Go Green!!

My last wish for 2013 is a Bball win against the Nittany Lions and my first wish for 2014 is a Rose Bowl victory.  So fingers crossed and wishes made...Go Green!!

Promo Update and to Clarify!!

Hi all!! Just a quick note to clarify my offers...
All offers will run through January 1st to the 5th.
My stores will have 20% off on all products.
Like me on Facebook and get a free product.(January 1st to 5th although if you "like" me in the last couple days it counts I just will not push products out until then.)
Become a new follower on my blog and get a free product.(January 1st to 5th I will push out the products.)
http://hensonsfirstgrade.blogspot.com/
You must email me with what product you want and it must be $5 or less. michele0003@aol.com
Thank you all for helping me to grow the "spirit of learning"!!
Michele

Facebook Page...at last!!

Yep I did it...I created a Facebook Page for 1st Grade Hip Hip Hooray!
Like me on Facebook and get a free packet from January 1st to the 5th...michele0003@aol.com or become a new follower on my blog and get a free packet from January 1st to the 5th.
I have so many new things coming for the 2014 year ...Reader's Theater Packet and Reading for Detail.
Watch for the "freebies".
Enjoy your break everyone and I sooooo appreciate all the "warm" comments.  Much needed!! Michele

New Year Resolution...Grow my list of followers!

Okay all...My New Year's Resolution is to grow my list of followers.  I want to reach out and share with as many people as I can.  Are there any suggestions or success stories out there?  PLEASE HELP!!

The plant on the left is my "following" now...we are small but mighty.  My New Year's Resolution is to grow like the plant on the right.  The look on the little girls face is how I am feeling..."What's a "blogger" got to do to get people to follow them?  I think the world of all of you so help me out with some ideas.  Michele

Happy Holidays...a gift from ME to YOU!!

You must respond by Monday, December 23rd.

Gingerbread Travels!!

Make a video - it's fun, easy and free!
www.onetruemedia.com

Santa's Little Helpers...

So Santa's elves have been busy, busy in Mrs. Henson's first grade class!  They've been making gifts for their parents, snowmen for the classroom, and behind the scenes Mrs. Henson made a little something for her kiddos.  See the pictures below and find some ideas you might use.  Michele

Gifts for the parents, signed and dated on the back by the kiddos.

Sponge painted gift bags for wrapping.

Add a gift tag and stick in the gift.  Add a little tissue and ...

My gift to the kiddos.  Homemade dry erase board, edged in tape, marker, and pom pom for eraser.

For our room ...tube sock, little sock, ribbon, buttons, and a felt nose.

Put rice in the bottom.  Stuff it with fluff.  Tie off the head and add the hat, buttons, and nose.

Snowman Reader's Theater Freebie!

I am unsure where the time goes!  But here it is Friday.  I did prepare a little something this week that I thought you might like.  It is perfect to fill some of those anxious moments before the holiday or those "already" moments when you return from vacation.  My class is really enjoying doing some Reader's Theaters.  They have so much fun practicing their expression and working together to create a story.  I have prepared two leveled books with the same theme and then followed them with a writing activity leveled for differentiation and some word work.  The writing encourage group writing.  It is fun to see how they work together to create a story and it is interesting to see who has difficulty staying on topic.  I hope you will enjoy the packet.  Here is a preview...Click here if this looks of interest to you!
PS.  What fun it might be to sip on hot chocolate following the activities.  Michele

Almost Friday Freebie!!

And I promised you a Friday Freebie!  Here it is.  I hope you will enjoy it as much as my kiddos did.
We even tried our hand at writing our own stories following this.  One ran to the forest.  Another to the soccer game.  They were pretty darn cute and all I did was give them starting ideas.
You baked the Gingerbread Boy/Girl/Soccer Player/and more
What did he/she look like?
I think my all time favorite was a Gingerbread Soccer Player who ran to the soccer field.
He met the players, almost got run over, sat on top of the net, and finally the referee caught him.
In this story the referee took him home and made a whole team of Gingerbread cookies.
Kiddos are really creative if you give them some ideas so...show this little rap.  Your class will love it and so will you!

Click here to play.

Here is your Gingerbread Reader's Theater.  Enjoy!!  Michele

Click here to download.

Gingerbread Week...Lot's of yummie fun!

So this week has been all about gingerbread and of course my favorite stories are those by Jan Brett.
We enjoyed a few other goodies such as the Gingerbread Cowboy and Gingerbread Loose at School.

With each story a special event took place.  With the Gingerbread Boy we created Gingerbread Friends and are mailing them to friends from around the United States...I jumped out of the story the children were reading for an adventure...we hope they will send us a post card or picture...now we meet geography and mapping standards as well.

The next day we read the Gingerbread Girl and made some gingerbread cookies.  Of course we decorated them and gobbled them up but not before collecting data on what part of the gingerbread cookie you took a bite of first.

This activity was followed by a personification writing activity...and more creative fellows and gals!

There stories were delightful and filled with emotion and adventure.

Today we read Gingerbread Friends.  I had wanted to read Gingerbread Baby first but tomorrow I have "no breaks" from the kiddos so I thought it would be a good day to create our Gingerbread Houses.

As you know Jan Brett has a fabulous website.  After reading the story we watched her video on Gingerbread Friends and how she created the character.  We followed it up with a little drawing adventure of our own.  I was impressed and you could have heard a pin drop as they drew.  Of course we each signed our piece of art.  Here are two of my favorites.  Not bad for first grade.

Here is the link to the video.

Jan Brett

Tomorrow we make the houses and read Gingerbread Baby and Friday we put on our creative caps to write our own adventures.  Great week!!

I'll post again Friday with some freebies.  Michele

Dreidel Cookie...#greatidea

I thought you would love to see this dreidel cookie made by one of my parents.  So neat and super simple.

I am sure the idea came from pinterest.  Wish I could give credit but...I don't know.

Fig Newton Pretzel  Frosting.

And yes of course we played the "dreidel game" as we snacked.  Enjoy!  Michele

A Penguin "freebie"!

I think this little guy is just way cute.  I hope you do too.  The directions, pattern, and a writing activity is free below.  Happy December everyone!! Michele

Click here.

I'm running a SALE...#savemoney#savetime#enhancelessons

Welcome December! #letthemadnessbegin

Welcome December!  It sounds so strange.  When my kiddos left on Tuesday I said "see you next month" and of course that brought a smile to their face.  I am so THANKFUL though that before I left all my "turkey" things came down and all my "snowman" things went up so when I walk in on Monday I will feel ready to begin the winter months. For all you in the warmer climates ... jealous!!
As you know I always try to stay a month ahead with my packets.  So the last few days I have been "madly" updating and adding to my January packet list.  The basic focus here is INFORMATIONAL TEXT and our writing will focus on RESEARCH to assure we are meeting the required Common Core Standards.  Each packet also includes crafts, language activities, word work activities and more!!
So this post is going to show you my January items and my outline!  Hope it is helpful to you.

So you can see I begin with Jan Brett and two of my favorite stories The Hat and The Mitten.

My favorite part about this packet is that it includes two Reader's Theaters with picture identification cards.

The freebie is a wonderful compare and contrast of the two stories followed by two writing activities.

 Click here to find.

Next I move into my Arctic Unit.  This has been totally updated and improved so if by chance you purchased it last year be sure to look.  This covers a number of Arctic Animals, the Inuit people, informational text mini books, vocabulary and many other activities to really enhance every area of your curriculum.  This comes with three of my favorite crafts...easy and quick to create. The freebie has a little data collection activity and is followed by a paragraph building activity.

Click here!

Martin Luther King is also an event in the month of January.  Again this packet has be completely updated and improved.  I love the story that accompanies this packet...The Crayon Box That Talked.  It is a perfect  way to begin discussion on "equality" and appreciating "differences".  The freebie is a delightful poem and activities to follow.  There is an anchor chart poem and bookmarks too!

Click here.

Next I have snowmen down BUT I am going to change that to Penguins.  It fits with our Arctic Study as we move to the opposite end of the globe.  This packet is so much fun and has some delightful fiction stories to accompany it.  Again there is informational text and research activities.  I have not finished it yet but have a third craft I will include for a cute little "stand up" penguin.  Keep your eyes open. The freebie is a label page followed by identifying different and alike for penguin and bird.  

 Click here.

And we cannot leave January without a calendar and vocabulary for posting.

By clicking below you will get the anchor chart and all the January vocabulary cards.

Click here.

My final January item is my Poem packet.  These are new this year and I LOVE them.

The freebie is the Martin Luther King Poem.  

And so everyone...Hang In There!  These packets and freebies certainly will help and allow you to enjoy your vacation vs. digging for ideas!!  Michele

Happy Friday All...#fullmoon#exhausted#onlytwodaysnextweek

And if you read the title it says it all!  This was such a long week and the kiddos are all pumped for Thanksgiving...top that off with a full moon and you have one teacher who can't wait for the weekend.
But then the weekend will bring shopping and getting organized for the family Thanksgiving.LOL!!
You gotta love holidays!
Okay here is the slide I promised you...not the cute font cause I am at school.
I'll try and fix that tomorrow.
This is the 100's one but there is also one for 10's.

 Click here to download.

Also, I am just a bit ahead of the game but wanted to send all the turkey and November things home to decorate the kiddos home.

Thank you Pinterest!!

Happy weekend everyone!