Title I Night

I hope everyone's Easter was fantastic! I'm on break right now and away from the computer for the most part. But I wanted to share about the activities we did for Title I Night last week.

Last Thursday, we had Title I "Night" at our school. In the past, we've always had trouble getting parents to bring their kids back out and participate (even when we invited a local author to come in the Fall, we only had 6-10 kids from our programs. Fortunately we opened that night up to the entire school and had a decent turn-out) So our K-2 specialist and I sat down and started brainstorming ways to get the attendance we desired. She had the idea of doing our activities immediately after school and then intentionally running the event past the time when activity buses leave so the parents had to come pick up their kids and meet with us, even if it was just quickly.

We sent out permission slips and ended up with the highest turn-out we've ever had (at least as far as we know of)! I had 13 of my 26 students participate and two more who tried to call their parents and stay the day of - I didn't let them because I didn't have enough supplies for them. Plus it was at the VERY end of the day. K-2 ended up with eighteen students, and we were able to talk to ALL of their parents!

Students were encouraged to dress as their favorite book character and bring pillows, blankets and sleeping bags to "read under the stars".

Here's Cinderella!

We started with some Easter eggs. Inside the eggs, I put the names of a few popular book characters (Pete the Cat, Harry Potter, etc.). 

Students chose an egg and then had to give a few clues to the rest of the group. The group could ask yes or no questions to figure out more. When they guessed correctly, they came up and chose another egg. They had a lot of fun with this activity, and it was a simple, fun way to add some eggs to our evening! I believe with the younger kids, they had sight words in the eggs that the students had to read. I wanted to adapt it to something a little more difficult since I have grades 3-5.

Then I split students into grade levels (which I needed because there were HUGE differences in maturity levels even from 3rd to 4th), and they rotated between a craft with me (keep reading for more on that), "reading under the stars", or playing this Fact and Opinion game they love on my Promethean board. The winner of that game from each grade level got to pick a book to take home for free. Our K-2 teacher was much nicer and bought a book for each child who came, but mine were happy enough with one winner from each grade level!

Moving on to the craft because this was my favorite part of the evening: I was browsing Pinterest last week for a perfect little Easter snack that they would have to assemble using some directions. Then I came across this:

Isn't it just the cutest? I knew I HAD to do it with my kids! So I adapted the recipe to make it work for me. Then I went and bought all of the supplies. I almost wish that I hadn't included a picture or title in the recipe because then they would have had to actually read all of it to know what to do. But there was at least some reading required to clear up any confusions they had because I WOULD NOT tell them what to do if they asked. They had to read the recipe first to see if it said (and it almost always did). Here's a picture of how my Bunny Buggies turned out. I'm so proud of them!

My cute little bunny buggy ahead of time

All set up ready for them to come (I couldn't find the Bunny Peeps when I went shopping)

Some of my kids finished with their craft, ready to eat it!

And if you want the recipe to use for next year, grab your copy here:

Yes, I changed the name. I liked the flow of "Bunny Buggy" more than "Easter Bunny Racecars". I like alliteration.

After centers, I found this adorable Reader's Theater for 11 students (I was supposed to have 11 when I planned activities, then two more turned in their slips last minute) with The Frog Prince Continued by Jon Scieska. We had a lot of fun with this, and I would love to practice it with a group and let them actually perform it. It was so cute!

At around 5:30, I put in Horton Hears a Who for the students to watch quietly as I began to meet with parents. I found the movie for $4 at Target. Score!

I found this wonderful resource to give to the parents, courtesy of Carrie from A First Grade Teacher's Passions and Obsessions. It even shows where students should be for their grade level at the end of each marking period. This was a great visual to give to my parents and really highlighted the growth that each child has made!

It was a busy evening, but it was a lot of fun and much more successful. Plus we were done just after 6, and I was able to see my son before he went to bed! I think this will be a new tradition (with a few tweaks) for our Title I Night!

Currently April

I wasn't planning on doing any posts except for the one I have scheduled for tomorrow since I'm on break (and down in GA with my family), but I forgot about Farley's linky. And you know this is my favorite linky! Plus everyone's napping right now, and it doesn't take long to put this one together.

Listening: Like I said, everyone's napping (well except my dad who's working on his computer, and mom's at work. Her break was last week). My parents have a grandfather clock that was passed down to it, and it's so relaxing to just listen to it tick. I don't know why. Maybe I'm just weird like that.

Loving: This was a no-brainer. I'm on break, and it's fantastic! Plus the weather is amazing down here (and at home apparently, but we're wearing shorts here). For an example of how different this week is compared to last Monday, let me give you a side-by-side of Monday and Saturday for Keagan!

 

Seriously, people. This is only 5 days apart and in the same place! VA weather is crazy!

But anyway, we drove down to GA yesterday at 2 am (because Keagan was supposed to sleep the whole way and we wanted to surprise my parents and go to church with them. We got in around 9:30, rushed to my parents house to quickly shower and change, then we made it in time for the worship service. They were so surprised (and I love a good surprise)!! I wish I'd taken a picture with all of us, but we didn't get it together. Still, doesn't Keagan look adorable in his suit?

It was a little rainy outside, so we opted for a picture by the cross. Not the most ideal backdrop, but I think we look good!

Thinking: My secret pal really outdid his/herself at work this week! I got a basket with some goodies, including a B&N gift card! Now I just have to figure out what books I want to buy. Decisions, decisions. Any recommendations?

Wanting: I didn't get enough Reese's eggs this Easter. Maybe there are still some at the grocery stores? I doubt it though. Do they make any like that for the summer months, or do I have to wait until the pumpkins start coming out for Halloween? I don't think I can survive that long! I vote a flag shaped Reese for 4th of July!

Needing: Ever since I reached my goal weight last month, I've been eating what I want and just working out. Now, I'm doing some intense workouts (on week 4 of Insanity, and I only missed yesterday out of the 24ish days I've been doing it), so I don't feel too guilty. However, I think it would help if I cut back on some sweets and made sure I was eating more fruits and veggies like I was when I was trying to lose the weight. 

Advice: This goes right along with the last two. I gained almost 50 pounds when I got pregnant last year, and it took a full year to get back down to a size I was pleased with (I did start out a little underweight, so I didn't go all the way back to pre-baby weight). Now I don't want to lose anymore, but I have some major belly fat. I'm scared that I'm fighting genetics, but I'm busting my butt trying to get fit. If I had not sat around and eaten everything in sight (or at least got up and walked some while I was pregnant instead of being so lazy), I think this would have been a much easier journey. I'm determined that next time around I will be more prepared. 

Sorry that NONE of this post had anything to do with teaching, but I'm on break and don't want to think about teaching. Come back tomorrow for tons of ideas, and go link up with Farley right now!

My first Five for Friday and a FREEBIE!

This is a busy, yet fun time of year, so this post is going to be full of information! With that, I figured it was the perfect time to join in Doodle Bug's Five for Friday, especially when I realized I already had 4 things!

1. We always have reading month during the month of March, and this year's theme is Where the Wild Things Are. I love that little book!

We always have a door decoration contest, so I was trying to think of the best way to decorate my door. My favorite saying from the book is "I'll eat you up, I love you so", and I thought it would be cute to do something related to that. Here's what I finally came up with:

And I surprised myself with my artistic talent. I hand-drew this big guy. It took me a LONG time though!

Then I decided it would be cute to do tally marks for the books read "eaten" in my class.

Since I'm mostly push-in, we are shooting for 100 books (already at 33) in 3 weeks. If the school as a whole reads 40,000 books in 3 weeks, each grade will have a "wild rumpus". I'm not exactly sure what that will entail, but the kids are excited!

2. Since today was the last day before St. Patrick's Day, we did my Lucky Seven craft (how funny that I ended up having 7 kids complete it!). I thought they turned out pretty cute for the most part! Some of my kids are just going to throw something together no matter what, and I guess I just have to accept that.

You can get that craft at my TN or TPT store for $3 if you still want to do some St. Patty's Day activities next Monday. Don't forget to join my Lucky Seven linky as well. I'm up to 5 link-ups and hope some more of you will join in!

3. Today, I decided I needed to go ahead and put together my Easter craft. I went really simple, but it's what I wanted to do for this one. Click the picture or links below to pick this up for FREE!

TN or TPT

4. I am trying to finish up my Spring Literacy Centers. The clip art has been changed out (I used Krista's Creative Clips this time and LOVE her stuff!), but I still need to work on changing everything from St. Patty's Day theme to spring in general. Keep an eye out for it soon, though! I'm hoping to have it finished by next week.

5. This is my 100th post! I can't believe that I've had 100 hopefully useful things to say since I started this blog back in August. I feel like I'm growing so much as a blogger, TPT seller, and, most importantly, a teacher. You guys help with that so much!

Is anyone doing anything fun for St. Patty's Day this weekend? Steven and I had talked about doing a little party at our house, but we just haven't gotten anything together. Maybe we'll work something out and have a few people over, but he has grad school work to do (6 more weeks!) and never has free time. We'll see. Hopefully we can at least do something!