April books, A.R. Goal Freebie, and EGGS!

Oh my word. There are so many things I want to share with you!! But I think I will stick to these for tonight...

But FIRST, I want to show you a picture of what I came back to work on Monday....

Remember the Friday before break we had to clean out all our cabinets and drawers??


Not only did I have to prepare for my day/week that morning, but I had to put my WHOLE room back together...
These pictures just don't do the chaosness of it justice...but if you know me, you know there is NOTHING in piles in my room and my counters are pretty empty...I don't like clutter, remember?? lol


Anyway...moving on....

First off, we were doing my Spring Math Centers today...

I was doing the Leapin' Numbers center during my small group with them. The point of the center is 1 before and 1 after and I have both 2 and 3 digit numbers.
Well, my students were getting it really well...and one of my students goes...
"You know Mrs. Ross, we should do it with doing 10 before and after so we can do something harder."

Um...YES PLEASE! I was so excited that they actually were trying to challenge themselves...we couldn't do 100s because there were 2 digit numbers, but it's pretty hard for them to change 10s with 3 digit numbers...

Gosh, I love this class!



So, you know each month I do a themed A.R. board...

This is the interactive board where students get to put their name on the board if they pass an A.R. quiz with an 80%, 90%, or 100%.
This month because it's April Showers, I have an umbrella and they write their names (or numbers) on the raindrops.


And here are some of the books I have for them to read for the month...this isn't all of them since they've already snagged a bunch to read. lol



Sorry, it was just easier for me to take the pictures like this instead of posting each individual picture from Amazon or something...I mean, come on, that's A LOT of books...lol.

Also, in regards to my post yesterday about goals, I wanted to share an idea that I stole got from my teammate! ha!!

She's genius - something so simple, yet so effective. She actually did it a little differently, but told me what she wanted to do to change/fix some things...and then I said I could add some clip art to it - ha! I AM an addict, after all...lol

So, these bookmarks...

Each month (or week, if you want), my students make an A.R. goal for themselves. (Remember I said that if they reach their goal, then at the end of they month we celebrate with a "party" (like a nacho party) or they get a free kids meal coupon to a local restaurant. 

Well, my kids were having a hard time making goals - they were going WAY too high! But these bookmarks really help them to visualize their goals. They choose the "point" they think they can get to, and color that specific box for it in one color (so if they think they can get to 38 this month, then they would color in the 3rd box on the row that has 40 on the right..get it??).
Then, as they earn points, they color in those boxes in a different color. And hopefully they will be able to see how far they have to go to get to their goal. And each month, they color in a new goal square. There are different themes to fit your class...dinosaurs, reading teddy bear, pirates, rocket ship, and a trophy. (If you want another theme, I MIGHT have that clip art to be able to do it for you if you want- ha!)
Click the pic to go download them for Free!

In other GREAT news, 
we got our eggs today!!

The incubator is all set up and ready to incubate!



I was able to "rent" an incubator from UCF's 4-H department for $1/student...so $16! And she said I could keep it and do it with A afterwards!
Want to see if your local 4-H has an Embryology Department??? 
Click HERE to find one for your state/county.

We even have different colored eggs! I have a great activity I can do with that later on...

Ok, I must go settle in for the night...
Hope y'all had a Terrific Tuesday!!







11 comments

Jennifer said...

You're so lucky that you get to do chicks! We do tadpoles. So not as fun!
Rowdy in First Grade

Hello Mrs Sykes said...

Keep us posted on the eggs!! Stinks you had to walk into the chaos, but you moved on along. :)

~Jen
Hello Mrs Sykes

Journey of a Substitute Teacher (Ms. T) said...

I remember hatching chicks when I was in elementary school. They were so much fun! And I got put in a raffle and won one, but when it started flying, I took it to my friend's farm :)


Journey of a Substitute Teacher

Emily said...

Our first grade classes do eggs. One of the teachers cried when one of the littlest chicks didn't live. A firstie comforted her by saying, "It'll be okay. It's part of nature." Great experiences for them. =)

Emily @ Second Grade Silliness 

Kristin said...

I'm so jealous of your chicks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Or eggs.
A Teeny Tiny Teacher

Owls and Lessons, Etc. said...

Our first graders are hatching chicks, too. My 2nd graders have been peeking down there in the mornings to see what's going on! I love the AR bookmark. Definitely going to use that next year :) My pitiful little sticker chart just doesn't have the same touch ;)

Haley
Following Optimism in 2nd Grade

enail said...

I love your AR theme board! Would you mind sharing some of the other ideas for the board for the different months?

danae said...

Thank you so much for the info about 4H renting incubators. I hatched eggs last year because the school I was at had one, but this year I wasn't able to do it because I couldn't locate an incubator.

Mrs. Nunley said...

I love your A.R. ideas!! Thank you for sharing.
-Megan

First Grade Magic

Lesson Plans and Lollipops said...

I love your AR goal setting bookmark idea. I also like the bulletin board for scoring well on the AR test. I have a student in my 2nd grade class who had 100 points the first month of school. She is now past 300 points. Maybe I can inspire the rest with the bookmark.

Journey of a Substitute Teacher (Ms. T) said...

I see you and I both won clip art from Melonheadz. We have a problem with clip art addiction! Gah! :)


Journey of a Substitute Teacher

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