This Little Piggie Came to School....in a Book Bag!

Most teachers just think we have seen it all (mostly because we have) well anyway. Something new happened in my classroom this past Friday! One of my sweet little girls came up to me first thing and said, "Mrs. Winchell my guinea pig is in my book bag." I said, "What??? Are you sure?" and she nodded that sweet little head. Being an animal lover and knowing this little girl doesn't make stuff up. I asked her to get her book bag and there in the bottom of it was a sweet little baby guinea pig. I knew this sweetie had guinea pigs. She had brought me a picture of them! According to her it just amazingly crawled in there and she didn't know! We all just about fell over but it was the cutest thing in the world so we loved it up and put it in a box. We already have a class reading guinea pig so we had all the supplies we needed. That guinea pig was the sweetest little thing. It had a great day at school and was delivered safely to Dad at the end of the day. It was great fun on a Friday. As with any big happening we need to talk about it and then we need to write about it. I created this fun writing activity for your kiddos to imagine what they might bring to school in their book bags! You can download it here.



I'm sure your children will come up with some delightful ideas. And remember just when you thought you had seen it all you haven't!

Ahoy! Pirate Writing and Hats for the End of The Year

I'm adding a math freebie to this post! My kid love, love bump it games. I have created a Pirate Themed Bump It Game with sums to 18. You will need three dice and a copy of the printable! Enjoy! Please visit awhile and grab up some other freebies! I would love to know where you are from. Please leave a comment below if you have the time. Thanks, Maties



I have created this fun Pirate writing activity to help you and your students reflect on the wonderful year of learning you all have had together. Together you all can fill up the treasure chest with all your memories. There are versions for Kindergarten, First Grade and Second Grade. This is an open ended activity and you can print as many pages as you like. It would also be great for a class book as well. You could also share some of the writing with the children who will be moving up. I'm sure they would like to know what treasures they will find in their new grade level. Comment below and let me know how you plan to use it in your classroom. I love reading new ideas!

You can find your copy of this activity on Teachers Pay Teachers!
If you are visiting from The Busy Educator welcome to I Dream of First Grade.

Animal Groups Writing with Rubric Freebie and Legally Blonde

I have been off the radar for the past couple of weeks! You are just going to have to hang with me while I tell you what I have been doing the past couple of weeks. The freebie is below. I have been helping my daughter's high school drama program with the musical Legally Blonde. This is my daughter Olivia's last show with the Page Playmakers. It was a bittersweet moment on Saturday when the curtain closed for the last time. My daughter Emily also went through the same program. Our whole family has been involved with this program for seven years! My husband has built light towers and sets and I have created and designed costumes. It has been one of the great joys of our lives. We have had the opportunity to get to know Olivia and Emily's friends and to make some great friends ourselves. I can tell you from first hand experience that there are wonderful teenagers in our world! I love all the kids I have worked with. I found out they need the same things first graders need: hugs, encouragement and adults that care for them.

One of the favorite numbers from this show is Bend and Snap check out the Broadway version and put some snap into your day!

My first graders have been busy learning about living organisms. We are writing a fact book as a take home project but it can be used as a class project as well. We went to Lazy Five Ranch for a field trip. This place is amazing! You ride around in a wagon pulled by beautiful horses and you get to feed and view the animals up close and way personal! Why even one buffalo took a liking to me and licked my leg. Oooooooo but cool at the same time.This is a picture of one of my sweet little boys feeding a buffalo. If you are ever in North Carolina be sure to check it out. I always love visiting Lazy Five!


You can get The Animal Groups Fact Book here on Google Drive. I am really working on getting my first graders to use their brains when writing. The rubric has a place for the children to draw a smiley face if they used their own brains and not their moms and dads or shh....Google! We have been learning so much about animals it would be a shame, shame to get the information from someone else. The book is two pages back to front and the children write about six different animal groups.
Sorry for the long post but I wanted to tell you all what I have been up to! I was just savoring these last days of high school with my daughter. She is off to college in the fall! Thanks for sticking with me. There are more freebies on the way!