Future Presidents

We had a blast doing these with the kids. The hardest part of it was having them stand still so I could trace their shadows. Once we cut them out it was so easy to pick out who was who. After I take them down I will mount them on white paper and laminate them for the kids. I know this is definite keepsake (I still have mine from kindergarten, back in the day). This is my last president's day project and now on to dental health and Dr. Seuss. So thanks for stopping by.

Famous Presidents (aren't they all)

Every year around this time we have our first graders do a "research" project on a president. They get all excited about it and do a wonderful job with it. We send home two sheets for them to fill out. The front side they have to pick a president, write his name, what number president he was, what years he served in office and draw or paste a picture of him. On the back side they have to write four interesting facts about their president and draw pictures. We then glue the papers to the front and back of a cereal box. Each child reads all the facts and we guess who it is. They love this part. After reading the facts we make a time line with their reports. This is one of my favorite projects for our kids. They do a wonderful job and they are exposed to other presidents other than Washington, Lincoln, and Obama. This project is done at home with the help of their family and they find the information on the website www.whitehouse.gov/kids. I also give them two weeks to bring them in. Here are a few pictures of our "research" projects.  Enjoy, and thanks for stopping by.

Statue of Liberty and Big Foot!

Okay, I fell in love with the American unit from Mrs. Jumps blog. So I purchased it and away we went. The kids always get excited about the presidents but when I told them we would be making a model of the statue of liberty's foot they couldn't wait. So I pretty much let them all help (all 21 of them). We lined up in the hallway and they helped hold the paper still while we rolled it out and measured it then cut it. Once I drew the toenails they were able to visualize it much better. The kids were calling it Big Foot. It took quite a few hands to help us hang it up. After it was hung then we did the step by step directions on how to draw it. I love how they came out. Some of the were much more volumptious than others. What a riot. Since it's been up in the hallway we have received a ton of compliments. The kids really enjoyed the project. Now, today we learned about the Liberty Bell. I found a great video on United Streaming (for those of you who have access to this site). They also made the bell  and tomorrow will be the American Eagle. I think I am enjoying this unit just as much as the children. So if you haven't seen the unit you might want to head over to Mrs. Jumps blog. Like I've already said, I am so greatful for all the wonderful teachers who share their ideas.
Thanks for stopping by.

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day! We had our class party today and the kids were so good. We read Clifford's First Valentine's Day and made these adorable Clifford dogs to decorate our treat bags. Aren't they adorable. This was a wonderful idea from Mrs. Woods Kindergarten and from Mrs. Larremore from Chalk talk. Thanks so much for sharing your awesome ideas. We also did a Valentine book exchange which the kids enjoyed. Noone complained about the book they ended up with. This was also a great idea from the blog First Grade Best.
Now, on to more President's day activities and American symbols unit. I'll be glad to post as soon as we finish the projects. Thanks for stopping by.

Valentine Graphing

Since it was Friday afternoon (and the kids have been going bonkers because they haven't been outside for recess because of so much snow and bitter cold) I decided it would be a great time to pull out the Valentine conversation hearts and graph what we have in our boxes. This activity really kept them busy. We also graphed what we want for Valentine's day and one little girl said she wanted flowers from Max ( the boy who sits next to her) and he immediately replied "Not from me you're not getting flowers from!" We laughed so hard, it was a riot. The little girl even laughed. I want to thank all the wonderful teachers out there in blog land who share so much of their work. I've been using quite a bit and the kids are really enjoying all the activities. So, Muchas Gracias!!
Have a great weekend and I will try to post more pics this weekend. Thanks for stopping by.

Abe Lincoln and Valentines

So we read and talked about Abraham Lincoln today. The kids couldn't grasp the idea of slaves. They thought butlers and cleaning ladies were slaves. Once we got past that point then they were facinated with
that fact that Lincoln was assassinated. Go figure! I finally got them passed that point with talking and showing them Lincoln's tall hat. Phew!! We wrote about what we would keep in our hats and I just loved their answers, especially the one who would keep his money and puppies in it. Great combo, huh! Another girl would keep her red rubies in it (even though she doesn't have any). Their answers were a riot. Here are a few pictures of their hats.

We also made our Valentine vases. Once I showed them how to make hearts they were on their own and some of them went crazy making the hearts while others had a hard time. Either way the vases turned out cute.Thanks for stopping by.

100th Day Celebration

Well, we finally had our 100th day celebration even though it wasn't the 100th day. Because we had 2 snow days it was really the 98th day but the kids never questioned us and we went along with it. The best part of our celebration is when the kids come to school dressed like they are 100 years old. They are a riot! The canes, gray hair, the old dresses and lipstick (all over their faces) are just a hoot! We start the day with a parade around the whole school so show off our old people. The other classes look forward to seeing us.Then we did centers with all 100 activities. Their favorite was what can they build with 100 cups. We also  had what they can do with 100 legos, blocks, pattern blocks, and linking cubes. The kids drew pictures of what they will look like in 100 years and wrote about what they would buy with $100. The kids also brought in their 100 collections. They had some pretty clever items. To show them off they had to sort the items out in groups of tens, then twenties and then in twenty fives. We had a great day. This day also coincided with student appreciation day. So they were all treated to build your own ice cream sundaes and all school bingo. Needless to say we didn't get any work done and I am sooo glad the day is over even though it was so much fun. Now, on to presidents day, Valentine's day and dental health month. How are we going to ever get it all in at once?! By the way, we like to do graphs in our room. I try to do at least one a week. Since we've had so much snow lately I decided to do a graph about who wore mittens or gloves. Who would have thunk? They all wore gloves. Oh well! That's all for now. On to the big game (and lesson plans)of course. Thanks for stopping by.

Chicago Blizzard of 2011

What a storm! We are used to snow storms here is Chicago but not one like this. The wind was incredible. It was weird. In one spot there was no snow while a few feet away the snow was 19 inches high. That's what the wind does. Now, for the cold. The bitter cold will be coming in next. So we don't even have school again tomorrow. That is unbelievable for this neck of the woods. I won't complain though. I've been busy making all kinds of center games from all the wonderful blogs I find. Once again, I'm so thankful for all the wonderful teachers out there who share their things. They're awesome. Now, I'm off to surf the web and look at the beautiful snow.  Stay warm!!

Holy Smokes!

We (here in Chicago) are in the middle of an incredible blizzard. I haven't seen the wind like this in years. So tomorrow there aren't any schools open and I'd be surprised if any business are open either. We have only had one snow day in my ten years teaching first grade. The kids were sooo excited today just to have a snow day. I'm sure in June we will be kicking ourselves for this day off. Oh well, I'd rather be off tomorrow than in June. Because I'll be home I'm hoping to get some blogging, scrapping and some projects done. Since I went back to school for my masters it's hard to find time for the fun things. Anyway, here are a few pictures from the last few weeks.

Groundhogs day is tomorrow. The kids really love to hear about Phil, the groundhog. We read several stories about him and then make our predictions. With the snowstorm him, most of the kids said he will not see his shadow and spring will be here real soon. Looking out my window I doubt it.

During math last week we were skip counting by 5's so we decided to use our hands to help us count. Each child had 2 hands to decorate. Then we went along and numbered them by 5's. They really turned out cute. These pictures don't show the whole picture.

So, this Friday is the 100th day of school. The kids (and teachers) can't wait for it. We've been counting down forever, it seems. For the special day the kids will come to school dressed up like they are 100 years old. It's a riot! They have canes, walkers, their hair is gray and they look awesome. We take a walk around the whole school, in and out of all the classes and the rest of the school loves to see us. We also have a full day of 100 activities (which we already started to do). This is one of the favorite days in kindergarten and first grade.

Well, back to some blogging. I am so lucky to have found so many awesome teachers who share their ideas. I will try to have more to post soon.  Thanks for stopping by and sharing. Happy Ground Hog Day!!  Think Spring!!