It's SHARK Week and a few other random things!

I live in Florida. I LOVE flip flops (check out the blog name). I LOVE Jimmy Buffet!!! If you live in FL you would have to be living under a rock if you didn't know who Jimmy Buffet is... SO go ahead and click on the video and sing FINS with me!! Make the triangle fins above your head! No one is watching and just sing your heart out because this week in my classroom is  SHARKS WEEK!!!

My class has been looking forward to this week. They are so excited and I plan on introducing them to good ole' Jimmy with this song as our transition song this week. As you may have noticed I always post a song or two or five to go along with a theme of mine. Music is so powerful and it's good for kids to experience different genres of music much like the different genres of books we give them So, yes, my class will be Parrot Heads for a week!

This week we will be learning all about sharks and working out of my newest unit being offered on TPT!!(click on the preview to take you to my store)

I will post some pictures as soon as we start! 

Speaking of sharks... this is my own little shark (modeling the shark headband included in my unit if you are interested!!!)...

My little boy will be participating in his Kindergarten end of the year ocean program next week! Yikes!!! Next year he will be in First Grade!!! Time really flies! He really has grown so much and I love his teacher...Mrs. Gaglione!! She has done such a wonderful job and I am so thankful that she is in his life!!! 

Anyhow, back to school stuff... we are slowly winding down... Last week was the last topic in math: Geometry. We did a geometry review with these cute "Cootie Catchers" for geometry. Now, let me go back on this since I am an old person...since when are they called cootie catchers? I thought they were fortune tellers! When I was little a cootie was something you got when a little boy you didn't like touched you and then you had to do the "circle, circle, dot, dot thing..." Apparently not... In any case, my class L-O-V-E-D them!!

Click on the image to download your copy! I promise you won't have to give yourself a cootie shot! LOL!

We also had our butterflies hatch! The kids have truly enjoyed watching them grow! I HIGHLY recommend buying a milkweed plant from your local plant nursery and starting this way versus ordering a caterpillar kit from one of the larger science distributors (unless you live somewhere where this is not possible) because it is just so much prettier to watch a monarch caterpillar munch it's way through the milkweed leaves and get big and fat (sorry no pictures-- I was busy!) and then turn into a pretty pupa and then watch it hatch! Plus, it's way cheaper to buy a plant $4.50 or so than a kit. I used some tulle and a tomato plant guard thing (I cannot think of the word-- but that circular wired cage like thing you put around it) to keep it all contained. No more than $10.00 for the whole project. Totally worth it!! 

Father's Day is in my upcoming plans this week and if you haven't downloaded my Father's Day in a Bottle freebie, click on the image to do so!! We are doing this this week. It has everything you need to make this project a success!!

Already this has been a LONG post but there has been so much going on that I just had to share with you!!! I am so close to 100 followers! If you are new to reading my blog, please join in on the fun and follow me on my blog and if you like the products you see, be sure to follow me on TPT! Please help me to the 100 follower (or more) mark! 

10 more days until SUMMER!!! Just keep swimming... Just keep swimming!!! 

I'm Featured! With a little bit of Let's Edit and Student Self Assessment!!!

Last night was my first blog hop ever and if you still haven't picked up your freebie (or freebies) it's still there and please remember to leave a comment and show some love by becoming a follower of my blog when you  download my freebie or any of the other freebies along this amazing blog hop!! As a result of the blog hop, I was featured this morning on the Math Coach's Corner Sunday Blog, Bagels and Blogs where she reposted my Father's Day Freebie:


(click on her button to take you there)

I was super excited! In other news my first grades besties and I have been texting back and forth this morning and joking about entering the DPP (Deliberate Practice Plan) Cave today--our county's version of a professional growth plan. My plan is on Charlotte Danielson's power component 3D-- Using Assessment in Instruction and specifically in my plan-- writing. Writing to me is one of the most hardest skills to develop in primary as they come in with all kinds of writing skills! Am I right??? So this year was especially difficult because we went straight to Common Core writing (our state and county are slowly implementing CCSS by county and grade level) where most of it was evidence based writing and finding where in the text they can find support and write about it, then writing opinion pieces based on evidence, and the list goes on, and on.... We really didn't touch too much on the final editing process as our writing went with the story of the week and then we had to move on. Whereas in years past I could spend an extended length of time on a writing concept/piece and really focus on mechanics, style, and creativity! And if I am to be honest with myself, my kids this year as not as strong in writing as they should be. As a reflective practioner I should be able to be honest with myself and say that and that's okay! So, as these past few weeks dwindle on and I have my homeroom class back, I really want to focus on writing projects the old school way with a twist of common core as I have done all year!! To help I have revamped my editing sheet to share with you. I use a simplified version called CUPS:

Here is another for student self assessment I just added:

You can click on the pictures to download it from Google drive. I hope you will find them as useful as I have! The kids find it easy and I have toyed with the idea of putting CUPS on one of those self stampers but I like the idea of  having the peer editor put a comment for improvement and one compliment (always end with a positive, right??). 

Okay, well, now I am off to retreat into my DPP cave! I pray for the light at the end of the tunnel! Happy Sunday, friends! 

Orange 'Ya Glad It's a Blog Hop! Stop # 7

Welcome to First Grade and Flip Flops!! And Orange 'ya glad it's a BLOG HOP!!! Thank you for visiting our exciting blog hop! This is my first time participating in a blog hop and I have only been a blogger since this March so I am excited and nervous!!  I hope that you have enjoyed visiting all of these amazing K-2 blogs, looking at and hopefully purchasing helpful units for your classroom as well as grabbing some FREEBIES along the way! I am the





I have two great units to share with you on this blog hop! The first one is my Mission: Space unit! I don't know about you but there is something about the world beyond ours that is just so fascinating! Is there life out there? Can we one day live in space (other then the Space Station right now??) So many questions with no answers!!! When I first posted about my unit, I can vividly remember being a Young Astronaut in 4th grade and wanting to go into space, I loved learning about the planets, and I loved going to Kennedy Space Center! Living in FL I was lucky enough to do that! Click on the cover page to take you to my TPT store to grab your copy! It is a unit that is sure to inspire all future astronauts out there!!!

There is just so much that I could not fit them all into a collage! 

So, now for your FREEBIE!!! How many of you are tired of the same old Father's Day tie card?? Do I see any raised hands?? LOL! 

Now, while I am not saying that we shouldn't still give those out as they are cute! However, why not give that special father figure in your life a Father's Day Gift in a Bottle!!!

(Click me to grab your FREEBIE!!)

(cute cat NOT included!! Ha! He wouldn't leave me alone!!) 

My friends, just click on the the cover page of the FREEBIE and it will take you to my TPT store where you can download the craftivity. If you are not a follower of First Grade and Flip Flops, then now is your chance to show me some love and support! Please follow me on my blog and my TPT store! :-)

Thanks so much for stopping by! Hope you are enjoying the blog hop! The next stop is Tammy from the Resourceful Apple! Click on her button to take you there! 

If you'd like to go to the beginning of the hop, head over to Tamara's blog:

Have a great night and weekend!!!