Friday, June 7, 2013

Five for Friday 6/7/13

I just got home and I can officially say I am on summer vacation!  Woo!!!  Before I get too settled into relaxation mode, I want to link up for Five for Friday!  So here is my top 5 of the last week :)



1. Summertime and the living is easy!
Our students' last day was yesterday and today was a work day.  I packed up my classroom in record time.  Our school was new this year so I moved in this year.  I think that helped with the clean up because I was so organized back in August (after going through all my stuff this summer).  It feels great to be home... even though it is raining.  My hubby doesn't get out of school until Monday and later today so I think a rainy day afternoon nap may be an order!


2. End of Year Perks
My kids this year were really sweet with their end of the year gifts.  Most of them didn't bring one in from home, but tried their hardest to show their thanks.  My favorite was a box of raisins :)  I did, however, get these cupcakes from Georgetown Cupcake!  I have never been but I have heard wonderful things about the cupcakes.  They were delicious!!

3. My Birthday
My birthday was on Wednesday.  My husband and I aren't big gift people and I am impossible to shop for... I am allergic to most jewelry, I don't have fancy tastes, and I hate having something if I don't need it.  That makes it a bit difficult for my husband... he did a good job and got me flowers and Backstreet Boy tickets (yay!)  I also received some beautiful flowers from my best friend.  It wasn't a big birthday, but it was a good day :)
4. End of the year present
I have always tried to do something meaningful for my kids at the end of the year.  I saw this on Pinterest from The Polka-Dotted Teacher.  My kids loved it and it was super easy to make!  I made it on Tagul.  What I did to make it easier is I made a "generic" cloud with all the kids names, the size I wanted first grade to be, my name, our specials - all the stuff that applied to all of them.  Then I duplicated it to personalize each one.  It took me about an hour.  I laminated them instead of framing them to save on costs, but I think the kids will treasure them for a while.

5. American Symbols Cubes
We finished up learning about American Symbols this week.  There are 5 symbols we learn about in first grade (Statue of Liberty, American Flag, Washington Monument, Bald Eagle and Liberty Bell).  Each day, I present a different symbol with some facts we talk about and a short video clip from youtube.  Then they make a side of their cube.  It takes some time to put them together, but the kids really like their final projects.

Have a GREAT weekend!
Annie

8 comments:

  1. Love the American Symbols cube idea! Thanks for sharing. I'm your newest follower! :)

    Hope you'll come visit and enter my giveaway.
    Marie
    The Hands-On Teacher in First!

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  2. Happy belated birthday! It should like it was a great week for you and yay to officially being on summer break! I love the wordles that you created. I did a similar thing for end of the year gifts but didn't think about putting them in shapes...the heart is so cute! I will have to remember for next year! A box of raisons makes me smile because you know that student was so happy/proud to give them to you!

    I am so glad I found you! I am your newest follower!
    Amanda
    Learning to the Core

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  3. I love the end of year gift idea. That is definitely meaningful and special! And not too time consuming or expensive. Thanks so much!
    Susanna
    Whimsy Workshop 

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  4. That is a wonderful end of the year gift to your students! They can save that for years to be a special memory. Happy late birthday!
    Lori
    Conversations in Literacy

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  5. Happy belated birthday!! I just made the word pictures with Tagul too! I like that you included the specials in there too.
    They're so cute :)

    Happy summer!!
    Sarah
    A Sunny Day in First Grade

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  6. I enjoyed your post! Thanks for sharing the cube idea! Really like it!

    Em
    Curious Firsties

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  7. I love love love your end of year gift! I had my kiddos make class tshirts which were cute, but I might do this idea next year. I have a friend that is a HUGE backstreet boys fan.. I think she went on a cruise with them last year! Enjoy!! :) & Happy Belated Birthday!

    Ashley

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  8. Hey Annie, I'm so happy you stopped by my blog. I'm in the same predicament as you - what to blog about during the summer? I think I'm gonna go the linky party route. There are lots of weekly linky parties to choose from! I'm your newest follower now too!!
    KaSandra
    http://memoriesmadeinfirst.blogspot.com

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