May 20th - Moore, OK Tornado

Thank you to all my blogster followers for all your thoughts and prayers as my community of Moore, OK - in which I live and work in, has been horribly affected by the tornado that passed through on May 20^th.  This tornado developed and came fast giving the community little warning and not much time to prepare.  It also came earlier in the day than most tornados come.  It came at a time when people were still at work and children were still in school.  The commotion of what was coming our way started around 2:00 p.m.  Parents were rushing up to our school in a mad frantic to check their child out.  With so many parents and such a mad dash to get students with their parents, the office staff was calling the student’s names out over the intercom one right after another as students were running down the halls to their parents.   As the storm got closer the school was then put on a lockdown.  Then, the tornado alarms started to sound.  Teachers, staff, students, etc. all followed the tornado procedures we have practiced so many times before.  Any parents that were in the building made their way down to their child’s classroom to take cover with their child.  I had nine of my first grade students left at this time.  I then had my students take cover on the interior wall of my classroom.  (It’s times like these that you are so thankful you don’t have any windows in your classroom!)  As my students were taking cover I began pushing all the student desks over their bodies.  I was preparing just in case something were to happen to our building, any flying debris, etc. – hoping that the desks would take most of the hit, not the small bodies huddled closely underneath them.  Just as we were all settled into our positions we lost all power and the room became pitch dark.  Luckily I had a flashlight and my iPad right by my side.  As we were all huddled in the dark waiting for the unknown to happen our wonderful principal was very calmly guiding us, talking to us, telling the students to be calm and listen to their teachers,  and also telling everyone how much she loved them over the intercom system.  One of the last announcements she made before the intercom system stopped working was to tell us that in about 30 seconds it was going to get really loud and our ears were going to pop, but to stay in our tornado positions.  I can’t say enough how wonderful and calm our principal was as she stood in front of a wall of glass windows, with an F4 or F5 tornado about 100 yards from our building, guiding us all through what was about to come.  (Below is a picture our principal took of the tornado as she was looking out the glass windows of our school).  She was definitely right we could hear a loud sound – almost like a train close by.  As scared as I was on the inside I knew I could not let my little first graders hear or see the fear I had.  I knew I had to stay strong for them.  So as we were all huddled in position we were all laughing and cracking jokes.  As much as I wanted everyone to be silent – I knew laughing and jokes were the way to go.  Then, I did what I knew I had to do – start praying!  Not only was I praying but I could hear and see my little first graders start praying. Then, by a miracle it all became quiet…no rain or hail sounds.   I decided to see if I could get any kind of information on my iPad as to where the tornado was.  I was able to pull up the streaming video of the tornado to see that the storm had passed by the school.  I was so relieved and felt so blessed that it had missed our school – but I didn’t feel 100% secure, because the video I was watching was showing the tornado heading in a path right by my house.  So I texted my husband who was home with my dog to make sure he was taking cover and to tell him that I loved him.  Luckily the tornado not only missed our school, but also my house.  It was less than a mile away.  Below is a video my husband took as the tornado made its way in the area behind our house.  May 20^th was a sad and very long day.  Not only did we spend hours up at the school waiting for parents to pick up their children, but it also took hours for us to make it back to our house.  I feel so blessed to have all my family, friends, students, and belongings spared by the horrible storm.  Unfortunately, not everyone can say that.  Some of the families at our school were affected by the tornado.  Please continue to pray for those families that have not only been affected by the loss of their belongings – but for the people and animals they may have lost.  Thanks again for all your thoughts and prayers!

 

This is a picture of the tornado outside the windows of our school.

 

 

 

This is the tornado passing just north of my house.

 

Yea, this is my husband taking the video from our backyard.

 

There is tons of debris surrounding my house and surrounding neighborhoods.  This is a picture of a large piece of metal-no telling what this is from.

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Valentine's Day Student Gifts

This year I don't have time to make homemade Play-doh hearts for my students like I did last year - so this year I have found some Printables from Pinterest to use to make super cute Valentine's Day gifts for my students! 

 

Each student will get their own container of Play-doh along with a Lollipop Lilly!

 

I found this idea with the printable labels from the blog
Random Thoughts of a SUPERMOM!

 

The blog Skip to My Lou not only has the cute flower printable, but it also has other cute Valentine's Day printables!

 

Click the links below to download the printable flower and leaf pattern! 

 

Lollipop Lily

Leaf

I just love all the great ideas on Pinterest!

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Christmas Parent Gifts!

These are the Christmas gifts my students made for their parents this year.  They ended up being cute gifts that didn’t cost much money to make.  :)

 

Crayon Picture Frame:
This is a super cheap parent gift!  All you need are some crayons, foam for the back, string/ribbon, Mod Podge, glitter, and a student picture.

Click HERE to download the printable name tags for FREE!

Snowman Handprint Ornament:
For this craft the students form their handprint around the ornament using white paint.  Then, they decorate each finger using permanent markers to make it look like a snowman.  To finish off the ornament I add ribbon and the snowman poem.

Click HERE to download the printable snowman poems for FREE!

Reindeer Card:
Using brown paint, the students stamp their thumbprint three times.  Then they decorate their thumbprints to look like reindeer by adding eyes, craft balls for noses, and draw on antlers.  They also add a message inside their card.

 

Here is a picture of the final wrapped parent gift.  They decorated a white paper sack to look like a snowman.  Then, they wrapped the ornaments in tissue paper and placed them inside the sack.  Finally, they attached their reindeer card.

 

 

Merry Christmas!

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Pumpkin Centers and Activities!

This past week my students had a blast learning about pumpkins!  We did many activities with pumpkins and gourds throughout the week.  Here are just some of the things we did this week...

 

First, I sent home a note asking parents to donate pumpkins and gourds to our classroom if they would like.  I ended up getting many donated!

 

 

 

I picked the biggest pumpkin we got donated and used it as our "Class Pumpkin."  With our class pumpkin we did many whole-group estimating and measuring activities with our pumpkin.

 

 

We measured the circumference of our pumpkin.

 

We measured how many cubes tall our pumpkin was.

 

Then, we measured how many inches tall our pumpkin was.

 

Finally, we weighed our pumpkin.

 

 

We also used this anchor chart to add words that describe a pumpkin.  It was an intro into a lesson about Adjectives.

 

 

 

We made these fun pumpkin glyphs!  The students followed the directions to make their own pumpkin glyph.  Then, as a class we used the clues the students used to make their pumpkins to guess whose pumpkin was whose.

 

 

 

 

Finally, on Friday I set out 9 different pumpkin centers.  Each center had a different pumpkin or gourd activity.  My students absolutley loved doing these pumpkin centers!

 

Center 1:  The students glued the pictures in order to show the life cycle of a pumpkin.

 

 

Center 2:  The students used the stamps to make different patterns.

 

 

Center 3:  The students used the magnifying glasses to observe the pumpkins and gourds up close.  I even opened one of the pumpkins up so the students could see inside.

 

 

Center 4:  The students used cubes to measure the height of three different pumpkins.

 

 

Center 5:  The students measured how many pumpkins tall they were.

 

 

Center 6: The students drew and ordered pumpkins.

 

 

Center 7:  The students tested whether the pumpkins and gourds would sink or float.

 

 

Center 8:  The students got to draw and paint their own pumpkin.

 

 

Center 9:  The students weighed three different pumpkins with cubes.

 

 

Click HERE to download my Pumpkin Centers and Activities packet from my TpT store that has all these activities in it! 

B.R.O.N.C.O Daily Binders

At the beginning of the school year I make each student their own daily binder, also known as their B.R.O.N.C.O Binder. B.R.O.N.C.O is an acronym for: Bright students who are Ready to learn, Organized, Neat, Capable, and Optimistic. This binder is used as a communication devise between home and school. This binder is brought home every night and is returned to school the very next day. It houses important information such as school notes, homework, graded work, etc. Each child's behavior for the day is also noted in their B.R.O.N.C.O Binder. The parents make it a habit to look through and check their child's binder each night. The parents also sign or initial each night on the appropriate date on the calendar. This helps me see that the parents saw their child's binder that night. This daily binder is so beneficial to have because any assigned homework, notes, money, etc. gets placed in the B.R.O.N.C.O Binder so I or the parents will receive it - because we all know how sometimes things get lost in a child’s backpack.  J

Here is a peek into my B.R.O.N.C.O Binders! 

 

This shows the behavior calendar that I use.  Each day the students mark green, yellow, or red on the date on the calendar to show their parents what kind of day they had!

 

I put a pencil pouch in my binders for those small notes, money items, etc. that could easily fall out.

 

Each binder has the student's class number on the spine.  The students place their binder on the shelf every morning in number order.  This allows me to easily see who has turned in their binder or who might be absent.

 

Click HERE to download my B.R.O.N.C.O Binder files from my TpT store!

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Elections

My first graders are going to be ready to learn and practice voting this November!  I made this election voting booth out of a science fair board!   I can’t wait for my first graders to try it out!

 

 

 Click HERE to download the files on TpT to make your own voting booth for your students!

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Nature Walk Writing

My students absolutely loved this writing activity!  As a class we went outside on a Nature Walk.  During our walk each student filled a Ziploc bag full of items they found in nature.  Then, when we returned to the classroom the students used the items they found in nature to make a picture.  After they made their picture they had to write two sentences about their picture.

 

 

This is a great book to read before or after your nature walk!

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