Five for Funday?

So I had created the post and started uploading pictures Friday night...but am only just getting to the writing now...-_-||

I'm allowed to give myself a break because I've been sick for most of the week, right? :D

As I mentioned, I was sick from Tuesday and on. Had a fever Tuesday night and went home early on Wednesday to just rest. We had a field trip on Thursday so I had to be there, but basically went straight home and into bed after school. I was feeling better by Friday, but still have a persistent cough that still hasn't gone away. Great time to be sick, right? We still managed to get some stuff done though...

Our caterpillars have all now turned into chrysalises! The cool thing was that on Tuesday morning, all but one had already turned. The last one was hanging in the J-shape getting ready to turn. It was perfect timing because the kids got a chance to write about it in their observation books. By the time the day was over, that last caterpillar had turned into a chrysalis!

Our math topic was on measuring. First grade only talks about non-standard units of measuring so we used connecting cubes to measure the length and height of different objects in the classroom.

We made our Mother's Day gift too! (Happy Mother's Day, by the way!) 

Normally the kids would have drawn something to temporarily place in the middle, but with me being sick and all, we just never got to it.

Presents all nicely wrapped!

Open House is next (or this) Wed! Since our classroom theme this year is the Magnificent Monsters, I thought it would be cool to have monster boxes on our desks for Open House. My idea is to make them compliment boxes. As part of my scavenger hunt, students will be asked to write compliments to their classmates and drop it into their monster box. This is just an idea though, we'll see how far I get with it! Either way, we will have some nice monster boxes on our desks!

Boxes are all painted! We will be adding the eyes and teeth this week. Stay tuned to see how they turn out!

Last week was also Teacher Appreciation Week! I hope all of you felt extremely appreciated by everyone. Being sick was no fun, but I still felt the appreciation when I was at school!

Our parent association catered Thai food for lunch!

Just a glimpse of some of the gifts I got from students.

My grade level team and aide deserved some appreciation from me too!

Okay, I made it through. And Sunday isn't over yet! This week is going to be a busy one with my birthday and Open House happening on the same week! Spent some time during the weekend getting some Open House decorating started in the classroom. Hopefully this yucky cough and sore throat will go away soon. Guess I should rest up! See you again soon! :)

Five for Friday - Two Week's Worth

I missed last week's Five for Friday due to jetting off right after work for a baseball game that didn't end until 11pm! So I'm combining these past two weeks into this Five for Friday post. That's okay, right? ;)

Earth Day was last week! When Earth day comes around, I HAVE to make my coffee filter Earths. They always turn out some awesome! I love the fact that everyone's Earth looks different.

Writing template from A Cupcake for the Teacher

We have also been working on opinion writing. Last week, to follow the theme of Earth Day and recycling, we tried to convince our readers why they should recycle.  After going through the writing process, the kiddos got to "publish" their writing in their "published" book. Remember seeing those blank books in the Target dollar section? Yep, those are the books! We pick a final draft from each writing unit and put it in our "published" books. Also becomes the perfect writing portfolio too.

This week's opinion writing was about our favorite pizza. I love the reasons this student gives for liking pepperoni and bacon so I just had to share.

Template from There's No Place Like Second Grade

Oh, the logic of a first grader. Didn't burst her bubble about the truth behind bacon coming from pigs. She can learn about that at another time. 

Continuing on last week's activities...We read 10 Things I Can Do to Help My World. After reading, the students brainstormed their own ideas on things they can do to help the world. Then we made a book about it. One of the ideas listed in the book we read was to reuse recyclables. So it only made sense if our own books were made out of recyclables too, tissue boxes!

Want to learn how to make a tissue box book? Learn from Mary at Teacher Treasures!

We had some special guests arrive after school last Friday...painted lady caterpillars! These little critters have only been with us for a week and they have already grown so big! I hope they don't turn into chrysalises over the weekend!

Day of arrival

Four days later.

Six days later. They grow so fast!

We also started working on our Mother's Day gift this week. I absolutely loved how our toilet paper roll frames turned out last year so I'm doing it again this year! The students helped me with painting the toilet paper rolls. I need to spray paint the frames and cut the toilet paper rolls this weekend so that we can put it all together next week. 

I can't believe it's already May! This month is going to go by so fast! Not only that, Open House is in two weeks and I haven't even started planning for that yet! Feeling the stress level rising as I speak (type)! Friends who are on the same boat, we can do it! :D

Affiliate Post: 10 Earth Day Freebies on Educents!

Earth Day is April 22nd, how will you celebrate this year? Some activities I have written in my plans are to read about the earth and recycling, create an Earth day craft that will talk about ways to help save the Earth, and even write an opinion piece about whether to recycle or not! If you need some ideas for Earth Day activities, Educents has 10 different Earth Day freebies for you to try in your classroom! Check them out below!

10 Earth Day Freebies for Kids

1. Earth Day Sort - Help kids learn the difference between reducing, reusing, and recycling!
2. Happy Earth Day Writing Activity - Kids of all ages can reflect on ways their family, school, and themselves can help keep the Earth healthy. Also encourages handwriting practice!
3. Earth Day Coloring Pages - Creative kiddos can color the Earth with their colors of choice, or follow the color-by-code page to add critical thinking to art hour.
4. Earth Day Poof! Subtraction to 5 - This Earth Day themed game builds fluency with subtraction facts to 5. It can be played in a small group or as a partner game. It is a fun way to practice those facts!
5. Earth Day Word Search Freebie - Enjoy this Earth Day themed word search puzzle with 21 eco-friendly terms like atmosphere, compost, and recycle.
6. Earth Day Bookmarks - The perfect Earth Day treat for your students. Available in full-color and black-and-white.
7. Earth Day Survey and Graph - A fun and different way to practice graphing in your classroom while encouraging collaboration between students.
8. Spring Coloring Book - Let your little ones COLOR & SPELL Spring words.
9. Love the Earth Mystery Picture Graph - Students will love discovering the mystery picture by coloring in the correct squares on the alphanumeric grid using the coordinates given. This is a great addition to an Earth Day or recycling unit!
10. April 2015 Journal - A month of free journaling for learners age 8 to 100! Read about important historic, artistic, and current events that happened during the month of April - including J. Robert Oppenheimer's birthday and Earth Day on April 22nd. Then develop vocabulary and critical thinking skills.

Want to turn your Earth Day celebration into an educational experience? Discover new ways to learn about the amazing planet we live on (without breaking the bank!) -->  Earth Day learning resources.

Five for Fraturday: Spring Break Edition [PICTURE HEAVY!]

You know that time when you almost finished typing up the post and then realized that your phone hadn't finished uploading the pictures to the post? Well apparently once the pictures are finished being uploaded all your typing and formatting goes away! Back to square one!

So I didnt make it to Friday again. It IS spring break though so I get to cut myself some slack, right? Or not...

The boyfriend and I spent three nights in Vegas during the beginning of the break so at least half (or most) of this post will be about Vegas....

The first night in vegas was spent wandering the new Hershey's Chocolate world in New York New York...

Made completely out of chocolate. How does it not melt?!

I only took a picture of this because the cupcakes were GINORMOUS!

...then splurging on dinner at Tom Colicchio's Craftsteak...

...and ending it with a Jabbawockeez show (with a free seat upgrade)!

Day 2 was spent wandering the Bellagio to check out their cherry blossom/Japanese garden display.

...lunch at Gordon Ramsay's Burgr

The coffee milkshake with hazelnut pudding on top was DIVINE!

...and ending with a Cirque du Soleil: Mystere show at night! (And another free seat upgrade! We were moved from the back section to the third row in the front section!)

Day 3 was SUPER windy, so much so that it was almost unhealthy to even go outside! (So much dust blowing around!) So we decided to stay indoors. We stayed at the Excalibur so just took the tram to Mandalay Bay to visit the Shark Reef Aquarium...

...and ended the day with a dinner buffet at the Wicked Spoon Buffet in the Cosmopolitan.

Can't leave Vegas without having at least one buffet! And yes, I ate all of the food in the picture!

Spring break also allowed me to have some extra cuddling time with my best furry friend...Snap!

He has his own instagram account! Become a follower today!

This is from today, but it still counts in this post because it's Fraturday, right? :)

A new playground just opened in my city today

This playground is very special because it was created specifically to be handicap friendly, but allows EVERYONE (disabled or not) to be able to play on everything in the playground. 

I personally think the music zone is the best, because you get to play a laser harp!

So cool! Just wave your hands (or if you are like me, run) underneath the arch of the harp and listen to the music you create!

It was very exciting to see such a cool new and innovative playground! To learn more about Magical Bridge Playground and it's origins, click here. 

Okay, I made it to the end. Hopefully you did too! Spring break was super busy but in a fun way. Despite the busyness, I was able to stay away from school work until today. It must have helped because I'm actually feeling ready to get back into the classroom! 

Hope everyone else's spring break was (or will be) just as fun as mine! :D