Made it Monday

Today may be back to business but last week was our Spring Break! For me, that meant a lot of relaxing, time with friends and family, and getting a few projects done that I have been putting off! Sooo I figured I would share a few things I have been working on :)

My first little project is something that I have wanted to do for a long time. I have always wanted one of those cute "teacher stools" for my classroom! 

Now I have to tell you, my Dad is the BEST at finding things. He loves going to thrift stores, flea markets, you name it! Every now and then I will ask him to keep an eye out for a good deal on something and he always finds it. Always! So when I asked him to find an inexpensive stool (sturdy enough to be in a classroom), to please get it for me. And like always, he delivered! 

TADA! haha I am really happy with the way it came out!

It was actually very easy to complete! First, I spray painted it a fun color. Then, I had some leftover fabric from this project so I modpodged it to the horizontal foot rest parts. I also painted big gray polka dots down the legs. 

Next, I used a Tupperware lid (a very scientific form of measurement) to measure a fabric circle for the top of the stool. I Mod Podged that on the top and then used my handy dandy Cameo to dicut a big 'ol letter A. Finally I, you guessed it, modpoged that to the top. Isn't Mod Podge great?! :)

My next project is something that I have put off for a loooooong time. It is not technically something that I "made" but I did make it more organized! ;)

The dreaded bathroom drawer (dun dun duuuuuuuuun!)

I know. It is a hot mess. So embarrassing! But I have to show that so I can show this:

Quite the improvement huh? I can actually find things without rummaging around in the drawer for 5 minutes! After completing something like this I alway think, why in the world did I put this off for so long?!?   

Finally....

my last Spring Break project  is one that is special to me because it is something I used to do with my mom when I was little. Long before there was Pinterest (how did we know what to wear, cook, teach, etc?!? lol) my mom was a total "pinterest mom," cooking, sewing, crafting, and creating smilie face shaped lunches for us. I gotta say, my childhood was pretty awesome :) We used to take all of our old, warn down crayons and make "Rainbow Muffin Tin" crayons! Did anyone else used to do this when they were a kid? 

Now, thanks to Ikea and all of the different fun shaped silicone ice trays they have created, we are no longer limited to muffin shaped crayons! I created mine using this sweet little heart tray :) 

All you have to do is take those crayon rejects that all of your students refuse to use and peel the paper off of them. Kids really like to do this for some reason but it is great for fine motor (plus I have no interest in doing it) so let have at it!

Then, break them up into small pieces

and just toss them into whatever silicone container you are using! Preheat the oven to about 200 degrees F and let them melt in there for about 15 minutes. 

When they look all melty and marbley like this, take them out and let them cool. I tossed mine in the freezer to speed up the cooling process a little.

When they are all cool, pop 'em out and you have some rainbow scribblers! 

Now I just have to decide if I am going to pass these out to my kids now, or wait until we are talk about  reduce, reuse, and recycle and loving our Earth. Hmmm.... 

Calendar Time! (part 1)

When I have visitors in my classroom, I usually get several questions about our calendar routine so I wanted to do a little break down of my routine and share it with all of you! 

During calendar time, we cover MANY different skills. So many that when I started to type the entire routine, it made for one loooooooong post! Because of this, I broke it up into two different posts. So without further ado, here is part one of two of our calendar routine.

Here is a look at our "calendar area"

It may seem like a lot, but once we get into the routine, calendar time seriously only takes about 10 minutes and is completely student lead! 

First we begin with the days of the week.

A student comes up and points to each day of the week as we sing "The Days of the Week Song" to the tune of the Adams Family. 

Then we practice the skill of passing time by identifying yesterday, today, and tomorrow. We sing a song about yesterday, today, and tomorrow to the tune of Frere Jacques that goes like this:

Today is (insert day)

Today is (insert day)

All day long 

All day long 

Yesterday was (insert day)

Yesterday was (insert day)

Tomorrow will be (insert day)

Tomorrow will be (insert day)

Let's have fun!

Let's have fun!

After I have taught alliteration, we usually practice the skill by having 2 or 3 students come up with a word that has the same beginning sound as the day of the week. (Friday, fish, football)

Next, we move on to the months of the year. I have my months on these little cupcakes. 

I usually have paper candles with students' names and the date of their birthday on the cupcake with their birth month. Then, I take down their candle and add it to the calendar in the pocket with their birthday. Somehow I totally forgot about the candles until around December this year (whoops) so we just added birthdays to the calendar as they came!

Aaaanyway, back to the calendar routine! Another students comes up and points to the months of the year as we all stand up and do the "Months of the Year Macarena"  

We then name the month that we are in and practice counting how many syllables are in the name of the month.

After that, another student volunteer comes up and leads the class by identifying the pattern on the calendar and extending the pattern to find today's date.


I usually try to find or make calendar pieces that go along with our theme. I also start the school year with a simple AB pattern and then make the patterns increasingly more difficult as the year goes.

The students will identify the pattern by shape (UFO, astronaut, astronaut, rocket), Letter (ABBC), and then number (starting at 1 and ending at the date). Using that information, they extend the pattern by predicting what comes next and adding that piece to the calendar.

After we have our date, another student comes up and updates the 10 frames so that they match our date.


As the year progresses, we use the 10 frame to practice different skills such as subitizing, counting by 10's, and figuring out how many more days until 10, 20, or 30.

If you are interested, here is a link to some free printables I created that you can include in your own calendar routine. Just click on the picture below :)


We also count days in school, practice place value, number ID, tally marks, counting by 2's, 5's, 10's, weather, and positional words! Want to see more? Click here for part 2!

Adventures in Spaaaaaace

This month the Amazing Ants have been studying outer space. Here is a peak at some of the things we have been up to this week:

I love to play catchy and educations songs for my kids about subjects we are studying. So, of course I was thrilled when one of the wonderful teacher's on my team introduced me to this "We are the Planets" rap by Storybots. It is SO GOOD! The kids absolutely love it! After I played it the first time they started chanting, "AGAIN! AGAIN!" haha

In the writing center, students practiced creating sentences using our high frequency (or popcorn) words along with space vocabulary. 

I guess he realized the 1st e was backwards and then self corrected for the rest of the e's! lol Smart little guy!

We also practiced name writing and creating patterns with these cute little "name rockets".

 

For dramatic play, I turned our doctor's office from last month into a rocket (using an entire roll of aluminum foil)!

Here students perform experiments,  

sit back and enjoy the view by looking out the "window,"

create a plan for when they land,

use the control panel to maneuver the space craft,

and record their observations

I found the observation log (above) and these  cute little signs (below) for FREE on Sparkle Box! If you have not checked out Sparkle box you definitely should! It is a great resource with tons of  educational freebies in every theme imaginable!

On "Science Friday" we learned more about the sun.

After reading several non-fiction books about space and the sun, we watched a Brainpop Jr. all about the sun.

Then, we filled out this graphic organizer with all of the new information we learned:

We also did a demonstration (found here) to show that the sun is not a rock or a big fire ball, but is instead made up of whirling, swirling, plasma.

We created this by mixing orange colored water with vegetable oil. I placed the finished product in our "rocket" and the kids LOOOOVE shaking that bottle up, watching the oil swirl around, and then settle back at the top. It is very calming (for both me and the kids!) and I they enjoy watching it swirl over and over again!

*I did let the students know that when we shake our model up and everything is swirling around, that is the only time is represents the sun. The plasma that makes up the real sun does not separate into layers like the liquids in our bottle after it has been standing still!*

We ended our week by rocking out to another great rap by Storybots!

"I'm So Hot," The Sun Rap

Now I am hoping to see lots of sun over this next week since it is our spring break! :) 

January Currently

I haven't blogged in a loooooooong time but I am getting back into the swing of things linking up with Oh Boy 4th Grade for January's currently

*I am half way through season 2! I always seem to start watching shows after they are over... Makes for some good binge watching though ;)

*Christmas break has been great! It has been a perfect mix of spending time with loved ones, getting stuff done, and doing absolutely nothing!

*I always think he is the best, but right now I am thinking that because he is in the kitchen making a big batch of THE YUMMIEST homemade tomato sauce from scratch. He cans it and we get to enjoy it for...well, as long as it lasts (which around here isn't long)!

*Although I LOVE my job, having these two weeks off has been AMAZING! I miss my kids but I wouldn't mind a few more breaks like this!

*While I have been enjoying my break, I have not done ANYTHING for work and not a whole around the house. I really don't want to start the next semester feeling overwhelmed and behind already!

*I have gotten better about working out but I am still not even close to where I want to be. I am hoping to run a 5k by February (RUN the whole thing!) and run a 10k by this summer.

*I have way too much junk at home and especially at school that I need to get rid of! If I have not used the 50 plastic bottles and 100 paper towel rolls by now, maybe they need to find a home somewhere else!

*I just got a Silhouette Cameo and I am SO excited about the possibilities. I have pinned about a million different things you can use it for but I am still figuring it out. There are so many things I want to make; I would love to get really good at it!

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!

5 for Friday Spooktacular October Edition

This month has FLOWN by! I can't believe that next Friday is already HALLOWEEN!!  Since I have been a terrible blogger, this 5 for Friday is a peek into the Amazing Ants' classroom during the month of October (AKA what I thought to take pictures of): 

We learned all about Bats! Here is our KWL chart 

Students had lots of misconceptions about bats (including the "fact" that they eat rocks...what?!) and so they were eager to learn more about them!

 One of my favorite things that we did was play an "Echolocation" game. After learning that bats find food using echolocation, I chose one student (the bat) to close their eyes and yell out "ECHO!" while all of the other students (the insects) yelled out "LOCATION!" until the bat caught one of them. I saw this adorable game following one of the fabulous teachers on Instagram. I cannot for the life of me remember who it was so if anyone knows, I would love to give credit where credit is due!

As much as the kids loved our Marco Polo style game, I think that they loved this JumpStart Echolocation song just as much, if not more! I have had at least one student ask to hear it every. single. day. since the 1st time I played it for them! To check it out for yourself just click the picture below!

We also incorporated bats into our literacy lessons producing words that rhyme in the -at family during our morning message.

For some batty workstations, I love these great freebies over at The First Grade Parade. If you haven't already downloaded them, you definitely should!! You can go straight to her incredible blog by clicking the picture below!

One of my favorite things to use when teaching in October is pumpkins!! You can use them so many different ways. First we investigated the outside of our pumpkin using descriptive words. 

Then we counted the ribs of our pumpkin and measured how many unifix cubes tall it was in math.  In science, we tested  our pumpkin to see if it would sink or float.

Finally, we got to the messy (real fun) of the pumpkin investigation...cutting it open and looking inside!

1st be predicted what we would find inside. After someone said "a robot" I knew I had lost them and they were just getting silly....

After we took all of the seeds and pulp out, we made a brace map containing the parts of a pumpkin.

Looking back I see I left out the stem...whoops!

Then we taste tested a handful of roasted pumpkin seeds. As you can see, most kids liked them and even asked for seconds :)

Finally, we voted on how to carve our pumpkin. These sweet babies decided they wanted their pumpkin to be friendly, not frightening! 

Here is our finished jack-o-lantern! 

Then of course we had to learn about the life cycle of a pumpkin! After reading several fiction and non-fiction books and listing to this song about life cycle of a pumpkin we made the life cycle on paper plates

and bracelets

I was really proud of my kids because both the science teacher and their parents both told me the kids were able to explain that the white bead was the seed, the yellow was the flower, the green was a green pumpkin, and the orange was an orange pumpkin!

Finally we had to plant our own pumpkin seeds to see if they will grow.

I sure hope they do!!

Aaaand a quick little post about the Fall Festival! This year each class decorated a pumpkin to display and for the parents to vote on by making donations. 

I decided we had to do a book character and after a quick pinterest search, gave the kids a few options to pick which character we would transform our pumpkin into:

It was a close vote but in the end, Rainbow fish won. I traced the student's hands on sparkly paper for the scales and I just love how it turned out!

 
Although I did not even take a picture of my game or my booth, here is the Rainbow fish on display!

Hands down my favorite parts of the fall festival are seeing all of my current students dressed up in their cute little Halloween costumes and having former students come back to visit me! Working at a school that is all pre-k, once my babies leave my class I don't get to see them in the hallways or around school like at a regular elementary school. So when they come back to visit, it is really special! One of my students from last year even brought me this sweet Halloween card with a Walmart gift card!

She wrote, "To the Best Teacher". How sweet is that?!? Definitely made my day!

Have a great weekend!!