Thursday, June 14, 2012

Kite Day!

You know that feeling you get as a teacher when everything seems to "fall in place" for a moment in time, and you say to yourself, "It's all worth it...." Well, I had one of those moments today!  :)

Today was K-ite Day in summer school, so the students made kites this afternoon and got a chance to fly them!  Just to see the joy in their face and the yelling-into-the-wind remarks, "Ms. Brandt, THIS IS SO MUCH FUN!" made my day!  It was the perfect day, and I just had to share on Brandt's Buzz!  

ENJOY YOUR FRIDAY!  


--Ms. Brandt

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

H is for HOME

For summer school this year, we weren't provided with a curriculum, but we were told to make it an extension of the school year.  Well, we all know how kids get at the end of the school year... :/ So, I knew that if I stuck with the "same ol' routine," my students would hate coming to school each day.  So, I did some research and found this awesome curriculum map designed around the alphabet theme, and I tweaked it to meet my students' needs.  For H-Day, we discussed types of homes.  For Writer's Workshop, the students were to draw a picture of their favorite room in their own home, as well as support their opinion with reasons why it is their favorite room in their home.  Answering the question WHY is often the hardest thing for  a first grader to do, but they did wonderfully!  I was in awe of the ownership they all felt towards their own homes.  In math, we reviewed shapes and used polygrams to design our own homes.  It was a VERY fun activity and really reinforced number sense and shapes.  I was amazed of how creative the students were in being their own DESIGN STARS!

--Ms. Brandt

Notice the labeling!  Really emphasized the importance of this in
Writer's Workshop this year--writing for others to read!  

The students did this graphic organizer, also known as
four square writing, as a way to organize their thoughts
before writing their paragraph.  

Paragraph explaining why the room is her favorite in her home!

Designing our homes using polygrams. 



After the students designed their homes, they were to trace
the home and write down how many of each shape they used
to build their home.  

This was one of the most creative!
This student designed her home to be a DUPLEX!
(Notice the 2 doorways) 

Another finished product!
To download the DESIGN STAR document, please visit my TPT store here

Saturday, June 9, 2012

Occupation Day

 Please sign up here if you would like to participate in Occupation Day for Summer School!  We will be hosting Occupation Day on Tuesday, June 19, 2012.

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

New beginnings...

Whew!  This is my first post, and I am trying to figure out this new blogging adventure!  If you have any tips, I would LOVE your advice!