Mrs. Wheeler's First Grade Tidbits: Saturday 6 January 27

Hello from hell. Not really, but I have Influenza A. So I feel like death and have since Wednesday. I've basically been sleeping or lying down for almost 4 days. When you're someone who never stops and you are forced to "rest," it's pretty much torture. My mind just goes 1000 miles an hour as to everything I need to do. Today's post is quick. I only have 4 "highlights" to share. Mainly because I can't sit up very long. Also because I only worked M-W and wasn't feeling stellar T-W, so not many exciting things happened at school. Please feel free to LINK UP your own blog post of Saturday 6 below! I'd love to have you! Just use my provided graphics, write a post about your week (does NOT have to be teaching related).

Last Friday, we read one of my favorite books, Snowballs by Lois Ehlert. We made these adorable Aspen Tree birds to go along with it. The kids loved making them! They are hanging in the hallway outside our room and we have received so many compliments about them from teachers in passing. Snag the book below. Directions to craft from I Heart Crafty Things.

We've been working hard on writing "good" sentences. The kids worked on these short a cut/glue/write pages from my bundle. I printed a few of each word family (and passed them out strategically so no one could copy) and they got to writing! The little rubric is an excellent visual for the kids to have. It ensures they don't write simple sentences such as "I like a fan." It makes them think to have to come up with at least 6 words. Stretching the sentence across their hands is a good strategy that I've taught them. Check out the bundle below. These come in a variety of Phonics skills and will be a great resource all year long!

I met a friend for dinner on Wednesday night (even though I was deathly ill...not a good decision) to celebrate my belated birthday. We had a delicious meal, from what I can remember. Look at the fun goodies she gave me. She knows me too well! I am loving the coaster right now for my hot lemon water and will be wearing those socks in the spring!

Groundhog Day is Friday! I'll be looking for a few fun activities for my kids to do on Friday. Our curriculum is soo rigid and requires our kids to sit for soo long. I've decided that Friday is our "Fun Friday" day, where I plan games, an art project, and often a snack. Below are a few things that I plan on doing this week for Groundhog Day.

Reading Groundhog Day Books (Click here to see my favorites!)

Making/Reading a Groundhog Day Mini-Book (Click here to grab this book for yourself!)

Making a Groundhog Craft (Not sure which one yet, but here are some contenders!)

Source: Mrs. Ricca's Kindergarten

Source: The First Grade Parade

Groundhog Snack (This one looks pretty simple!)

Source: I could not get a working link for these...not sure where they are from but they are so cute!

Groundhog Centers (As I change my centers this week, I'll replace them with groundhog ones! Click below to snag the center pack! *FYI-the mini book shown above is included in this pack!)