Helping Hands

I was on Pinterest the other day, and I came across a post from the blog Little Minds at Work where Tara had cut out hands to help her students master the skill of addition.  I thought that this was absolutely adorable and quite beneficial, so I decided to embark on making my own set of hands during Spring Break.  

So, I first found a template of hands to print out.  I used file folders to print on because I wanted the hands to be a sturdy as possible.  Also, I had to reverse the image so the hand outline that I would cut on would be on the backside.  Then, I had my work out out for me - 48 hands to first cut out, then laminate and then cut out the lamination, whew!!!

I had to try out a few in the beginning of this process to see how the end result would look like.  One, extra step I took was to put velcro on each of the fingers so that the students would be able to accurately count each finger.  This was quite a task, especially because the velcro was so difficult to take off the packaging :(.  After each finger was securely placed on the paper, I hot glued the palm of each hand to secure them.  

Now, I also decided to make addition and subtraction cards to use the Helping Hands with!  Here is an example of the fingers being used to add 1+2.  

It's hard to see the fingers due to the shine from the lamination.  Below is an angled view and a back view to see how I put velcro on each finger.  Please note that this project was very time consuming and I had to buy the colored paper, so I put out some of my own money.  

The final project of all my Helping Hands completed!  I'm very excited for the students to use them to reinforce addition as well as our subtraction unit coming up next month.  

Read Across America

While looking through Pinterest, I saw some super cute posts from First Grade Fever, where they had done a writing regarding Thing 1 and Thing 2 coming to your house and what would the student do!  I had a hard time coming up with the template, but after lots of research, I finally came up with a way to make Thing 1!  After lunch, we read The Cat in the Hat and did this art project afterwards.  I then asked the students what they would do it Thing 1 and Thing 2 came to their house, some responses were just too funny!

"I would tie them up!"

"I would want them to go away!"

Non Sense Words

Here is one of my newer centers that I just created.  My students needed help reading and decoding reading real words and non sense words.  So, I had the idea to use scrabble tiles, I don;t know why but I'm in love with the end result.  I bought the tiles through Amazon, 200 tiles for about $20.  I also, got this container from our Christmas party and I thought what a perfect container for this center.

Now, I know this doesn't look like much right now, but this is how easy the center folds up.  I struggled for a few days on how to display real words versus non sense words. and I figured red and green made the most sense.  I used my Cricut to make the perfect circle and then cut it in half, and traced the half circle onto the colored paper, trimmed the edge and viola!

I used my Cricut to make the perfect circle and then cut it in half, and traced the half circle onto the colored paper, trimmed the edge and viola!

Now comes the fun part!  I sorted the letters and came up with the real words first.  Then, I took all the extra letters and put those together by gluing them with Elmers Glue.  Next, I added a coat of Modge Podge to solidify the tiles.  I wish I hadn't done this because the tiles became sticky and I had one big blob of tiles.  I had clear coating spray paint from a prior project, so I sprayed the tiles down which heloed take away the stickiness!   

Now, when we play this center I lay out all the pieces face down and students and pick up a piece.  After reading the word, they have to determine whether it's a real word or a silly word and put it on the correct side.  Now, if students need help reading the piece they picked, I asked if anyone else can help and if they are struggling because we haven't learned the letter or they can't blend the word, then I intervene and help them out!  I give this center two thumbs way, way up!!!

Syllable Sorting

So, here's is my newest center that I just love and so do the kiddies!  It's called Syllable Sorting!  I came across this idea because I recently got the will power to organize the previous teachers' filing system and moved a whole bunch of stuff around.  There were all these craft books and educational books, so I organized them all together.  Of course, while organizing I had to look through all the book!  I came across this book, which was filled which tons of goodies!

Inside I found these super cute picture cards, that could be used for a syllable game.  All I need was a box to sort the cards into.  I had saved some containers from our Christmas party and I had the perfect one for the job.  Before I did any of this, I photocopied the pages and sat on them for about a week.  I was deciding whether I wanted to color the pictures in or scan then and color them digitally.  I finally decided and photocopied the originals onto card stock and took them home over the weekend to color them, and here is the final product.

Now, came the box to sort the cards in.  I knew I wanted to use something plastic that would make slicing the top to be easy.  So, I got out my Cricut and cut out the numbers 1-4 and glued them on the top.  I then added a coat of Modge Podge on top, so secure the numbers.

Over night, I put rulers through the slots to make sure that sliding the syllable cards through would't be a challenge.

Unfortunately, this didn't work that great so in the morning I got out my Xacto knife and made the slots bigger.  Now, the game is good to go and students can independently count how many syllables each picture has and drops it in the right slot.  We played today with my EA and they LOVED it!!!

Journaling

Every time we read a new story, we also journal, which means picking an illustration from the book and I write a short sentence to go along with the picture.  Today we read "Chugga Chugga Choo Choo" and below is my journal.  Please keep in mind, that the students are sitting on the carpet and I am drawing in my journal on my Elmo, which is projected onto my screen, so students are getting step by step instructions on how to draw the picture.

Now, I always have the students bring their journal to me so I can check to make sure they have proper casing, finger spacing, and a period.  This was one of my students' journals, and I was so impressed by her work that I had to post it!  Now, seriously how awesome is this?!?!  Oh, and for kicks and jollies, this students is ELL.  I'm so proud!!!!

Candy Trees

For the past two years, I have made Candy Houses with the students but this year I switched over to Candy Trees and they were so much fun to make!  I found that the students had much more independence making the Candy Trees and they were able to use their imagination!  I had sent home a letters asking parents to bring supplies and also invited them to come join us!  Here are the results of this years Candy Trees!

To make matters easier, I put the candy into a cupcake tray and lined it, then each tray got filled with the same candy so that there was no fighting!  This concept made it easy for the students to get the candy and it also made it easy for me to refill the candy!

Parents were invited to join their child, making for a fun time!

Very creative, love what they did with the pretzels!

How cute are the candy canes, turned into a heart!

Love the walk way made with Twizzlers and Hershey's Kisses!

Christmas in Class

I absolutely LOVE Christmas and it definitely is the best time of the year!  Here are some of the projects we have done so far to decorate the classroom with Christmas spirit!

I used my Cricut to cut out circles to make snowman name graphs, so cute!!!

We made Christmas trees by ordering the tree from longest to shortest and made snow using Q-tips

Candy Cane thumbprints sealed with a ribbon.  I found that making a line for the students t follow made it much easier for the students.

I have a ghetto Christmas tree from a previous teacher, so I decided to make a ornament tree to replace my old one.  I found this idea on Pinterest and love it!!!

Every year, I make my whiteboard into a mantle and students make stockings and I hang lights to make the front of the classroom look like a fireplace.