Pumpkin Strip Jack-o-Lanterns - Easy Art in a Snap!

Today we made Pumpkin Strip Jack-o-Lanterns!  This is such an easy craft!  You will need 7 strips of orange construction paper, a strip of green, and a square of black.  If my kids want white I tell them to get some from the recycle bin as a way of being environmentally friendly.

 I love to encourage my kiddos to be creative with the face.  They turn out really interesting to look at... Sometimes the shape of the pumpkin even changes.  Check out the one at the top of the bulletin board! Soooo  cute!

Arrrgghh - I'm a pirate!!

This week I have been surviving on the wonderful packets of others!!  Here are few awesome packets I am using this week!!

We will do some Pumpkin writing with the help of this lovely little freebie from firstgradeblueskies!!

I can't wait for tomorrow for a couple of awesome pumpkin science experiments from this super amazing packet!!!  Happy Pumpkin week!!!

Who will be Boo'd? Linky Party

It is time to show some love and appreciation to other inspirational blogs!!  I am linking up with Cynthia over at 2nd Grade Pad to Boo!  some spooktacular blogs!!

The first is Tara West's Little Minds at Work!  I really love her TpT store.  Her graphics and printables are cute, crisp, and clear.  I'm loving her ideas!!

Corinna over at Teaching Fabulous Firsties has been really great to me in blog land!  I was apart of one of her give aways and she showed me some love!  Thanks Corinna!!  Also, she has some great freebies!  Check it out!!

Sandra over and Sandra's Savvy Teaching Tips was one of the first blogs I followed!  She shared some amazing art ideas and craftivities.  Also, she lives close to me - it is nice to know a fellow blogger is near!  Here is a link to one of my Halloween favourites!

Please go by and show them some love by following their blogs and TpT stores!!  Definitely worth a visit!!   Head over to 2nd Grade Pad for more details on how you can join in on the Boo!ing...

Equal Sign = LOVE

This year my squirrelly crew is ALWAYS ready for a party!!  They tell jokes and stories that would captivate audiences world wide, they are fierce competitors in any game, they dance like crazy!!  So I created these 8 math games to introduce/review/solidify the concept of the equal sign as a segue into addition and subtraction.  Needless to say, the ol' crew rocked out!

One of the favourites was the equal sign bracelet.  We discovered that it works as a little abacus as well!! Oh yeah!!  I think I have about 5 of my own now, made especially for me by my little party goers!!  Make it a little simpler by have only 5 beads on each side of the equal sign instead of 10.

You may want to save this little craftivity for February/Valentine's Day as a cute review and to teach about poetry:)  That is my plan!!

Click on the picture below and join in the PARTY!!!  Wahoo!

I Heard Mr. Turkey Say, "Gobble, gobble, gobble...time for a Thanksgiving freebie!" AND Currently

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving blogging friends!  I am excited to be traveling home this weekend to see the fam!  For the past five years I have been doing this super cute Thanksgiving craft with my kiddos and they eat it up, literally!!  Introducing...Apple Turkeys!!!

This craft is super easy to prepare - thanks to the amazing parents, colleagues, and helpers who helped provide apples, supervise, and peal carrots, etc.  You will need:

raisins for eyes

big marshmallows for the head

small marshmallows for the tail

toothpicks to attach everything

peeled carrots for the wings and waddle

(2 carrots were more than enough for my class of 24) - store peeled carrots in a container of cold water to keep them crisp

This lovely apple turkey is named Jewelry - precious!!!

Earlier that morning, we practiced singing my favourite Thanksgiving song, "I Heard Mr. Turkey Say..."   with actions and everything.  When the turkey hides, we hide our apples turkeys behind our backs.  After we made our turkeys, we sang our song for the parent volunteers - SO cute!  Click below for your freebie copy and couple of other cute activities!!

Thanks to Lita for the adorable free graphics!!

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Lita-Lita

http://learninginspain.blogspot.com.es/

I began this week with a brainstorm about some of the gifts in our lives we are thankful for.  My kiddos were so sweet and came up with lots of good suggestions like family, strength, talents, and Jesus.  Each chose their favourite and printed it on a turkey feather.  Click on the picture below for your freebie turkey and feathers template!

Then, I posted it outside on our bulletin board.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!  

P.S.

Head over to Farley's blog and link up!!!

Getting to Know You, Getting to Know All About You...

I wanted to do something creative and cute for my classroom brag wall this year.  I found this amazing idea on pinterest.com so I decided to follow the steps provided by Rebecca at Create Share Inspire!  These are what hers look like.

Here are what mine turned out like:)  They are a little rustic but I LOVE them!!!  I am lucky they actually came together!  When I first bought the balsa wood I put it on the roof of my car as I was loading my other purchases in and totally forgot about the wood!  When I went to look for it and it was missing, I put 2 and 2 together and made a trip back to Michael's.  There was my lovely balsa wood in the middle of the road covered with tread marks!!!  Sigh!!  Back to school brain strikes again.  So I made these with my second batch of balsa.

Here is the full bulletin board!  Once everything was all ready to go, I couldn't wait to put up my students' work!  You can download a free copy of the "Our Writing" sign here.

Here is another fun game I made to have on hand in case there was a little extra free time.  It really helped my students practice printing their names correctly.  I had them print their name on the front and then read the greeting, "Hi! My name is __________.  I am your friend," to five different classmates.  Each classmate would sign their name and colour in a star very neatly, all the while, receiving encouragement from their friend.   Encouraging phrases included, "Great printing!" and "I love how you are staying in the lines!"

Also, if you are interested in this cute little Meet and Greet game and the sweet "I am..." self portrait printable you can check it out by clicking on the picture below!  Both printables are part of a whole bunch of back to school activities to practice skills, get to know your kiddies, and help them get to know each other!!  Although school has been in session awhile, it is never to late for some fun ole getting to know you activities!!

Singing: Getting to know you, getting to know all about you!!  Remind you of any wonderful movie?

You guessed it!!  Oh The King and I - brings back wonderful viewing memories!  Check out the size of that dress!!  The first two people to download the preview over at TpT and leave me a comment and your e-mail will get your own copy of my Getting to Know You kit!!

P.S. Check out my other blog - http://www.mywholebrainteachingblog.blogspot.ca for a new post that includes a Whole Brain Teaching lesson for back to school with a freebie from my Getting to Know You packet!

Classroom Pictures!!

I'm finally getting my pictures of my little ole classroom posted!  Here is my carpet area!

Here is my student desk area!

A view from the back of the room!  I find that pairs works better for Whole Brain Teaching, especially at the beginning of the year as they learn the Teach/OK!

A little close up here of my Power Pix Wall, my Math Tubs, and my Daily 5 Tubs:)

I am teaching with Jolly Phonics this year!!  I am loving the program so far.  Here is my little board that I use to teach each letter sound.

I made some cute little labels for my bins at the front of the room.  You can download them here for free.  If you need any special labels let me know and I will quickly make them for you!!  I attached mine to the bins with holes in them by hole punching the top and using a plastic paper clip to secure them to the bin. It worked quite nicely if I do say so myself;)

Below is my little calendar wall.  I made a few posters for this wall you can download for free.

Currently...

I am linking up with Farley for the September Currently!!  Currently, I am laying in bed typing on my computer on my last day before school starts tomorrow:) I am heading to the school today for the finishing touches on my classroom!  Wish me luck!

Not entirely sure it is good for my computer to rest on my mattress...  Perhaps that is why the fan is going?

My sister lives with me and she is such a sweetheart! I heart her:)

I really need to get to the school ASAP today!!  I just want to be ready!!

A personal assistant would be amazing!!  He would just read my mind and do all those little jobs I was avoiding!!  Let's call him Ace...

I have to walk to an entirely different building to get to the "good" photocopier that actually speeds along and is quite efficient.  It would be amazing to have one in my building for my own personal use:)  I might let a few others borrow it occasionally:)

I love to dance salsa.  I have been taking lessons for about a year now and it has really opened up another world for me!  I ADORE toast!!  It is warm, crunchy, goes well with honey and Nutella!  You can eat it at any time during the day and it always tastes good.  Friends = life!