I Feel Lucky!

Want to know why I am feeling lucky this St. Patrick's Day?  Well...remember the post I did here a few weeks ago about the give away Mrs. Parker was doing?  Well it just so happened that I WON!  I was so excited to check my mail and find this book earlier this week.

 

 
I really don't think you understand.  This could just possibly be my first thing to win...EVER!  Love it!  Thanks a million Mrs. Parker!!!

St. Patrick's Day Centerpiece and Treasure Hunt

HAPPY ST. PATTY'S DAY!!

Wow!  You might think that I was Irish by that greeting!  Anyway...Jesse Kate Designs had a few St. Patrick's Day ideas from last year that I filed away.  So a year later...here we go. 
This has me thinking green.  Send this off with your child to school or greet your child as they come home from school.  Check out this centerpiece:

OR...you could send your kids on a teasure hunt like the one I did here or like the one Jesse Kate did for her kiddos.  I have to say, hers is cooler because she has included a FREE download of clue tags.

Laura Numeroff Circle Story Unit Give Away

Made for First is doing a Give Away where you can enter to win this unit.

Head over to her blog now for a chance to enter and win...or don't...that leaves me with better odds! :)

St. Patrick's Day Math Center

Making Learning Fun has some great St. Patrick's Day math ideas to use for centers.  I like to meet with my 1st grade students in small settings as opposed to teaching it whole group.  For me, that allows me to see more clearly who is "getting it" and who isn't.  I like to do 3 math rotations with 6 students per group.  I happen to be using the roll and color addition game this afternoon.

I explain my centers at the rug whole group first and then send them to their tables.  I am at one of the "centers" to work on math from their math book.  Yes...I am the boring center, but the one that has to be done.  My others centers usually consist of a game, activity, or a (dare I say the word) worksheet to  go along with the concept being taught.  I usually have directions typed up to go along with the game so that if kids have questions (and I am busy) they can be reminded of how to play.
Here are the directions to this game:

Roll and Color St. Patrick’s Day

Addition

 Items needed to play: 

Pot of gold paper – 1 per person

Crayons

2 dice per partner

Directions:

Roll 2 dice and add the numbers together.  If the answer IS NOT already colored, then you may color it.  If the answer IS already colored, then your turn is over.  The first person to color all the coins and the pot is the winner.

How do you teach math??

Lucky Charm Graphs

I have noticed in my Live Feedjit feed lately (yes, I do look there from time to time) that a lot of you out there are searching for a lucky charms graph for elementary aged students.  Well...I have what you are looking for.  Actually, I have found what you are looking for!  I posted about a place where I found one before, but I have since found two others.

What the Teacher Wants has a complete St. Patrick's Day Unit ready to download (for FREE) and it is filled with fun things.  You will find a Lucky Charms graph among many other things.

Another great blog that has super ideas is Stay and Play.  She is a temporarily retired teacher (that's what I use to all myself) as she stays home to raise her kids.  She also shares a great St. Patrick's Day unit (for FREE).  There is a Lucky Charm graph inside her unit as well.

I can't believe how many wonderful and inspiring teacher blogs I have come across lately!  Make sure to tell these ladies thank you if you use their units.  It is amazing the hard work they put into these units (and others) and are willing to share.  THANK YOU both!!

St. Patrick's Day Treats

Thinking about giving a treat to someone for St. Patrick's Day this year?  Look no further.  It Is What It Is has some great ideas and free downloadble tags.
You're My Pot O' Gold:

Not quite what you had in mind?  Well I think anyone would consider themselves LUCKY to receive these:

Taste the Rainbow

No...I am not talking about Skittles.  Fun Snacks 4 Kids has a fun idea for preschool aged kids.  Match the Fruit Loop color to the color on the rainbow.  What a great activity for kids just learning their colors!

Dr. Seuss Writing Ideas

Being a first grade teacher, I have recently come across many super blogs (by teachers) with so many great and creative ideas.  If you want to check them out, look under my side bar that says (for lack of a better title): 1st Grade Sites.  One in particular, Fun in First Grade, has done so many Dr. Seuss activities lately.
Horton Hears A Who:

Yertle the Turtle:

The Sleep Book:

There's A Wocket in My Pocket:

Jodi has also included free downloads for all of the projects mentioned above.  How fun!  The kids would love these activities.  Thanks for sharing your great ideas!!

Visit ObSEUSSed for ideas...

Although I have had a link to the blog obSEUSSed on my side bar for awhile now, I thought I would mention it and bring it to others' attention with Dr. Seuss week beginning tomorrow.

Book Give Away

Learning with Mrs. Parker is offering a FREE book give away because of her 100 followers.  If you would like a chance to enter, hurry over to her blog now because the offer is up TOMORROW.  This is the book I am hoping for because it is one I have never read.

Thank you Rachelle for sharing your FREE Dr. Seuss Unit!

Check it out at What the Teacher Wants!

Dr. Seuss Ideas

From A Place Called Kindergarten...After reading Horton Hears a Who, have the kids think of what could hatch out of a Dr. Seuss type of egg.  What a fun craft idea!


Check out the Seuss Extravaganza from Oopsey Daisy for a fun party idea. 

For a chance to win this 100 page Dr. Seuss math and Literacy Unit, click HERE to visit Erica Bohrer's First Grade.

And oh my goodness...check out these Thing 1 and Thing 2 cupcakes from Kitchen Doughdough.

I LOVE This Art!!

Since February is thought to be the month of LOVE, I thought I would feature an idea I came across and absolutely LOVE!

In fact, when I saw this exact idea on The Exchange, I realized that I could use something exactly like this for my laundry room.  Want to know how it was done?  Out of foam stickers on a canvas.  No joke!  To learn more about how to get this look for you, check out THE EXCHANGE.  Now to tie this into my blog somehow I was thinking that you could make something like this for Teacher Appreciation Week.  Think of a cute teacher saying or even the teacher's name and craft away!  The ideas on this project could be endless...baby gift, wedding gift, heck even a birthday gift.

Oh and if you need something for your floors check out HERE to find out how to make something like this...

or HERE for something like this...

The second picture did not use stickers and was done using free hand painting.  Me?  I would have to use the stickers!

Just whatever you do, please leave some foam stickers for me!! :)



Secret Message Decoder Cookies

Family Fun had this great idea for kids.  Ok who am I kidding?  I think I would have fun with it too!  Check out Family Fun to find out what the trick is.



Conversation Heart Letter

This idea reminded me of one of the activities my room mom had going on at my class party today.  Get a box of conversation hearts and write a letter or stories using the saying on the hearts.  (This picture is from Out of the Crayon Box.)