To Infinity and Beyond!

A pajama parade with flashlights, glow bracelets and space pillows in tow 

A galactic breakfast

Dance, teachers, dance!

Today was our big first grade Sleepover! The children began their galactic adventure by parading through the hallways in their pajamas holding their space pillows, flashlights and glow bracelets. They ended to a flurry of flashbulbs as they greeted their parents in the Dining Room for breakfast and a dance fest led by the Principal and the first grade teachers. The rest of the day was filled with fantastic centers.

Teamwork was the theme of our first center as children played spacey games that required them to work together and then identify the skills they used for success.

The students painted frames with the art teachers to go with their astronaut photographs. They ended their time with a space-themed read aloud!

The PE teacher set up a game of asteroids as the children divided into teams and tried to throw the asteroids into a basket - a great way to get out some of their energy!

Songs and dances around the campfire were the theme with our time spent with our music teachers.

The students crawled into a handmade planetarium made from black garbage bags that was one of the coolest activities of the day. There they laid on their backs and went on a simulated ride through space!

The day ended with the Constellation Ball! Laser stars sparkled on the ceiling as the students laid on their backs with their pillows and flashed their flashlights all over the room. Far out! The Media Team then provided dancing and singing 'til you drop!

The students finally landed in the classroom for a final read aloud before they adjourned from their own home base! Tomorrow's a planning day which is a good thing because the teachers will need the rest! May the force be with us all!

A Pillow of Their Own

As we get ready for out BIG first grade event that supports our learning of the solar system, the children were encouraged to make a pillow with their families. The pillows are displayed in the lobby for all to see. As they came in, parents wrote all kinds of interesting explanations such as "Sean wanted the sun on one side and the moon on the other," or "David had to have a pillow made into his favorite plant - Mars!" They came in as round moon, suns and planets, shaped like quarter moons, stars, comets, space ships and Star War figures with glow in the dark stars and baubles glued and sewn on. Parents tied, sewed and stitched their way into a delightful family project. Enjoy our solar creations!

A Night Under the Stars

Families came to school tonight to enjoy a movie on a giant screen outside under the stars! BUT as the night time temperature dropped to 29 degrees, we had to move the event inside! The children spread out their blankets and sleeping bags and snacked on Moon Pies and Cosmic Brownies as we lowered the lights. We enjoyed a movie as the Magic School Bus traveled through the solar system. Several brave souls lined up outside to view the craters of the moon and our brightest star Venus through telescopes. And don't worry - the kids didn't really spend the night! They all went home so they would be rested for a new day tomorrow!

Right in the Nook of time!

I gave my daughter-in-law Randi a Nook for Christmas. Randi is a reader - the type of reader that ALWAYS has a book stashed in her handbag or diaper bag - so I thought, of all the people that I know that deserve to have a book right there when they finished their latest read, it's Randi. When my husband asked me if I wanted one, I told him no because I really like the feel of a book in my hands, and while I LOVE to read, I don't read as much or as fast as Randi. I usually have a stash of books that I'm still trying to find time to read, both personally and professionally.

However, I've been rethinking that Nook when Randi told me last night how she is using it in her third grade classroom. I really gave it to her so she could enjoy her reading personally and chose the color Nook because I thought she might also need a book on a moment's notice to read to the girls at the doctor's office or in the car. I hadn't really thought much about using it professionally, but have you ever been looking for resources for a mini-lesson and you come across what sounds like the perfect read aloud that could be used to teach the exact point that you want to make, but you can't find the book anywhere? You run to the nearest Bookstore to try to find it and call the others, just to find out that they don't have it on hand but they could order it for you. The public library doesn't have it unless they order it from another library. By the time you can get it, you've already passed the need! That happens to me all the time and it is so frustrating. Sometimes I go ahead and order the book so I'll have it for the next year but I don't always remember that I've done that and I can't always find the book the next year when I'm ready to use it! Anyway, Randi is now ordering those type books on her Nook so she has immediate use of the book! And they cost about a third of the cost of ordering the book on-line. When she's ready to use the book for a read aloud for the class she just pulls out her Nook and uses it under the document camera if she wants the children to see the words or pictures! How cool is that! She can also organize her Nook library is such as way that she can hold the books in folders so she has all the books for a certain unit together so she knows just where the books is - whether she's planning at school or at home!

Okay - I'm convinced... and, just in case anyone is listening... I have a birthday coming up in February!

A Crabitat

We have been planning our teacher observation since before the holiday break. We have four classrooms and seven teachers involved in teaching a 5 E Science lesson for our principal. We are required to do an observation in Science if we teach Science (you know how I feel about Science!) so we decided that we would join together and do a series of lessons in sequence so our Principal could see an entire unit taught using the 5 E's (Engage, Explore, Explain, Extend, Evaluate). Our class is going on the 3rd day with an "Explore-Explain" of what animals need to survive. The first lesson is on pets, the next of wild animals and our lesson in on ocean animals. My part is to talk about a hermit crab (the entire lesson will be available after we teach it), so I sent an e-mail to the faculty, thinking that I might not need to buy the entire set up for a hermit crab if someone had one that they might not be using right now.

A couple of teachers did respond that they had everything I would need and that I was welcome to use their stuff, so I thought I'd just need to buy the hermit crab! But Carolyn even offered the use of the hermit crab she keeps in her classroom! Woo hoo! That makes it pretty easy, but I also got these responses that tickled my funny bone! I work with some of the funniest, most giving and most creative folks that I know! What a great job!

From Jenny: I can't help you in the hermit crab department, but when I saw your subject line [hermit crab] my heart skipped a beat as I opened the e-mail... I thought, "Oh Good Lord..... their crab is loose in the building!":) Thankfully, my predicting skills were not correct! My advice -- keep a lid on it!

And advice from Haley: My advice is if it dies in the first week, get another one from the store and tell the class that he must of switched shells! We went through 3 hermit crabs in the first two weeks of having them in class. Keep your receipts and they'll give you another one free. Not that yours is going to die, but just so you know. Your kids will love it!

"Sleepover Under the Stars" Overview

I have been pretty honest about my lack of background in Science. However, in first grade "Sleepover Under the Stars" is our BIG event. It started out as a fun event where students wore their pajamas, made pillows with their parents one night at school, and brought in bears made with their families and then enjoyed fun sleepover-type books and activities. In an attempt to put more of an academic and family focus on the event, first grade teachers over the years have worked to turn the "fluff" into more meaningful "stuff". Because of the hard work of last year's first grade teachers (featured in the picture at the top of this post), the event has turned into a multi-faceted extravaganza that includes a family night where students and their families come for a family dinner and then watch a movie outside under the stars. There are several telescopes available for families to enjoy. "Homework" during the week asks students to go outside at night and observe the night sky with their family. The families are also encouraged to make a pillow together that the student can bring in for the big event.

On the day of the "Sleepover," the Resource teachers (P.E., Music, Art, Character Education, Media Specialist) direct centers for the day around the sleepover/solar system theme after the students parade through the halls in their pajamas and enjoy a breakfast full of fun and excitement. As the next two weeks unfold, you will see several posts about the various events.

Each grade level at our school has a BIG event. In Kindergarten it is the annual Pow Wow around Thanksgiving which also includes a 5th grade component as 5th graders present their Native American projects. Each grade level event includes a Parent/ Family Night and then a Presentation day in which parents can attend or participate with their children. These annual events are favorites. Sometimes teachers complain because of all the preparation time, but as someone often explains, "The children may not remember anything about their first grade year except the great time they had at the nigh time movie with their family or learning about the solar system." These special days are memory makers.

For more specific information and resources, check out the first grade wiki, Science-Sleepover which will direct you to the "Sleepover Under the Stars" wiki.

New Year's Resolutions 2011

As I sat down this year to make New Year's resolutions, I first thought maybe I'd just skip it. I always make resolutions about losing weight and exercising more and before January ends, I've usually given up!

This year however, I am coming off a holiday visit with my mother. She has recently moved from independent living to an assisted living situation. Her world has squeezed into a small room and hallway. She chose a very nice retirement facility eight year ago when she was healthy with 5 star amenities, but now that she's given up driving it's really turned into a small little world. As my sister and I visited and tried to take her out, I watched as even the simplest acts, such as getting in and out of the car, turned into dependent activities as she tried to maneuver her walker. My mother was a dancing teacher so to watch her tremble and struggle with even simple physical tasks was very difficult... and also very humbling as I realize that each of us will come to that point in our life when age robs us of some of the things that today seem so easy.

I'm not sure how my mother looks back on her life. I doubt she has many regrets, but as I have been thinking about her and her life, I have become convinced that the lesson for me is that I need to live each day as a gift. And THAT is what I want my New Year's Resolution to be. This week I go to sign a contract to officially retire and then to teach five more years with no chance of teaching longer - at least not in this public school system. Knowing that, I returned to the classroom full time this year because I wanted my last years to be about giving back to the profession that has defined much of my adult life. I wanted to take all that I have seen and learned and invest it into children. It's not that I am on some narcissistic pedestal thinking that I only can make a difference in every life, but through God's grace I do believe that I am meant to be on this road at this time in my life. I'm not really sure where this road will lead or why I need to be travelling it right now, but I do know that for the rest of this year I will try to get up each morning, breath in and out thankfulness, stay in the moment and relish the journey. So... Happy New Year 2011. May this be the best year yet!