YA'LL.

Today was Valentine's party day and, well, there was just 50 shades of crazy up in my room today...and basically just this week! :)

I'm exhausted and over it and ready for spring....and...thank God for a week off next week for February Break!  Yes, the good Lord knew I would need that break! *wink*

Here's a 5 for Friday look at some of our February happenings from the last two weeks!

1.  "Show What You Know"
Our team has decided to start giving a short "show what you know" kind of math quiz each Friday to see how our kids are getting our math skill focus for the week.

And I REALLY love that we are doing this.  I think this has been a big missing piece for me the last few years in my CGI journey and I am glad to bring back a few more assessments with evidence to show parents how their kids are doing.  With CGI, it can be difficult to help parents know how to help their kids, but I've found that sending home these skill checks is great feedback for parents and gives them something a little more tangible to work on at home in math!

I also am able to keep a running spreadsheet on who isn't getting which skill so I can pull intervention groups during our Counting Collections or Fact Fluency times {read more about RTI math ideas HERE}.

I have some of these "show what you knows" already in my store and will be adding all of them to my math assessments packet over my February break next week!

2. Presidents' Day Craft
One of my favorite crafts of the year happens in February.  I just love looking at Abe and George hanging out in our hallway each year!

This fun craft plus a bunch more presidents' activities you can read about here are in my Presidents' Day Packet.

3. Tic-Tac-Toe Valentines
Cooper just loved making these for his friends and family!  And he even liked playing tic-tac-toe with me!  He got to sign his name to each one, but his favorite part was tearing the tape and putting the washi tape on!

4. Piece of Cake Valentines
These were a HUGE hit today with my firsties.  They loved the cake and I think they turned out so fun.  And they were super cheap and easy too!  Also, snack bags are just the absolute best! #teacherobsessions

Working on all of our Valentines this year, reminded me just how much I love washi tape.  Like ***LOVE*** it.  I really don't know what I did before washi tape.

BUT the one downfall with washi tape and kids (as I discovered in December when I made Grinch-Doh), is it's not all that sticky.  And once you put a bunch in a bag altogether, they just start coming off!

So, this time around, I stapled first and then covered up the staple with the washi tape.  SUCCESS!  I'm sure I'm not the first one to discover this, but when this idea came to me this week it was like angelic choruses playing in my head!  It doesn't take much to make this teacher happy! :)

5. Mommy's King of Hearts
I'd be breaking tradition if I let February get by without sharing some more pics from my awesome father-in-law photographer of my little valentine.

So glad I stumbled upon this adorable shirt from gap.com because it made taking pics super simple...and thank goodness for that!  My February was just too crazy to make things difficult with pictures!

And because I'm biased and it's just too hard to pick a favorite, here are a few lot of pictures of the king of our hearts!

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Whitney

I've decided to start a blog series on my favorites for each month: favorite books, favorite activities, just anything I love about that month for teaching!  Here's a look at February Fav's!

February Must Reads:

Here are the links for purchasing these awesome books!
>>Guess How Much I Love You
This is a favorite all year long at my house with my preschooler, but we definitely read it a few extra times around Valentine's Day!

>>Pete the Cat's Groovy Guide to Love
Anything Pete the Cat is a winner in the classroom, so of course my firsties love this one too!

>>Clifford First Valentine's Day
My 3 year old is AHHHHbsessed with Clifford right now.  Last weekend, we read 5 Clifford stories in a row including the Christmas one and the Valentine's Day one! ;)  And Clifford is a winner with elementary kiddos too!

>>Happy Valentine's Day, Mouse
I love reading this story before making Valentine's with kids because it's so good for brainstorming who to give Valentine's to and what kind of Valentine each person might appreciate!

>>The Day it Rained Hearts
When I teach our weather unit around Valentine's Day, this book is the perfect tie in.  I even have some creative writing prompts and crafts with this story in my weather unit.

>>I Love You, Snugglesaurus
My Cooper is in LOVE with this book.  It's seriously one of his fav's.  And it's so simple that he could "read" it on his own when he was 2 and a half.  It's a great bedtime story all year long, but especially in February!  And I love displaying it in his play room in February too!

>>Groundhog Day
This is a must read for Groundhog Day.  Gail Gibbons is one of my very favorite authors for non-fiction because she gives so much information that's ENGAGING to young kids.  Find activities and crafts to go with Groundhog Day here.

>>Martin's Big Words
Yes, MLK day is in January, but black history month is in February.  Either way, this is a must have book for your classroom.  The firsties really get this book.  I used this in my MLK packet which is also part of my American Contributors unit.

>>A Weed is a Flower: The Life of George Washington Carver
You can read about all of the people in black history I cover in first grade in another blog, but George Washington Carver is always a crowd pleaser, because...let's face it: who doesn't love peanut butter?? :)

>>A Picture Book of George Washington
>>Abraham Lincoln
There are SO many books about these 2 awesome presidents that it's sometimes hard to choose, but I just love the picture book series during our American Contributors unit (they cover many other great inventors and contributors!).  And I came across this book on Abraham Lincoln a couple of years ago and it is HANDS DOWN my favorite.  So much information and lots of fun facts and trivia for the kiddos.  The love this one!

...and, of course, my poetry packet has plenty of February poems for students to read in shared reading, practice independently, or order poem lines in a literacy station...

February Activities:
Here are a few of my favorite mini-units for February...

I loved teaching this Sunday School unit to my preschool babies last year {Read more HERE}!  And I even steal a few of these crafts and lessons for my firsties from time to time!

And I love this mini-packet for President's Day!  We are now in the middle of our American Contributors unit and will be starting our research on George and Abe next week!  See more of this packet in action on another blog post!

What are your favorites for February?

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Whitney