50th Day of School Freebie

Are we really planning for the 50th day of school?  Our 50th day is this coming Thursday.  We have a lot of 50th day activities planned for this special day.  At the end of the day we plan on having a root beer float.  This makes a great picture for our Kindergarten Memory books.  I am going to have the kids color this 50th day circle prior to Thursday to put onto the front of their cup.  You could also use it for a button to wear or put on a necklace.  Hope you can use this and have a SUPER 50th day!   

We took our October Writing Rubric assessment today.  The students did a great job.  Once I get them graded, I will share some samples with you.  They wrote about their favorite animal.    50th Day for Root Beer Cup

20% Off TPT Items Spooktacular Sale

We are throwing a 20% off sale on our entire TPT store until Sunday, October 28 EST.  We just added some new November and Thanksgiving items. 
Click on the name of the item below to go directly to our TPT store:
November Journal Topics Kindergarten Level  only $1.60
Thanksgiving Word List and Word Wall Words only $1.20
November Math Journal only $1.60 
Pumpkin and Pumpkin Life Cycle Word List and Word Wall Words only $0.80

 

Freebie November Behavior Chart

WOW!! Where has the month of October gone?! The end of our 9 weeks is over Friday which means grade cards go home the following Friday. Going through our to do list and trying to work ahead, we realized that organizing the November Behavior Charts needed to get done. So, here are different options that hopefully will fit into your school district's Thanksgiving Vacation!! We also posted this freebie on TPT in case you don't have a SCRIBD account.  Here is the direct link to our TPT store:  November Behavior Chart.

We have been working on a short The Little Old Lady Who Wasn't Afraid of Anything craftie with a language arts twist.  Pictures will be coming real soon with this unit. 


November Behavior Chart

Freebie Pumpkin Life Cycle Booklet

My class just visited the pumpkin patch.  Prior to going to the pumpkin patch, we were discussing living/nonliving. We were also working on the life cycle of the pumpkin patch. To help with learning this cycle, we made a little booklet. Each student made one of these booklets. We read the booklets together. You could also butter popcorn words. We colored the pages first, then the students glued the pages into construction paper "poof" books. They were so proud that they could read these books!!  This book is a great way for the students to read some of those popcorn words.  You can also get this freebie at our TPT store by clicking here:  Life Cycle of a Pumpkin Mini Booklet Freebie

We just posted our Pumpkin and Pumpkin Life Cycle Word Cards and Word Lists for just $1.00.  Check that out at our TPT store by clicking here:  Pumpkin and Pumpkin Life Cycle Word Cards and Word List.
  
If you need specific instructions on how to make a poof book, try this great You Tube Video:  How To Make A Poof Book.  We used green construction paper to make these.  Glue sticks work much better than Elmer's glue on making poof booklets.  Glue sticks also work best for the students to glue the pages into the poof booklet. 
 Life Cycle of a Pumpkin Booklet

Pumpkin Glyph Freebie and Doin' The Happy Dance

Tonight was our last night of conferences.  I wish I could say I am totally done, but I have 3 conference that I need to reschedule.  I can see the light at the end of the tunnel!!  So happy that we will get to walk out now with the kids on that Monday before Thanksgiving at 3:30. 

Our pumpkin patch trip is scheduled for Monday.  We have been working hard with our living/nonliving unit with a twist on the pumpkin life cycle.  As part of our math lesson, we are going to do a pumpkin glyph and graph.  I haven't done it yet, so pictures will come later this week.  But, with the days in October slipping away I thought it would be a fun activity to share.  I have made 2 colors of a pumpkin to choose for the first question of the glyph.  I have 2 colors for the leaves/vine and 2 different colors for the stem of the pumpkin.     

   Pumpkin Glyph Graph

Craftie Weather Unit Posted

Our Craftie Weather Unit is up and posted on TPT!  This unit hits many of the weather common core standards.  The kids loved this unit and took lots of "crafties" home for parents to see the learning that we did throughout this unit.  This unit also gives you a list of literature books to go along with some of the weather standards.  If you want a direct link then click here:  Craftie Weather Unit.

Conferences are Monday and Tuesday this week.  So, it will be another long week.  It will be worth is when we are walking out with the kids on Monday night during that Thanksgiving week.  

This week we are focusing on Living/Nonliving things with a twist on pumpkins.

Here are some pictures from our Craftie Weather Unit.

Sample of our seasonal windsocks that we made to watch how the wind blows during different seasons.

Another sample of our windsocks.

Picture of our windsocks.

A second grade student placing the weather hat that he made onto a kindergarten student.

Don't those faces tell how proud they are to share with one another.

A student just bursting at the seams to go home and share her weather unit projects!

Our class picture of our weather hats.

Another sample of a weather craftie that we did to describe the different types of weather.  These were so much fun to make.  Students took these weather books home to share 
with family and friends.

Different types of weather hats.

More types of weather hats for us to wear.

An umbrella to show when it is a rainy day.

My kids just loved all of these weather projects we did throughout this Craftie Weather Unit.  Not only were they having fun, they were learning several of the weather common core standards for science.  A Win-Win for both the kids and myself!!

Weather Craftie Unit Completed, Edible Flat Shape Lesson, and September Journal Samples

All I can say is that I think I can speak for both SueBeth and myself...life has been a little cuh-razy the last few days.  We have conferences Tuesday/Thursday nights this week and Monday/Wednesday nights next week.  So, we have been preparing information to share with our parents.  On Monday, the students had the day off for Columbus Day, but our staff had in service all day.  Our in service was Leader In Me training, so it was a full day of learning and sharing.
Last week we ended our weather unit.  SueBeth had her second graders make my class a weather hat.  It was perfect.  My kids were so surprised.  My class had just finished taking their post test for the weather unit and were putting things away when SueBeth's class arrived with weather hats.  I think her kids were just as excited to give us our hats as my class was on receiving a weather hat.    We will be posting it later in the week once we both have a little free time!!  Here are some pictures of our fun weather craftie unit along with some math and writing samples.

Fun with our edible 2-D shape project.

Sorting 2-D crackers before we get to taste them.

Front cover of our September Journals that I collected and sent home for parents to see our monthly writing growth.

I like to be different.  This is a sample taken from a student who is working on writing 1 sentence.

Page 1 sample of a student who is working on writing more than 1 sentence on a given topic.

Page 2 of the same student from above who is working on writing a second sentence.

Writing sample from a student who is working hard on making the letters, leaving space, and writing 1 sentence on a given topic.

Sample of a student who is working hard on copying what our small group of writers have written.

Sample of our seasonal windsocks that we made to watch how the wind blows during different seasons.

Another sample of our windsocks.

Picture of our windsocks.

A second grade student placing the weather hat that he made onto a kindergarten student.

Don't those faces tell how proud they are to share with one another.

A student just bursting at the seams to go home and share her weather unit projects!

Our class picture of our weather hats.

Another sample of a weather craftie that we did to describe the different types of weather.  These were so much fun to make.  Students took these weather books home to share 
with family and friends.

Different types of weather hats.

More types of weather hats for us to wear.

An umbrella to show when it is a rainy day.

Be watching our TPT store and blog real soon for this weather unit craftie.  Now we are onto our living and nonliving unit.  We just worked on our pumpkin life cycle today, too.  My kids just love science with all of our fun projects.

7 Habits Badges, Pennants, and Posters

Begin With The End In Mind

Our school is working hard on teaching our students the 7 habits from The Leader In Me program.  So, one of the things that SueBeth and I decided to do was to make cards/badges when we saw a student exhibiting one of these habits.  The cards can be put into plastic badges for the student to wear around school for other students/teachers to inquire what that student did to win-win (or any of the 7 habits).  Another way to use the cards is to clip it onto the child's homework booklet to involve the parents to understand the 7 habits.  The cards are easy to make, just copy onto cardstock and cut.  Here is a picture of how we are storing the 7 habit cards:  

Tin cans are used to store the 7 habits cards.

A top view of the cards sorted into the 7 habit tins.

 These cards along with subway art posters and pennants can be purchased from our TPT store by clicking the link:  Seven Habits Posters and Badges.

Here is a sample of the pennants and subway art posters.

Skyping With Mrs. Cole With Our 7 Habits

We all love to Sharpen The Saw!!

Our class is in year 1 of Leader In Me Training, and I have hooked up with Diana Cole from Cole's Little Pups.  Her school is in year 1 of training, too.  She emailed me this summer and wanted to do some things together and share our learning.  All of our kiddos are learning the 7 habits.  Diana's class and my class got to skype the other day and our kids loved it.  They got to introduce theirselves to each other and share one way that they like to sharpen the saw.  It was such a great experience and what a fun way to share our 7 Habits that we are learning at school and using at home, too.  SueBeth is going to hook up with a second grade teacher from Mrs. Cole's district, too so watch for some fun Leader In Me connections happening between Ohio and Kentucky!