Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Farewell, 2013!

Hellllooooo, is there anyone alive out there? 
*If you can tell me what movie that's from, email me the answer and I'll give you any product from my store. lifeinfirstgrade@gmail.com

I hate to begin a blog post with "Sorry I've been missing here lately" but I really am. My number one New Year's Resolution is to blog more often, both here and on my fashion/beauty blog. I'll be back tomorrow to share with y'all my resolutions but I wanted to first look back on my teaching adventures of 2013. 
In January, my sweet first graders learned about apostrophes with this adorable book. You can find this activity here.

 We also made these cute penguins to help practice compound words. You can find the pattern here for free!!


In February we spent a week learning about the Mexican culture and ended the study with my favorite event from my last year in 1st grade: our Fiesta! 

In March, I took spring cleaning to my classroom and felt rejuvenated! Who doesn't need a little spring cleaning now and then.

In April, we studied fairy tales and poetry and had a blast making these adorable Goldilocks and the three bears craft from the Glyph Girls. Quite possibly my most favorite craft I've ever done. You can find my Jack and the Beanstalk Unit, along with The Little Red Hen Unit here and here.


In May, it was time to say goodbye not only to my sweet boys and girls, but to first grade. 2013 brought a big change to my teaching career: moving from 1st to 5th!

In June, I enjoyed summer before getting to work preparing my new classroom.


In July,  it was back to school! For me at least. I had the best time working with my sweet mom to create my new 5th grade classroom. It was the easiest classroom to create, which I took to be a great sign for the new school year.

In August, I officially became a 5th grade Reading/Language Arts teacher and I've loved every minute of it! While I do miss teaching phonics and basic 1st grade math, I LOVE this age group and how much more they can do with a concrete foundation for reading. I'm still learning so much each day about how to teach such a different grade and I'm having the best time!



In September, we learned about Johnny Appleseed, which the kids loved! I decided making pan hats wouldn't work on fifth graders, which I have to say, was a nice break from fitting 20 kids for construction paper hats.

In October, we completed a two day Frankenstein compare and contrast project that was fabulous! This activity helped SO much with writing compare and contrast statements and summaries. Love!

In November, we tackled subject-verb agreement and worked really hard on Narrative writing


In December, I finally gave in and purchased a cameo. I'm so glad I did!


2013 contained some big changes in my teaching career and I can't wait to see what 2014 has in store!

4 comments:

  1. It's Titanic isn't it? amysponn@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  2. The quote is from Titanic. :)

    Wishing you a wonderful New Year!!!

    -lovely Nina
    nblovely7@gmail.com
    http://lovelylittlelearners.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love, love, love everything you create! Your classroom is gorgeous. Happy New Year's Eve! :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. You were my go-to for first grade Reading Street materials so I was sad when I found out you were switching to fifth grade. But then I switched to doing reading interventions K-6 so it all worked out! We made the penguins last year and my first graders love them. Happy 2014! :)

    ReplyDelete