Here comes Halloween!

Well I have had Halloween on the brain since September but now I suddenly feel that it is coming on too fast and it will be over before I know it. I think I am finally ready though.

I have my Halloween unit ready to go:

Plus two Halloween word problem units (one for primary, one for intermediate):

And I just got this new (though I fully realize it is far from new, it is still new to me) book (+ CD) in the mail:

via Amazon

I also have an Art project to share, though I don't have pictures from when I did it (though I probably do on some camera somewhere . . .):

Photo via A Faithful Attempt

All students have to draw is trace a picture in pencil on black construction paper. Go over pencil line with white glue and let dry overnight. Students can then use pastels to colour between the glue lines. These look best when completely coloured in pastel, with only the glue lines showing.

I have seen so much pumpkin art lately and it just seems to be getting cuter and cuter!

Hope everyone had a great Monday!

Just Journal Writing

I don't know how well this post is going to go (though it does have a point) because I am exhausted (tomorrow is Friday, right?) and have a million things running through my brain.

The topic I had planned to write about today is Journal Writing. I have two reasons for this.
1. I have a new unit that I want to share
2. I am really curious how other teachers handle journals in their class.

I am a big fan of a once a week (usually Monday morning-ish) journal writing. I like Mondays because hopefully the students have done something over the weekend that they can discuss. What I don't like is when I hear "I did nothing." or "I have nothing to write about." Usually I'll say something like, "Then tell me what you ate for dinner, tell me what TV show you watched." etc. because I really want the students to just start writing. I fully realize that writing can be hard and writing with no inspiration can be extremely difficult, but I also think that it gets easier if you just START WRITING!

To help with students who have no idea where to begin (especially in younger grades), I like to provide prompts or sentence starters. So this is where my new unit came in. I created 40+ Journal Prompts for beginning writers (1st & 2nd Grade). I created both general and seasonal/holiday prompts with writing paper in the hopes that it would help beginning writers get the grasp of writing by providing them with a starting off point. Click the picture if you'd like to check out the unit:

So how to you incorporate journals in the classroom? Would love to hear any ideas or suggestions.

Art is Important (and a Haunted House)

I had an epiphany today. Art IS important. I have never been an artsy, creative type and in all honesty I probably dreaded Art in school. This attitude has slightly inserted itself into my teaching attitude, though I don't let it show (I hope!) to students. I've realized though, that my attitude probably stems from my lack of artistic skills. You see, I really, really, really want to be a good artist, but I just can't seem to get it together. Whenever I have to draw in front of the class, my doodles always turn out as stick people or stick animals and I have to explain what I am drawing. For some reason though, today everything clicked and I realized that Art is important. And I don't mean cookie cutter, boring art. I mean really teaching students about different art styles, techniques, and materials. Kids need to grow as artists, otherwise they are going to be adults doing the same doodles that I try to pass of as people and animals.

A second thought - I also LOVE it when an idea or project ties together multiple subjects (hello cross-curricular!). Since it's October - and I have Halloween on the brain - I am reminded of a lesson I reviewed for my Art course in university, but have not yet had the option to try. I would love to credit the idea but I have no idea which Art journal I got it from. The lesson ties together art, language arts, and today I thought of a way to incorporate math.

Photo via Creative Juices

The project would work best for older elementary school and lasts about a week or two. At the beginning of each Art period, teachers begin by turning off the lights and reading scary stories about haunted houses (I would have loved this as a student!). The students then use pieces of cardboard to construct their own haunted houses. As the days progress, students add details (shutters, doors, fence, ghosts, pumpkins, whatever) and on the final day, the houses get spray painted black or gray to complete the haunted house formation. Just stopping here, I think the houses would make a fantastic hallway display. Students can then write stories about their haunted house, and post those alongside their haunted house display. To incorporate math, I would have students measure the height, square footage, etc. of their house and find out who constructed the tallest house, the biggest house, etc. Not only do I think this lesson sounds fun (AND gets me excited about Art) but it incorporates 3 different subjects and great skills.

So this may be the direction I need to go in the future. More Art projects that incorporate other subjects and get ME excited about the Art, so I can pass that onto the students. After all, Art is Important.

October Books: "Book of the Month" Blog Hop

Who doesn't love a good holiday/theme/seasonal book? For some reason, it always seems so exciting to have those books that you only pull out at a certain time of year. Well I was just thinking that I needed to find some more October/Halloween books and then I happened upon 1..2..3.. Teach With Me's blog hop for books for the month of October, how perfect? I've already found some books that I'll have to check out.

So here is my October/Halloween book list:

All images via Amazon

1. Big Pumpkin by Erica Silverman - A cute little Halloween story about a big pumpkin and all the Halloween creatures you need - witches, bats, vampires, mummies, you name it.

2. Halloween Night by Marjorie Dennis Murray - This is a new purchase for me. It is set to the tune of The Night Before Christmas and thus is great for rhyming.

3. Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich by Adam Rex - Another new purchase for me. It has a bunch of short stories/poems with a Halloween/monster theme.

4. Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz - These are perfect for older students and hold a special place in my heart because I remember reading them in elementary school!

Do you have October favourites? Go link up with Tammy to list yours!

Fonts, Freebies, and Fun Halloween

Well this post has an agenda, so here we go.

FONTS


When I first started blogging/making more of my own products I would always see so many cute fonts and I had no idea where to find them so I always used old reliables (Times New Roman and Comic Sans - I would emphasize those by putting the words in the fonts I'm talking about but, well, I don't know how to do that). Then, I can't remember how it happened but I found kevinandamanda.com and between their Fonts for Peas and their Scrapbook Font, well I had found EVERYTHING I needed font-wise. They are 100% still my go-to fonts, I use them in everything I make and because there are so many fonts, I am always finding new favourites. If you have not checked out their fonts, you MUST!

I've also recently found that Graphics From the Pond has been giving away free fonts, just check out the Free Fonts button on the website sidebar.

Finally, I recently found out about a set of free fonts provided by Rowdy in Room 300. They are so cute I have already used them in my new Halloween unit (more about that later).

FREEBIES

I recently blogged about my Mystery Number Card Freebies and after some requests I added two new sets, 2-digit and 5-, 6-, & 7-digit numbers. Check them out if you're interested.

FUN HALLOWEEN

Finally, since it's almost October all I have been thinking about is Halloween. I finally finished my Halloween unit, which contains fun printables, Halloween-themed math, and writing prompts. Click on the picture if you're interested.

I think that's all I have to say for now, didn't the teacher in you just love the alliteration in the title? Have a great week, October will be here soon!

Here Comes Fall

Well I did not realize that after only a week back at school I would be so exhausted. I thought I was going to need a nap this afternoon!
As the nights and mornings get darker and the day gets shorter it is definitely beginning to feel like Fall and thus a question enters my mind - when can I start talking about Halloween? I always love incorporating any holidays/special times into the classroom to keep the kids (and myself) engaged, but is September too early for Halloween? Don't answer that, I already know the answer - yes (YES), it is too early (well in my opinion). I think I'll have to wait until the second week of October (or so). In the meantime I will continue working on my Halloween unit, which I hope to have up on TPT soon (well when I'm not napping).
Following the Fall theme of this post, I just saw the cutest Fall art project on Pinterest:

It kind of follows a pointillist idea, like I talked about HERE and I think it would be a good project for getting students to focus and take their time.

Is the weekend here yet?

Back to School Books

Well I can never resist anything book related so I have decided to join up with Blog Hoppin' for the "Back to School Books Linky Party and Giveaway!" School has still not started for me, but I only have a few more glorious summer days before it is back into the classroom. I know there are a million fantastic books I could have chosen, but I decided to narrow it down to 3:


1.    

I was actually introduced to this book at the end of last year, and I read it to a Grade One class who absolutely LOVED it and requested it over and over. It goes with the ides of excitement and also patience, which are important to cover on the first day.

2.

Along with excitement, I think the first day should also touch on the worries that most students (and teachers!) are probably feeling. I think this is a classic book to open up that discussion for students.

3.

To finish off the list, a little humor. This book opens up a discussion about classroom rules, and does so in a humorous way for students.

So there are my 3 Back to School book picks, what are yours? Link up with Blog Hoppin' and you could win $50 from The Clever School Teacher (which ,if you do not know, is a fabulous online store where you can buy booksets to coincide with author studies, comprehension strategies, writing traits etc.).

Here's to the last few days of summer!