I know you have anxiously been waiting...

Here it is! Each child write directions for preparing Thanksgiving turkey for their family. It was an interesting writing assignment. We practiced reading our directions and then I filmed them in the classroom and in the cafeteria. Mark my words...these kids are stars! I put it all together and it is about 9 minutes long. Enjoy every minute of it. Happy Thanksgiving and spend some quality family time together. See you on Monday.

Opps...Turkey fun

I was working so hard to get the video done I almost forgot about anything else this weekend.  Each year our class takes home turkeys for their family project.  The object is to disguise the turkey so the hunter won't get him for Thanksgiving.  Every year the disguises get better and better!  This year was no exception.  Check out the Smilebox to see the disguised turkeys.

Make your own free greeting

My class loves Angry Birds and Skyler made the cutest red Angry Bird.  I just love them all!  When I asked Sofia about her porcupine she told me, "No one wants to eat a porcupine!"  It had me rolling.  I thought it was great with all the athletic turkeys we have this year.  Let's hope that FSU player helps root on Florida State this weekend for the annual Seminoles vs. Gator game and brings back a victory for the Noles! We wrote stories on how to cook a turkey and I am making a  movie so I thought it would be funny to tease with a movie trailer and get the kids really excited. Check it out.

A Chance to Share

I have to say I love what I do. Each year I get the chance to impact a child's life with lifelong skills like adding and subtracting, discovering a favorite book, or watching their eyes go big with a science experiment. One of my favorite things is technology. I LOVE my Promethean ActivBoard and my teaching has changed over the last 7 years with the interactivity of my students. I believe I am a better teacher with it. Along comes Apple and the iTouches and iPad and I want my students to experience the future. Problem is there is a shortage on funds. Thanks to my fabulous hubby I get an iPad and then there are the parents with some iTouches...firsties love it! Of course, we love the apps but then there is SonicPics, taking pictures and recording video, writing stories, creating ePub books, reading QR codes, using Edmodo and the many features...and with 1st graders! At the last School Board meeting a group of teachers were on the agenda to share Project TIDES. My friend Steve Waterman headed a $730,000 project that changed our district, teachers, and children. Some of his project teachers shared their learning and then children talked to the Board about how the technology helps to enhance their learning. Then my friend Robert Miller shared his class website his "flipped classroom." Truly a pioneer he introduced us to something new and exciting that I am sure we will hear more about in the future. The student from his class was so excited to share what happens behind the scenes and the knowledge he has gained in class.

Next was our turn. My sister-in-law and I addressed the Board to share how we use technology to enhance our curriculum. I thought I would bring my own children and two first graders to walk around and share our accomplishments. It was such a highlight to see them interact with the Superintendent and School Board members. I have to say they seemed pretty impressed with our first graders and what they demonstrated so effortlessly. I was so proud! Thank you to Kaile, Carson, Cate, Andrew, their families, Steve, Robert, Cassy, the Superintendent, School Board members and our principal, Mrs. Russell for the chance to share.

50 days smarter...

This is my 5th year teaching 1st grade and I LOVE it!  One of my favorite days is the 50th day of school.  Each year we celebrate with a sock hop and this year it was even more fabulous than last year.  Make sure to check out the iMovie I made to show off all the fun.  We celebrated all day long.  We talked about things from the 50s and today.  It was cute because the kids didn't even know what a record was and few had seen a jukebox.  We counted by 1s, 2s, 5s, 10s and talked about numbers greater than or less than 50.  You should see how they made 50.  We played games and watched an I Love Lucy episode.  They didn't even know who Lucy was?!  The chocolate factory worker one is a classic and I am so glad I got to show them TV before it was color.  We danced to the chicken dance, blew bubbles, and even a hula hooping contest.  It was great fun and definitely a day to remember!  I can't wait to see what we are doing on the 100th day...

Fall Centers

Good thing we had an extra day off for Veteran's Day so I can catch up with my postings and movies.  We enjoyed some Fall Centers on October 31, 2011.  We measured pumpkins, graphed Boo Mallows, sorted pumpkin facts, and practiced blowing spiders across the glitter web.  It was great fun and we practiced our math!  Surprise we had 2 pumpkins that weighed exactly the same.  It was cute to see the kids take out the seeds and then we even had to count those!  I took them home to roast and came back the next day with yummy roasted pumpkin seeds.  I was surprised to see so many that had not tried them before.  Make sure to check out the movie to see how much fun we had.

Another Sonic Pic-Bears on Ice

While working on main idea and details we read Bears on Ice during our guided reading groups.  We learned some details about polar bears and wanted to share.

Our Trip to the Pumpkin Patch

We were so excited for our 1st field trip!  We went to the Pumpkin Patch.  It was a beautiful day and we had the best time ever.  Each child wrote about the trip.  Our final copies are hanging outside our classroom with a pumpkin art project.  I took the stories and typed them, while adding pictures of my firsties, and published our 1st ePub book.  I can't wait to show the class the book on the iTouches. Parents I emailed the book to you to add to your iTunes library.  Here is a copy to enjoy.

Trip to the pumpkin patch

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Family Pumpkins 2011

Each year I send home white paper pumpkins for the families to decorate.  Each year I am even more impressed than the last.  This year is no exception!  I love these family pumpkins.  I am impressed with the creativity and time families put into making these unique pumpkins.  You should have heard them talk about their families making the pumpkins.  This year's families, I am hoping to post on Edmodo the explanations and will let you know when I get them on.  I can't wait for the next family project. 

OREO Project 2011

Each year we participate in Junietech.com OREO project.  We love it! Each child is asked to stack OREO cookies and they get 1 practice.  A class average is calculated and we email that number in and compare to all the other participants around the world.  Our class average was 14.  David stacked the most with 18 while Brady got 23 on his practice stack and 17 on his recorded attempt. More pictures are on the way since we used the cookies to make sculptures...Check back soon.

Heart Maps

We write in our journals every morning and during our writing time. Sometimes I am asked, "What do you do when they don't have anything to write about?" Sometimes I ask a few questions to get the writing juices flowing UNTIL I saw this awesome idea on another blog.  I asked the kids to think about all the things that they heart (love) and they had a bunch! I drew things on my heart map that I hold dear to me...Tim, Kaile, Carson, FSU, Phi Mu, our home, my classroom, my family, friends, ice cream, Chick-fil-A, Ann Taylor Loft, Panera...you get the picture. :) I gave them a paper heart and they were off and running.  After drawing we decided to make it pretty by coloring and decorating.  They are adorable!  So Andrew says I am going to write Edmodo!  Kasey takes an ActivExpression and copies the letters off of it to spell it correctly.  Aubrey says to me "I wrote you twice Mrs. Wright on my heart map and the class." These are the days a teacher lives for I tell you! It made me all mushy inside and I definitely heart my class! Check out their heart maps.

Visit from Daytona State College

We had a very special visitor from Daytona State College last week.  Dr. Potter is a Chair for the School of Education and every year he visits classrooms to talk to students, listen to them read, and interact in their daily schedule.  I think it makes him extra special that he takes time to remember what it is like in the classroom and work with students. :)  He brought some goodies for the kids and asked them, "Who wants to go to college?" This was their response.  It was the cutest thing ever! I have a super sweet group of firsties this year and I just know they are going to achieve anything they set their minds to!

Open House

I can't wait for Open House.  You might not be able to either after you see this video.

See you there.

Sonic Pic app

Sonic pic is a great app for students to create a slideshow or podcast.  It is so easy and fun to do.  This week we learned about the short i pattern for phonics and our vocabulary words were run, ride, and be.  One reading group was used to write a sentence, illustrate, and then create a group Sonic Pic.  I think they did an exceptional job!  Make sure to listen and read along with my fabulous firsties!

Captain Conservation

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 Did you know FPL is home to Captain Conservation? You might ask who is Captain Conservation? Captain Conservation is the world's only singing, guitar-playing, nature-conscious, costumed superhero. He made a stop at Cypress Creek to teach the boys and girls how to be superheros. He talked about conserving energy through fum, original interactive songs. He had the crowd singing, clapping, and chiming in on the chorus parts. He even made 2 students and one lucky intern part of the show. At the end all the teachers joined in to help sing the theme song. It sure was fun. Did you do your part today to be a Conservation Superhero? Make sure to turn off lights not in use and close those doors. Use your super speed and super strength to conserve energy today.

How do you like to move?

Move was our reading theme this week.  We read about it and found some time outside to get moving.  Can you believe some of the kids hadn't ever jumped in a sack race or played tug-o-war?  Well now they can say they did it!  Make sure to check out the video.  We had a great time and I am getting better at video editing. YIPPEE for all of us.  You will be getting information on Edmodo this week.  Five Senses the sequel is on our class Edmodo so you will have to check it out to see it there.

Five Senses Experiment

So after learning about the different science tools we moved right into the 5 senses.  Friday was filled with excitement because we got to do an experiment.  The kids had fun learning and since you weren't there I made a movie trailer to show you just a glimpse of what I witnessed first hand with my firsties!  Enjoy.

Makes you want to go to school right?!?

New class!! 2011-2012

Can you believe we just finished the 1st week of the school year? What a FABULOUS group of firsties! There are 16 kids that rock my world each day and I cannot wait until tomorrow to see them again.  We worked on getting to know one another. We practiced some literacy stations and heard some awesome stories.  I think the favorite was Stand Tall, Molly Lou Melon. They were captivated by the pictures and we were so happy the bully changed his ways by the end of the story.  We worked with making 4 and 5 and used our ActivExpression each day.  Our scientists were working on learning lab tools and we talked about our families.  It was a great week.  Check out the wordle and see all the fabulous firsties!

Week 9 Thing 23

So I am at the end of my Technology Junkie workshop.  It has been a wonderful journey.  I am so thankful we have the opportunity to learn about exciting Web 2.0 tools, even with my hectic schedule.  The last tool I learned about was Prezi.  WOW I can see this being so much fun for the class.  Prezi allows you to create a presentation but you can size things of importance, create paths, and allow a big or small view of concepts within the presentation.  I explored a little and found a math one dealing with addition and subtraction.  Pretty cool can't wait to use it with my class.  I need to spend some more time exploring and seeing if there are any other ones I can use while teaching my chickens. Thanks you to C. Ginn for all of your knowledge and support these past few weeks.  It sure was fun!

Week 9 Thing 22

So I made my 1st Glogster.  Cute idea adding multimedia and making an electronic poster.  Wonder if the kids will like it? I love being a teacher!

Week 8 Thing 21

I played with Storybird tonight and made a little story.  I cannot wait to teach my firsties how to create a story.  Stay tuned parents and I will let you know when.  Afterall, it is just the 1st day of school and I will have to ease into it.  make sure to ask them about their ActivExpression fun today. YIPPEE!!

Week 8 Thing 20

Here is a little tour of our fabulous Cypress Creek Elementary.  Enjoy.


Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

Week 8 Thing 19 Bubbles!!

OK cool right?

Week 7 Thing 18

So here is a tagxedo.  I have enjoyed making wordle in thepast but now shapes! Oh the possibilities! What am I going to learn next?  Stay tuned...

What was your favorite thing about this past school year? Wallwisher

Click on the link below and add a note.
What was your favorite thing about this school year? by jwright

Week 4 Thing 8

Check out my Voki. I'm so glad we are going back soon...

Week 4 Thing 9

Have you ever seen a Blabberize?  OK take a picture, make the mouth and then use the microphone to add a message.  Way cute!  Check it out.

Week 3 Thing 7 picture edit tool

I find it hard to believe that school will start back in 4 weeks.  Where did the time go? Tim and I took the kids to North Carolina for a week.  We enjoyed hiking, zip lining, tubing, and even white water rafting.  Tim was our guide down the Nantahala River and the kids enjoyed every minute of it.  We had the best time ever and can't wait to go back.  I used a picture we bought and the web tool Picnik to edit the photo below.  It was so easy to do and I am sure I will be using it again.

Week 3 Thing 6 Cartoon, really?

I learned about a new web 2.0 tool where you can create a comic.  I made a "me" and created my first comic.  It was actually quite easy. I can see the kids doing this, of course after a lot of modeling.  Who knows they might catch on to it quicker than me.  I am so excited for the upcoming year.  Make sure to check it out.

By jtknoles | View this Toon at ToonDoo | Create your own Toon

Mother's Day-Week 3 Thing 5

So I am practicing some new Web 2.0 tools for that online course.  I kind of lost track those last few weeks of school.  I really need to play catch up so make sure to check back soon for the rest of the year with my firstie friends.  We painted some FABULOUS Van Gogh inspired paintings in art, framed them, and presented them to our moms for Mother's Day.  Make sure to check out this Mixbook.

| View Sample Photo Books | Create your own Photo Book

Week 2 Thing 3

I am enrolled in an online Web 2.0 course.  I made an Avatar.  Isn't she cute?  Looks just like me. LOL



Can't wait to learn even more...

Celebrate Mr. Butler

Our principal Mr. Butler is an incredible leader that sees the vision of technology and collaboration.  Recently our school purchased 20 iTouches with the hope we would create a program to use them with students to increase student achievement.  There isn't a manual or a prescribed program.  He knows this is the wave of the future and he allows us to create and experiment.  For that I respect him even more.  Our school body-parent, teachers, and students-dedicated 2 trees in his honor and planted them at the beginning of a future nature trail.  What a fabulous educator!  Thank you!

April Family Projects

Shapes, shapes, all around

While studying about plane shapes we took out the pattern blocks and did some exploring.  Check out the fabulous pictures we made.

Create your own free slideshow design

JW Beanie Shopping- Opening Day

Reading Counts points turned into $$$$$ The drawers were full, the account balances up to date, and the shopping begins! Students have been reading and taking tests on the computer.  What better reward than to shop at JW Beanies.  Will you save or spend?  BIG thank you to Ms. Cindia nd Ms. Suzan for setting it up, running the reports, and helping with the shopping.

Friendship fruit salad

Our reading series has a story, Fruit is a Suitcase For Seeds. Each year the students bring in a fruit that we then share for a friendship fruit salad.  This year we had mango, kiwi, watermelon, plum, strawberries, blackberries, and cantelope.  We examine the seeds up close and then share our friendship with one another.  YUMMY!

Jack Hartmann 2011

Another year with one of our favorite people-Jack Hartmann.  For those of you scratching your heads let me explain.  We listen to Jack everyday.  We sing his songs and dance.  All the while we learn about so many things.  We stretch words to hear sounds, excercise and count to 100, activate both sides of our brains while we crossover, and so much more.  Our Kindergarten and 1st graders look forward to this trip each year.  I even danced on stage this year. I am the one in the middle with the BIG smile!Thank you for so much fun!

Happy St. Patrick's Day 2011

We are on Spring Break this week but oh we celebrated St. Patrick's Day before we left last week. Come on, me pass up an opportunity to have fun, be creative, and learn!?!  Our March family project was to design a rainbow or create a leprechaun trap to catch that sneaky guy.  I am always amazed at the creativity and imagination that goes into making these traps each year.  Make sure to check out the Smilebox and see the fabulous creations!  Something a little different this year was the 1st Annual Green Taste Testing Party.  I cannot believe I didn't come up with this years ago!  We taste tested pearsauce, pears, apples, pickles, broccoli, Green Goddess dressing, olives, cucumbers, and leprechaun punch.  The favorites were the pickles and leprechaun punch!  It was another memorable day as a Wright's Ripper.  Just wait for the next nine weeks...

A free greeting by Smilebox

Dr. Seuss Day 2011

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Valentine's Day 2011

Valentine's Day 2011 already?!? I thought we just brought in the new year. February Family projects were to decorate a container to hold class valentines.  They were so cute. Make sure to check out the Smilebox below.  We counted, graphed, measured, and even wrote using our conversation hearts.  I found the cutest activity online where a teacher had the students use the words on the heart in sentences-and glue on the hearts.  ADORABLE is all I can say and yes they are hanging out in the hallway.  Check out Dylan and Hannah's paper.  My favorites were:

My cutie is my little brother named Logan. and My Mom text my dad XOXO. and You rock Mrs. Wright.  Ashton wrote My mom is my girl. and My dad is my soulmate. Joe wrote My mom and dad are soulmates.  Michael wrote I had my 1st kiss.  I hope not. They were cute so make sure to stop by and read the rest.  Here are some random pictures from the Valentine festivities.

Photo slideshow personalized with Smilebox

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