Sweet Summer Time

What's not to love about summer time? Ok so it's not June, July AND August like every non-teacher/teacher spouse/teacher friend/teacher family member thinks.  BUT most of June, all of July and some of August are still absolutely fabulous. I love summer just as much as the next person. Sitting at the beach all day, getting a tan, not having to set an alarm, and not having a lesson plan in sight are a few of my most favorite things in life. However, reality started to sink in a few weeks ago that the new school year was quickly approaching and so it began. I did what any other insanely and ridiculously OCD teacher would do. . .I took off my fun hat, put on my teacher hat and I started organizing plans.

As I opened up my lesson plans from the beginning of the year I discovered that they were not. so. cutesy. SHOCK. . .complete shock set in and then I remembered:
1. At the beginning of last year I made the decision to come back to first grade after teaching the GT (gifted and talented) second graders for a year. Needless to say I got pretty spoiled with the level of independence my second grade lovelies demonstrated on a daily basis. I apparently spent the first few weeks trying to keep my head above water as I desperately tried to re-adjust to life with not so independent 6 year olds.  

2. My amazingly awesome relationship with Microsoft Publisher didn't officially get it's obsessive start until after Christmas break last year.

I knew I would be 50 kinds of crazy if I didn't get started soon, so I  reluctantly got to work and slowly (I do mean slowly) plans started coming together. I started with my traditional 2 week unit on nursery rhymes. I did some major revamping and "Goose on the Loose" was born.

I chose 10 nursery rhymes:
1. Little Miss Muffet
2. Humpty Dumpty
3. Hey Diddle, Diddle
4. Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star
5. The Muffin Man
6. Old Mother Hubbard
7. Little Bo Peep
8. This Little Piggy
9. Hickory Dickory Dock
10. There Was an Old Woman

Then I searched through all of my notes and picked out all of the adorable ideas that I had in my mind to do last year (and never got to). Goose on the Loose is packed with activities that provide practice with initial sounds, syllables, ending sounds, and rhyming words. There are also writing activities and of course. . .CRAFTIVITIES (honestly who didn't see that one coming?). You can get your own copy of this unit HERE.

As always, my brain never stops working. After uploading this to Teachers Pay Teachers, I was inspired by some of my grad school tutoring plans and decided to add a snack option into the mix for This Little Piggy. So, anyone that is following my neglected piece of the internet can find a link HERE that will allow them to upload the snack activity completely FREE. The file includes a letter from Porky C. Pig (the little pig that went to the market) an ingredient list, and directions to make the snack. In his letter, Porky explains that he went to the market to get supplies for the class to make his favorite snack. The plan. . . get someone to deliver Porky's letter and a grocery bag (with the snack supplies, ingredient list, and directions) to your classroom so that it looks authentic. Your lovelies will then have to help you use the directions to make the snack and of course pig out on the deliciousness! Simple. Cute. Fun. && they LEARN about one of the many reasons to READ! It doesn't get much better than that. . .except for clean sheets and much needed sleep.