Five for Friday!

Well it is Friday again, wahoo! Perfect time for linking up with Five for Friday over at Doodle Bugs Teaching.

Well first of all, I just have to say that it is not yet summer break here, and I cannot believe other schools are already off! Here's my countdown:

It will be still be a long couple of weeks!

Via Art Projects for Kids

We made these Kandinsky inspired trees this week. Although the instructions say they are "fall" trees, I thought they were so bright and cute they would be perfect for this spring/summer weather we have been having. Plus they brighten up a bulletin board amazingly! The instructions can be found over at Art Projects for Kids, if you haven't visited that website, you must. There are a million art ideas with full instructions for various grade levels.

Are your students jumping off the wall as the end of the year approaches? I don't know what it is, but the students just can't seem to sit still lately. Because of this, engaging brain breaks are a must to keep on hand, so today I'm going to share another of my favourites, Five Little Monkeys!

The kiddos will love it!  

I have been working hard to update some of my older products and this week I finished up with my Oliver Jeffers Author Study:

 I won't bother showing what it looked like before, because that might be painful!

If you've read this far, you definitely deserve a freebie. Last night, I updated my Summer Vacation Mini Pack freebie. This freebie pack contains a few fun printables to keep students busy during these last few weeks (or days for some of us!).

Click the picture to check it out!

What did you do this week? Head on over to Doodle Bugs to link up!

Who Loves Shopping?

Who loves shopping? Who loves online shopping? I know I sure do. If you're also anything like me, you cannot resist adorable fonts, graphics & teacher products. Well, lucky for you, the Teachers Pay Teachers Teacher Appreciation Sale is right around the corner.

My store will be on sale for 20% for the duration of the sale, May 6-7th, and if you use the code TPTXO, you'll get an additional 10% off!

I've decided to join up with linky going on over at Flying into First Grade and First Grade Nest, so make sure to check that out if you're interested in some of the amazing stores that will be on sale.

Here are some of my products that will be on sale:

Click on the pictures or {HERE} to check out my store!


It's also time for Manic Monday at Classroom Freebies and since it's almost Mother's Day, I've got an (old) Mother's Day freebie for you:

Click the picture or {HERE} to check out this free Sunflower Card Craft and be sure to head over to Classroom Freebies for more awesome freebies!

Have a great week!

Five for Friday Link-Up

I'm linking up for the first time with Five for Friday over at Doodle Bugs Teaching. I'm late to the game on everything, so why not this link-up too?

So, my five things are going to be totally random, and only a little bit teacher-y - I'm guess I'm already in a summertime mood!

Let's start off with something that has nothing to do with the classroom - smoothies!

Via Mom On Timeout

I recently pinned a bunch of smoothie recipes and it inspired me. I love smoothies and wanted a way to get more fruits and vegetables (because I'm sure I'm not getting enough). I haven't tried any of the fancy ones, I've stuck to the (almost) same recipe all week and I still LOVE it. The best part is that I tried to make it more green than the regular fruit smoothie I'm used to, by throwing in a bunch of spinach. The great thing about spinach in a smoothie is that you (or at least I) can't taste it.

 I love using Youtube for a quick brain break in the classroom and I just discovered Koo Koo Kanga Roo (I told you, I'm late to the game for everything). I'm sure I read a blogpost about these brain breaks months ago, but just started using them in the classroom. My favourite is Dinosaur Stomp! Let me know about some others I should check out.

Via Amazon

 Have you read this book? No, me neither - but I bought it. When I first saw it at a Scholastic book fair (probably at the beginning of the school year) I knew I had to get it. So of course, rather than buy it then and there, I went home, added it to my Amazon cart, waited a few months, then finally purchased it. I haven't started it yet, but I've added it to my ever-growing reading list.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that I changed around my blog design. For now, I love it, but I'm sure I'll have to tweak it a bit. Oh well, the life of a picky person.

I was slightly productive this week, probably because I was dreaming of summer! I finished up my Daily Language Summer Take-Home Booklet for First Grade.

I've also got some Daily Math Summer Take-Home Booklets, which can be found {HERE}.

Each booklet contains 40 days of summer-themed questions that review the common core and keep students thinking over the summer.

Alright, this week down, only 8 more to go until summer (that sure seems like a lot)!

Putting Out Fires and Saving the Earth

I cannot believe it is almost Friday . . . and the weather hit the mid-20's today (~80 degrees F for any interested Americans)! It was so gorgeous, until the kids all came in sweating and complaining after recess. Oh well, I enjoyed the weather!

Anyway, I'm just stopping in today to talk about a few videos I found recently. The first is for the kindies (or anyone studying community). Another teacher mentioned that Youtube has quite a few episodes of Richard Scarry's Busytown, including some about firefighters. If you are studying community and have a few minutes to spare, you might want to show your kiddos The Busiest Firefighters Ever. I liked it, because it shows that firefighters help in other ways in addition to putting out fires.

This next video is kind of late (it would have been perfect for Earth Day), but I love reading this book year round, so the video could work at any time too. This original version of The Lorax is about 25 minutes long and has a look that is similar to the original How the Grinch Stole Christmas!

I found this was the perfect length to show the kids one day while they ate recess and lunch, so as not to use up class time.

Now I think I better go soak up some sun, before the weather turns back into the rainy drizzle I'm accustomed to!

Getting Ready for Summer

Summer, ahhh that glorious word that is finally starting to be spoken around the school! Although I've still got 9 weeks (!) to go, I know some school districts are a little bit closer to that wonderful break, so I've started thinking about the end of the year already.

In addition to thinking about all the regular end of year things, my mind is also stuck on the job action taking place throughout my the province. We will see if that might mean a full-blown walkout.

But, let's forget about a little old thing like end of the year striking and focus on some more positive things, like prepping the students for next year!

That two month break can be looong for some students, especially struggling ones, so I've created some take-home booklets to send home with students over the break.

I have Daily Math versions for 1st-4th and they each have 40 days of math practice:

Each packet comes with instructions to create the mini-booklet:

I also have Word Problem a Day Booklets for 3rd & 4th. They also contain 40 days of word problems:

And finally, I've got a Daily Language Booklet for 1st grade:

What are you doing to prep for the end of the year? More importantly, how much longer do you have left?

Have a great week!

Reading Comprehension Printables for any Chapter Book

Recently I posted about my Reading Comprehension Printables for any Picture Book . . .

. . . but then I completely fell off the blog train and never mentioned my Reading Comprehension Printables for any Chapter Book (I know, another completely long and unoriginal title!).

My favourite printable from this pack is the double-entry journal page, which comes in two formats. The first comes with two long columns - one column for students to record events & details from the text, and the second column for students to record their thinking voice (thoughts, opinions and questions):

The second version splits the long columns into three distinct sections:

I did this because I found that for some readers, when they worked with the one long column format, their recording of the text details ran on and when they went to record their thinking voice, they couldn't quite match it up. By having three distinct parts, rather than one long column, students can record one event or detail from the text and their thinking voice directly across from it, therefore cementing that correlation in their minds. I think it helps visual learners make that one to one connection between a detail from the text, and a detail from their thinking voice.

What are your thoughts on double-entry journals? I'd love to hear them!

Have a great rest of the week, it's almost Friday!

Easter Read Alouds

I cannot believe it is almost Easter - this year has flown by! And I may, or may not, be counting down the weeks (I know, months, but weeks makes it seem like less time) until it is sweet summertime!

But I'll have to forget about summer for a second because I want to talk about Easter - Easter picture books that is.

**Fonts provided by Kimberly Geswein Fonts**

I love having a ready stack of books for each holiday (however minor) and season and I am always looking for new ones to freshen up my bookshelves.

Besides The Easter Egg by Jan Brett, I don't have a ton of Easter picture books that stick out in my mind, so I had to go searching.

Via Amazon

Lucky for all you Pete the Cat fans, Pete has a new adventure, fittingly called, Pete the Cat: Big Easter Adventure. Now I love the Pete the Cat stories, but I am a little wary of the newer ones as Eric Litwin is no longer writing them. I'm hoping they're are still great, so I might have to pick this new one up.

Via Amazon

Now I said I don't know of a ton of Easter books, but apparently that was because I was not looking hard enough, because one of my favourite authors, Laura Numeroff, has one to go along with all of her other sweet If You Give a . . . books. Although it doesn't quite follow the pattern of her other books, Happy Easter, Mouse! does feature that good old mouse character, so this one is another one I will have to track down.

Via Amazon

Although I haven't read this book yet, I love the bright illustrations in The Easter Bunny's Assistant by Jan Thomas. Another one that I'll have to track down.

Via Amazon

Finally, Piggy Bunny by Rachel Vail is a sweet story about a pig who wants to be the Easter Bunny. It's fun for Easter, but also has a great message about believing in yourself and going after your dreams.

Via Amazon

What are your favourite Easter picture books? I would love to hear some more suggestions.

If you're searching for some Easter ideas for the classroom, click on any of the pictures below to check out some of my Easter ideas.

 Have a great week!