kindergarten.htm

Here is how ours turned out:

Rylee's Birthday

So, I said I would try this blogging and then never followed through...until today.  :)

Rylee celebrated her 8th birthday in January.  She requested a pink themed party.  Rylee is not much of a cake eater, but she couldn't resist the cupcake idea we saw on Pinterest.  Here is a link to the idea from Ready, Set, Craft:

http://readysetcraft.blogspot.com/2010/01/week-in-review.html

Here is a picture of how ours turned out:

We also made some cute party favors for all of her friends.

All in all, the party was a success!