Dental Health Week!

What fun we've had this week....and there is much more to come!  My students are looking forward to a visit from a dental hygenist on Friday.  :)  Here's a glimpse of what we've done thus far.

Don't you just love these BIG teeth and brush?  My students thought this was the coolest thing ever!  Ha ha It's a great way to teach proper brushing techniques.  We've been using these (during free time) to practice caring for our teeth.

We filled out a predictive chart after watching a Brain Pop video on dental health. Get a great printable for this chart at What the Teacher Wants!

This is hard to read. (Sorry!) But...we've been learning a Teeth Poem and ilustrating it in our poetry journal.  It's to the tune of jingle bells and VERY catchy. ha! ;-)

Brush your Teeth

Brush your teeth,

Brush your teeth,

Give your teeth a treat...

Brush up and down and all around,

To keep them clean and neat!

Brush them once,

Brush them twice,

Brush three times a day...

Brush up and down and all around,

Keep cavaties away!

Nothing like an EGGsperiment to teach dental vocabulary and the importance of brushing your teeth.  We started out by forming a hypothesis on Monday and placing our eggs in cups of water and coke.  I loved my students' predictions and illustrations.   SOOO many of them actually thought the egg would explode when placed in coke! They actually held up their clipboards to sheild their face when I dropped the egg in the cup.  ha ha  Check out Haley's illustration below.  She drew the egg shells (after explosion) and egg yolk floating in the coke. :)

After soaking over night, we pulled the eggs from our cups, made our conclusions, and finished our EGGsperiment paper.  It was neat to see that brushing could remove the stains left by coke.  A great lesson learned!

Here is one of the completed papers.  I love how her hypothesis shows her egg changing into Christmas colors! :) Wouldn't that be neat?  Thank GOODness that doesn't actually happen or I would be hurting.....you all know my obsession with Diet Coke. ahhhh

Afterwards, we played a tooth game to incorporate mathematics and counting.  Students rolled their dice to see how many marshmallows (teeth) to place on their mouth.  When filled, they enjoyed their marshmallows as a mid morning snack!

Looking forward to the rest of the week.  Keep on brushing and flossing!

Stylin' and Profilin'

Thank you to my new friend and accessory swap partner, Melissa, at F is for First Grade for sending me this award!  Squeal......I was so excited! :)

These are the rules for receiving this award:

1. Thank and link back to the person who awarded you this award

2. Share 7 things about yourself

3. Award 5 recently discovered great bloggers

4. Contact these bloggers and tell them about the award

So here are 7 things about me:

1. I was Miss Historic Jonesborough 2007 and went to Jackson, TN to compete for the title of Miss Tennessee 2008.  IF I would have won, I would have gone on to Las Vegas to compete for the title of Miss America.  I have been competing in pageants since the age of 15 and have loved it ever since.  I fully support what the Miss America system promotes, as well as other systems, and contribute a lot of my public speaking and interview skills to my pageantry experience.  Through my platform and title, I was able to log over 500 volunteer hours promoting literacy awareness and met a TON of interesting people!  

2. I have a huge heart for missions and would LOVE to speak Spanish fluently.  (I'm working on it!)  I'm returning to Honduras in June and am so excited about spending time with these amazing children. :)  I could seriously take a few home! 

3. I would have an IV drip of sweet tea and diet coke if people wouldn't think I was crazy!  They are my drinks of choice and I will have one or the other in my hand at ALL TIMES!

4. I own and run my own home based business called, Everything Erin & More.  I specialize in printing, personalizing, monogramming, and more.  :)  When I'm not teaching, in graduate school, working on yearbook, or TRYING to have a social life....I am working on orders for customers! ha I also have a little knack for painting, and I personalize gift items at a little store in town called The Gift Box.  I usually run by there a few days a week. 

5. I have a wonderful family and could NOT ask for a better support group.  My sister and I are 12 months and 12 days apart and despite all the fights and arguments we had while growing up....my Mother was RIGHT.  She always told us, "You wait, one day you all will grow up and be best friends!"  And....we are.  My family is great and I love them very much. 

6. I've been clogging since I was 6 and STILL dance with The Trailblazer Cloggers.  We do about 30 local shows a summer.  I hope (in my spare time) to one day open and run my own studio.  My sister and I have competed in several duos and have even clogged on a cruise ship. 

7. I am beyond blessed and canNOT imagine doing anything else with my life.

I've selected the following blogs to receive this award: (seems like it has already gotten around to everyone in the teaching world)  

First Grader at Last!

My sister at Emily Eats Clean

Kindergarten Works

I'll be searching more and adding to my list later! ;-) I just LOVE blogs and am seriously obsessed with all the wonderful ideas.  Thank you for thinking MY little ole blog is worthy of this sweet award. 

President's Day-Part 2

Wrapped up our President's Day study by taking a look at Lincoln and some of our symbols.  Here is a glimpse at what we did:

We filled out fact charts after watching informational videos!

We listened to and read stories on Abraham Lincoln and Betsy Ross.

We painted flags with 13 stars for the 13 original colonies (we used yellow crayons for the stars so it would show up brighter) and made Lincoln's log cabin.

We even learned a Lincoln poem and illustrated it in our poetry journal!

On to dental health next week!  Looking forward to some EGGsperiments and a visit from a dental hygienist.  Gosh - I love my job.  :)  Happy Weekend.  ~Miss E

President's Day!

We started discussing presidents this week because President's Day is Monday...although we've lost our day off due to excessive snow.  I began our theme by asking who our president is now, where he lives, and what his job entails.  We read the story My Teacher for President and talked about all the "roles" the President has to play.  Surprisingly, many of my students thought I should run for President!  ;-) ha 

To introduce our first President, students watched a Brain Pop on George Washington.  We LOVE Moby and Annie!  (I sooooo wish I had a smart board!!)

We reviewed what we learned by filling out a was/has/wanted chart on Mr. Washington.  I was pretty impressed with the responses, although one student referred to Mr. President's home as "Mountain Vern" I still knew what she meant! ha ha ;-)

Afterwards, we did an "All About Mr. Washington" page.  My students wrote down 3 facts using our was/has/wanted charted we filled out whole group.

Next, we illustrated our 1st President using construction paper, cotton balls, a paper doily, and googly eyes.  These are one of my favorites to do each year.  Although we do them together, step by step, they all have their own unique personalities!

We'll learn about Abraham Lincoln Wednesday and Thursday and wrap up our President unit on Friday by studying our country's flag and it's history.  I hope to add more photos soon.  Perhaps I'll get around to making this bulletin board???  Here is a photo from last year.

~Miss E

Gearing up for Valentine's Day!

Here are a few fun things in the works for tomorrow....I hope to post some pics of my students' valentine crafts and what not, after our party. 

Look who's been baking!! ;-)  Can't wait to enjoy these with my kiddos!

Just some creative Valentine ideas, stolen borrowed, off some fabulous blogs.  My Mother often says, I would gift the farm if I had one.  I love giving gifts...so here are a few things I've created to pass along to friends and students at school.  Enjoy~

I wanted to do something unique for my students this year, as opposed to the traditional valentine cards.  And when I began searching the internet, I ran across these crayon hearts.  I thought the idea was great because it allowed me to recycle the MILLIONS of used/broken crayons I have stashed in my classroom.  I thought sticking my hearts in a cello bag, adding some ribbon, and a little tag (purchased on etsy) was a quick fix.  You can find instructions for these hearts at In the Pink!  Please note: if you do not use a silicone pan (which I didn't), spray your pan with non stick cooking spray before dropping your crayon pieces in to melt)

I LOVE this idea.  I snagged the chocolate coins out of the $1 bin at Target.  You can find more information about this cute valentine here: Colorful Creative Ideas!  Don't forget to pick up some extra coins for St. Patrick's Day.  We always seem to have a sneaky leprechaun who leaves us his Pot of Gold each year.  ;-)

These little guys were sooo easy to make.  I passed them out to my kiddos I teach in Sunday School, this morning, and they loved them!  I ran my copies off on heavy pink card stock...cut and hole punched.  Grab the FREE printable here: What the Teacher Wants!

What teacher, friend, girly girl..doesn't love a little lotion that fits in a purse?  I ran off some "Love Potion #9" labels...stuck them on individual bottles of lotion and added some V Day ribbon I picked up at Michael's for next to nothing!  Nothing inspired here....just something I conjured up in my mind!  Great gift...and super simple. 

These may be my absolute favorite.  I traced my students' hands last week, cut them out, and curled their two middle fingers around pencils.  A little two sided tape and a sucker is all you need.  This idea and so many others came from The First Grade Parade.

Happy Valentine's Day! ~Miss E

~Accessory Swap~

I love getting mail and cannot wait to take part in this swap!  I must confess, I am an accessory junkie!  ;-)  I have TONS of jewels, scarves, handbags, etc....but don't always wear them like I should.  Oops!  I'm super excited to start shopping and put together my box of goodies...not to mention, receive my box!

Be sure to sign up at Miss Delk's Blog.

Staying within the $20 budget will be a challange because I have champagne taste!   But - who doesn't - right ladies?? Looking forward to making some blog friends and adding some "bling" to my collection.

Do I have OCD?

Am I the only crazy person who obsesses over sub plans?  ha ha Like I must make plans for every worst case scenario that could possibly occur?! Sheeze....I just know how my kiddos are and they must have consistancy or else (I've heard) they'll tell you if you're doing it wrong! ;-)  With all seriousness....my school is blessed with some wonderful substitutes who I know do an outstanding job.  Here, however, is what I leave for them....my "Sub Tub!"

You can find the fun "Sub Tub" label and other goodies here: What the Teacher Wants! 

Here is what I typically place in my tub:

• Lesson Plans (placed in folders for each day absent)
• Grade/Roll Book
• Lunch Count
• Timer
• Hand Sanitizer
• Grading pens/Post it notes
• Glue sticks (because my students are ALL THE TIME running out)
• Clinic Log
• Substitue Folder (this contains dismissal proceedures, fire drill proceedures, classroom proceedures, etc.)
• Books, Worksheets, Materials, etc. that are required for the lessons

In reading other blogs...I've discovered that I'm not the only one who obsesses goes overboard with sub plans.  I certainly found relief in reading that other teachers dispise it as bad as I do.  Ughhh It's really a hastle.  But...I'm sure all would agree...that for our mental sanity, we must take a day off every now and again.  And for that reason, typing a sub plan and preparing a tub full of goodies is worth it.  Now...to take Friday AND Monday off to get out of town. Hooray!  To all the wonderful subsitute teachers out there...we appreciate what you do!  I leave you with this comic....enjoy! ~Miss E

Hip Hip Hooray for the 100th day!!

I wish I would have posted earlier in the week, but I've been so busy!  I've got some fun ideas/activities to share from Groundhog's Day...but who knows when I'll have time to post that. July maybe?!? ha On a positive note, my graduate school research paper is DONE and my 1st yearbook deadline (of 40 pages) has been met!  Can I get a Hallelujah?!!?  :)  Aside from that...I'm adjusting and getting back in the "groove" of things.  This has been the first FULL week of school we've had since the first week of December!  I know....crazy - huh!?  So you can imagine all we've had to play catch up on....while enjoying some fun Groundhog crafts and celebrating the 100th day.  *Yawn*  This makes me tired just typing it. 

Anyways...let's get on with the excitement!  Today was the 100th day of school and guess who showed up??  Miss Eberhart's 100 year old Granny! ;-) Here she is in all her glory with some fellow "Granny" students.

This had to be my Granny's most favorite part of the day!  We FINALLY made it to the 100th day on our chart.  The students were SO excited to bundle our groups of ten and move them to the 100's pocket.

Now...let's cut to the chase.  What did we do today??  Well....FIRST we made 100 tally marks.

Then we made our 100 hats!  Students counted by 10s to 100 and illustrated it on their sentence strip.  Afterwards, we stapled ellison dicuts to make 100 on the top.

Aside from all that....we watched 101 Dalmations and even enjoyed some 100th day snacks!!

Students visited 10 food stations and collected 10 items at each.  After they filled their placemat, they placed their snack in their 100th day bag and shook up their trail mix.  Yummy!!

We also made the number 100 out of Wheat Thin sticks and Ritz crackers.

And what's a little 100th day fun without illustrating yourself at 100 years old??  I'm sure the students had NO problem gathering ideas from Miss Eberhart's OLD Granny! ;-) Hope you enjoyed a few of the fun things we did today.  Just 80 school days left until summer vacation! ~Miss E