23 November 2009

Box Tops Make Me Happy

I cannot let another blog go by without talking about Box tops. People think I'm crazy. Maybe I am. I do know that I'm crazy about Box tops! For those who aren't familiar with Box Tops, it is a wonderful program that helps schools raise money for projects, field trips, supplies, etc. In our school, the earnings from the Box Tops go directly to the classroom that collects them.

Though it doesn't seem like much, each Box Top is worth 10 cents. It adds up. Our class set a goal to collect 1000 Box Tops by May. Well, guess what? We are almost there!! Already! We keep track of each Box Top on our whiteboard. (See below)
So, as of November 23, 2009, we have 921!! We will reach our goal by CHRISTMAS!! It is so much fun to see the children squeal with delight as they count tallies (one of our first grade curriculum standards) getting closer to 1000.

We had a class meeting and adjusted our goal. We want to add another 1000 Box tops by May. Do you think we can do it?? I do. I've even set up a Facebook group so that all my friends from around the United States can send us their Box tops. With each envelope full of Box tops, I show the class which state they came from. One of the students said "I bet we could get a Box Top from every state!" Hmmmmm.....

So...that is NOW our goal. We'd love to get envelopes from every state. If you have friends and family around the country, please have them collect their Boxtops for us. Even sending one would count.

Here's our list of states so far:
Georgia
New York
Texas
Utah
Illinois


Here is a pile that Kaysen brought in today.
42!!!
Wow! He's been saving for a long time...thanks Kaysen's grandma!


(I really can't believe that I did an entire post about Box Tops!
Can you see how passionate our class is about reaching our goal?)

17 November 2009

Rap A Tap Tap...What's Your Passion?

On Monday, I read this book to the class. It has become one of my very favorites. If you haven't seen it or read it, you ought to. It is a lovely book about Bill "Bojangles" Robinson. He was one of America's most talented tap dancers. He was amazing. As the book says, "He made art with his feet".

The class really took to this story. We read it again and again. One student even checked it out of the school library! We found out that dance was Bojangle's PASSION. Then talked about what our passions were. WOW! Our class has a lot of interesting passions. Football. Singing. Dancing. Joking. Riding bikes. Quilting (that was mine!)
I thought it would be fun to show the students what Bill Robinson looked like and how talented he was. I found the following two video clips. The children were MESMERIZED. I watched pure joy in their faces. Their comments made me proud of them for recognizing talent such as Bill possessed and for gathering so much information from this little biography.

Here is a short video of a performance he did with Miss Shirley Temple:


And...this one is my favorite. I would be winded after the second time over the steps. Take some time to talk to your first grader about these videos. I hope they give you an earful of information.

16 November 2009

First Grade Logic

Today's math lesson was all about doubles. We made a chart:
We painted dots and folded them in half to make a double:
After teaching my AMAZING lesson about making a double, one sweet little thinker came to me so excited saying: "Hey, if you fold a clock in half you can get two lunches!"

Ummm.....yummy!

This is why I teach first grade.

13 November 2009

Stellaluna



A few weeks ago, our class took a field trip to the Scera Theatre in Orem, Utah. We attended the play "Stellaluna". I was deathly ill that day and wasn't able to be there. The children were in capable hands with our student teacher, Mrs. Spencer as well as one of our favorite subs, Mrs. Heil. I was so sad that I couldn't be there but I heard it was amazing. Once again, Mr. Blanchard took care of the pictures for us.




OH...and the hair? It was wacky hair day at Amelia Earhart Elementary.

11 November 2009

Veteran's Day!


We had a wonderful Veteran's Day assembly today. Children who had a relative who was a veteran was invited to attend. Each student read a nice introduction about his/her guest. Then, cards and letters were delivered.


The very best part...in my humble opinion...was the MUSIC!


In particular, the four darling children singing on the very front row.
Four sweeties from our class. We were very proud of them.

Take a look:
Tristan, ?, Kate, Chloe, and Melany...our glorious stars of the day.




(Pictures are courtesy of Mr. Blanchard! Thank you so much. My camera is on the fritz! I really need this one! :)

07 November 2009

Power Naps...

Just a 90 second "Power Nap"...

...helped us all endure another Friday!!

04 November 2009

Oh What a Halloween!

Just look at these cuties. (sorry the hula teacher had to be in every one of these but, well, you know!)

Enjoy!
Ninja Samuel was sooooo quiet, I barely heard him
come up to my chair.
What a great great ninja.

Mr. Jose Firefighter
Firefighters must always be serious.
Here's what they were watching.
The King Toot video.


Darth Jon Vader

"The Parade"

Witch Kate in her gorgeous home sewn costume!

The good little Kyara witch.

Look at all of those muscles on Kaysen Favre!

Gabriel has keen "spidey-senses".

Future Heisman trophy winner, Dallin.
Go BYU!

I always feel safe with Bryant around.
He's super.

Eden took my breath away with her beautiful hooped skirt
vampire gown.

Perfect angel Melany...as usual.

Zack packs a lot of power. That's all I know about that.

Princess Ashley is pretty in pink.

The "good" little witch Tristan.

The force was with him.
Obi Wan James
Cute little Brooklynn fairy.
Those wings poked me in the eye several times.

The precious little witch Katja.
I love the orange.

Green-faced Chloe witch.
That make up was SCARY!
(but, her grandmas was even scarier!)

Daniela the Sleeping Beauty.
Surprisingly she stayed awake ALL day!

Ethan Potter
He cast a spell on me.
Plus, he can spell just about everything.

Hannah Mon-Lizbeth-Tana!

Zombie Gage
Honestly, the scariest costume ever.
I'm glad he came back to us!


PS. We missed our friend Silver who was vacationing in Disneyland!