Hats for Halloween

We've been working on Cara Carroll's Pumpkin Investigation Student Journal - how fun is that?~
Click the pic if you want to check it out- It's awesome!!!!

We did quite a few experiments with some very different pumpkins!  Just take a look at the pics!

wide variety or pumpkins!

we have one that floats!

We looked at height (cubes), circumference, weight, float or sink, and we even looked at the seeds.  I'd be lying if I didn't say I might even be more excited than some of the students when we got a chance to scoop them out, I haven't done it in ages- SO MUCH FUN!!!

I loved the use of estimation in this unit and how well it tied in with our math series. 

lots and lots of seeds

groups of 10 made it much easier

It is Halloween after all - here's a look at what I wore for crazy hat day!

Ok, ok it is an infant costume (like the ones they wear on their stomachs or backs.........idk I don't have kids) but I wasn't warned until I was leaving this morning!

The kids went CRAZY!!! (It was suppose to be a fish)

Also, I did end up getting Widget- here's a picture of him coming home last night!  So small and feisty- I decided his full name would be Widget the Underdog .....since he was the runt of the litter and is mostly chihuahua aka.......he's like two pounds.

HOPE EVERYONE HAS A GREAT AND not too crazy HALLOWEEN!

P.S. If you're looking for any help with irregulars check out my new bundle for past tense and plural nouns!

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My first award!

Well I have tons to talk about but if you don't have time just read #1 (hopefully it will provide your daily entertainment!)


1. Kid-ism - my students have come up with some dandies (spelling?) this week!  I use this term for those things the kids write/say that I find pretty fun.  You have to find some laughter in the day, right?!  Check out these winners:

I had some heels for P/T conferences sitting by my bag.  A student spots them, "What are those for?" 

I said, "Later."  She responded, "For the book fair?"  

Yes, that's where I always wear my heels ;)  

"Do you like my headband?"  "Yes."  Student responded, "I found it on the street" 

2. My first award - WHOA!!! I was so excited!!! My students nominated me for Character trait of the month- responsible!  They had to write a letter and everything!! It just melted my heart- that they would do something like that for me :)  

Take a look: 

My first teaching award- SWEET!!

3. P/T Conferences

Had the first round of these and halfway done!  Interesting first experience as meeting parents always is!  I think collaborating for the benefit of the student and getting on the same page is always good!  

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Science and Celebration!!!

This week has been AWESOME....crazy, but awesome! October has got to be the craziest month so far, do you agree?

Meetings, Parent/Teacher conferences, PD....for some reason everything seems chaotic when it should be calming down. 

I'll share Top 4 from this week, definitely don't want to miss this! 

1. I made this for tricky Irregular Past Tense Verbs!  I could not find much I liked online - to help supplement instruction so I made something.  Click the pic for more info!!!  

The theme is perfect for Halloween coming up!

2.  SCIENCE- 
     a.  potato experiment (Spangler)- putting straw through a potato- difficult but fun to try.

I could get it stuck but not go all the way through

       b.  Balloon Rockets- sadly I didn't get any pictures because we were having SO MUCH FUN! Here's the excerpt from my FREEBIE! Click the picture to go download!!!

3. Author Celebration Take 2 - We (my awesome cooperating teacher and I) pulled out all the stops for this celebration!!!  Take a look at some of the pictures!    We went full on Hollywood theme - 

*QUEUE LINES

*RED CARPET

*DIRECTOR'S CHAIR

*POEM

*POPCORN (of course!)

What student would not love to walk this? 

Also, the manager of the local movie theater's son is in our class...aka....we got movie theater popcorn for FREE! Can you say Awesome Friday???????

look at that setup!

OUR WRITING STARS!!!

Want more information and resources for an author celebration? Check out: 

4. WIDGET -( I apologize for non-teaching related)  my fiance's family has puppies! Don't you think I need this one!!!!! His name is Widget, he's the runt of the litter and so adorable and I could not stop playing with him all weekend.  Just had to share the cuteness.  

I need him, right???  (I'm smiling, just looking at these pictures)

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Story Elements! and a Writing FREEBIE

Here are some anchor charts we've been working on lately: 

MAD EXCITING - click here to see more and an AWESOME video!

Can you tell I love having a focus for Daily 5 time, they have to find a story element in their books and write about it!   We did this for plot too!

Plot roller coaster- we did the motions and everything during whole group and small group!

I think this really helped the tactile learners in our classroom!  So much fun!

Cause and Effect (we started today)  

I can already tell how much fun this is going to be!  Stay tuned for what else we found to really make this super fun to teach!

All of these anchor charts were inspired from Pinterest!  Click on the side to check out my Pinterest boards!

and just because....I totally forgot to make this until today...here's a free writing cover if you are looking for one.  graphics are from mycutegraphics.com

Here's a free writing cover we are using for our next unit!  Feel free to grab a copy and just click on the picture below!

This is Hollywood themed and is going to great with our Paparazzi themed Author Celebration coming up! 

CAN'T WAIT!

What are some ways you teach story elements in your classroom???

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This Week's Top 5!

I've been a horrible blogger....I know!  Life just gets in the way sometimes!  I'll give you another top 5 from this last week  of updates/awesomeness that has been happening in our classroom!

1. Validation- We took our quiz over our reading focus this week (plot) and WE GOT IT! I love the feeling of teaching them and actually knowing that they got it- really lets me know that I chose the right profession!  

I made the plot anchor chart that is all over Pinterest and we had roller coaster motions and everything to go with it!  We did it at every reading group and whole class and I saw the results so I'm excited.  With everything else I didn't get a picture of my own but it was similar to this one:

Source: firstgradefresh.blogspot.com via Leslie on Pinterest

                                  *warm fuzzy, warm fuzzy* - I love being a teacher!


2. Had assistant principal come visit!  I think it was great experience but I can't help but get a little nervous- I mean she watches all those great veteran teachers and sees them what could she possibly think of me?!  We had to fill out paperwork before, and after and meet again after- whew!

Well she came in for reading and liked our plot roller coaster! (yay!) and no major problems.  Small management things- but I already knew that one was something I have to keep working on.  Any great management tips out there?!


3. Fire safety - I used this great website to introduce fire safety!  Pretty cool with all the activities and quizzes all in one place.

4 and 5.  Coming up -

       Next author celebration- So excited about this one!  We modified one from my packet to fit our classroom theme and even have some surprises.  I'll be sure to post pictures!!!  (Hint: it may even involve....movie theater ropes.......stay tuned ;)

We made our marshmallow launchers, you can read about it here! What a blast that was!  Well to use those extra balloons, we're making balloon rockets this week to shoot off!  These are a great inquiry based lesson and I let groups explore how they want to shoot them off and see what they can do and then we come together to talk about the results!

click the pic above to get 70+ experiments (directions) for FREE!

If you want extra materials to go along with this specific balloon rocket experiment click here. 

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RAINING MARSHMALLOWS and some updates...

So I decided to do marshmallow launchers from this summer as part of our science inquiry unit.  

Well not everything goes as planned as any teacher can tell you....  So we had the experiment all set up went through the steps and were ready to make our launchers and conduct the experiment, except for one small hitch :(

CHEAP SUPPLIES!  Ok I know that I bought them, but give me a break- I didn't think it would matter!  I could not be more wrong- the cups I used were too thin (even though they were plastic) and the balloons were too small (there are sizes apparently?!).  

Needless to say...we had a nice lesson on how sometimes experiments fail or do not go as planned, luckily ours was completely fixable.

So I wanted to make sure if anyone did these in their classrooms you want to get the right supplies: 

12 in balloons (Walmart works fine)

Plastic cups ( I used teal Solo cups- off brand didn't hold up so well)

Without further ado here are some further instructions and pictures from our experiment today. 

excerpt from Super Science Experiments you can find here  (70+ experiments).....all fo' FREE

CORRECT SUPPLIES!

Pulled back!!!!!!

LAUNCH!! 

Love the expression on their faces! See that one over our back bulletin board!!!

Important to note, we laid down some solid ground rules of safety: 

1. no eating

2. follow directions

3. straight in backpack and throw away marshmallow when done!

4. Never point at people!

I gave no warnings...if you didn't follow the experiment safely, you just had to watch. (I'm terribly mean..hehe)

Want some additional materials besides directions?! Check out this packet- all with BALLOON Experiments!  How fun!

What else have I been up to? Looking for struggling unmotivated writers- check this out!

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PREZI and New Bloggy Friend!

2 SUPER HUGE announcements!!!

1) My cooperating teacher has a blog- and yes she made this next Prezi that I'm sharing and friends I'm not lying - it's blowing me away.  We absolutely cannot wait to break it out for science next week!  Just take a look below!

You should follow her- check out all the FREEBIES she has already!

CHECK OUT HER BLOG!!

Show her some love and tell her I sent you - it would be so cool!

If you've never heard of Prezi - it's like Powerpoint on steroids online - pretty cool stuff.

This is one my teacher made on the scientific method with some crazy funny GREAT videos!

Scientific Method on Prezi

2nd- if you want more resources- I've been working on another unit, I sure love teaching science! Check it out below!!!

You can download this FREEBIE by clicking on the picture above then download preview

This is our recording sheet for our launchers but could be easily adapted for other experiments!

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October Currently!

I'm linking up with Farley again for Currently - for once I can actually believe it's already October!!

As some of you might know - I'm a student teacher,  we've been rocking our strategies for addition and subtraction and I'm so SO proud of them!!!!  

We get to do some awesome gummy bear lab today- can't wait to see their faces tormorrow!

Spookley is my favorite book- I'm pretty new but I think this one has good meaning for elementary age students!

Go link up!

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