Spiders!

Here are the pics I promised you of the spider glyph.  Enjoy!  I also added a few pics of the torn apples we made with our apple unit.  We labeled the parts of the apple after we had fun tearing up the paper.

Click HERE if you did not catch the FREE spider glyph the first time!  :)

Crafty weekend and a Freebie!

I loved having a long weekend!  I feel like I got a lot accomplished with my time off and I finally got to make some of my Halloween pins from Pinterest.  Check out the pics below!

This was a candle holder I had that I filled with various Halloween and Fall candies and stuck a few fake twigs in the jar.  

This sits on my buffet table.  I put a few fake mini pumpkins and gourdes in the bottom of the hurricane vase, then filled with various fake Fall flowers and fake twigs.

I used pumpkins as my pots for the mums this year.  I cut a small hole in the bottom of the pumpkin so the water can drain out.  

I painted 2 of the pumpkins with spray paint, flat black and a metallic silver.  I bought wooden letters and painted them black and orange.  Then I used the round foam brush to dab the dot of glittery paint.  I hot glued the letters to the pumpkins.  I do not have the pumpkins attached, they so far are stacked on top of one another and kind of leaning against the post on my steps.  So far so good!

This is the front of my house so far.  :)

And...now for the Freebie!  I created a spider glyph that my class did last Thursday.  It was the end of the week for us so I did not have time to put it up yet.  I will post pictures of them tomorrow.  They turned out super cute and the kids loved the questions of the glyph.  This was a great way to end our week of spider fun!

Click on the picture below to get the freebie.  :)

Pumpkin Patch Kids

I can't believe Fall is here and it is time to start thinking about all things Halloween.  I don't know about other parts of the country but here in Southern Illinois it went from wonderful weather to Winter cold weather over night.  I miss the Summer weather already!  I have been busy creating a Pumpkin Packet to add to our stations.  The kiddos get so excited when they get new items to add to their stations.  Click HERE to check out the Pumpkin Packet on TPT.  Hope you enjoy it!  Leave some feedback and let us know what you think...remember you get credits with TPT when you leave feedback.  ;)

Apple of My Eye!

WOW!  We had so much fun learning about apples!  The kids really got into learning about apples and becoming little scientists.  I had some help this year from the wonderful Wild About Teaching Blog.  Check out the free mini unit HERE.  I had a wonderful parent helper who was willing to come in and get sticky with us.  We made our Apple Rice Krispie Treats and let me tell you they were sticky and fun.  The kids loved it and got super excited and crazy when they figured out they got to mold and eat their versions of apples.  I was wondering how they tasted with the Jello mixed in, but it was delightful.  Click HERE to get the recipe.  I have pictures to add to this post but for some reason I am having a hard time getting them off my camera today.  I was using my old camera because my newer camera's memory card is full and I HATE deleting pics.  I have a serious problem.  I'm so afraid that my pictures will get destroyed even though I know they are one my camera, a memory stick, and like 5 other places.

Rice Krispie Apples

I'm working on some October fun stuff to put up soon.  This week we are learning about spiders and I'm creating a spider glyph to share with everyone.  I should have it up tomorrow.

I hope your October is off to fabulous start.  Please be sure to share this post and spread the word.  :)

WOW...9 days into the year

So...sorry for being absent from the blog for a few months.  We both have had a lot going on in our lives and had to cut a few things out to make life more bearable.  Anyway, we are back into the swing of things and have galloped into the new school year.  Our character theme this year is a western theme, "Roundin' Up Good Character."  This summer, well let's just say the last few weeks right before school started, I have been busy making some fun Pinterest items for my room.  At school everyone calls it the Pinterest Classroom.  lol  A big thanks to all the people I follow in Pinterest.  I just LOVE seeing everyone's ideas.
Check out the pics of my classroom below.

When we are walking around the school, we work on roundin' up a compliment for peace walking through the halls.  Once we round up 25 compliments, I treat the class to a small treat.

Obviously this one isn't finished yet.  Pinterest idea #1.  I'm taking picture of all the kids that have a birthday in January while they are holding the number that their birthday is one.  Then doing the same for each month.

Job Chart

Word Wall

A place to write reminders that pop up.

Character Board

Pinterest idea #2...New whole class area.  Thanks mom for making the seat cushions!

Reading Counts Corral and new place to hang all my fun literacy station things that I have printed from Teachers Pay Teachers.  It is so easy to flip through the activity bags and pick which one I want to use.  I hung hooks from the bars that hold up the tile ceiling.  The ribbon is tied from the hook and I used a tension rod to go through the ribbon loops.  I got curtain clips from Target to hang the Ziploc bags from.

Pinterest idea #3...Transportation ribbon chart!  Don't mind the chipped up door.  ;)

Pinterest idea #4...Where is 1W?

Welcome bulletin board

Pinterest idea #5...a place to hang students work without the hassle of taping everything to the wall and then it not even sticking for a day.

Bingo Board for good behavior...When students are caught following the rules, get things put away quickly, etc. they get to put their name on the Bingo Board.  They get to pick any square they want.  I laminated it so we can reuse it.  When the board is filled up I will draw about 4-5 Bingo numbers.  Those squares will get a piece of candy.  This great idea is brought to you by a fellow co-worker...Thanks Sara!

I hope you are off to a wonderful school year!

Sarah :)

Spring Fun with There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Chick

I was super excited about sharing this activity with everyone.  Unfortunately I may be a little late this year, but you can always file it away for next year.  We just got the activity completed in class today.  Sad to report that my grandpa is in the hospital and not doing great so I have spent a lot of time there lately...which doesn't leave much time for all this fun stuff.  Below you can find the piece sizes and outlines for the project.  I also have pictures of the final product.  The kids had a BLAST with this activity.  It helps that they love these books!  Each season they can't wait for me to read them.  It was also great practice with sequencing the book.  Hope you enjoy the activity and let me know if you have any questions!  :)

Click the pictures below to save a copy for your files!  Then click HERE for the pieces to copy on construction paper.  Here head is a little cut off in the picture, only because I used construction paper to draw it to make it bigger.  It gives you an idea of how to draw her head on the construction paper so you can copy it for your kiddos!

Happy Easter and hope you enjoy your time off!

Finally...back on the blog!

Sorry, we have been slacking in the post department.  We have been busy preparing for our school's trivia night.  You would never guess how time consuming that can be!  Well worth it though...we helped the school raise money and had a blast at the trivia/silent auction.  Now that it is over, we can relax.  LOL!

We want to send a shout out to The Kindergarten Chick for giving us our 1st award!!!  We are so excited!

After much training and building my confidence, I accomplished my first, true, guided reading group.  The kids loved it, I loved it, and will continue with it.  Too bad we only have about 33 days of school left, but who is counting!

We have been talking about main ideas and details in 1st grade so I wanted to share the anchor chart we made.  We read a big book about the life cycle of a butterfly and created this main idea/detail anchor chart.  The kids even helped me design it!  You can find the main idea in the body of the butterfly and the details in the wings.

I'm sure most of you are coming off a Spring Break...lucky!  We are just counting down the days till our Easter Break.  Happy Monday and may this week fly by with tons of fun and learning!

Silly St. Patrick's Day!

Happy blogging everyone!  Hope you have had a wonderful weekend and are getting geared up for some St. Patty's Day fun.  I have been busy, along with Katie, working on the Silly St. Patrick's Day Packet that we just put up on TPT!  Click HERE to head over to TPT to check it out!  We have also been very busy preparing for our school trivia night.  Who knew that it took so much hard work behind the scenes to have a successful event. We having been making bid sheets, organizing baskets, and getting all the paperwork done, of course with all cute fonts thanks to Kevin and Amanda!  If you have not been by their site yet, please check it out by clicking HERE!  You will be in font heaven!  We have everyone at our school addicted now.  Below you will find a small preview of what you can find in the Silly St. Patrick's Day Packet.  We hope you enjoy and please leave us some feedback and let us know what you think about it!

Compound Words

One more quick post before I hit the sack because I have to get up at 4:45 to meet my bestie at the gym.  We have been learning about compound words the last couple weeks.  I have done this activity the last couple of years to help them understand how compound words are made.  Below are pics of the project that we did, very simple.  I just cut a regular size piece of construction in 1/2, so it made 2 long skinny strips.  I taught the kids how to fold it, surprisingly they did very well with the folding aspect this year.  Some years I fold the papers for the kids before we start the project.  We brainstormed a list of compound words, I only used the compound words that I thought would be easy for the kids to draw pictures to.  On the left flap, students write the first word that makes up the compound word and draws a picture to match.  On the right flap, students write the second word in the compound word and then draw a picture to match.  When you open the flaps up, the inside of the book, the students write the compound word and draw a picture to match the new word.  The students had a blast with it.  They were so excited to find out they could make more than one booklet.  Goodnight everyone!

                                                                foot                        ball      

football

                                                             basket                           ball

basketball

                                                               rain                     bow

rainbow