Friday 19 September 2014

Ahoy Mateys!

That's about the extent of my pirate talk knowledge. Maybe throw in a couple of "Arrrrs!" and "Where's me treasure?" :) Next year on this day, my sister-in-law is getting married. We joke that all the speeches will be in pirate talk. lol

These are a few of my favourite pirate books. David Shannon's "How I Became a Pirate" and "Pirates Don't Change Diapers" are always a big hit with the kids. "Twenty-Six Pirates" and "Shiver Me Letters" are two fun pirate ABC books.


I wanted to create a fun pirate freebie for you, so I came up with three math games for you. Pirate Cover Up is a game where you roll two dice, add them together, and cover up the same tally mark gold coin. Then there is Pirate Bump (addition and subtraction versions). {If you don't know how to play BUMP, read my post here.} Each game comes in a colour and black & white version.








Saturday 13 September 2014

Pigeon Party! Author Study Pack

This pack has been a work in progress for months! I am so happy it is finally finished! Each month in my classroom I focus on a different author. Here are some of the authors we have done in the past:




 



Now, obviously these weren't all done in one year. I have so many favourite authors that I rotate through different ones each year. There are some favourites that I try to do every year though. Like this particular one:


Mo Willems is always a class favourite! His books are so simple and so funny and always a hit with the kiddos! I have complied a bunch of my favourite activities for a Mo Willems author study into my new pack: Pigeon Party!


This pack includes 84 pages of activities to go with the Pigeon books, Naked Mole Rat, Elephant & Piggie books, Knuffle Bunny books, and more!


For the Pigeon books there are favourite book graph, favourite book response, persuasive letter writing, making ten math centre, labeling, venn diagram, bubble maps, tree maps, hot dog list writing, don't let the pigeon... writing, pigeon craft & writing, and an emergent reader!


For Naked Mole Rat there are a craft & t-shirt design, tree map, and emergent reader. For the Elephant & Piggie books there are tree maps, bubble maps, favourite book response, venn diagram, and an emergent reader.


For the Knuffle Bunny books there are a setting writing activity, labeling, bubble map, tree map, and text-to-self connection writing. Then there is a Cat the Cat rhyming activity, a favourite book response, and a movie/book compare & contrast.

There are so many activities to keep your little ones excited and engaged in a Mo Willems author study! Tons of reading and writing activities, with a little math thrown in too! Check it out at TpT by licking on the picture below.


Wednesday 10 September 2014

Monday Made It - September

I'm totally a few days behind, but I really wanted to get this post up. It's been a while since I have linked up with Tara over at 4th Grade Frolics for her fun Monday Made It linky party and I finally have some fun creations to share with you! :)



I found this adorable fold-up container with a chalkboard label at Dollarama. I loved how big it is and knew it would be great for storage. Do you know how much stuff a tiny little baby has?? Toys, books, and clothes galore! I bought one to store Zoe's book collection in. I think I need another one for her toys! I just used a white chalkboard marker and some inspiration from my favourite KG fonts and voila! A cute book bin!




My husband thinks it's silly when he sees me making things for school... I'm not going back to the classroom until next September, so why am I making things already?? I just can't help it! I see all these awesome ideas on my favourite blogs and I just have to do it! Case in point = tidy tubs! I've seen these floating around the web and think it is a genius idea! Each table gets a small bin to act as a little recycling bin. So when we do art projects/crafts/cutting & pasting work, the extra paper gets put into the bin. This should help eliminate the wandering students and the tiny scraps on the floor! I love this idea! Well, I found these neon tubs at Dollarama and they fit my table colours perfectly! Just made up some cute chevron label and ta-da!


I love the way these turned out. If you would like to use these labels, you can download them {here}. There are eight different colours included in the freebie, to suit any class colours or theme! :)


During the big back to school TpT sale, I scored some awesome new products that I can't wait to try! I have already been printing and cutting and laminating some of these goodies! And yes, the hubby continues to give me strange looks... One of my favourite purchases were these "Back to School Clip Cards" by Doodle Bugs! So easy to prep and makes a fun center!




Now I needed some cute clothespins to go with the cards! I've done the painting thing before. Not bad. Just messy. This time I went with something more fun--washi tape! I bought a bunch of different rolls of the narrow tape from Michaels and just stuck it on both sides of the clothespin. Easy and cute!



My fourth made it is not school related. Hubby decided this year to start a vegetable garden. We live on 5 acres, so we definitely have the space for a large garden. For a first time gardener, he did an awesome job! We have been eating various veggies out of the garden so far, but the weather is starting to get cool at night and before long it will be below freezing! We decided today would be the day to go through the garden and harvest everything we can. Take a look at what we pulled out of the garden today:


We have a huge box of carrots, a box of potatoes, a box of beets, and a HUGE tub full of cucumbers and zucchinis. Seriously. It is insane! That's not to mention the tons of beans and peas we have already harvested and put in the freezer. And there are a number of peppers and tomatoes still hanging out in the garden too. Today was spent peeling, chopping, and blanching carrots. Tomorrow will start my first adventure in canning... making pickled beets, dill pickles, and sweet pickles. Wish me luck!!


Now, you may or may not have noticed.... but someone got a little makeover!!! Kassie over at Designs by Kassie redesigned my blog and I am OVER THE MOON about how it turned out! It looks so fresh and new and I am so excited!! :) Well, I have to give all my other spots a little makeover too now! I have started matching up my Pinterest boards. I saw this idea over at Ladybug's Teacher Files and loved how it looked. This is definitely a work in progress, as I'm not sure if I like the covers the way they are. I will probably play with those a bit in the next few weeks!



Well, that's it for now! I promise I will be back with a new Author Study soon.... starring my favourite little pigeon! ;) Have a great night!

Monday 1 September 2014

September Currently


I think it's all pretty self explanatory! We're heading off to a cabin next weekend. It will be Zoe's first sleep away from home! It's my mother-in-law's birthday, so the whole family is heading out to the cabin for a weekend of boating, swimming, food, and fun! :)

Have a great week everybody!