Versatile Blogger Award

YEAH!!!  I've been given the Versatile Blogger Award by Mrs. Geary at Light A Candle.  Thank you very much!

The Rules after accepting the Versatile Blogger Award are:

■  Thank the person who gave you the award and link back to them in your post.

■  Share 7 things about yourself

■  Pass this award along to 15 recently discovered blogs

Seven things about little ol' me:

1.  My birthday is in 9 days--September 20th.

2.  I love, love, love to sing!  I've been known to karaoke a time or two.  My fave song to karaoke is "I Feel Lucky" by Mary Chapin-Carpenter.



3.  I was born in Wisconsin (GO PACKERS!), but now live in Texas (GO PACKERS!).


4.  I have completed three half marathons (one each in Denver 2009, San Antonio 2009, Dallas 2010), but I am not a runner.

5.  I have two dogs, Selah and Janey, and one cat, Anna (who likes to hide which is why there is no picture).



6.  I have a karate-loving/soccer playing son, Matthew.



7.  I am an avid blog hopper and pinterest repinner.

Now I'm off to pass this award on to other wonderful blogs!

Domino Parking Lot-- An Addition Game

I'm already hearing from the 2nd grade teachers that the kids they have (mine from last year) do not know their Math facts, and I know that we practiced them!  So...I am trying to give my new group lots of practice time to work on their facts.  One of the activities they do is called "Domino Parking Lot"  The rules are very simple:  Each student has their own parking lot.  Students take turns selecting a domino.  Add up the pips (dots), and place the domino in the matching parking space.  If the parking space is already filled, the domino goes back in the container, and the turn is over.  The goal is to be the first person to fill their parking lot.  Have fun!

Math Domino Parking Lot

websites

I'm always on the lookout for websites that I can share with my kiddos.  Here are just a few:

Gudli.com is a FREE and wonderful site for K-2nd graders!  It's a site set up specifically for young learners and includes lessons and games to help children develop math, logic, memory, word, creativity, language, and science skills.

http://www.ezschool.com/ provides FREE online games, study tools, and worksheets for grades K-12.

ABCya.com has free educational kids computer games and activities for elementary students to learn on the web. Grade level lessons incorporate areas such as math and language arts while introducing basic computer skills. Most K-1 activities are have sound to enhance understanding.

http://www.raz-kids.com/ is not free, but we are lucky that our PTC was able to buy subscriptions for all of 1st grade.   Raz-Kids has lots of leveled books that students can listen to and/or read on their own.....each with interactive quizzes. You can assign the students a certain level or open the bookroom, which gives them access to all reading levels. Students can practice reading to improve reading comprehension and reading fluency anywhere with Internet access.

My Blog is Rated A Top Ten Blog!

THANK YOU to Barbara at Grade ONEderful for listing me as one of her Top 10 Blogs! 

Bucket Fillers

I have heard of Bucket Fillers, but never tried it in my class until this year.

I read How Full is Your Bucket?  then we talked about examples from the book of things that were bucket fillers and things that were bucket dippers.  The kids seemed to really understand the concepts.....they have trouble putting it into practice!!

       

After reading and discussing, we made a bucket filler/bucket dipper chart.  (I found this idea somewhere on Pinterest --imagine that!)  I started off by giving examples, and they told me if it was a filler or a dipper.  Then they started giving suggestions to add.  I added one of my own too.  



Next week, we are going to review bucket fillers and dippers by reading another book, Have You Filled A Bucket Today?

While searching Amazon, I found even more books on this same topic. I'm going to have to head to the library to see if I can find any of these Bucket Filler books!!

Currently I'm....September Version

Currently I'm



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Prayers Needed

Please, please, please...take a moment to say a prayer for my good friend and fellow blogger, Denise.  We were on our way to visit with an old friend when she got the kind of call no one ever wants to receive.  Her sister-in-law (Jenny) called with the news that her brother had been killed in a car accident.  Denise, her other brother, mom, and step dad are leaving tonight and heading up to Omaha to be with Jenny and the kids (Gehrig, Emmitt, and Alice).  Thank you for your prayers!