Dr. Seuss FREEBIE!!!

I don't know about everyone else, but I'm exhausted!!!   Today I found myself wondering if it's too soon to start a countdown for Spring Break!  But, tired as I am, I can't wait for tomorrow!  I love doing my Dr. Seuss author study, and we're starting tomorrow.  I like to start with "Happy Birthday to You!".  When I start talking about Dr. Seuss my class always expects the more popular books like "The Cat in the Hat", "Green Eggs and Ham", "Horton Hears a Who"...the list goes on.  Most of my students have never read "Happy Birthday to You!".  But I figure, the whole reason we celebrate Dr. Seuss in March is because of his birthday - so why not start with a birthday book on his birthday?! (Or the day before if his birthday is a Saturday!)   Every year I search for a fun activity to do with this book, and every year I find absolutely nothing - so tonight as I sat down to begin my search I decided I would save myself some time and just make something myself.  Of course, it wasn't long before I realized the reason I have never made an activity is because I had no idea what to do! After re-reading the book for the third time I finally gave up on trying to think of a fun birthday-themed activity and instead decided to use my favorite quote in the book to make a writing prompt.  Dr. Seuss says "Today you are you! That is truer than true! There is no one alive who is you-er than you!"  I've always loved that! I made a writing prompt where students can share what it is that makes them unique!  You can download your very own freebie here at my TPT store!  I'll have more fun Dr. Seuss posts soon, but for now I have eighteen Dr. Seuss birthday cupcakes to frost!

PS - If you've never read this one, you should check it out!  Target has it on sale for $10 right now!!

 

100th Day Fun!!!

It's been awhile but I'm back!  And just in time for one of my favorite days - the 100th Day of School!!! We had so much fun today yesterday...because I started typing this yesterday but then got sidetracked preparing for an observation (which was fabulous because my class knew good behavior would be rewarded with Skittles!).  So today was actually the 101st day of school, but I'm still going to tell you about all the fun we had yesterday!  We spent our morning working on a booklet I made.  I absolutely love all the 100th day writing prompts...what will you look like when you're 100, what would you do with 100 dollars, what animal would you want 100 of...the list goes on.  The problem is I can never decide which one to do.  So I decided to make a booklet with a few of my favorite and have my kiddos just write a sentence or two on each page.  The last page has a spot where they can show me how many ways to make 100.  I loved how creative my class got!  I had lots of addition and subtraction problems, but I also had tally marks, drawings of ten rods, and tens frames (which they were regretting by the end!).  Click the picture below for your (FREE) copy!

While my lovely little friends were enjoying their lunches, I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off trying to hide 100 Hershey's Kisses!  Every year I forget how difficult it is trying to hide all 100 of them...but it's worth it.  The kids have so much fun looking for them.  I number all the Kisses and they have to place them on the 100's chart as they find each one.

 

 

Unfortunately number 44 was hidden a little too well!  And it just so happens that someone found it in the middle of my observation today...so glad she was paying attention to me, right?!

 

We broke out our collections of 100 things during Math.  They had to put their 100 things in groups of 10, 5, and 2.  They did great with 10's and 5's - groups of 2 was where most of them forgot how cool I was for bringing in 100 Hershey's Kisses!  But I must say I had some very creative friends this year.  I had 100 pennies, Cheerios, beads and marbles as usual, but I also had crayons, army men and shells this year too!

 

 

 

 

My class really does appreciate the simple things in life! Their favorite activity was a dice game.  They had to guess which number they thought they would roll the most often, and then roll their dice 100 times.  They put a tally mark next to each number they rolled.  They were so excited each time they rolled their number!

 

 

 

Now that all the 100th day excitement is over, it's crazy to think that there are only 79 days of school left!  I hope everyone else enjoys their 100th day as much as we did!!!  

 

I have also been working on a few Valentine's Day Math centers - I'm hoping to finish them up tonight so I can post them tomorrow! :)



Happy Thanksgiving...Now on to Christmas!!!

I am so happy to be blogging from my home sweet home - New Jersey!  On Tuesday morning I decided to make the 14 hour trip home for Thanksgiving!  So after a fun-filled day at work (complete with a turkey scavenger hunt and a Charlie Brown Thanksgiving feast!), I went home, took a cat-nap, loaded Sage in the car, and headed up north!  I am so glad I made the trip!  I love seeing my family, and I absolutely LOVE the weather!!!  No matter how long I live in Florida, I don't think I'll ever get used to celebrating Thanksgiving when it's 70 degrees outside!

I am definitely enjoying my time off, but like most teachers, my mind is still on school!  I've been busy working on my Holly Jolly Christmas Mini-Unit!  I still have a few more activities that I am putting together, but I wanted to share a freebie in the meantime.  On Monday my class will be jumping in to common and proper nouns - I can't wait to let them use this Christmas-themed noun sort during Word Work!  Click here for your copy!

Now I'm off to get some rest so I can head out to the stores for some Black Friday shopping tomorrow!!!

Slightly addicted and an AMAZING GIVEAWAY!

Well, it’s been three days since I decided to start blogging and I must say - I'm addicted!  When my alarm (that I forgot to turn off) starting blaring in my ear at 5:05 am, I was shaken from a dream about blogging.  THAT is how I know I'm addicted!  I could not fall back to sleep, so I took Sage (the sweetest puppy ever - you'll hear lots about her, I guarantee!) outside and then turned on my computer.  When what to my wondering eyes should appear, but 50 downloads for my Thanksgiving venn diagrams!  I was inspired to add more activities to make a Thanksgiving Mini-Unit!  You can find the mini-unit here!  Now I am hard at work on a Gingerbread Mini-Unit!  You know you have chosen the right profession when your job isn't just a job, but a hobby too! 

In other news, during my daily blog stalking this morning, I stumbled upon this AMAZING GIVEAWAY from Lisa over at Growing Firsties!!! 

I don't know about you, but my kiddos cannot get enough of Pete the Cat.  They love Pete the Cat so much, they took it upon themselves to make a list of who gets to borrow the book from the classroom library each week.  I know this because I had to consult the list to borrow the book from a student to teach a lesson on verbs, and I thought she was going to cry when I asked for it.  "But Miss Watters, I'm still reading it," she said, lip quivering and all!  Then she kept glancing at it while she was working, like someone might run up and take it from table.  I have never seen a child as relieved as she was when I gave it back! 

But, as fantastic as Pete the Cat is, that is not the best part of this giveaway!  Lisa is going to donate money for Hurricane Sandy Relief!  As a New Jersey native, I am so thankful for Lisa and everyone else out there donating their hard earned money to support such a worthy cause.  I live almost 1000 miles away from my home state now, but the pictures of the devastation are unbelievable.  So many people in the northeast were affected by the storm, and every little bit helps!  Be sure to visit Lisa's blog and enter for your chance to win - and thank her for her help!

Happy Teaching! J Lindsay

Thanksgiving and my first FREEBIE!!

This morning I looked at the calendar and realized I only have 6 school days until Thanksgiving break!  6 DAYS!!  Of course I’m excited for the break (and the cranberry sauce) but now I have to figure out a way to squeeze all my fun Thanksgiving lessons into just 6 days.  I absolutely LOVE teaching about the first Thanksgiving!  One of my favorite books is "Thanksgiving on Plymouth Plantation" by Diane Stanley.

Have you read this one?  I just love it!  This book paints such a clear picture of the first Thanksgiving and what life was like for the Pilgrims and Native Americans.  The two main characters travel back in time with their grandmother where they meet Governor Bradford and Squanto, and celebrate the first Thanksgiving with them. 

 

I can't wait to use this book to reinforce compare and contrast with my kiddos!  I have made three venn diagrams to compare and contrast Native Americans and Pilgrims, Native American children and children today, and Pilgrim children and children today.  And I am so excited to be posting them today as my first freebie!!!  Click here for your copies. 

 

As I mentioned earlier my personal favorite part of Thanksgiving (aside from seeing my family and friends who live oh so far away in New Jersey) is the cranberry sauce!  And not the fancy homemade kind either.  No way. I'm talking about the no fuss, open the can and it's ready cranberry sauce.  I have no idea how or why I developed such a love for cranberry sauce, but it has been my favorite part of Thanksgiving dinner for as long as I can remember!  I stock up every November (don't ask me why - in case there is ever a cranberry sauce shortage, I guess).  And my family is nice enough to let me have one whole bowl of cranberry sauce to myself!

 

Tell me what you love about Thanksgiving!  What books do you love to use to teach about Thanksgiving?  Do you have a favorite Thanksgiving dinner dish? 

Happy Teaching! J Lindsay