Run, Run as fast as you can....It's Gingerbread Time!!!

I LOVE LOVE LOVE when it's getting close to Christmas and I can do my favorite unit of the year....GINGERBREAD MAN!!!! I have 10 or so books and variations of the Gingerbread Man. My classes always love the books and have such a great time working in the unit. We even decorate our class Christmas tree with Gingerbread ornaments and a gingerbread man tree skirt!!!  Did I mention I LOVE the gingerbread man?! 

With all of this love, I have FINALLY made a Gingerbread Thematic Unit. It took some time and some hard work but I absolutely love how it turned out! It's one of my favorite units yet!!!! You can purchase this unit from my Teachers Pay Teachers store by clicking on the picture or clicking here.

 Here is a preview of all of the fantastic organizers, activities, and graphs in the unit:

 This is my cute graph that I did for my classroom! I am so excited about filling it up with all of our learning!  This week we are studying comparing books with similar texts so I know this will help!!!

Do you have a special thematic unit that is your favorite?

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

I hope everyone has a very wonderful Thanksgiving! I don't know about you, but I have SO much to be thankful for!!!  Enjoy your day with your family and friends and I will see you on Friday with a special preview of my Gingerbread Unit!!!!!

Gobble, Gobble...Y'all!

With Thanksgiving right around the corner, my classroom has been busy with talk of turkeys, pilgrims, and Native Americans!

If you are in need of a great Thanksgiving Unit, stop by my Teachers Pay Teachers shop and take a look at mine! This unit contains:

* Graphic Organizers- Turkeys, Pilgrims, Native Americans
* Math Mats
* Play-Doh Mats
* Vocabulary Cards
* Pattern Pages
* Writing Pages
* Graphing Pages
* Pumpkin Pie in a Bag Recipe and Writing Activity
* Turkey Poems
* Thankful Class Book
* Thanksgiving Grocery List and Dinner Template
* Thanksgiving retelling bracelet activity
* Thanksgiving Memory Game
* Thanksgiving Tens Frames

Click here to visit my shop!

Enjoy!

I'm having a SALE!

In honor of my birthday tomorrow, I am throwing a sale in my Teachers Pay Teachers store!  Shop, shop, shop for 10% off!!!! 

Click here to shop!

ENJOY!!!

Halloween fun!

I don't know about your class, but if Halloween falls on a Monday- Friday, I know that the day is a wash!!  I have to figure out some really creative teaching ways to keep them engaged throughout the day!  We are not allowed to have a "party" so instead, I do Halloween Centers. We have 4 centers set up in the class (more centers can be added for a bigger class or if you like your groups smaller!)

At the first center, the students could make a yummy Monster Mix! Our Monster Mix area had Goblin teeth (candy corn), Ghost Poop (marshmallows), Chocolate Chips (Witch Warts), and Monster Scabs (Cinnamon Toast Crunch).  The students picked a baggy and then got 10 of each item- You could do more if you wanted too! All you need for this center is Halloween bags, candy corn, chocolate chips, marshmallows, and Cinnamon Toast Crunch.

At the second center, the students could make a Witch Hand. They LOVED it! I bought my air pop popcorn maker to pop the popcorn and my students were so amazed with it!!  It was so cute!!! All you need for this center is popcorn, candy corn, spider rings, and plastic gloves!

 

The third center was my favorite! My students could make Ghost and Vampire Pops. For the Ghost Pop, the students took a Blow Pop (or Tootsie Roll Pop), wrapped it in white tissue paper, and tie it with black yarn or string.  Add some google eyes and your ghost pop is ready!!!  For the Vampire Pop, take a Blow Pop and wrap it with red tissue paper. Using black tissue paper, wrap it halfway around and tie with a string! Add google eyes and draw on some fangs!

 

For the last center, I pulled out all of my pumpkin and Halloween books. The students were able to  read my "Special" teacher Halloween books! They loved it!!!

Luckily, I had some FABULOUS parent volunteers that helped out with the centers!!  Everything turned out great and my students had the best time!!!! 

 

50th Day of School fun!

A few days late, but we had the best 50th day of school fun!!  Some of our fabulous teachers dressed in adorable 50s attire- poodle skirts, oxfords, glasses, and ribbons! My students LOVED all of the cute costumes!

 Some of my fabulous grade level!!!

 

We spent the morning making Coke Floats! We listed the steps it took to make a Coke Float, glued the steps in order, and graphed if we liked the floats!!!

 

After all of our Coke Float fun, we had a bubble gum blowing contest. My babies loved trying to blow a bubble!!!  Out of 16 students, I had 1 that could blow a bubble! He was so proud!!! We sang Dr. Jean's Bubble Gum song, too!! (Of course it was stuck in my head all day long!!!!)

 

We made a list of 50 reasons why we love our school! Here is the before picture (I forgot to take an after picture!) All 50 reasons made my heart smile! My babies truly LOVE school!!!

 

No 50's day is complete without learning the Hand Jive! Glee makes a great video that I have pinned on my 50th day of school board!

http://www.pinterest.com/NicoleBaranov/50th-day-of-school

(Be sure to follow me on Pinterest while you are there!!!!)

 

If you have not celebrated the 50th day of school with your class, I HIGHLY recommend it! We had so much fun!!!!