Five for Friday: Start the Countdown!

Happy Friday! I'm linking up with Kacey from Doodle Bugs Teaching with five happenings from this week.

The countdown is on! There are only 10 days left of school! Can it be true?

We are celebrating with a Balloon Bash Countdown.

Each day we will pop a balloon to retrieve a note saying what our special activity or treat is for the day.

Shhh! If you promise not to tell....

10. Mystery Reader! (This class hasn't met the Mr. yet. They keep asking if he will visit. One little girl wrote me a note this week: "I love you, but when is your husband going to come to school?" No joke!)
9. Books and Beach Towels
8. Nature Hunt and Sidewalk Chalk
7. Lunch in the classroom
6. Visit the Zoo and Pick a Prize
5. The Principal is our Sub for the morning!
4. Game Show: Bible Trivia
3. Movie with POPcorn
2. POPsicles
1. Extra recess and "Blasting off into First Grade" science experiment

We talked about all of the wonderful things our moms do for us. All of the things they teach us.  Happy Mother's Day! Moms - we love you! You do so much for these little ones. You are selfless love in action!

We decorated pots and added some flowers to surprise our mothers with. (*fingers crossed* Please make it home little plant.. the bus ride home on a Friday is... well, ... the odds are not in your favor!)

Mother's Day cards

Things are getting "wild". (And I'm not just talking about my kids!) We are going to the zoo next week, and started our wild animals unit in preparation. On Wednesday, we left the safety of our classroom and went on a safari (the halls of our school). You wouldn't believe the wild animals we saw! The zebra were always spotted by the watering hole (water fountain).

At the conclusion of our safari, we discussed our graphs: "What animals did we see the most of?", "Which animals did we see equal numbers of?"

Two years ago I decided to go back to school. I figured if I didn't do it now... I never would. I decided to pursue a Master's degree in Curriculum & Instruction with a focus in Literacy since I thought it had the most application for teaching kindergarten.  Teaching reading has always amazed me. I wanted to gain more strategies in successfully unlocking the gift of reading for each student. It's been a long road, many lesson plans, quizzes, projects.... but I submitted my last assignment this week. I'M DONE! Forever! Time to burnt that APA manual.

Can't wait to read a book... that's not a textbook! A book for enjoyment? What a novel idea!

 

Math journals were a new endeavor this year. I plan to continue doing them. I liked the sense of ownership they gave my students. (Since we have quite a few pages left, I plan to send them home with a list of journal prompts to work on over the summer for added practice.) Here was our journal prompt yesterday:

(If you're wondering..."dics" = dice, "Phoun" = phone,  and "melck" = milk.)

Enjoy the weekend!