Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Me on the Map plus Bats!

Hey yall!
 
Sorry I've been MIA lately. I wish I could say that I am planning on being around more often...but I would be lying.
 
Honestly?
 
I'm pretty sure that this hectic pace is going to stick for quite awhile :(
 
But I will try and keep up with you guys at least once or twice a week!
 
Soo....what have we been up to?
 
In Social Studies, we have been learning where we are in the world, continent, country, state, and city. Well....if you are 6, that's ALOT of information coming at you!
 
I'm not sure about your students, but mine were having issues. They told me they lived in the state of America and in the city of Georgia. Forget the continent...they had no idea what that was.
 
Sigh.
 
So we started from scratch.
 
We read this book by Joan Sweeney
 
 
and made our "Me on the Map" projects.
 
I'm sure you've seen these all over Pinterest :) The littles did a really good job with it, and it seemed to help them really grasp the concept.
 



 
If you would like the sheets that we used, you can grab those here.
 
In writing, we have been working on informational texts. What better time to learn and write about bats than Halloween?
 
We started about by reading  a ton of informational books about bats. My absolute favorite one that we read though was this sweet little book.
 
 
 How did I not know that there were bats as tiny as bumblebees???
 
Don't believe me???
 
Look!
 
 
Now, I don't think that I could ever describe a bat as being cute, but this one is pretty stinking close :)
 
After we read a bajillion books about bats, my littles filled out their bat fact organizer, brainstormed some great opening and closing sentences, and got to writing!
 
We used this awesome freebie from the amazing Anna Brantley at Crazy for First Grade.
Then we made this awesome craftivity freebie from the amazing Teri at A Cupcake for the Teacher.
 
Seriously...what would I do without all of you amazing teachers out there???
 


 
I feel like I have so much more to show you guys, but it is waaaay past my bedtime.
 
Until next time, friends!

Friday, October 26, 2012

Pumpkin Observations Freebie!

Hey yall! Happy Friday!!!
 
This has been the most tiring week yet! I have only been home before 8:00 one night this week :(
Class twice a week is going to be the death of me...
 
My plans for tonight?
 
Nada. Zip. Zilch.
 
This girl will have her pjs on my 5:00 pm and will be watching a Walking Dead marathon :)
 
Or maybe Breaking Bad...
 
Either way, I will certainly enjoy a stress free night of nothingness.
 
Now..onto the freebie!
 
On Monday, we are having our Pumpkin Investigations day. We are actually going to be using a couple of different pumpkin sheets from around blogland, but I also created this one for us to use.
 
Click on the picture to get your copy. 
 
Graphics by KPM Doodles and Scrappin Doodles
 
This sheet allows the kiddos to use their senses to observe their pumpkin. We are going to look at them, smell them, taste them {can't wait for the pumpkin cupcakes!}, and touch them.
 
I was getting so excited, because many of my kiddos said they have never seen the inside of a pumpkin before!
 
But my giddyness was squashed yesterday when my instructional coach told me I would be in professional learning all day and have to get a sub.
 
Bummer. Looks like I'm going to miss out on all the fun :(
 
Hopefully, I can get the sub to take some pictures show I can share with you guys!
 
Happy Friday, friends!


Monday, October 22, 2012

She Made the Paper!

Hey yall!
 
Today was an exciting day for me. Last week, I was contacted by our local newspaper, the Augusta Chronicle, about my involvement with TPT. The journalist had recently gotten wind of the website and had done a search for local teachers that are sellers. Well, guess who she found???
 
I spoke with her last week, and the article was in the paper today! So exciting! I love sharing the TPT love <3 If you are interested in reading the article, click here
 
Because I am so excited, I am throwing a quick sale in my little TPT store. For today only, everything in my store will be 20% off!
 
 
Happy shopping!
 
Ready for a freebie? Its another Manic Monday!
 
We have been studying plants in science, and we planted our seeds last week. This is a little journal that I made to go along with our unit. It will probably eventually be part of a whole plant unit that I put up for sale, but for now, enjoy the freebie!
 
Graphics from Scrappin Doodles
 
 


Sunday, October 21, 2012

Spooktacular Math!

Hey yall! Happy Sunday!
 
I finally finished up my Spooktacular Common Core Math Centers! Whoo! This has only been in the making for...oh...3 weeks now??? So glad I got them finished...and just in time, too!
 
 
 
My littles are going to be using these cute little math centers for the next week or so :)
 
Here's whats included:
 

 
*Candy Corn Counting: skip-counting by 5s


*Batty Numbers: ordering numbers from least to greatest


*Ghostly Addition: addition to 20


*Candy Matching: matching numbers to their written word


*Scaredy Cat Counting: counting pennies and dimes {separately}


*Skelly Subtraction: subtraction {less than 20}


*Pumpkin Picking: counting with tally marks & graphing


*10 More, 10 Less Spiders: 10 more & 10 less of a number


*Pumpkin Time: telling time to the hour



I found these bad boys at the Dollar Spot the other day, and they are perfect to use with the Skelly Subtraction and Ghostly Addition centers! Whoo-hoo! You can pick these up for $1.00 each at your local Target :)
 
 
 
I also found these at the Christmas Tree Shops the other day for $1.99! I'm going to let my kiddos use them to help them track their reading :)
 
 
 
If you want to purchase my Spooktacular Common Core Math Centers, click on the picture below.
 
 



Friday, October 19, 2012

No, David! Friday Freebie

Hey yall! Happy Friday!
 
Our county actually has a furlough day today, so I'm writing at home in my pjs with my coffee :)
 
My body forgot that I was supposed to sleep in today, though, and woke me up promptly at 6:02. We had a little battle {which I won}, and I was able to get another hour of sleep!
 
I'm actually headed out in a bit to get some schoolwork done, but I wanted to show you guys some cuteness first :)
 
I'm sure we've all read this post by the lovely Cara, yes? Well, turns out, she was inspired by this post from Mrs. Lee. This is what I love about teachers....sharing!
 
I did this lesson last year with my kiddos, but since I had started the year so late with my littles this year, I didn't think much of it. But then I realized how much they really needed this lesson, so out it came!
 
Of course, we read the books first...
 
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and made an anchor chart. Mine is not even close to the cuteness that Cara's was, but I tried!
 


 
That's one scary looking David!
 
Then we made our own little Davids. Let me tell you...I LOVE the uniqueness of each little one!
 
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Our door of Davids
 
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I saw A LOT of peacemaking activity this day, so I would say it was a smashing success!
On Monday, we are going to review this lesson by filling out this sheet.
 
Click on the picture to get your copy!
If you haven't read this post about The BIG Thank You, please do so and get involved!!!
 


Freebie Fridays