Gladys West

A pioneer in computer science Gladys West just like Dorothy Vaughn and Katherine Johnson. She helped in the creation of GPS and was a human computer. She was hired by NASA to study satellites and work on calculations by hand.

Gladys programmed the computer with algorithms which helped create accurately a model of the Earth. This helped in the creation of the GPS (Global Positioning System). Without her we wouldn’t have the GPS and what we use today to get around.

I integrated computer science and social studies into my lesson. I had my students program me as a human robot to get around the classroom using directions and specific algorithms. This activity was an unplugged activity and they had a great time. I had asked them to this at home with their families and it was great to see what they did with their families. I also added cardinal directions to help teach about the compass rose on a map. This helps students understand how a GPS works.

My students also had a plugged activity which was tied into our social studies unit. We were learning about communities and resources in the community. Learning about Gladys was prefect. My students had to create a program to get around a neighborhood. It was great to see where my students wanted to go in a neighborhood. 

Check out my activity for your own copy:

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Gladys-West-and-GPS–6592387

Happy learning!

Valentine’s Day Coding

I love to integrate computer science into as much as I can in my classroom. My students think they are having fun but they are learning at the same time. My students work on basic coding and programming because they are in first grade. I created different coding mats for Google Slides as well as a pdf that students can draw in the arrows for their code to get to the end. My students love it so much and always look forward to programming. I created a few Valentine’s Day coding activities.

One activity is for the students to start at a heart and get to the end heart while collecting valentine’s chocolates. This is a lot of fun and who doesn’t like chocolates. https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Collecting-Chocolates-For-Valentines-Day-Coding-6468473

Another activity is Conversation Hearts Coding. Students have to collect all the conversation hearts. This activity is both a pdf and on google slides.

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Conversation-Hearts-Coding-6438508

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Unplugged-Conversation-Heart-Coding-6438473

My students also love the story “There Was An Old Lady Who….” They get a kick out of the old lady who swallows so many different things. I love working on retelling with these books. For Valentine’s Day I love to use the book “There Was An Old Who Swallowed A Rose”. I read the book first as a read aloud. When I reread the story, I ask the students to retell the story to me. We also look for rhyming words. When we go into retell coding, my students program on the mat and then they write down the code and the retell. This is important because the whole point is for the students to retell the story with a little added computer science activity. Check out my TpT store for the activity:

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Unplugged-Coding-There-Was-An-OId-Lady-Who-Swallowed-a-Rose-6437815

I hope your students enjoy these activities. Check them out!

Happy Coding & Happy Valentine’s Day!

Suffix -er & -est Learning

Learning suffixes is very important and helpful when it comes to reading.

Suffixes -er & -est are added to adjectives. Suffix -er is added to a baseword when you are comparing between two things. Suffix -est is added to a baseword when you are comparing three or more things. This is hard for children to understand but with examples and practice it can happen. In my class, we have been learning suffix -er and -est and the students really enjoyed the activities.

The first activity the students have the baseword and they add in suffix -er and -est. I have my studens read the words as they are writing. This can be done as whole class or independently. The second activity is writing two sentences using two of the words with the added suffix. This helps them think and understand the words. The last activity is students sort the words into two categories either -er or -est. They have a lot of fun in first grade. I want to make sure that the learning is fun for them. *My activities are in my teachers pay teachers store so you are able to get your hands on these activities.*

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Suffix-er-est-7658151

Happy Teaching!

Disney Pins Collection

This past summer of 2021, it was the first time that we took our boys to their first trip to Disney. My boys are school age kids but we wanted to make it more memorable for them. We also wanted our youngest out of a stroller. I wanted to get them something that they can remember the trip by so I decided to let them pick some Disney pins. They both picked what they liked based on the character. It was great to see their personalities come out. Each one of my boys has their own pin lanyard and its by their bed with their pins in it. They like to wear it time to time or even just talk about it.

I also wanted to commemorate our first trip to Disney. We went to all 4 parks and at each park, I picked pins that symbolized it. I also collected the free maps that they have at each park. I had this idea that I would cut out each symbol of the four parks and then glue it on a corkboard. Once I had that done, I would add the pins to it. Well, this vision came true. It took a lot of planning on my part before the trip and after the trip. I found the symbols of each of the parks and had my Cricut machine cut it out. Then I used mod podge to glue the parks symbols on the corkboard. This was a lot of fun to do. The last part was my favorite. I added the pins to each corkboard. It came out really nice. I also added four smaller frames with pictures of my family from each park. We now can look at it and remember our first time. The corkboards also have space for more pins to always add more. I thought this was a great way to remember our time in Disney.

This was a special time and I have my forever memory always around.

Happy Memory Making!

Mickey Ears

If you go to Disney, you definitely need Mickey ears. Everyone wears them. I bought a few myself because who doesn’t want them. They are pricey and when they go on sale on the Disney website you can get them for a good deal. I love all kinds of Disney characters and they never had ears for me to get. When we went to Disneyland California, I noticed that many people had custom made ears. I wanted in on that.

I started making my own. We were going to take our boys for the first time to Disney World and I wanted to make my own. My mother-in law was making her own for my nieces and their trips but I decided let me start my own. The rest is history. I make my own Mickey ears using all kinds of crafting materials. I look for a variety of fabric and ribbon. My Mickey ears are made using a hot glue gun to keep it together. This was the fastest and easiest way for me. I do not know how to work a sewing machine.

Our first trip to Disney with my boys we were going to hit all the parks: Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios. I decided to make ears that matched each of the parks. I looked for fabric for my favorite characters and that’s where I took the rest. It was a lot of fun creating the ears and I definitely got a lot of complaints for them.

I started making Mickey ears for school events like Grinch Day and I also made my nieces their own Star Wars ears. I have not seen the joy that I did when I gave it them.

Stay tuned for more Mickey Ears this time for Disneyland California!

Blue Ridge Winery

My favorite all time winery is Blue Ridge Winery in Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania. It is a gem in the Pocono Mountains. My family and I have been going for about 2 years now. Whenever we visit the Pocono Mountains, we make sure to visit Blue Ridge Winery. The atmosphere is just amazing. They have a great selection of wines from reds to whites. You can go and do wine tasting or you can buy by the bottle or glass. Definitely worth it!

The views at the winery are to die for. It’s amazing to see the vineyard. You can even drink your wine while sitting in-between the grapes. That’s an amazing experience. They have a great amount of seating from the tasting rooms to the vineyard. This place is just amazing. Their motto is: Enjoy Life! Definitely when you are at this winery. It is pet and family friendly. My boys love to go and just sit and take in nature. The winery also has pizza every day to order. This is great for families as children are picky. And who doesn’t love pizza.

Let’s go to the wines. My all time favorite is any of the Glitter Inspiration. It has the right flavors. You know the wine is good when my husband is not a wine drinker, will drink Glitter Inspiration. This is the only wine that he will drink. Glitter Inspiration comes in a variety of colors: gold, bronze, and red. Throughout the year, they have Glitter Inspiration that come in different colors like green, blue, rose gold and pink. The beauty of this wine is the edible glitter inside that makes the wine look mesmerizing. My husband has showed people pictures of the wine and not when we go, we pick up for many people because it is just so delicious. This wine definitely goes well with cheese and crackers. The Glitter Inspiration is definitely my all time favorite wine and a must have. Another one that is a great wine is the Enjoy Life Delicious Sweet Red. It is absolutely delicious.

Happy tasting!

Stowe, VT

Stowe, Vermont is a beautiful town. The views of the mountains are amazing. It’s a quiet time, well in the summer when my family went. There are many small stores for shopping. My family and I found a really good ice cream parlor called Stowe Sweets. The ice cream flavors were delicious and the décor was beautiful. I, of course, had a s’mores flavor. Definitely recommend a visit here.

We also took a trip to Stowe Mountain Resort. This resort is gorgeous. It seems to have a lot of amenities. We didn’t stay at the resort, we just took a walk around it. We did go on the Stowe Gondola. Let me tell you. This was an amazing experience. My family really enjoyed themselves on this ride. We went up Mt. Mansfield which is the highest mountain in Vermont. The gondola right took us up to the top. A tip for riding the gondola, if you are afraid of heights like I am sit facing down not up. I got this tip after I got to the top. The views at the top were amazing. I couldn’t stop taking pictures of the views (even though it was rainy/cloudy day). We were able to see the beautiful views. At the top of the mountain there is a small store as well as restrooms and a café which sells hot chocolate, hot coffee and waffles. This is definitely a stop I recommend for anyone that loves the great outdoors.

After we rode the Stowe Gondola’s and took photos, we took a drive on route 108. The views were amazing. The boulders were huge and amazing. The winding road was just amazing. We had to stop and of course, I needed to take my pictures. My children really loved it and wanted to walk around and look at the boulders. I definitely recommend for anyone who loves nature.