True story...Five for Friday 10.25.13

Aloha Blogger friends,

Somehow Fridays are always crazy, so I am doing this on a Thursday night. The crazy thing is that I am still in my classroom at 8:00pm because my son is at a middle school dance and we live too far away for me to drive back and forth. After school I had a meeting for two hours about report cards which fell right into a Boy Scout meeting of which I am the Scoutmaster (another story). My desk (and the floor surrounding it) are soooo messy that I think I could be swallowed by it all. My room feels like it is half of what we were working on (Australia) and then a bunch of insect, arachnid and Halloween stuff! This time of year seems to get busier and busier.

Here is my 5 for Friday for the week...



(Drum roll...listed in no particular order)

We have learned so much about insects for the past two weeks. I love how much our morning messages are helping with that. They were first inspired by Deanna Jumps chit chat messages. I love the handful that she has on her blog that are focused on science topics, so I have made one for every day of my classroom. This one was about bees. Did you know that they have 5 eyes??

After getting this idea from a Frog Street SPLASH Conference a few years ago, I am loving keeping a class science notebook...right along side of my students notebooks. I am adding our learning as well as pictures taken while we are doing the experiments...lab coats and glasses help! I love these books and they come from Resources for Reading.

 

Oh yes, it was my birthday this week! I am so grateful and thankful for all of my friends and family who each did something to make my birthday super special. This plant was from one of my students. I also received 1 million Starbuck's gift cards...not really!

 

 



 

Every year I take my students to my house to collect insects. We have a big pond and plowed fields that allow us to use nets in the grass, dig in the dirt and search in the pond. If we are lucky we may find a dragonfly nymph in there. This book Eddie's Backyard Bugs is a super fun book that combines fiction with non-fiction. I read them this book and then give them their entomologist kits. We use the paper straws to drink like a bug...only the best bug juice (sparkling cider).



 

 

I l.o.v.e Halloween...need I say more!

 

Happy Friday,



 

 

Peek at my ((little)) week!! 10-7-13

Aloha blogging friends,

I am soooooo excited that this is only a three day week due to Parent Teachers Conferences. I feel like I can take a little time next weekend to make sure that I am fully preparred for the remainder of October. We have two big field trips coming up (insect collecting and going to the pumpkin patch) as well as the 50th day of school, Halloween, learning about insects, spiders, bats and Australia! I will link up to Deedee if she does her linky party this week ( I know all the cool girls were partying in #NashVegas13 this weekend...wink!)

The Australia Unit that I am using a ton this week is still a work in progress by me. I hope to have it posted in the next couple of days. I absolutley love teaching about the world around us!! Have a great week.

 

Five for Friday 10-4-13 (on a Saturday) Linky Party

Aloha,

Wow, I forget each year how busy the fall can be with holidays, conferences and after school activities, I easily get lost in all of the fun. Here is a quick five for Friday thanks to Doodle Bugs.

We travele to Asutralia this week in our classroom after succesfully completing two weeks in the Texan Wild West. For a fun little snack we made Wombat Stew thanks to this recipe.

 



 



 We have a new puppy at home...need I say more. He is super sweet and smart.

 

Next week we will begin learning about insects and arachnids. To get my students excited I put out a bunch of fun things in our room. I overheard this little sweeting say "oh cool" on her way to sharpening her pencil.

 







 

 

 

I always loved Deanna's Chit-Chat messages so this summer I spent some time creating my messages for the year. Each months worth of messages are in their own chart book (from Wal-Mart). This one is from my soon to be published Australia unit on Teachers Pay Teachers. It comes with the words to write, picture and graphic. I can't believe how much better my students are at phonics this year because of this. I also couldn't believe that half of my class hasn't been snorkling!

 







So, if you haven't figure it out already, I love animals and food. On the way to school Friday morning there were two little (wild) piggies who ran out in front of me. I am glad that they are pretty much the largest wild animals around here.

 

Happy Friday on a Saturday...