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Thursday, February 28, 2013

The Firefighters Came to School!!

Hi everybody!!
We had a BUSY day at school today!!
We did this little crafty to end our dental health unit.
On the bottom lip she wrote "I have 20 teeth". 
I love making these every year!

Then...it happened...the FIREFIGHTERS CAME TO SCHOOL!!

You would've thought we had a famous rockstar, or the president, or Mickey Mouse! 

The kids were about to LOSE their mind with excitement. 

 We went outside & took a tour of the truck. For some wacky reason the kids were most excited about seeing the axes!?! Weird!

 They came into our classroom & taught us all about their gear & the importance of it in a fire. We also learned not to hide from the firefighter even though they look & sound a little strange.
 But, the BEST part was going into the safe house! We learned all about being safe around the fireplace, in the kitchen, and in the bedroom. We learned how to stop, drop, & roll and how to stay low to get under the smoke!
The ceilings in the safe house are only 4 feet tall & the kids thought this was a trip! It has a little mini-kitchen, living room, & a bedroom upstairs. The firefighters did an awesome job!!

We had a fun day & now I am going to be resting on the couch with my Diet Coke if you need me!





Wednesday, February 27, 2013

TIRED!!

Wooo...is anyone else ready for SPRING BREAK!! 

I'm telling ya' the weeks are getting longer & longer! 

I had a 4 day week last week with the President's Day holiday AND I have a four day week (with students) this week with a workday on Friday & I feel like I am about to give out!

Why do 4 day weeks feel so LOOOOOONGGG?

Okay, done complaining...

Just for listening I am giving you a freebie!

I am doing this one this week in my stamping center & the kids are really digging it!


Enjoy it!

PLEASE take a second & pin it for me! 
Pretty please, with toothpaste on top! Hee hee!! :)

You are the best bloggy friends!!

Monday, February 25, 2013

What do you think??

I need some advice...
I made these writing journals.
Here are some sample pages... (they would be 1/2 sheet when assembled...just like my math journals)




I love, love, love the idea of them writing in these journals everyday.
The problem is, WHEN?
I love that they give a prompt & get them to think about different things each day.
I just cannot figure out how to work them in!
I thought about center time, but I don't think that this will last the entire time. That leaves me with the problem of what to do when they finish the writing.
I also thought about during morning work. 
I just love that it gives them a little extra practice with writing in a fun sort of way.
I just don't know!!
Should I scrap the idea altogether???
Help!!


Sunday, February 24, 2013

Dental Health Freebie

Hi everyone!!
This week I am teaching all about dental health! I always wait until the end of February to teach it because there is just so much to teach in the beginning & middle of the month. 
So, I whipped up this little cutie to use in my phonics literacy center this week...

In this activity the student picks a tooth fairy card. They color a tooth fairy on the sheet to match the color of the card & then they use their sounds to write the word for the picture.
Super fun, right!?! 
Who doesn't need lots of practice writing words using their sounds?!?!
Anyway~
I was thinking that you may like to have a copy of this little cutie. 
Am I right?
Well, I will send you a copy for FREE & all you have to do is pin it for me!!
Yay!!
Leave me a comment with the link to the pin & your email addy so I can send it out to ya!!
Happy Sunday!!


Friday, February 22, 2013

Honest Abe & A Sale!


Hi All!!
Today we wrapped up our President's Day unit with good old Honest Abe.
This has been a fun little unit for my class! 
They REALLY got into it!


By the way, we painted Abe's beard using the pom-pom in the clothespin method to give him the scruffy bearded look.
If you haven't tried painting like this, you really should! 
The kids had a ball with it! 


In other news, I have FINALLY finished the literacy unit for my St. Patrick's Day theme. 
I am putting both of my units (math & lit) on sale this weekend for a measly $3.00 each! 


If your interested just click on the pic to take you there!

Have a Happy weekend!!!


Thursday, February 21, 2013

Feeling Presidential!

We are learning all about American Symbols & Presidents! 
My students are having a ball learning all this cool stuff!

We started out the week by watching a BrainPop about American symbols & reading a little non-fiction book.
After that, we created this fun little interactive writing chart.
My kids LOVE interactive writing!!


Today we learned all about George Washington (we watched another BrainPop & read a non-fiction book) & made these cute little masks! 
They held up their masks & told the story of George...I am so proud of all the info they were able to tell! 


Here are some of my President's Day centers...
This is from Deedee Wills' February writing center pack.
(I triple heart LOVE these!!)


This is from my President's Day literacy pack. 
This was my students' 1st time with word unscrambling & I was a little nervous...but, they rocked it!
 I did provide them with letter tiles so that they would be able to manipulate the letters. 


This one is also from my literacy pack.
They have to use their sounds to write the word.


This is one that I whipped up last minute...I really needed a stamping center & I like the way this one turned out. 
I went old school & hand drew it super quick (bet ya couldn't tell...HA) & the kids have been having a ball with it! 
They cannot add the stars or the colors until they have stamped all the words twice.


Ok, I will return tomorrow show you the Abe Lincoln stuff we will be working on!
 I know you just cannot wait...hee hee!! 

 Happy {almost} Friday! :) 


Monday, February 18, 2013

Does anyone else do this??

I don't know about you, but I HATE desk tags on my tables/desks!

I mean, I think that they are super cute & very useful but, they ALWAYS end up looking ICKY & GROSS!! 

 I have tried everything to make them work & to stay put...laminating them, desk sleeves, wide packing tape to attach them...but those picky little kinder fingers always get them up & yucky looking...

Well, to combat this little problem here is what I do.


Yep, I write right on the tables!
I bust out my thick black Sharpie & I go to town.
When I need to change my groups I grab this guy & give the names 1 quick squirt.


Here's what it looks like after about 30 seconds. 


Then I just wipe it away with a dry rag & PRESTO...names are all gone! 


Now I am all ready to make new groups! See?
Can you see that I am able to differentiate a little, too. 


I  would NOT recommend using any of the colored Sharpies. They don't come off nearly as easily as the plain old black ones for some reason.

So, that is my helpful hint for the day! :)


Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Gearing up for V-Day!!

I don't know about your class, but mine is SUPER excited to celebrate Valentine's Day tomorrow! 
We are so CUH-RAZY that I had to do some activities to keep those hands busy & those mouths down to a low roar!!
Nothing does that better than PAINT! 
Here are a couple of our Love-ly masterpieces...
 
 My class absolutely LOVES to paint (whose doesn't) so I set them free to create their own Valentine inspired art.
 It's always fun to see what they create during their free art time.

Then, we got busy making our bags! These little guys turned out so cute. They thought it was funny that I set them up on our steps. They thought it looked like they were having their class picture made! Ha! 
I make these every year & they always turn out awesome! 
I am planning on going to bed early tonight to get lots of rest. I know they will be all a-buzz when I see them first thing in the morning!!

Have a Happy Valentine's Day!!


Sunday, February 10, 2013

Some Pinteresting Stuff...

Hi Everybody!! 
In an effort to try to stay a little ahead of the game, I have been looking for some cute little craftivities to do with my littles for President's Day. Here are a few cute things that I found on Pinterest that looked like they would be relatively easy to prepare...

How cute is Lincoln's cabin? I love the penny attached to make it look like Lincoln is looking out of the window! :)


My kiddos will love this Lincoln mask! How easy is this one!?!?



We can't forget Washington. This one looks like a little more work, but has the potential to be totally cute! 


Of course, we will make a President Obama! I am so glad that TLC lessons had this one as a freebie!!!

If you want to see more details about the projects you can click on each one & it will take you to the original link! 

I am almost finished with my President's Day & St. Patrick's Day Literacy Units. I know I'm a little behind...I'll try harder! 

Have a super Sunday ya'll!!

You know you wanna comment...go ahead...do it! :)



Saturday, February 9, 2013

100th Day

This is going to be a lame little post! 
I had tons of pictures from our super cute 100th day activities...
then, my 2 year old got hold of my phone...
and....
well...
the rest is history! 
He deleted most of my pics save just a few, which I will show you now...Boo! 
How does a 2 year old even know how to do stuff like that??? 
Well, lesson learned. 
No more phone for Tate!
Here are the few fun pics from my class...sad!

Here are our cute bubblegum machines! This one was a huge hit. 
I had 10 bingo daubers & they had to use each one to make 10 gumballs. 
The front of the gumball machine says, "_____ had a ball on the 100th Day!"
(Can you see our hat in the bottom left corner? Yea, that's the only shot we have of a complete one *sigh*)


Here is a hat in the making. They had to stamp 10 stamps on each strip & attach the "100 Days Smarter" sign. 
Another hit! 
See pic above for a glimpse of the finished hat.
 *double sigh*


This is one of MY favorites 
(they liked it too, it just didn't rank as high as the hats or gumballs). 
They added our 100th day poem to their poetry notebooks, decorated a fancy 100, & drew in 100 balloons! 
This one was still working when I snapped the pic.

Well, sadly, that is all that I can show you...boo hoo!

I hope that everyone had a Happy 100th Day!!


Monday, February 4, 2013

So Thankful!! How About a Gift???

I just wanted to thank everyone for the thoughtful, kind, sweet feedback that you left for me yesterday on TpT. I am truly astonished that my creations are helping far more students than my own! 
Thank you so much for downloading & using my products! :)

With that being said, I wanted to give you a little gift that I whipped up to use in my classroom & thought that you may enjoy!!



I hope that you like it & can use it in your classroom!
Please feel free to pin it! 
I truly appreciate all the pins!!

Thank you again for all of your kindness!!

Sunday, February 3, 2013

Super Sunday & a Couple of Freebies!

Happy Super Bowl Sunday everyone!!
I am planning on tuning in tonight for the commercials! Ha!
I don't really care about the game...if it's not the Panthers or the Cowboys playing, I don't really have much interest. 

I hope that everyone is taking advantage of the awesome sale going on at TpT today! Most stores are on sale for 20% off & you get another 10% if you use the code SUPER at checkout! 
That's a great deal ya'll! My shopping cart is quickly filling up!!

Here are some of my latest goodies in case you are interested...
They are definitely included in the sale today!! :)



Go check them out...there is a freebie from the unit in the previews!

Please consider pinning them while you are picking up the freebies!

Thank you so much sweet friends!!

Happy Shopping Everyone!!


Saturday, February 2, 2013

Currently & A Sale

Welcome to February!
It is one of my favorite months to teach because there is sooooo much fun stuff to learn about in February! Yay!!
I am linking up with Farley for this months Currently.
Here it is...


 Pet Peeve~ It REALLY gets my goat that I cannot figure out how to load cute fonts onto Powerpoint 2010! I am just sick about it! I have researched all over the internet to figure out why I can't do it, but have come up empty!! Ugh!! Sooo, if you know the trick, PLEASE pass it on to me!! 
Anyway~ I also don't care for the nose pickers...but then, who does? :)


Okay, I am joining in on the TPT sale for Super Bowl weekend. I know that I have been filling my cart with goodies just waiting for a sale to come along! Fill yours up too! Don't forget to enter the promo code: SUPER when you check out!
Happy Shopping!