A Valentine Happy

Hey everybody!  This is Sarah from Permanently Primary.  :)  I always struggle every year with something cute to do for my students for Valentine's Day.  I don't know why I put so much pressure on myself...must be the Type A.  ;)  This year I just wanted something QUICK, CHEAP, and CUTE.  That's possible, right?  Yep.

I found these party bags of Play-Doh at Meijer.  Aren't they the cutest little containers of Play-Doh?  Not sure if you have one of those where you are...I think they're a midwestern thing.  But I know you can find them at WalMart, Target, and other superstores.  There are 15 in a bag and were on sale for $4!  So I bought 2 bags to have enough for my class of 24 firsties.  For $8 I have something that fosters a little creativity and won't rot their teeth!  ;)

I whipped up these cute little tags to tape to the top of each container.  DONE AND DONE!

You can download this freebie by clicking HERE or clicking on the picture!  Just print, cut, and tape!  Easy peasy!  ;)  HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!!!!

Learning About Verbs!

Hey there!  It's Sarah from Permanently Primary.  :)  I feel like I don't know what school is anymore.  For realz.  We didn't have school last Tuesday or Thursday and then we had a 2-hour delay on Friday!  Between snow and the cold, I was cooped up in my house with my 2 sweet boys for an extended Christmas break of sorts.  ;)  Therefore, I feel like I didn't get much accomplished at all!!!  I had all these plans on what to share with you, but they just didn't come to complete fruition.  :/  Bummer.

BUT, I will share a couple things we did and some resources that I used that you might find helpful!

I just started teaching my sweet firsties about verbs.  I love to create an anchor chart to start a unit so that we can all dig in and put our stamp on it.  It's so much more meaningful when everyone can participate and contribute!  So we made this little anchor chart to hang in our room as we talked about the definition of a verb.  I started the first one and then others started to contribute.  My higher students were the first to raise their hands with ideas, but within 2 minutes everyone caught on and could accurately name a verb.  Such a quick assessment!

Also, it takes me a long time to draw and I have to look at an image to be able to do it, so sometimes I just use clipart and print it real big to stick on my anchor charts!  ;)  The saying, "A verb, a verb, you do it, do it, do it!" comes from The Phonics Dance.  I've gone to several workshops and she has an awesome grammar component!  The kids love it and they REMEMBER a verb, purely from the chant.

I also llllloooooovvvveeee children's literature, so I always try to incorporate it any opportunity I get.  These two books are perfect for introducing verbs to little students!  You can purchase them both on Amazon.  You can click on the pictures and it should take you straight to it on Amazon.  :)

I also came up with a simple little differentiated activity for the students to practice identifying verbs.  For my lower students, I wrote really basic verbs on notecards.  I grouped them together and they had to read the words on the card and DO them.  I wanted them to act them out so that they could understand the concept of a verb being something you can actually do.  I wrote the words in different colors so that I could remember which group got which set.

For my middle group, I wrote different verbs that required a little more thinking about how to actually do them.  They weren't as simple as moving an arm or a leg.  They were things they had to think about what it really looks like to "do" those things or that might have more than one way to do it.

For my high group, I wrote nouns and verbs so that they had to distinguish the part of speech of the word.  They were encouraged to try to act it out if they weren't sure.

Finally, to wrap up the lesson I showed this:

Classic.  :)

I'm pretty sure we will have another snow day tomorrow, but I'm going to try to go to bed now just in case.  ;)  See you all next month!

Christmas Traditions in the Classroom

Hello, hello!  This is Sarah Kirby from Permanently Primary!

I don't know about you, but I absolutely love traditions.  I like trying new things, but there's something so heartwarming and comforting about things that have been around for a while.  Our grade level (1st grade) has certain Christmas crafts that have been around a long time.  I had to ask around today to find out how long we've been doing these Christmas traditions.  One teacher said she's been doing them ever since she started teaching at our school (this is her 24th year).  Another teacher, who has been there for 30 years, said they haven't done them the entire time she's been teaching.  That means these traditions have been happening between 25 and 30 years!  25-30 years of doing the same hallway decorations in 1st grade at our elementary building.  Here are some pictures of the ways we decorate our hallway during the holidays.  :)

Each student makes a large candle with their name on it.  I use 12"x18" red construction paper and cut it in half (long ways).  Then we have a template for the greenery at the bottom that they trace and cut out.  I just cut out a yellow flame by hand and they glue it.  Then they use glue to write their name and we put gold glitter on it.  We all tape them to the bottom of the walls in the hallway.  The entire hallway is lined with candles!

Another tradition is a little handwriting craft.  The students copy a poem on lined paper and then cut it out in the shape of an ornament.  They glue it to colored construction paper and add some glitter to the outline.

The final tradition is for each student to make a paper chain.  All of this is taped to the walls in the hallway for everyone to enjoy as they walk through!

Something new I did this year was having my students create a string of lights with the letters of their name.  They picked their colors and then wrote a letter of their first name with glue on each bulb.  We strung them together with yarn and I hung them from the lights in our classroom.

They look so amazing hanging in our classroom!  It looks so festive!

A word of advice if you try to make the string of lights: have students cut out the bulbs, then write the letters on each one, then add glitter, then string together once they are dry.  The first few I strung together first and then tried to add glitter.  I don't know what I was thinking, but it was disastrous.  Cut, glue, glitter, string!  :)

Does your school or grade level do any holiday traditions that have been around a long time?  We'd love to hear about them!

Sarah K. {Permanently Primary}

Hey super friends!  Sarah Kirby here from Permanently Primary!

I'm not even joking when I tell you I get incredibly giddy about this blog.  These ladies are fabulous, their ideas are fabulous, and let's be honest...there are some FABULOUS freebies this month!  Can I get an amen?!?!

I want to take a minute to introduce myself to you!  I'm a first grade teacher in the heart of Ohio. I teach at a small, rural school.  We have one elementary, one middle school, and one high school.  All on the same campus.  I drive by all 3 buildings as I turn onto our drive.  Our students play next to a corn field.  If you don't believe me, check out my Instagram pic from a week ago (@sarahlynnkirby).  We seriously thought it was snowing, only to realize it was actually dust from the farmers plowing the field.  Talk about a letdown.  *Sigh*  Our building houses grades K-5 and we have a little over 600 students.  I teach 24 first graders this year, which is the largest class I've ever had.  This is my 7th year in the classroom, 8th year in the schools.  I've taught grades 1, 2, and 3 and was a kindergarten aide my first year.

I have my Bachelor of Arts in Elementary Education and my Master of Education in Curriculum and Instruction from The University of Mississippi (a.k.a. Ole Miss...Hotty Toddy, baby!).  Last year I received my K-12 Reading Endorsement from Ashland University.  I'm a member of the International Reading Association.  Last summer I presented a session at I Teach 1st! in Las Vegas.

I married my husband in 2009 and we now have two of the sweetest boys in the world.  Rowan is 3 and Sawyer just turned 1 last week!  Lights. Of. My. Life.

In my spare time I enjoy reading, studying the Bible, attending church activities, listening to sermon podcasts, serving in our community, selling Scentsy (let's be honest, I mainly do it to feed my craving of keeping my house smelling amazing), decorating my house, playing with my boys, shopping, and drinking tea and coffee.  I love to work out and push my body to the limit!  I have to be honest and tell you I am NOT on top of my game during the school year.  It's soooo hard to work out when school is in session because I get so dang tired.  Y'all...the struggle is real.

Superpower:  Does anyone else have a Type A personality?  What about OCD?  When I get an idea in my head, I have to implement it.  Like, now.  Stat.  Pronto.  There is no waiting.  Wait!?!?!  No.  Not an option.  Let's go.  For example, this year I decided to turn my classroom into more of a 21st century classroom.  3 weeks after school started.  The next day, my students walked in and their desks were gone, I bought a new rug and Christmas lights and the iPads were there and... (no wonder I can't sleep at night).

Superfood:  As I mentioned above, I try very hard to take care of myself.  Have you ever had Kind bars?  They are so delicious and oh-so-good for you!  And Spark by Advocare is my best friend.  Some call it super-mommy juice.  I call it help-me-keep-going-and-not-fall-asleep juice.  Whatever works.

Super Strength:  At the end of the day, it's all about family.  Work will still be there, the students will always need help with something, there will always be another paper to grade, a phone call to make, a lesson plan to write, a book to read, data to track, politicians to disagree with, but the one thing that remains is my faith in God and the energy and love that my family gives me and that I give them.  They are what matter the most to me.  They will be around the longest and they are my flesh and blood.  Before my children, school was my life.  Then I gained a new, fresh perspective.  May we all have something that grounds us in this life.  Don't let work swallow you up and cause you to forget that there is life outside of the walls of your workplace. :)

So how about a freebie?  I whipped up a little practice activity for pronouns!  It's a little sentence sort for your little sweethearts to practice learning when they can use certain pronouns.  You can grab it for free in my TPT shop!  I hope you enjoy!  :)  Have a fantastic week and hey...at least Monday is already gone! ;)