Messy Room~ Visualizing Activity

Between dissecting pumpkins and going on a leaf walk, we have certainly been busy first graders this October. Even now, as I sit down to write another post, I have so many more things that I would like to share with you. *Sigh* However, there are only so many hours in a day.

I found our activity in reading today to be one of the highlights of my week, and I know my students would agree. This week we have been working on visualizing. I read various poems, they listened, and then we discussed what they were seeing in their heads. It all culminated with some Shel Silverstein today. I find him to be quite humorous and a truly wonderful poet.

I read his poem entitled Messy Room. First I had my students listen to it a few times. Many of them closed their eyes so that they could focus. Then we went back to our desks, and I continued to read and re-read it while they drew what they were seeing in their heads. I am including the poem because it is quite humorous. There were many gales of laughter during the fifteen minutes that we spent doing this.

Messy Room

Whosever room this is should be ashamed!

His underwear is hanging on the lamp.

His raincoat is there in the overstuffed chair,

And the chair is becoming quite mucky and damp.

His workbook is wedged in the window,

His sweater's been thrown on the floor.

His scarf and one ski are beneath the TV,

And his pants have been carelessly hung on the door.

His books are all jammed in the closet,

His vest has been left in the hall.

A lizard named Ed is asleep in his bed,

And his smelly old sock has been stuck to the wall.

Whosever room this is should be ashamed!

Donald or Robert or Willie or--

Huh? You say it's mine? Oh dear,

I knew it looked familiar!



Lessons from the Bible

One of my favorite things about the Bible is that no matter how well you know it, there is always more that you can learn from it.
This brings me to last week's lesson. We studied the life of Joseph. Typically I think of two things when I think of Joseph.
1. He had a coat of many colors. (Not so deep truth.)
2. He was a type of Christ. (Deep truth.)
And both don't seem to effect me that much. I'm not saying these truths couldn't be applicable to me, they just don't have a huge impact on me. I mean, I think it's cool that Joseph helps to save his family when there is sereve famine, and how this shows us the Lord, but that's where it ends for me. But I'm not writing this story off.

... If you are still reading, I'll tell you my WOW moment from last week.
It is this: Joseph trusted God.
That's it. So simple, and yet so profound. This man found himself in some severe circumstances. He was sold into slavery, he was thrown into prison for a crime that he didn't commit, he interpreted dreams which sometimes meant that there were tough interpretations to share with others... and yet, in his life, Joseph didn't waver in his trust for Christ. He wasn't perfect, I know. But so many characters in the Bible start off strong, and end with not-so-wise decisions. Joseph is characterized by his trust in the Lord. And look where that took him. He was able to store up food because of his reliability and faithfulness in service to Pharoah. He helped to save the beginnings of the tribe of Israel. He was used by the Lord because he trusted the Lord.

What a great example for my students and my own life. Oh that I could trust the Lord for even just a smidgen of how Joseph trusted him. May this impact my life today!

Teaching til Heaven

We find ourselves in a good groove these days in first grade... a student asked me today if I was going to teach for the rest of my life, to which I responded emphatically "Yes!"
She asked, "Even when you die?"
I said, "Well, actually, I think when I die, I'm just going to want to spend time with Jesus."
Another student chimed in, "Well, what if when we all died and we're in heaven together, you could be our teacher!"

Needless to say, I am overwhelmed with love for these sweet children every day. Teaching goes by extremely fast, and I know that this is directly related to how blessed I am in this classroom. 

I write today because I just had to share some of the read alouds that we have recently embarked upon. If you have an elementary child, you could check any of these books out at your local library, and they would thoroughly enjoy them!

First, we read Mirette on the Highwire by Emily Arnold McCully. This is a wonderful book that emphasizes the lesson of perserverance. My students hung onto every word.

Today we looked at Joseph had a Little Overcoat by Simms Taback. This book has some pretty amazing illustrations. The illustrator crafted each page piece by piece. I just discovered this book this week, and it is already a favorite of mine. The moral of the story is quite fabulous as well!

Recently we had a guest reader introduce us to Stellaluna by Janell Cannon. This is a beautiful story about a bat. It looses its identity for a little bit and gets confused. This story had them laughing and intrigued.

Happy Reading!

There's Always Something to do:

Well, I was right... the beginning of the school year has brought much fun, new learning and a wealth of things get written on my to-do list on a daily basis. If you know me well, you know I am a list maker. I feel better when I can see the things that I need to accomplish and cross them off when they are done. Sometimes, I write easy, small things just because I know I will finish them quickly. It gives me momentum and keeps my energy level high. Other times I re-write a to-do list when the old one looks sloppy.
All that to say, "Blog" has been written on this week's list, and so today I share a few things from our classroom with you.

First, I would like to share some of the beautiful pictures that my students drew last week. I have a drawing jar. There are times when I pull an idea out of it and set the timer for fifteen minutes to see what works of art my students will produce. It contains crazy ideas to realistic ones. This was a realistic idea- The students were asked to draw a picture of their favorite thing that they did this past year. Below are some of the results:





The Carnival

The Baby Chicks in Kindergarten

Going to Sea World

After reading a book entitled Where Do I Live? by Neil Chesanow, students wrote and drew what was the most special thing about their rooms at home. These are quite amazing illustrations as well!

My room is special because my room has my bed.

My room is special because it has my vanity in it.



My room is special because I have toys and fish.



My room is special because I have my own room.

Did you notice the shopping cart and the ceiling fan in the final picture? So cute! I love the fish tank in the third example, the little brother in the second example and the canopy in the first one. My students are so creative!
I hope you have enjoyed looking at some of the things we have been doing!
I'm off to accomplish another thing on my to-do list. Have a wonderful day!

My Little Creators

Today during our Bible lesson we talked about Adam's role in naming all of the animals. One student told me that if animals didn't have names then we would have to hold up a picture when we are talking about them. That would not work. I am so grateful that God gave Adam this job, and I am in awe of the amazing creatures that God created.

My great first graders' minds went to work on what they would create as a brand new animal. I found them quite intriguing. It was cool to me how I could see a little bit of God's original designs sneak their way into their new animals.

Please bear with me as I learn the new settings on my camera. I know these are a little bit dark.

This student was very excited about the laser eyeballs.

The Herubrin.

Another species of a snake, except with rainbow colors.

The Cartwheeler. An unbelievable creation that sucks water
in it's appendiges, and spits it out the mouth. This student
was very proud!

The Swilsga. How can we forget the animal with two heads?!

The Cot. What I love most about this bird is
that it is saying:I love God. And it is blue and
purple which means that it is female.
That's what its creator told me.

This just scratches the surface of the plethora of animals that my students created today. What a fun activity!

Look Who Landed in Our Room!

As you can imagine first grade is going quite well!

We're practicing lots of procedures, but we are engaging in new learning as well. I love this!
To date, we have read over ten books in our classroom. I'm pleased with this number, and I am so excited for that to continue to grow this school year.

Below I am including some pictures from the first day of school activity. On the first day, after students came in they were asked to draw themselves into their parachute that I had laid on each of their desks. Then when they were finished, they got to choose their place on our bulletin board. This was fun for them, and it was a great ice breaker. Check out some of their work below.

Each of their parachutes had their name on it like mine does, and at the bottom you can see them all hanging up. Now that they have landed, we have lots to learn!

Profound Thoughts Concerning the Seventh Day of Creation

So often in conversations with students, I am in awe of their thought processes and the things that they say are just enlightening. This afternoon was a great example.

Mrs. MacLeod: Boys and girls, why do you think God rested on the seventh day?
Student: Because He got tired of speaking.

What a deep thought that because God spoke everything into being on the seventh day, he was just tired of doing that. Praise God that's not true! But it definitely brought a smile to my face.

Before & After

When I found this sign outside 

my room a few weeks ago, 

this moment became real!

Before pictures of the back of the room.

After pictures of the back of the room.

Before view from the back of the room facing front.

After pictures from the back of the room facing front.

Before picture of the cabinets along the wall.

After pictures of the cabinets along the wall.

My desk

The classroom library.
I am so excited to continue to fill this space up with books.

Tomorrow I get to meet my students. 

On Wednesday is our first day of school. 

And our classroom is going to continue to grow all year long!