If the Floor Could Open Up and Swallow Me Now Please!

I like to think of myself as a great communicator. I give presentations and people actually clap. I often find myself the one who re-explains something to a class so they can grasp a difficult concept. I actually take pride in how parents feel comfortable reaching out to me. And yet...

I was thinking back to a time I taught first grade at the Arkansas School for the Deaf. I was known as the crafty teacher where scissors and glue were a staple at our table. We were cutting out a project when one of my girls dropped her scissors and went under the table to get it. She was taking a while, so another girl signed "I'll help," and went under the table as well. I was distracted by other students so it took a while before I noticed they had both  been under the table for a long time. Too long. Swallowing my anxiety I bent to look under the table.

Before I continue this story, you need to understand that the first little girl had beautiful blonde hair that had never been cut. It went to her seat. It was always perfectly groomed and shimmered gloriously in the sunlight. I think you may know where I am going with this...

I looked under the table and saw four terrified eyes looking back at me. Girl #2 had the fallen pair of scissors, but she also had a handful of beautiful blonde hair. It had been cut to the scalp right in the middle of Girl #1's forehead!

There is no Hallmark card for this, and they certainly didn't teach me how to handle this in college! I tried to call the mother, but thankfully she did not answer. I took the coward's way out and wrote a note to send home. Attached to the note was a baggie full of hair. I don't think I slept that night waiting for a phone call from an irate mother. It never came. The little girl came to school the next day with the cutest, very short set of bangs to accentuate her long hair. Her mother never brought the situation up, even when we met several times face to face. I sure didn't bring it up. That little girl is now a teacher of the Deaf herself and she and her mother still keep in contact with me through Facebook.

I don't know why that story came to me so strongly this week, but it reminded me of the importance of keeping communication between school and home as open as possible. To help with that, I made today's Monday Freebie!

This is a template for a newsletter to send home with students. I made a color as well as black and white version. Simply type in your class name, date, and the boxes and you are good to go! Click on the picture to get your free download today!

Do you have a memorable class experience you'd like to share? I'd love to hear it!

Grammar Resource for Students

Hi all!

I'm taking a break from the nursery rhymes this week to present a huge packet I have been working on. It's primarily for 1st and 2nd graders who need some reminders for their Language skills. Earlier I made a Math Journal (you can click here to get 20 or so free pages from an earlier post) that my students would refer to again and again. I love the independence it gave my kiddos, so I wanted to expand that to their grammar.

Here are a few journal covers...

And a black and white option to save on ink...

And a peek inside.  There are 70 charts, both in color and black and white.

The price for these anchor charts is currently $8.00, but if you leave a comment with an email address by April 15, I will give it to you for FREE! That is to make tax day a little bit better. If you missed this opportunity, you can still get a free sample by clicking on the picture below.

Nursery Rhymes - Three Little Kittens

Ahhhh, I just had a relaxing Spring Break visiting family in Nashville. I came back so refreshed and with a new drive to finish the school year strong. I also had time to finish this week's nursery rhyme, Three Little Kittens. Here are some books to go with this unit found on Amazon.

                                   

My unit has some great ideas that you can purchase at the bottom of this post. For now, though, I want to share some fun things I found on the internet to go with your unit.

You can practice fine motor skills by following this link.

Ok, now this is just adorable!

This center would work well with this nursery rhyme or The Mitten

Three little kittens have rhyming mittens!

And my unit is below!

And for today's freebie, I am including a mini book that reinforces colors with a cute kitten! Click on the picture below for your free download!

Nursery Rhymes - Baa Baa Black Sheep

I try to do my posts on Mondays because I want to give a freebie every Monday. I know Friday Freebies are the norm, but if you are like me, I need the pick me up more at the beginning of the week. This week is my Spring Break, and I am in Nashville visiting family. My dad's house has spotty internet service at best, so I wasn't able to get this online until today.

I also said I would do Three Little Kittens Lost Their Mittens, and then happily started working on Baa Baa Black Sheep, so that is what I'll share today. If you need to find some books to go with this unit, check out the books below! All of my units have two mini books and a variety of activities, but I still love going through the internet to see all the creative ideas others have that I can put to good use. I always start with reading, so here are a couple of great options:

    

This first crafty idea is perfect for little hands!

Cutting skills are used as well as retelling with this activity.

If your little ones are ready for some writing practice, try this sheet!

Hungry after all of that work? Look at this cute snack!

I had to share this pic. It goes perfectly with the Sheep Colors book in my unit.

Be sure to check out my unit in my Teachers Pay Teachers store!

Now for today's Monday Freebie (doesn't it make Monday a little better?)  I am giving you a page from my unit. This week is the poem Baa Baa Black Sheep. Just click on the picture below for a download!

Nursery Rhymes - There Was an Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe

As a teacher, I often feel like the Old Woman living in a shoe. So many children, and sometimes I am so overwhelmed I don't know what to do. That is why I love organized units ready to go. This series on nursery rhymes has been so much fun to make. I have a wonderful unit at my Teachers Pay Teachers store, but I also love finding things on the internet to go with the unit. I've done the research for you and found working links of great ideas to use in the classroom.  I hope you enjoy these ideas while you wait for next week's installment -  Three Little Kittens Lost Their Mittens!

To start, I found some great books to go along with this unit. Look for them in your library, or you can find them here:

      

And here are some fun sites I found to use as well.  Click on the picture to go to the site.

This is such a cute fine motor craft that has lots of pictures to follow.

This free simple game allows children to hold up the cards at the correct time.

OK, ok, I know this one is waaaay too crafty for most of us (including me), but it had so many great ideas I had to include it!

And finally, a blog with instructions on how to tie your shoes.

And now for today's freebie! I have a cute unit on There Was an Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe in my Teachers Pay Teachers store. One activity from the unit is a mask for children to role play the nursery rhyme. Click on the picture below to get a copy!

Be sure to check out my unit and other great ideas by clicking the picture below!

Nursery Rhymes - Humpty Dumpty

This one of my favorite Nursery Rhymes to work with! It has soooo many things to teach in language arts, math and science. I have a complete unit in my Teachers Pay Teachers store that includes a full week of lesson plans with books and activities. It's a great resource, but I found a lot of things online that I had to share as well! To start, here are a couple of books you can buy that would add to your classroom library.  Be sure to come back next week when we will cover There Was an Woman Who Lived In a Shoe.

For today, I want to introduce my Humpty Dumpty unit.

This unit includes the poem above and a colorful ebook below.

I found some books that could be useful on amazon!

This first activity requires gentle hands, but with enough extra eggs to go around, I think it would be a great skill to practice!

This was another creative idea!

And another...

Are all these eggs making you hungry?  How about a snack idea.

And another snack for all you overachievers out there!

And finally, a great idea for a math center.

Today is Monday, so that means another freebie! I am including a page from my own Humpty Dumpty unit that is for sale on my Teachers Pay Teachers store. Just print and copy this page for each student. Let them color and cut along the dotted lines. Add bandaids to put Humpty back together again. Cute, cute! Click below to download the free page, and be sure to check out my Teachers Pay Teachers store to buy the entire unit for a steal of a deal!

Nursery Rhymes -- Jack Be Nimble

Hello world!

My last lesson post was about 6 months ago. I knew summer would be difficult, but I had no idea how long it would take for me to get back into the swing of things! Long story short, we moved across the country, sent my two children off to college, and moved in my elderly mother in law with dementia. I am still struggling with thyroid cancer, and of course I started a new job as well, which I love. Hopefully I will have some sense of routine.

In the spirit of fresh starts, I am excited to announce a new series...Nursery Rhymes! I work with children of all ages, but I have to admit I am having the most fun right now with a 4 year old hearing impaired student. We are secretly learning so much while she is playing. What can you learn from Nursery Rhymes?

• Nursery Rhymes often have all the elements of a full story, but perfect for those with shorter attention spans. There are settings, characters, problems, solutions and climaxes.
• You can ask comprehension questions ("What happened to Humpty Dumpty?"  "Who tried to put him together again?" "Where was Humpty Dumpty sitting?") 
• Nursery Rhymes are perfect to introduce sequencing. The stories are much shorter and easier to put back in the correct order, a necessary skill for later.
• Nursery Rhymes often have math in them. "Three Blind Mice" and "Hickory Dickory Dock" are two good examples.
• Vocabulary is certainly improved when children learn Nursery Rhymes.  Where else are they going to hear "the little dog laughed to see such sport" and " it's fleece was white as snow"?
• The rhyme, rhythm and repetition give foundational skills to help with reading fluency later.
• Nursery Rhymes are just plain fun! You can trick your students into learning all day and they will never know how hard they worked!

The first Nursery Rhyme we focused on was Humpty Dumpty. Looking back I do wished I had saved it for the Easter or Spring time to incorporate egg decorating, so that may be something you want to consider.

Each of my personal Nursery Rhyme Units included:

• Letter to the Parents explaining the importance of Nursery Rhymes
• A Poster with the Nursery Rhyme
• A mini book with the Nursery Rhyme for each student
• Activity Ideas
• Word Wall Words
• Sequencing Cards

Next week I will be unveiling tons of ideas for Humpty Dumpty.  Today I am starting with a FREEBIE UNIT, Jack Be Nimble.

I scoured the internet and found some wonderful ideas to help make this unit even better!

This cute candlestick craft is on a website in another language, but there are many pictures that make it easy to follow. (I am not sure about the clothespin, though, so I am planning on leaving that out!)

What a cute snack idea!

This is a sorting center to order the candlesticks by size!

Drumroll for my personal favorite! This Sesame Street classic has a hippy Jack running under, around, and everywhere except over the candlestick.  Great way to expose kiddos to positions!

Enjoy!