When Life Hands You Lemons….

If you're looking for something fun and relevant to do during the last few days of school, look no further!

Read on to see just what I mean…

About Spring Break-time (March), I was starting to plan for our units of study for the end of the year.

I knew both first grade classes would start our "ABC" countdown about mid-April and that when we got to 'L' day, I wanted to do some fun activities with lemonade.

I have these units that I always use at the EOY:

Click HERE to go to Cara's store and HERE to go to Miss Snowden's store for these packets!

My small groups would be reading these books from Learning A-Z:

And I ordered these books from Amazon to enhance our lemonade activities:

Little did I know that the back page of "How to Make Lemonade" (small group Learning A-Z book) would tell us all about the little girl Alex Scott, whose story is told in "Alex & the Amazing Lemonade Stand"!

Suddenly, I was inspired to put together all we would learn and incorporate our economics unit in Social Studies by hosting a lemonade stand at our school!

AND we would donate all our proceeds to help fund cancer research…just like little Alex Scott did:) 

I set a date for Friday, May 2nd to host a lemonade stand for Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation.

The website is super easy to use. 

More about that later.

We would make the lemonade ourselves that day, and sell the lemonade for $0.25 a cup.

Each pitcher of lemonade needs about 10-12 lemons, and one pitcher would be enough for a class of 20 students.

We have 12 classes in our building, and at least 20 adults, so I planned on purchasing 150 lemons.

Sold in groups of 6, I had to buy 25 bags of lemons from our local supermarket to have enough to make 13 pitchers.

They were about $3 a bag, so I spent about $75 in total lemon cost (next year, I will be asking for donations!).

If every student in the building purchased a cup, that price would cover the cost of most of the lemonade supplies and still provide $50 in donations (I decided to donate the cost of the lemons to the fund, as they exceeded the predetermined profit).

So, we set a goal of $50.00, and I really didn't expect too much.

We sent a note home the Monday before the stand with every student in the building explaining the purpose for our stand as well as to where its proceeds would go.

I had a parent ask me if I needed help, and I really didn't think I would need it, but agreed.

Maybe she could help watch students:)

An extra hand is always nice in first grade, right?

My grade level partner teacher was gone that day, but we planned on her sub and student teacher keeping the students on the playground while a building aide helped me rotate first graders in 15-minute shifts (I didn't really want all 36 first graders helping to sell lemonade at one time…too many cooks in the kitchen, you know!).

The day of the stand, I actually had the parent volunteer man the money-handling.

As soon as our lemonade stand opened at 2:15, I didn't get a chance to even breathe until the bell dismissed students an hour later!

We were S.W.A.M.P.E.D!

And check out this shirt a former student made! 

So sweet and supportive:) 

What I planned on not really being a big deal was a HUGE success…thanks in part to social media (a few parents posted the stand on Facebook).

Our tiny little goal of $50.00 was well-surpassed…we totaled $315.00!!!!

$50 is enough to fund 1 hour of cancer research….our $315 should fund almost an entire day:)

I was so proud of our students, and not one complained about not getting the money or getting their lemonade right away (many had to wait until our customers were served).

Some older students had to even go without a second or third glass that they paid for because we actually ran out!

Everyone was very understanding and generous.

AND THANK GOODNESS FOR MY PARENT VOLUNTEER!!!! (Thanks, Carrie!)

You can set up your own lemonade stand for your class, or have one this summer with your own kiddos!

The website is very user-friendly, has downloads and information to help you, and they will even have a representative contact you by email a few times with pointers and advice.

Click HERE to go straight to this organization, or click the icon below:

What better way is there to teach young kids empathy, economics, and how to put others before yourself?

Next year, I will definitely plan more accordingly for what I'm certain will be a successful endeavor! :)

Have a good week, friends!

Happy May Day!

Here are some flowers…

...pretend I just knocked on your front door:)

That's the text I got from a sweet friend this morning, so if you didn't get a May basket today, now you can say you did!

Onto the real reason for today's post: Farley's Famous Linky!

Don't you just love baseball season?
I do!
And this movie (above) is just one of my all-time favorites for the season:)

So glad the weather is FINALLY starting to act like spring!

How many more school days do you have?
We are counting down, folks!

My little cousin is getting married tomorrow!
Both my boys are in the wedding…they are so grown up!
My youngest has to hold hand with the flower girl….so stinkin' cute!
Take a look:

wish this was closer up…take my word for it, it's cute!!

My oldest is an usher, and he looks like such a young man:,(

Wish I looked a little better (i.e., thinner) so I could look as great as they will tomorrow!

On top of the wedding, my students are hosting a fundraiser for Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation in the afternoon.

Are you familiar with that organization?

Have you ever seen this book?

Look into it!
It's an amazing opportunity!!
I'll be back this weekend to blog more about it!

Til then, Happy Friday Friends!!!

AWESOME Math Station Resource, Anyone?

Do you use math stations in your classroom?

With the trend of incorporating differentiated instruction and more small group time, my class has enjoyed "math stations" at the end of the day while I work with individual students or small groups (i.e., intervention).

I have LOVED Daily 5 for reading stations, but sometimes struggle to find just the right math resources for workstations during this instructional block.
Even when we practice, and I take time to reteach math tubs, my students always seem to occasionally get off task because they suddenly just don't remember the directions for the activities.

Thank goodness for Casey Williamson, aka Second Grade Math Maniac!
She has an AMAZING product called "Take Home Math Kits".

click on the photo to check it out in Casey's TpT store! 

Seriously folks: LOVE this product!

I have only used it a short while, but the activities are very kid-friendly, and my students have stayed engaged the whole time during station choices.
Yesterday, there were actual GROANS when it was time to pick up and get ready to go home!
Gotta love that:)

Here are some photos of my students using just a sampling of what this packet has to offer:

Casey designed this product as a resource to help students at HOME (hence, the "take home" part in the name) to help them retain math knowledge, in addition to other homework.

These activities cover all sorts of standards from first to second grades.

Because I received the packet a little later into the school year, I decided not to go the "parent route" in implementation…YET.
However, I fully intend to use this packet as a take-home resource during the next school year.
Casey makes the use of this resource completely fool-proof, as she is passionate about improving the Home/School Connection (everyone needs that!)
She's included check-out sheets, tips for teachers, parent letters explaining the resource, and even answer keys you can include (for the parents, of course!).

BUT I plan on offering the games as a resource to choose during daily math stations, as well.
I figure I will get the most 'bang for my buck' this way:)

Students can use the activities at home with their parents, and parents can have a taste of what their children are doing during math stations.
I don't know about you, but many of my parents think we "play" during that time.
Well, obviously we do!
But it's relevant practice, people. Come on.
Wasted instructional time?
Ain't nobody got time for that:)

And no more excuses for not remembering those pesky directions for games and activities.
If students have practice at home with the activities, it is even more likely they'll be confident in playing or teaching others how to play the games that should be familiar to them.

Casey has stated that the goal for using this product should be for familiar practice, not for teaching new skills (as any good homework SHOULD).
Since we are getting ready to wrap-up our geometry unit, these games are getting ready to come into rotation:

We are just getting ready to start the measurement review from this chapter, so my students will have the pleasure of using THESE games, tested and approved by my very own "guinea pigs" (thanks, boys!):

 ---side note on this measurement game: The directions & recording sheet say to use the inches side of a ruler for the objects, but we have only used nonstandard measurement, so my students will use paperclips & "inchworms". I won't worry about offering the recording sheet for now:)

There are also a few activities that I am going to incorporate whole group, rather than for stations.

Check these out!

And this activity will have to be adapted slightly. 

We are gearing up for our zoo field trip, so I just KNEW I had to include these skip-counting puzzles!

BUT they are definitely geared towards 2nd graders (or very high firsties) as they use numbers in the high hundreds, so I will make a "CHALLENGE" set (printed as is) and a "GOOD PRACTICE" set, that will be 'white-out-ed' (I'm sure that's a word) over the hundreds value of the number.

Finally, my enrichment group will enjoy this resource with my paras and aides while I work with students needing intervention:

Never too early to introduce & reinforce repeated addition (aka, multiplication) concepts, right?

As you can see, this packet is extremely versatile.

If you want a great resource for parent involvement/home practice, this will do the job (that's the primary intention for the product, anyway)!

If you need additional resources for math stations in your first or second grade classroom, this works wonders!

If you want some fabulous enrichment activities for your primary students or fun intervention games for your intermediate kiddos, this will fit the bill.

Most teachers are looking for a product that will do a little more than expected…and this certainly does!

I am very grateful to have been chosen by Casey to receive and review this amazing product!

I only wish I had found it at the start of the year:)

If you're unfamiliar with Casey's blog, you should head over there now for  some really fabulous math (and other) ideas!

*caveat: I received no financial compensation for my thoughts…just this packet.