Spider Bulletin Board

For some reason kids LOVE learning about spiders!  That makes me happy because I LOVE teaching about them!  We made some SpOoKy spiders and wrote a sentence on them.  Check out our cute spider bulletin board!

We did this project over two days.  The first day we made the spider craft.  I gave each of them the oval to cut out and they had to make the bumpy legs.  They were really good about helping each other if their partner was having trouble folding the legs correctly.  

After school, I glued the sentence strip on all of their spiders.  Normal I have my students do this, but with this particular class I decided to have it prepared for them.  It ended up being a good choice on my part! ;)

We all wrote, "I see a spider."  This was a directed writing, and we wrote the sentence during our small group time.

Here are our spiders happily hanging on their spider web!

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Trick and Treat with Freebielicious

Fall is upon us and that means it's time for some Teaching Trick & Treating!

 That's right... I have teamed up with my Freebielicious friends again to share some teaching tricks and special treats for you!!!  First things first, I want to share my TRICK!!!

Kids LOVE painting, but it is super difficult when the kids get covered in paint!  I have learned a little trick over the years to help keep their little hands clean!

Here is the tip:  Use a clothespin and pinch a small piece of sponge!  The kids sponge paint and their hands stay CLEAN!!!  This easy tip will go a long way when it comes to saving time in your classroom!

My treat is part of a math lesson that I used when my principal observed me! ;)  My students are having trouble with ordering numbers.  I made these fall leaves for the students to place in the pocket chart.  

To incorporate ELD (English Language Development) we practiced saying, "I see number ____."  They each had their turn pointing at a number in the pocket chart while saying the number sentence!

For extra practice, I made number necklaces and we practiced standing in the correct number order.  The kids that didn't have a number necklace where my helpers and we made sure the numbers were in order.  

Click HERE to grab this freebie!

Hop along to the next Freebielicious friend {Mrs Hoffer's Spot} to see what her Trick & Treat is!

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Halloween DIY Centers

I am ALL about centers that I don't have to cut and laminate.  During each holiday season, I go hunting through the dollar bin at Target, 99 Cents Store, or the Dollar Tree.  I found some Halloween items at these stores to help our basic math skills in the classroom.

I wrote numbers 0-10 on this beach ball Jack-o-lantern.  We are having a difficult time remembering our numbers, so I thought this would be a fun activate to get them engaged in memorizing the numbers.

During small group time, we sat in a circle and (GENTLY) tossed the pumpkin to a friend across the circle.  The student caught the pumpkin and read a number that they could see.  They had to point to it and show the group the number as they said it. 

One of my favorite DIY centers are making shakers out of paint cans from Lakeshore!  I just add seasonal goodies into the jar, write numbers or letters on a cube, then the students shake and write what they see.

Some of my kids had never seen or tried candy corn before, so I HAD to add it to the shakers.  And who doesn't love googly eyes?!?!  The students were SO excited to shake and record what they could see.

They write what they see on white boards.  Once they are finished, they read aloud all of the numbers that they wrote down!

I also put out my Fall 10 Fame Mats for the kids to practice counting.  They used small Halloween erasers to use as counting pieces.  

My FAVORITE math center was matching spooky eyeballs with the number trays!  I found these at the Dollar Tree.  My students are seriously struggling with number recognition, so I am trying to get as many simple number centers going as I can think of.

To play, the students pick an eyeball, and match it to the 10 frame ice cube tray.

The students loved working together to get their trays filled up!  I could hear them counting, helping correct each other, and having fun at the same time!

What kind of Halloween centers do you use in your class?

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Custom T-Shirt Giveaway from Freebielicious!

Every once in a while,  the girls at Freebielicious discover a really awesome product for classroom teachers that is so amazing, we just have to share it with you! Today is one of those days! Get ready because we are hosting a super cute giveaway for custom classroom t-shirts from ClassroomFaces.com. We will be giving away a class set* of custom t-shirts to THREE lucky Freebielicious fans! Isn't that amazing? 

These are NOT your average t-shirt designs. The people at ClassroomFaces are so creative, they found a way to print a collection of drawings from every child in the class on the set of t-shirts, to create a truly custom design! Nobody else in the world will ever have a t-shirt exactly like the one your class designs. The website may be called "Classroom Faces" but there are SO many more options for children to draw than just their face. Sample designs on the website show creative ideas using student handprints or drawings of the school mascot.

Since the Freebielicious girls are such good friends, we designed our very own set of Classroom Faces t-shirts. We enlisted the help of our talented friend (and fellow Freebie gal) Nikki from Melonheadz to create custom drawings of each of our faces. The finished t-shirts were absolutely ADORABLE! I absolutely love my new custom Freebielicious t-shirt from Classroom Faces.com.

About Classroom Faces

Creating a class set of t-shirts featuring your students drawings is easy. Each child just needs to create a simple drawing. To create t-shirts with one-color ink on a solid colored t-shirt (like ours) each child needs to draw their picture using a fine point black marker. The ClassroomFaces website has downloadable templates that you can use to guide your students. Full-color illustrations on a plain white t-shirt are also possible. Look how cute these t-shirts are! 

Extra Savings for Freebielicious Fans

Freebielicious fans that order a class set of tshirts can save $1 on each tshirt and receive 1 free teacher tshirt with their order using promo code FREEBIE14. Orders must include 15 or more paid shirts to qualify and must be postmarked by December 31, 2014

Enter to WIN a Class Set of Custom Classroom Faces T-Shirts

Now that you have seen how ADORABLE these t-shirts are, it's your chance to try and win a set for your classroom. The wonderful people at ClassroomFaces are graciously giving away a class set* of custom t-shirts to 3 lucky Freebielicious fans! Each set is valued at over $250. Stop by the Freebielicious blog for your chance to WIN! 

*Up to 24 tshirts will be included in each prize pack. Winner can choose to order a class set of traditional single-color tshirts or tshirts will full-color illustrations. Additional t-shirts can be purchased for $11 or $13 (depending on t-shirt size and style). Shipping is free for winners that live in the US. If a winner requires shipping outside of the US, the winner is responsible for shipping costs. (Shipping to Canada costs between $5-$20 depending on weight and location). 

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Recycled Bracelets and a GIVEAWAY!

I want to share with you some ADORABLE bracelets that Trashy Crafter sent to me!  They are a mother daughter pair that is know for their recycled book jewelry.  They gather damaged books from local libraries and thrift stores and roll the pages into beads.  Each bracelet contains the recycled book pages and beads from broken necklaces from their local swap meet!

I was so excited to get my bracelets in the mail, I was obsessed with packaging!  Look how cute it is!

My bracelets were made from a Dr. Seuss book!  

Look at some of the other photos that I took from Trashy Crafter's Instagram...

These would make wonderful gifts for your teaching team or parent helpers.  It's never too early to start thinking about Christmas presents, right??

When we celebrate Dr. Seuss' birthday in March, I like to do a whole recycling unit,  my bracelet will be a perfect example of how to recycle something old and turn it into something new and beautiful!

Form more information on Trashy Crafter you can find their contact info here:

Blog: www.TrashyCrafter.com

Shop: www.Etsy.com/shop/TrashyCrafter

Facebook: Trashy Crafter

Pinterest: Trashy Crafter

Instagram: Trashy Crafter

AND NOW.... a GIVEAWAY!!!

If you would like to enter to win a pair of Trashy Crafter recycled earrings, please enter below!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The winner is BECKY~ I sent you an email!

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Kindergarten Interactive Practice Pages

So I have serious FOMO (fear of missing out) over these Interactive Notebooks that have seen several teachers create with their kids.  But let me tell you, I don't think my kids are ready for them.  Even with the training, I just feel in my gut that they aren't ready for it.  I want an interactive way for them to be practicing basic Kindergarten skills, where they can review what they have learned, create a portfolio of work, and be engaged in what they are learning.  

I decided to create Kindergarten Interactive Printable Pages {For the Fall} in which the students can have everything I mentioned above, but I can make a seasonal "journal/notebook" style practice by just making our own in class.  Let me show you....

This packet is split in half.  It covers themes for Halloween and Thanksgiving.  I will use parts from both of these themes to make one "kindergarten interactive journal" for my class to use during the fall.  Once we hit December, I will send them home (after conferences of course!)

You can either staple the pages together to make a journal for the kids, to introduce interactive notebooks, or you can keep them all individual like regular worksheets.

I wanted to show you two of my favorite activities, both are for Thanksgiving.  This first one, the students will cut and paste the pictures to match the sentences.  I used simple sight words that I am teaching right in the beginning of the year!

This second activity, the kids decide which picture they will use to write their own sentence.  The freedom of choice will hopefully encourage the ones that don't really like writing, to get excited about their work!  (I will save the unused pieces and put them at our writing center for another day!)

If you want to read more about these interactive practice printables, head over to my TpT Store!

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