Working with Bossy R!

It is hard to believe that we only have 15 days left of school! We have been hustling these last few weeks to get finished up with all of our learning. Most of my kiddos are dreaming of summertime already and chatty, chatty, chatty! 

We have been having some fun with my new Bossy R pack the past 2 weeks and I wanted to share with you what we've been up to! 

Stick with me to the end of this post for a chance to win this pack for free!  

We loved reading Bossy R rebus stories during small group time! Adding pictures into reading makes a short story so engaging for my kiddos! We read the story together and then answered the comprehension questions. I sent these stories home for students to practice with families and I heard so many excited stories about my kiddos having mom/dad/grandma guess what bossy r words the pictures represented! 

Bossy R puzzles were such a fun way for my students to practice matching bossy r words with the correct spelling. Included in my pack are three different sets of puzzles so that you can differentiate based on student needs!

My Bossy R riddles were BY FAR the biggest hit with my kiddos! They LOVED trying to figure out which word matched each picture! After we finished with each riddle page I had my kids flip the page over and write the names of each picture on the back! It was a huge hit!

I would love to share this pack with you in hopes that your students will enjoy it as much as mine did! To win this pack follow these steps:
Click here to follow my store on TpT
Comment on this blog post with your e-mail!
The first 2 people to follow these steps will receive a free pack!

Be sure to download the product preview for this product to receive a free riddle page!
Thanks for checking it out!

Finally Friday!

This week has been the longest of all weeks! With state testing going on for the upper grades, we have all just about gone crazy! Between not having block class, eating lunch an hour and a half early, and rainy days all week, we are just about to lose our minds in first grade! My kiddos are going stir crazy and no amount of GoNoodle has been able to save up from the restlessness of a full day in our classroom!
Needless to say, we are all ready for testing to be over and for the rain to go away!
Here's a look at what we've had going on this week!

We have been going puzzle crazy this week! From Place Value Puzzles to puzzles with blends, we have had a blast putting together all sorts of things! Check out the place value puzzles in my brand new pack and be on the lookout for my Bossy R puzzle pack, coming soon!

A few weeks ago we had a TON of calendars donated to the school. As soon as I looked through them and picked out an embarrassingly tall pile I knew exactly what I wanted to do with them. I got to work cutting all of the pictures apart, laminating, making writing pages, and finding a bucket to store our center in. It took a little creative thinking, but my picture writing center was up and running this week and I have had so much fun reading the stories that my kiddos have come up with! Here is one of my favorites! :) 

I was in a mid-week slump Wednesday night and in dire need of a pick-me-up! Luckily my husband was willing to take a ride with me to McDonald's to get a yummy hot fudge sundae (and he insisted on bringing the cat for a ride!)

We have had a blast learning about light and shadows this week! I saw this idea and just knew I had to try it with my little ones! We laughed so much making our shadow figures! I let the kids cut out their own shadows so they aren't perfect, but we love them anyway :) After putting our shadows up in the hall, the kids all wrote something that they have learned about shadows to put in their caption bubbles! 

I spent the week doing our DRA testing! Most of my babies moved up at least 3 levels since January and it has been so encouraging to see that growth! Next week we have to tackle DIBELS testing, say a prayer for me!

Happy Friday everyone!

Surviving 'til Summer

I am excited to link up with Katie & Michelle to talk about some ways that I am surviving until we make it to summer! This is my first year teaching so I love reading everyone's ideas about how they are surviving this last stretch of school days!

My current survival kit:

1. NETFLIX!

I would absolutely not survive without binge watching my favorite shows! I love having background TV while I work and Netflix always has an overwhelming amount of options!
I'm currently working my way through Revenge (on my own) and The Blacklist (with my hubby) and obsessed with both!

2. Walking with my pup

We both get so restless after a long day (me after being at school for 2546 hours and her being stuck at home alone for the same amount of time) and we love taking a long walk in the evenings to let off some steam. Walking is always such a nice stress reliever for me and I sleep so much better after a long walk!

3. GO NOODLE!

Seriously, if you are not on Go Noodle train, hop aboard. Go Noodle saves my life daily. There are so many awesome brain breaks and it is a great way for the kiddos to get their wiggles and giggles out. We love Koo Koo Kangaroo for our transition times and especially love running a long race when we have to stay inside for recess (April showers, go away!)

4. Directed Drawings!!!

My class is so OBSESSED with directed drawings! I am so thankful to First Grade Blue Skies for so many awesome directed drawings! It is a lifesaver for those of us who are artistically challenged ;)
Our school day was extended by 20 minutes due to so many snow days this year and directed drawings are the perfect fit for our extra time because my students get so excited to write about their pictures! We only get to go to art 1 week out of each month, so I love having a way for my students to express themselves artistically! I am always surprised by how creative some of them can be! :)

                    5. Reading Buddies with my Kindergarten bestie!
The upper grades have been testing this week which means that we have not had our block time!
To fill in the extra hour of our day, I got together with my Kindergarten bestie and we had our students buddy up to read! They all loved it and it was a great chance for me to scope out some future firsties for next year! ;)

What are some ways that YOU are surviving 'til summer?! 

Five for Friday! (My first linky party!!)

I am so excited to join Five for Friday this week! :) It is my first week linking up and I can't wait to make it a weekly tradition!

I had a great time catching up with my sweet kiddos that I used to nanny for last Sunday! We got to keep the kids for Easter and I had so much fun celebrating with them! 

 We have had so much fun learning all about sound in my class over the last two weeks! I am so excited to have finally posted my new sound unit on TpT and am offering it 20% off through the end of the weekend! Find it here!

My husbands uncles had a friend visiting from Louisiana and they invited us to a mid-week crawfish/crab boil and we had a blast (and ate a TON!)

 My sweet husband stopped by school to read to my kiddos about Trout! Since he works for the DNR at a fish hatchery he is always teaching us fishy things ;)
I just love this book and all of the FANTASTIC and fun illustrations!

It has been a long week back after Spring Break and I am looking forward to going out tonight to celebrate surviving the week! The hubby even agreed on going to see The Longest Ride to feed my Nicholas Sparks addiction! :)