READ.

Summer is so so close to being over!! My mind is now realizing this because it has been RACING and making me do all sorts of stuff! And since I have so much to do, my mind has also been focused on fun things that are not so important, like decorating my classroom more and more and MORE! I'm sure you can relate. :P

Today, I went to Michaels to pick up some fabric to recover my crate seats (which, by the way, helped me learn that Michaels DOESN'T sell fabric). While I was there, I RANDOMLY had an idea to make a READ sign for my library. I picked out all of the materials and started on it a few hours ago. But I will get to that in a minute.

First, my crate seats!!

LOVE my new fabric that did NOT come from Michaels (not bitter at all). Hope you saw my Instagram video about them! :)

Next up, my sweet little 3-year-old and I made some canvas paintings for her playroom (she actually did the painting!):

This was a fun, easy project that only involved a canvas, acrylic paint, and letter stickers!

Finally, here is the random READ sign I made for my classroom instead of working on curriculum!:

Just used 12 x 12 canvas, Mod Podge, paintbrushes, ribbon, and scrapbook paper. I cut the paper into 3 x 3 squares...

...and Mod Podged it to the canvas. I then added ribbon to cover lines by stapling it to the back and Mod Podging it to the canvas.

Made some letters on my trusty, one and only came-with-it cartridge on my Cricut, and Mod Podged them to the canvas.

Ta-da!!! I love how it turned out and can't wait to put it up!!

Hope you enjoyed my projects!! Have a terrific Thursday!! :)

Alberto the Dancing Alligator

Well...I have started working much harder on preparing for the upcoming school year (especially since I have to start from scratch!) because summer is ALMOST OVER!!! :(

So far this summer, my 2-year-old and I have visited the library several times. A few times ago, we checked out a random alligator book because we had been talking about the letter A and alligators, and she really likes animals. The book was Alberto the Dancing Alligator, one I had never heard of before (click on the picture to head over to Amazon to check it out).

It ended up being a really cute little book! It's about a little girl and her pet alligator, Alberto, that both love to dance. One day while dancing in the bathroom, Alberto slipped, fell in the toilet and got flushed down to the sewer! (And don't worry, no gross toilet nonsense in this book.) The rest of the book describes his adventure under the city and how he makes it back home. I had to read it to her a bajillion times, of course, so now I also know it pretty well! Anyway, I ended up making a few activities to go along with the book for bigger kids but first, I'll show you my sweet little girl's alligators that she made!!:

Aren't they soooo cute?!? I'm not biased or anything. ;)

ANYWAY, I put together a little pack of activities that are appropriate for 1st-2nd and maybe 3rd graders. Here is the one of the writing activities included in the pack:

 And here is a sample page from the pack:

Head over to one of my stores to check out the rest of it!!

Be one of the first 4 people to comment (with an email address) and get a FREE copy of the pack!

I hope you like it!! :)

A Thank You, an Announcement, a Question, and Technology Camp!!

Well, my summer OFFICIALLY begins tonight! I had a few trainings to attend the week after school ended and this past week was Technology Camp, something I teach at every summer (since its inception 4 years ago). Visit the link in the previous sentence to read about last summer's camp--see the bottom section of this post for cool pics and activities from this year's camp!

First things first--A Thank You!
THANK YOU SO MUCH for your support and advice in regard to my move!!! Within hours of my announcement several of you responded to my post and HUNDREDS of you responded to my survey about what to do with my blog! It is such an incredibly awesome feeling to know that you all are behind me, especially when I have yet to meet any of you face to face!! :)


An Announcement
I have decided to keep this blog and simply adjust my tagline, especially since 81% of you suggested I do that!! I'll get around to emailing my awesome blog designer, Alicia, for an adjustment sometime this summer... ;)


A Question
I have decided to change my classroom theme from frogs! I love the colorful frogs and all but I think new grade level, new theme. Yesterday, I was struck with inspiration to do a Chicka Chicka Boom Boom theme! My question is, is that even plausible?? I think the book is an enjoyable read AND it would be SO cute to have those cute little coconut trees around! What do you think?? Any suggestions?!


Technology Camp
Picture this--teaching a class with an engaging topic that includes activities that you have complete control in planning for, no grades or test pressure, all the technology you need/want, all the supplies you need/ask for, an aide to help out, a small group of kids AND only 4 hours long...oh, and NO professional teacher wear, strictly t-shirt and jeans or shorts attire...sounds awesome, right??! That's Technology Camp in my district!!!! This is the best part of my summer each year!!

This year, I planned and taught "Germs, Mold and Other Gross Stuff" to kids that will be entering 4th and 5th grade next school year. I ended up having 5 girls and 4 boys, most of which just finished 3rd grade. I also ended up having two aides to help out for most of the week, so that was super nice. We did a variety of utterly GROSS activities and projects. I actually didn't get as many pictures as I wanted to because we were so busy the whole time. I did, however, capture a few things! I will also share some of the actual activities/projects we did with you (probably in a later post because this one's length is approaching "never-ending").

First project to share...bird poop paintings!!

First, the students chose a bird and we used PebbleGo to research them, particularly the bird's diet. We then talked about how a bird's poop should reflect its diet. After that, the students summarized the bird's diet and turned it into a QR code using Kaywa, which we glued onto their paper. We then took ketchup and mustard squeeze bottles and put some white tempera paint in them. Using the bird's diet, the students placed bits of various items into the paint, such as nuts, berries, grass and twigs. For the meat-eating birds we just tore up bits of construction paper and put it in the paint. After mixing up the paint the kiddos squeezed the paint onto their paper to make the poop.

It was wayyyyy fun--they had a blast with it! Here are a few more examples--enjoy! (And yes, I realize that some may be a little extreme...what can I say, they had wayyyy too much F-U-N with it!):

Pirate Place Value Bulletin Board

We just finished studying place value a few days ago! As one of our ending activities, my students made these super cute pirates to demonstrate what they learned. Here is my example:

Each student picked a number that had 7, 8, or 9 digits (since we go up to hundred millions). The students wrote their chosen number in standard, word, and expanded form on the designated part of the pirate. The template included everything except the the eyes and nose of the pirate (so the students had to create their own). Below are pics of the bulletin board and some student examples!

My template is actually part of my Pirate Place Value Activity Bundle that I just posted to my Teachers Notebook store. Feel free to check it out!