Secret Partners

2 posts in one week!  This is a quick one...all about partner selection!  Some teachers have the students choose partners to work with in cooperative settings.  Some teachers have sticks with names or numbers and pull out two random sticks to match up students.  I'm sure there are many other ways that the boys and girls get matched up to be partners.  I've seen much cuter cards or tags made up for secret partners, but I wanted to show everyone that it doesn't have to always be cute or something to purchase...You can make these really quick and the kids will love it!  Plus, it's a great way to review math facts.  I would probably take a guess that since we are all creative teachers, we could find other things to put on the cards to match up students.  I chose math facts/vocabulary and it worked well.

Each student gets a card with either two addends, or a sum, a solid figure, the name of the figure, etc.  They look at their card and when they have figured out what their match would be (8+6 would match up with 14) then they stand up, hold their card in front of their body, and search for their partner, without making a sound!  For first graders, this was hard.  I can't say it was SILENT, but they were so good about finding their partner and did it quickly!

I started this now towards the end of the year, but that's ok!  As we all know, the end of the year means students (and teachers) are less likely to stay motivated and put forth effort in their work.  It's okay to do something new in order to keep everyone motivated!  Try it and let me know how it goes!  Congrats to those terrific teachers who are ending their school year this week!  We have about 7.5 days left!  

Mother's Day Tea

I meant to get this up earlier in the week but as usual...no time.  Why is that always the reason?!?!?

I hope all of the Moms out there had a wonderful Mother's Day!!!

Every year I try to find something cute, easy, but something that the moms of my kiddos will love!  I have been following Michelle from Fabulous in First for a long time and saw that she did a Mommy and Me Tea with her first graders.  My immediate thought...PERFECT!  I do love having parents come into the classroom any chance I can get.  I luck out with parent volunteers, but know that the working parents would like to come in whenever possible too!  As I looked through Michelle's products for this Mom event on TpT, I figured, why not!  How precious would that be?  

Here are some pics from our Mother's Day Tea!  The firsties made the book, sang two of the songs and read one poe, and made the flowers!  The songs were short but sweet and most importantly, SO ADORBS!!!!!! I hope all of the Moms/Grandmas who came loved every minute of it!  I loved it all!