Grade 1 LOVES to read!

My school has been studying the author Kate DiCamillo as part of our author study/reading incentive program for the month of March. My grade 1 class was assigned the book Bink & Gollie. Saying that they have greatly enjoyed it is an understatement...they have LOVED each and every minute spent with this charming story. I highly recommend it to any teacher out there ranging from grades K-2. I used it along with my Inferring Unit in Readers Workshop and it worked out perfectly.

We have celebrated this author with many fun events around our school...a kick off pep rally, advisory meetings with different grade levels, a movie night, dress like your favorite character day, a door/bulletin board decorating contest (still waiting for the results...cross your fingers and toes for us) AND get this...we even danced and sang "Gotta Keep Reading" AKA The Black Eyed Peas...I Gotta Feeling ;) Guess who was in charge of teaching the entire school and staff the moves...uh huh, this girl right here! So so fun and also a great opportunity for me to share my love of theater and dance with my teacher friends! Being new to the school this year, I am happy to have the chance to share a bit of myself with them. We will be video taping our school jammin' out at some point this week! Hopefully I'll be able to share it on here with all of you!

Above are a couple of the pictures of our decorated door and bulletin board. The board is divided up by each chapter in the book. Each child researched pictures in magazines, old books, and/or the internet to make one GIANT Bink & Gollie picture research collage! I am still blown away by the amazing images they found and the personal connections they have made along the way. 

I am so pleased with the hard work and effort that the students have put in! Proud of them BIG time!

Grade 1 Anchor Charts

All of my amazing teacher friends will appreciate this post...Here are some of the anchor charts I have hanging in and around my first grade classroom at the moment. Some of the ideas came from Pinterest and a bunch of other great teacher sites out there in lala land. Enjoy & recreate! xo

To blog or not to blog...

that is the question of the hour...

Conversations were running wild this afternoon at the baby shower. Suuuuure we talked about diapers, gliding rocking chairs, bottles and nipples...ehh, uh huh. Along with all this baby talk came curiosity about "the blog" and blogging.  Many questions were posed, "Why do you blog?" "What do you say?" "Why are you interested in other people's lives and why do you want strangers reading all about yours?" "Is it safe and secure?" "What do you get out of it?".

 I found myself having to come up with an answer and an explanation. On the spot, I really couldn't exactly pinpoint the "WHY". Basically, I just said a whole lot of mumble jumble that sort of came out as a campaign speech or a promotion..."Blogging, everybody is doing it." "It's awesome!" "You should definitely check it out, you would love it!" "Try it, I'll help you!" "I'm networking!"

bla bla bla.

As I sit here now and think about the "WHY", I find that I still do not have any super creative, definitive answer to my co-worker's questions. I just love it! I just do. I love writing and therefore, use this arena to write about the things that I am most interested in- the things that I love doing each and every day. I enjoy reading what others have to share and what they have to celebrate, as well. Many other blogs have inspired me to look at things in my very own life in a different way. They have given me insight and knowledge about teaching and how to use my imagination and creativity in my work with students, how to thrown a killer cocktail party, fashion advice, yummy recipes, baking tips & tricks and so much more.

Above all, writing here on this very blog has helped me to see all of the many things that I have to be thankful for in my very own life. While taking pictures and writing about all the things you do each and everyday, you realize just how lucky and blessed you really are. Things that I have maybe overlooked or taken for granted have been brought into clear view and attention. I have realized that I live a very full life; a life that is filled with so much love and many high quality relationships and experiences that I want to celebrate, enjoy, and reflect upon day in and day out. What can be so wrong with that?

Good enough answer? Maybe, maybe not, but for me it works and I'm stickin' to it. ;)