100th Day Fun!

My favorite part of 100th day is the old people art. This year we used wallpaper instead of fabric for the shirts.We made a circle map of what we might be like when we were 100 and then wrote about it.

I love how she piled the hair on top like a bun!

This guy told me he purposefully took most of the cotton off so it would look the fuzz he has on his head and it does!

 

I do it TLC style so I don't have templates to share.  I just precut the rectangles and the kids follow my oral directions to trim it into a head, etc.

We made crowns and glasses again this year.  You can click here to get links for these.

 We read 100th Day books.

The student favorite by far though was the Fruit Loop necklaces. It is always interesting to see who strings by color, who creates a pattern, or those that don't give a hoot and just want to be able to eat them!

 They had to count out the 100 pieces by tens first.You can get the sorting sheet here.

I got smart this year and taped one end of their string to the desk so no one had their loops fall off halfway through!

Last, but not least,  Wildlife Associates brought amazing animals for us to meet. I didn't get pictures but here is one from their site.

We were visited by a

• Canada Lynx
• Snowy Owl
• Coatimundi
• Coendou (Prehensile tailed porcupine)
• White Tailed Kite 

It was so cool! This was a perfect lead in to our animal adaptations unit coming up and a great way to end a special day.

FREE Groundhog pattern

We did not finish this today but I wanted to get this out in case you could use it this year. I was inspired by the big-eyed Scrappin Doodle clipart to make a groundhog peekover.

The cute paper is from Kerri at Teacher Bits and Bobs!

Today we read a Gail Gibbons book to learn about groundhogs. Before we read, we recorded our schema on a circle map. After we read, we crossed out anything that was a misconception and then added new learning in a different color. Not pretty but this is what my charts look like if I do them on the spot with the kids. This my attempt to combine the Debbie Miller chart I did last year with my new dedication to thinking maps.

I was hoping to have the kids write a paragraph about the new facts they learned but with a field trip this week and their less than stellar behavior, it may not happen. We'll see if my blood pressure can take it. Hence the shorter Phil response paper you see above in the sample.

Off to bring one son to basketball and help the other write 10 metaphors (really?) so I gotta run. Hope you can use the pattern.
Groundhog Pattern

New Book Club Packet and a FREEBIE!

Thanks for all the supportive comments on my scary day post yesterday!! It is good to know that I'm not the only one to freak out a little at times like that!

Since you all were so sweet, here is a FREEBIE for you. I'd love it if you'd follow me here and my TpT store if you don't already. Click on the picture to download.

Feedback is always appreciated.

While you are there, you might want to check out my newest Book Club packet.  I just got a set of Dixie Loves School Pet Day from Scholastic and whipped up a packet focusing on story elements, inferences, and verbs. Only $1.50! Click on the picture to go take a peek.

 Off to supervise homework, make dinner, and drive to 2 different scout meetings! Hope to blog stalk ya later!

Had a Scare Today

If you have been following my blog for awhile, you may remember that my 4th grade son attends the school where I teach and we live just down the street. I usually go in @ 8 AM and my husband drops Quinn off @ 8:45 AM.  Today was a normal day except I forgot my cell phone. Hate when I do that!

Fast forward to lunch. Quinn's teacher is a friend of mine and she casually asks over lunch where Quinn is today. WHat do you mean? He isn't here??? I am shocked since when I left the house he was happily getting his Backwards Day outfit on. I start to get a bad feeling but I rationalize that it is possible he started feeling sick after I left. I immediately go to the staff room phone and call home. No answer. My heart starts beating wildly. I call my husband's cell. No answer. Now I am starting to panic. My imagination starts conjuring images of abduction from the school parking lot. Rational? No, but I think we already established in my prior Conan story that my brain easily jumps to worst-case scenarios.

I am about to go home to see if I can find out anything when the secretary comes in to tell me my husband is on the other line.

He starts with, "We had a little accident this morning..." CRAP! Did he cut off a finger?  My mind is going again...

Apparently they decided to give his Pinewood derby car a quick coat of silver spray paint before school. Quinn accidentally turned the nozzle the wrong way and sprayed it into his EYE!

They spent all morning washing it out, then in the emergency room and later the doctor.  Poor guy! I guess it hurt quite a bit but he is fine now.

 I'll leave you with what I had originally planned to blog about: Chinese New Year.

We made a circle map brainstorming what the students already knew about Chinese New Year. Then we read this simple book and shared if our families celebrated.

Later, we made this puppet.

Someone decided they looked better as hats and a new craze was born.

Having that mild panic attack at lunch made me a little more appreciative and tolerant of my wild bunch this afternoon.  Thank goodness my scare turned out fine.  Hug your loved ones!

Want a Chuckle?

Thank goodness it is Friday! Just a quick post to give you a chuckle. After lunch, a student came to me with her dramatic sad face on. She asked if she could go to the I Message with Kathy. She explained, "She says she won't be friends with me anymore because I believe in mermaids." I couldn't help it. I did laugh out loud. I covered it up with a cough as quickly as possible but I'm not sure she bought it.

Here is the poster we use to teach the students to work out their own problems. Let's just say these particular girls visit often. {Insert eye roll  and head shake here.}

The next hour, I was practicing rhyming with 4 of my strugglers. One boy was saying things that were so off base I was racking my brain trying to figure out how he was even coming up with those answers?? In the story, the last rhyming words were floor and door. I ask if he can think of any other words, hoping he will say store, more, poor, etc.  He gets an excited look in his eye and yells, "WHORE!" I guess I should be happy that he finally got one right.  He had no idea what he said and no one else batted an eye either.
 
TGIF my friends.