More!!...

Hello Everyone!
I had a wonderful surprise before spring break! I will tell you all about it next time, but some special visitors to our classroom, loaded with questions, inspired me to write a poem about what we do as educators of young children. One question was "After 36 years in the classroom, what keeps you coming back?" I think this poem sums it all up. 
We do so much more than teach kids how to read and add numbers. Those things are important, but we do so much more...

I hope you know that if you are a teacher, I appreciate you! If you are a perent , I appreciate you! We need to keep teaching kids MORE!!

If you would like this poem in printable form,

don't do anything else but CLICK HERE!!:)

I can't wait to share some exciting news with you!  Till then, have a wonder-filled day!

Find JOY in every second!

Joyfully!

Nancy

Celebrating Spring with POETRY!!

Hello Everyone!!
Well, spring is here!  I love springtime in Texas!  Things warm up so quickly and all the signs of spring are evident!  Ahhhhhhh! Now, I know so many of you are still in the throes of old man winter, but spring is on the way.  Hang on!!  To help you feel a little better, how about some poetry celebrating spring? We started our four-week unit on poetry in reading and writing this week. I love how much kids love poetry!

Kids learn so much through poetry.  Our  unit will help teach all about the different types of poetry and help them read and analyze as well as write their own!  I highly recommend gathering as many poetry anthologies as you can and sharing as many selections as possible.  Along with enjoying the tongue ticklers, be sure to discuss the author’s message, tone, and purpose for writing.  As kids get into writing their own, discuss with them the same analysis ideas about their poetry!

This week we started with sensory poems. With spring as our springboard along with a good piece of literature for motivation, the kids did a great job writing sensory poems!!

Kids wrote a rough draft of their spring sensory poems.  We edited and published in a rainbow shape! I love this project and have done it for the last few years.  It feels like springtime in our room!!!

I am sharing our poetry unit once again with a few additions.  The unit includes examples of many different kinds of poems, templates for kids to try them on their own, creative ways to publish each poem, and final copy anthology pages. It is now about 105 pages of poetry power!! 

If you have a desire to climb the poet "tree" and need a little unit to get you started, 

You can simply CLICK HERE to get your printables.

My little poets are looking forward to the next three weeks, and so am I!!!

As always, please let me know of any typos or problems with anything!  

I appreciate your stopping by this little window of wonder!!!  

Have a great rest of the week!!

Joyfully!

Nancy

firstgradewow@gmail.com

Fish Wish and Sandra Markle honor!!

 Hello Everyone!!

Finally a few minutes to blog a bit about what we've been up to!  We are actually on Spring Break right now. We are not going on a vacation this year because the hubs just got a new job and doesn't want to take off. So I've been busy working on closets, drawers, cooking, and reading!! My laptop has been very moody lately, so I haven't been able to catch up on any blogging or e-mail. (It may be because I don't ever delete anything!)  Today it decided to work, so here I am!! Before I go any farther, I want to share a wonderful thing that happened to us!  You all know that Sandra Markle is one of my favorite go to authors, especially during our study of animals.  She has written over 200 books for kids about so many science related topics!  Sandra and I have been talking and e-mailing over that last couple of years, both sharing ideas and thoughts.  One of her newest books "What If You Had Animal Eyes," is another hit!!!  Was I ever surprised when I opened my new copy!! 

I think the kids were just as excited as I was!!!  Thank you Sandra Markle!!!  You made us feel very special!!  I can't wait to come up with a fun literature response for this one!!!  Sandra's books are easily accessible at Scholastic and Amazon.

Before Spring Break we held our annual Open House.  Every school in our district has Open House and invites the entire community to see what kids have been up to.  It is kind of a big deal. To kind of go along with our whole Pirate theme this year, we decided to go "swimmin with the fishes!"  We developed an integrated unit about fish.  We learned so much and the kids had a blast!  Here are a few pics.

 

Some more Sandra Markle books!!


 These ideas are all part of my new unit. A147 page printable unit with so many integrated ideas for your young learners!!! Here are a few pics of what is included.

Phew!!! We were so ready for a break after all this fintastic learning!!  I hope all my kids are safe and happy! I miss you!!!
If any of this fun is flipping your fin, you can download the unit.  
Simply CLICK HERE!!!! GLUB GLUB!!

YUP! It's free!!!


Anyway, thanks for stopping by our little Window of Wonder!!!  Now I'm off to see if my e-mail is working! 
Hope you have a wonderful weekend!!!  See you soon!
Joyfully!
Nancy
firstgradewow@gmail.com