Building Community & Character

As we wrapped up the second full week of school, much of our focus was spent on building community within the classroom and with one another.  Working to establish a positive, supportive and safe classroom environment is something that I wanted to be both intentional and timely about - it had to start on day one.  My new firsties needed to feel secure, nurtured and loved by each other and by ME!

During those first few days of school, we established classroom procedures and expectations as a group.  We also spent time each day reviewing our school-specific behavior code known as S3R. It stands for: Safe, Responsible, Respectful, and Resourceful.  Students are encouraged and taught (by teachers and guidance counselor) to use this code to guide their thinking and behavior at school and at home.  Our music teacher even wrote a rap and created a music video about the S3R code that my students absolutely LOVE to sing and dance to!  I try to incorporate the music video at some point throughout each day as a brain break and a mini-character education reminder.

This past week I introduced my students to the book One by Kathryn Otoshi.  Not only does this book incorporate primary and secondary colors, numbers, and counting... it's central and guiding message is to show the importance of accepting the differences among each person and how just ONE voice is all that's needed to stand up to bullying and intolerance AND show that everyone counts!  What a powerful message and reminder to each of us!!

 

During the reading of One, I would pause on occasion and share some of my own think-alouds. (It's never too early to drop in a good reading comprehension strategy, right?)  My think-alouds would touch on the feelings of particular colors at that point in the story and how I could relate to that color at some time in my own life.   I wanted my think-alouds to serve as a model for my students and also to help guide them in their thinking for what would later be discussed as a whole group.  

After reading One, we discussed as a class the impact that our words, attitudes and actions can have on other people.  We brainstormed ways that we can help others (i.e., friends, classmates, siblings, acquaintances, etc.) both in and out of the school setting.  We also spent much time discussing what it looked like and sounded like to stand up for ourselves and for someone else.  I was so impressed with how open and willing to share each of my kiddos were.  I loved hearing all of their precious ideas for helping others and being a good friend...melted my heart!

Then I showed students a YouTube video of Kathryn Otoshi reading One accompanied with a dramatic interpretation performance by students from an elementary school in California.  My kiddos were really excited when I told them they would be watching the author read her own book and they enjoyed seeing children act out the pages of the story that we just read and discussed.  They even clapped at the end of the video!  So cute!!

 

This is the page from the book that inspired the student art activity.  The book remained opened to this particular page of One for student reference as they were working.

I simply took the text from the page in the book (as shown above), and recreated it with space on the top for students to add either the colored numbers or colored circles (depending on their own preference).  I printed the page on computer paper (maybe not my first choice next time around) and used a glue stick to paste it onto small and thicker poster board/heavy construction paper before distributing to the students.

Using watercolors and small paint brushes, students began creating their "version" of the page.  Crayons and colored pencils were used to color in the number 1.

Materials:

Sometimes it just takes ONE freebie page; poster board/heavy construction paper (maybe varying colors to serve as a boarded for student work); watercolors and brushes; crayons/colored pencils

Below are two close-ups of student work.  One student chose to write out the numbers with the watercolors and the other chose to paint colored circles. 

The pictures below show how the student work is currently being displayed in the classroom.
Each one is different and unique... I just love that!

Their work has also served as a visual reminder to all and reference (when necessary) of the message of One.

A day or so after this activity, we followed up the reading of One with another of Kathryn Otoshi's book - Zero.  My students really enjoyed reading Zero because they felt like they already "knew" most of the characters.  This book also provides a great platform for discussing character and self-esteem.

As teachers we have such a big responsibility to our students, not just in helping them to achieve their greatest academic success but also by creating a classroom community and culture that is accepting, respectful, and proud of individuality.  Although a HUGE undertaking, I am up for the challenge but - at the same time - am SO thankful I have discovered great resources like One and Zero to help me along the way!  

Many thanks to my fabulous first grade team for sharing these books and countless other resources and ideas with me!!  

Ms. Gartman goes to First Grade is now on Facebook!

https://www.facebook.com/msgartmangoestofirstgrade

Burlap, chevron, hot glue...ohh my!

You can say that I was bitten by the crafty bug over the summer.  Like hard.  It had a good hold on me and somehow was obsessed (only just slightly obsessed) with burlap fabric and chevron.  Knowing that I would be taking on the task of decorating a new classroom for a new grade, I decided to embrace that crafty bug of mine and go for it! 

Each of the classrooms in my school is designed with a ceiling to floor shelving and cubbies unit that takes up the entire back wall of the room.  In theory, this is a wonderful idea...what teacher doesn't want or couldn't use MORE storage space?!  However, it can also create somewhat of an eye sore when each of those cubbies is exposed with random items such as curriculum resources, craft materials, holiday decorations, school supplies...the list goes on. Wanting to keep the aesthetic feature of my classroom a high priority and knowing that I tend to be hoarder (You know, the whole, "I might need this again. I'd hate to throw this away and be wasteful. I'm not quite sure what I could use this for but it's too good to throw out." kind of logic.  Am I reading anyone else's mail yet??  Yep, uh-huh, caught ya!), I decided that making curtains to cover up some of those cubbies and shelves was an absolute must!  Let the crafting, cutting, and gluing begin!!

Below is a picture of the shelving unit in my classroom taken during the summer on one of my first days getting my new classroom cleaned out and organized. Eeeekk! 

I decided that placing curtain panels over the cubbies across the top of the unit would work best and look the most appealing for my taste.  Starting on the far left (it's kind of cut off until you click on the picture) and moving across the top, I have labeled where the curtains would be placed.  Next it was time to measure and head over to my favorite fabric store, Jo-Ann Fabric.   

Part 1: Fabric Shopping

I didn't walk into Jo-Ann Fabrics with exact fabric choices in mind, but after hours (I am NOT exaggerating) of aimlessly wandering back and forth through fabric aisles and even elliciting help from one of the sweet fabric cutter associates, I had decided on my fabrics for the curtain panels.  Yippee! 

I chose a natural burlap fabric. I felt that this neutral color would be the perfect backdrop for the two brightly colored chevron fabrics (shown below) that will serve as the curtain's bottom trim. 

        

This fabric is called Keepsake Calico Blue-Ombre Chevron.  I fell in love with it almost immediately and am pretty sure it was on sale at the time of purchase!

       

Unfortunately, I did not take a picture of the yellow and gray chevron fabric during my first visit to Jo-Ann's and when I went back I could not find the fabric anywhere.  I even searched online with the style/SKU number from my original receipt (told you I was a hoarder) and still could not find this fabric's exact name.  This small swatch is all I had left and snapped a quick picture of it to post here. 

       

  

When deciding on the trim size, I came across the fabric quarters shown above and decided that it was the perfect width for the chevron fabric pieces that would go across the bottom of each panel. The sweet fabric cutting associate (I think her name was Sonya) used this as her reference when cutting the blue and yellow chevron fabrics.  

When laying out the burlap and chevron trim, I still felt like the curtains were missing that certain "pizzazz" that I had envisioned and so my aimless wandering led me to the ribbon and tassels area. My eyes were immediately drawn to these ombre turquoise petals ribbon (not exactly ribbon, but cannot think of a better word) and white petals and then the lightbulb went off...these petals could be an additional accent trim for the top portion of the curtain panels! Woohoo, the fabric selections and curtain design was now in place.  Time to go home and make my curtains! There's one more thing though... I don't sew!! I've heard countless other talk about this whole DIY no sew curtains, so I figured that with limited sewing ability the no sew route was my best (if not, only) option. 

                

                                         

Part 2: Curtain Making

   

Once I arrived home with the fabric and extra bags of hot glue sticks (these supported the whole "no sew" approach), I was ready and motivated to begin my crafty work! 

I cut the burlap to fit the size of my shelves/cubbies (36 inches x 36 inches) and then folded over approximately 2 - 2 1/2 inches to make the pocket for a standard curtain rod to fit and hot glued in place along the entire fold.  I also wanted the edges of my panels to have a "finished" look, so I folded the left and right sides of each panel over about 1 inch and hot glued in place.  I was surprised that it did not take a lot of hot glue to seal the burlap folds together AND the glue did not discolor or seep through.  You better believe that these "small successes" were celebrated by me in the moment! Ha!  I followed this same procedure for all 8 curtain panels.

With 8 curtain panels total being made and 2 different colors of chevron fabric, I alternated using the blue ombre chevron trim and yellow/gray chevron trim. This fabric was laid out flush to the bottom of the panel and then moved down slightly so that the fabric could be folded under the burlap on the back side, creating that "finished" look once again using hot glue to hold the fabric in place on both the back and front of the panel.  This part of the project was the most time-consuming as my attempts to ensure that the chevron pattern was even across the entire bottom of the panel could not be thwarted. Ahhhh!  After about panel 4, I found my rhythm and this part of the project became easier. 

Once the chevron trims were in place, I laid out the coordinating flower petal ribbon about 1 1/2 inches below where the curtain rod would be.  The hot glue easily held the flower petal ribbon in place across the top.  

Voila! After the first curtain panel was made, I placed a curtain rod into the pocket and checked out the finished product! 

          

The FIRST curtain panel was complete!  Only 7 more to go!  I was SO happy (and tired, as it was around 1:30 am) taking this picture that I did not even mind the huge mess that it shows in the background.  Eek! 

           

This was the FIRST yellow panel!  I called it a night shortly after this picture was taken.  The remaining 6 panels were made in the two days following these photos and hung in the classroom about a week later.

Take a look at how they turned out and look in my classroom!  I was very, very pleased with the final result and after such the effort, will definitely be using these curtains for YEARS to come!!

 

   

  

I hot glued clothespins upside-down on either side of the shelves/cubbies to hold the curtain rods in place.  This cheap and easy little trick makes for much easier removal of the curtains if necessary throughout the school year or in the future if I were to ever switch classrooms. 

Here is a view from the front of the classroom of all the curtain panels in place.  What a difference!!  I am officially in love!  #burlapandchevronforlife 

Meet the Teacher!

Where did summer go?! Like, seriously, where did the time go?!

The end of teacher planning week drew to a close very quickly and before I knew it...Meet the Teacher was here! Ahhh! Every year it seems to never fail - as much as you "think" you're ready to show off the room and greet your new students and parents there is ALWAYS (and I mean, always) something else that could be done, added, tweaked, etc.! Is there anyone out there who can relate? I hope so.

I have been very fortunate to join a new team with teachers who are SO welcoming and quick to share any and all ideas and resources! In the day or so leading up to Meet the Teacher, they literally banded together and made sure that I would not be "left behind" in my preparations and planning for meeting my new kiddos and parents. They provided me with so many great ideas of what they have done in the past for Meet the Teacher, what they were thinking of trying differently, and even went to the store to buy necessary items for the whole team! WOW! Aren't they awesome?! Below you will find pictures taken from the behind the scenes prep work for Meet the Teacher along with pictures of my room taken just moments before my new firsties arrived!

My team shared with me that they enjoyed centering the theme for the first day of school around the book, First Day Jitters.  I absolutely LOVE this book so was completely on board!  Each teacher, including myself, had a Meet the Teacher tradition of sending home goody bags with new students on the day of Meet the Teacher.  In addition to the sweet treats and goodies in the bag, we included a Jitter Glitter poem and a Ziploc bag of glitter enclosed in an envelope that instructed parents to read the contents the night before the first day of school.  What a fun idea!!  

                

Here is the Jitter Glitter assembly line.  

Materials included: Jitter Glitter poem, Ziploc bag with small amount of glitter (varying colors), envelopes, and labels that read "Please read this to your child the night before the first day of school."

In keeping with my own Meet the Teacher tradition, I wanted to provide students with a goody bag of treats and fun items that would be taken home and enjoyed after their visit with me.  After browsing pinterest, I found this super cute idea by Katy Lumb with easy to follow instructions (shown below) and decided to re-create it using FREE labels from Beth over at Simply SWEET TEAching!

I was very pleased with how my goldfish treats and labels turned out!

Lastly, here is everything that I included in my Meet the Teacher goody bag.  

Contents included: Jitter Glitter poem, goldfish treat, All About Ms. Gartman letter to parents, stickers, pencil, and a couple of candy pieces like Laffy Taffy and a Tootsie Pop.

To wrap up this post, I've included a few pictures of how my room looked just moments before my newbies and their parents/guardians arrived.  One of my team teachers, Shelley (she is an AWESOME teacher!), shared with me an idea she found on Tunstall's Teaching Tidbits for incorporating numbered stations within the classroom to keep everything organized and orderly.  This is an absolutely wonderful idea and one that I will be using every Meet the Teacher from now on! 

  

Station 1 asked parents to complete a Google information form on the computers. Our team created a student information form using Google docs that was emailed to parents when announcing we were their child's new teacher.  In the event parents did not complete the form prior to Meet the Teacher, Station 1 allowed the form to be completed within the classroom and information stored directly on my Google Drive.   

Station 2 was organized to receive school supplies.  The blue baskets would each hold separate items and were switched out for empty ones throughout Meet the Teacher when full. 

Station 3 asked parents to complete a sign-in sheet, verify their email address and transportation arrangements for their child.  Although much of this information could be found and stored electronically, I am still a little old-school and like to have hard copies on hand (just in case!).

Station 4 was the last stop for parents/students and my personal favorite because this is where students chose a goody bag to take with them and enjoy!  Seeing the big smiles on my newbie's faces when picking out their goody bag was totally worth all of the time, money, and effort spent putting these bags together!   

I was so thrilled with how Meet the Teacher turned out and completely overjoyed with how precious each of my new firsties were during the visit.  I can't wait to watch each of them learn and grow throughout the school year!  FIRST grade here we come!!!