Centers, Songs and a WINNER!

We survived the week after Spring Break!  Whew, it was close!

Here are some pictures from a few of our Reading Centers this week. These are 1st and 2nd grade centers.

I have everything color coded.  First grade is always yellow and second grade is always red.  (From center tubs to spelling test pages to their Reading Counts password cards to the clips around our working with words cards!)  This helps keep me organized as well as the students.

Word Work:

1st Graders read Froggy's First Sleepover and completed Thinking Maps about the characters.
The Thinking Maps came from Jennifer at First Grade Blue Skies!

2nd Graders did the Bunny Hop Syllable Sort from Jessica at Teacherista Tales!

Listening:

Skills:

1st Graders had a Following Written Directions activity.  They created a cloud and kite.  (We read The Kite the week before!)

2nd Graders did a Cause and Effect sort.  This can be found in my Going Camping with Cause and Effect packet at my TPT store.

Jack Hartman Concert!!  The kids had so much fun!  Head over to my classroom blog to see more pictures and video.  Miss Gilbert's Monkey Business

And now for the WINNER of the Pencil Sharpener!

a Rafflecopter giveaway
Congratulation Wendy from 1st Grade Fireworks!  Check your email.  I need some information from you.

Have a great weekend.
Meredith

Hurry! Hurry! Hurry!

Last chance to win this AMAZING pencil sharpener!

Giveaway ends at midnight.  I will announce the winner tomorrow and share some pictures from our Jack Hartman concert.  (Wouldn't winning this be an awesome end to your week?!?!?)

Enter the Rafflecopter below!

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Have a fantastic Friday!
Meredith

Giveaway Reminder and a Sweet Story

Only 2 days left to win this AWESOME pencil sharpener!

(We had a long discussion about it by the teacher mailboxes this morning.  I now have colleagues coming by my classroom to check it out!)  Enter the Rafflecopter below!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

And now for a super sweet story I just have to share!  Tomorrow Jack Hartman is coming to my school to put on a concert for our Kindergartners and Firsties!  (Yes, the for real, actual Jack Hartman.....Live.....In Person....at my little school!)  Be jealous....it is his 2nd year in a row!

I have been encouraging my kiddos to bring in their permission slips and $4 for a few weeks now.  $4 is a LOT for some of my families.  I just keep encouraging and saying, "Bring in what you can."  Yesterday my most enthusiastic little boy came bouncing in (literally bouncing, like I said, most enthusiastic).  He was sooooo excited to tell me he had his permission slip signed and that he had his $4.  I gave the expected excited response and had him write his name on the door.  (Which is a GREAT way to get things returned....kids love getting to add their name to any kinds of list, especially if they get to use a marker and it is on the door for EVERYONE to see.)  Then this super sweet enthusiastic boy continued his story.   "The Easter Bunny gave me $5.  I get to use $4 of it to pay for the concert."  I almost started crying right then and there.  I wanted to give it back and pay for him myself.  However, he was genuinely excited that he got to use his very own money for something he was really looking forward to.  Today when I was walking him to the bus he was holding my hand, bouncing up and down and talking a mile a minute about how much he was looking forward to the concert tomorrow and how glad he was that the Easter Bunny left him money.   He didn't complain about having to use his "own" money.  He was just focused on the fact that he gets to see a concert!

Moments like this are priceless and are what make teaching the best job in the world. They can even make those ridiculously stressful moments of being a teacher worth it;-).   If everyone could approach each day as excited and as positive as our students, think about how different life would be.

Tomorrow is going to be a great day!  I cannot wait for the concert and plan on enjoying every minute of it with as much excitement as my students.

Meredith