Monday Made It 6/30/14

Helloooooo All!!!
I can't believe summer break is flying by so quickly, today marks Day 19 for me! Yikes! I haven't been blogging much lately, because I've been enjoying my break and don't have too many exciting things to report. BUT I was able to put together something I've been wanting to make for a while for Tara's Monday Made It Party.  A magnetic organization board using an oil drip pan! You can find the original pin HERE.

My oil drip pan came from Auto Zone and cost me $10.  All of the other supplies I used were odds and ends that I already had in my giant stock pile of craft supplies! YAY! 

I decided to decorate only one corner of the board and leave the rest plain for now.  I might tape things off later, but I was worried about getting too far ahead of myself. 

I'm love, love, loving how the fabric and ribbon knots turned out.  They remind me of my ribbon swag that hangs in my classroom! :) 

I also was able to whip up some new glitter magnets for my board.  Does it surprise you that I had all of this supplies already? Surely not. 

I posted how to make these last year...for my very first Monday Made It! Aww, sweet memories! 

We Love Books Linky: Mustache Baby

I'm linking up with the famous and fabulous Deanna Jump for her new summertime linky party: We Love Books! As a third generation teacher I've spent my life surrounded by children's literature.  Sharing my love for these books, both classics and new fun stories is one of my favorite parts of my job!

Mustache Baby by Bridget Heos is a hysterical read aloud that has kids and adults giggling from beginning to end.  In the story Baby Billy is born with a mustache.  All is fine with his family, at first Billy uses his mustache for good. Keeping the peace as a police officer, taking care of animals as a cowboy, and leading a three-ring circus.  But then, Billy's mustache suspiciously begins to turn upwards and becomes a BAD GUY MUSTACHE.  He's a bank robber, a cat burglar, and train robber.  With hysterical pictures your kids will be rolling! 

After reading, my class had a bit of fun making mustache disguises and playing Pin the Mustache on the Baby.  I should warn you that this read aloud was a special reward and didn't link to any specific lesson. However, it would be easy to talk about figurative language OR a great way to connect internal vs. external character traits.

If you're a kindergarten teacher...sigh, my dream grade...and you teach a letter of the week, Mustache Baby would be perfect for M! When I worked with preschool aged children, I drew mustaches on my kiddies with a cheap eyeliner pencil for a Mustache Monday.  SO CUTE! 

BUT, if you just want to have fun, I've posted my mustaches on TPT as a freebie for you HERE.

Have fun playing/creating all sorts of activities with these!

I can't wait to check out some new fun books over at Deanna's blog, don't forget to check it out!

Monday Made It 6/16/14

I was so excited to see the return of Tara's weekly Monday Made It! I mean I FINALLY finished the school year on Wednesday and just couldn't wait to start working on projects for next year...did you believe me? Well, it's only half true. I AM always excited to plan and start new projects...but I also enjoy naps and nap I did. So, technically my Monday Made It is that I made it to summer! Yay!!!

However, I couldn't just NOT try to make anything. I mean my girl Ali Rose made food for goodness sake!!!

I've got so many projects and products in my head that I need to get them all out onto paper the old fashioned way.  So, I've made a cute little To Do List that you can download for FREE in my TPT store :) 

Hopefully next week I'll have something a tad more exciting to share...no promises though. 

It's summer y'all!!!

It's the Final Countdown!!!!

That's right folks, it's time for me to start counting down the hours because tomorrow is my last day of school!!!  It was a little brutal these last few days, not going to lie.  I may or may not have had to hum, "I will survive" a la Gloria Gaynor, oh as long as I know how to love, I know I'll stay alive! Here's how I've been trying to stay alive these last few days of school:

Countdown to Summer!!! My team has done this for a couple of years now, but this year it was really lengthy with our four added Snow Days.  Of course I was an awful blogger and forgot to take pictures. Oops! 

Monday: Math Mayhem Day

 My teammates and I each took a third grade math concept to review.  Our classes rotated around the hallway playing multiplication dice games,  making fraction ice-cream sundaes, and using measurement skills to build structures from straws.

Tuesday: Book Character Day

The kids loved dressing up as a book character and I loved that my Paperbag Princess costume made at 11pm the night before didn't cost me a darn thing!

Wednesday: Game Day

Students rotated around the hallway to play different games with the third grade teachers. Bingo, Pictionary, and board games were among the favorites.

Thursday: Mad Scientist Day

My class was able to complete 7 science experiments! It was an exhausting day!!!! We finished the day by visiting the 5th Grade Science Fair.

Friday: Field Day

We couldn't have asked for a more perfect day outside!

My cute little ones even one the Third Grade Tug-of-War! Woo-hoo!!!

And then the countdown continued...

Monday: Pajama Day

My Practically Fourth Grade Students loved hanging out in pjs and reading with their pillows and stuffed animals for some special Flashlight Reading! 

Just look at these little comfy cuties! 

Later in the day all of the third grade students participated in a grade level Book Swap.  Students had the opportunity to bring up to 3 gently used grade-level books from home.  We had some fabulous volunteers collect the books, pass out tickets to students, and organize all of the books for the swap! 

Students were able to take home some great new books to read over the summer! 

Tuesday: Hooray for Summer Day

We HAD planned on doing a picnic lunch, but it was rained on.  Instead, we ate our lunch on towels and beach blankets in the hallway. :) 

Wednesday: Last Day of School

We'll be visiting a local museum, going through our writing portfolios, and viewing Charlotte's Web! (our latest novel study) 

I can't wait to celebrate the last day of the year with my sweet students!

XO

Five for Friday 5/6/14

It's been an exhausting week and I still have a few more days until summer.  This is truly beginning to feel like the never ending school year! We've been keeping busy and having lots of fun activities to keep us learning and to stay motivated.  

Have you ever heard of Boosterthon? A few weeks ago our PTA brought them out to our school for a huge fundraiser.  Boosterthon really does an excellent job pumping the kids up to raise money for your school.  With a focus on leadership, good character, and fitness the final event of the Boosterthon Fundraiser was the Fun Run.  The kids asked family and friends to pledge $1 for every lap they ran at the Fun Run, the culminating event.  The kids were SO excited and most did over 35 laps!

This girls was ready to RUN at the Fun Run!  

We've been studying energy in my third grade class...we certainly are full of energy, but sometimes have difficulty understanding our science textbook.  During this lesson, students used wind-up cars to demonstrate potential and kinetic energy.  I have to laugh because I can't see any cars in this photo, they were zooming so fast around my room! 

We were able to squeeze in another science experiment.  Since we've been learning about energy, we tried making circuits of energy with Energy Balls.  One of my fantastic teammates loaned these to me...they were awesome! If students made a successful circuit the ball would flash red and make a sound.  These boys are having a blast making a human circuit of energy! 

This week my grade level has planned fun themed days to help countdown to summer.  Look out for a post on this soon. :) However, on Tuesday of this week we had some special literacy activities.  I got to read aloud Mustache Baby, a very sweet and silly story, to a small group of kids. 

Afterwards my mustache babies made our own mustache disguises...um, hello cheap and easy last minute project! 

We also played Pin the Mustache on the Baby, which was a hit! 

I couldn't wait to create Hope King's Dive into Summer writing pieces with my kiddies! Once they saw what it was going to look like they were chomping at the bit for extra writing time- SCORE! Here's my horrific sample...yes, that is my drawing of a car....and yes, I have a boring white straw for my snorkel. I bought fun packs of neon straws, but decided to save those for my students.  *Sigh* the sacrifices I make for these kids. ;) 

We've got only a few days left, I can't wait!

Erin

Showered with Love

I'm excited for the weekly return of the ever amazing Tara's Monday Made It! Although I'm still in school for 7 more days and haven't had time to create too much, I did decorate a wedding shower for one of the adorable teachers I work with! 

This teacher is getting married on a vineyard in CA this June...how romantic! She's planning on having a rustic and vintage theme.  This was perfect because it reflected so many things that I love myself! And well, isn't the shower supposed to be all about the person who's decorating? That's the rule I was going by. 

I love how the centerpieces turned out! Another teaching friend loaned me some of her vintage Mason jars from her farm house.  Love, love, love! Combined with a burlap runner, wild flowers, and wood rounds. 

Of course I had fun painting!  

Love birds in bird cages! Do you see that awesome runner? It's made from Weathered Wood Fadeless Bulletin Board Paper by Pacon!  I loved the rustic chic look it added! 

Here's one of my paintings on top of Pacon's Weathered Wood paper makes a striking banner! 

Another Mason jar painting! I was thrilled when the bride asked if she could keep the sign. :) 

Here's a view of the entire banner. So striking!

One more shot..it's not the best, but I wanted to show the sweet little bunting made of ribbon, card stock, and burlap! 

I can't wait to be inspired all summer long, be sure to check out the rest of the link up! 

June Currently

Summer is almost here, I can taste it!   In fact, this weekend I did taste it... hot dogs, ice-cream, and an accidental taste of sunscreen- ick! 

Listening: Law & Order Special Victims Unit marathon...dum-dum.  Sometimes I hate myself for getting so hooked! 

Loving: Our quarter ended Friday and I've finished my report cards! Yahoo! I'm feeling accomplished, for now.

Thinking: That's right friends, I'm feeling like the little engine that could.  I'm just chuggin along until the end of the school year.  Although our quarter ended and my report cards are due, we still have 8 days. Yes, 8 days of school...8 Ridiculously long FUN filled days of school left!!!  Really, we will have quite a bit of fun. My team is having a countdown to summer with a different theme and set of activities every day. I'll be sure to share that with you later!

Wanting: My Blackhawks Boys to win tonight! We're at Game 7, it's do or die! 

Needing: I've just got to purge my cabinets, drawers, and closet at school! Things have been feeling a little cramped lately.  I have a fear of becoming a  'Teacher Keeper' aka 'Classroom Hoarder'.  Eek!

Summer Bucket List: My list is a mile long like everyone else, but the three main things I hope to do this summer are read for enjoyment, create things for my TPT store, home, and classroom, and connect with friends and family.

The feeling one has at the  beginning of the summer is truly the best feeling! The unknown possibilities and adventures await! 

XOXO 

Be sure to check out the adorable Farley and the rest of the Currently link party!