Georgia Blogger Meet Up

This weekend was just 'peachy' ;)  I was super lucky to meet up with 18 Georgia bloggers/tpt'ers across the state on Saturday in Macon, Georgia. Mrs. Jayne from Smart Kids set up the whole thing and it was well worth the trip!  I traveled with Stacy from Funky Fresh Firsties and Angie from Monahan's Monkey Madness about two hours to the Georgia School Supply store. It has been almost two years since I've set foot in a REAL teacher supply store... I did major damage  bought some super fun stuff.... Mr. Elementary Math set up a fun auction for us to participate in. Ms. Valerie found some hot sellers... {she's a pretty hot seller herself...;)} Mrs. Cobb is showing off her flower - Thanks Mrs. Cobb! :)  Stacy was the big winner for the day...  {who forgot to take her name outta that hat?}  YOU HAD ONE JOB....  And - Please excuse the scrap-ish look to my pictures... I purchased some digital scrapbooking kits and I have been playing... ;)  Two of the bloggers that attended our meet up had been emailing and messaging back and forth for over and year and had never met in person!  {Yes, they still liked each other once they met too...} hahah! :) 

I took home some scratch and sniff stickers for when we read How Are You Peeling? at the beginning of the year. [The stickers look like they came off the pages of that book.. and I can't get enough of that book... so I had to have all of them] I also grabbed the new Hot Dots Jr. cards and pens. How did I not know they had animal friends now? OMG! I found a game that I think my kiddos are going to LoVe called Kloo Zoo - which is a making sentences game... each time you can make a sentence and read it you get an animal... first to get 10 animals wins. {who doesn't want to build a zoo??? I mean.. I live in one every day... but ya' know - I wouldn't want others to be jealous!} 

Mr. Ed and Mrs. Diane were so sweet and helpful. I enjoyed hearing Mrs. Diane talk about meeting with different vendors and how carefully she looks over the products before purchasing for her store. One {I} would assume that before a company launched a product they would update it AND spell-check it.... but she has found both issues during her last round of shopping! {I know... we are all human.... but really?} SMH. It is inspiring to see a business run with such integrity and high-standards.  I was overjoyed to meet everyone, put faces with names, and names to blogs, network, create, and converse with others in this crazy boat. Here is our 'group shot' and all of the bloggers that attended have buttons below the picture. Please visit and say "hi!" 

 

 





 

Gingerbread, Gingerbread…..and a Product Swap!

A few of us are getting together to swap some of our favorite products... and we wanted to share them with you! Our swaps are going live!
Check out the links at the bottom of my post to see the other fabulous bloggers who paired up! :)

I am reviewing  Can't Catch Me - A Gingerbread Thematic Unit from the Applicious Teacher. If you check out the teaser post (last Saturday) you can see the preview pages from tpt (also on her blog)

There are 12 center activities in all in this unit. I was really impressed with her resource page which had links to all of her favorite gingerbread books, videos, and music that can be used with this unit! There were a few gingerbread books that I've never read before - so those were ordered! :) {Like I need an excuse to order more books….. pssssshhhhh…..}

So - here are a few of the activities that we worked on …. in my classroom and at my house with my own child….

First - The uber cute cookie math hunt - for my ell's I circled the number words and the addition or subtraction words to help them locate the important information within the word problem {This can also help your lower readers when it comes to math word problems - so they focus on the mathematical components and not get stuck on the reading.}

Next up - Sweet Treats!

I did this with my younger kids so we did the primary version 

{Ms. Leigh included two versions for instant differentiation….}

In this version they picked a few pieces of candy and added them up… I had them count out the change and 'pay' for their candy. In the more advanced version - they {my addition...can roll dice} to decide how many pieces or scoops they will get… then add it….AND figure out the change due! 

WOW! That component blew my mind - my kids SO need practice with counting back change and this will be a fun way for my older ones to practice that skill. 

{I can't tell you how bothered I get when a cashier won't count back my change….pet-peeve}

 Here are pictures of the synonym center. 

'Synonym Cookies'

You will notice in many of my posts - My kids will practice with these a lot before I give them the recording sheets. I do this for a few reasons…. 

1. Practice, Practice, Practice….especially with ell students

2. I want this to be a 'risk-free' activity for them and not worry about right or wrong. 

{I am in a situation where I don't assign grades…so this is different then many of you in regular classrooms….}

3. I have [MAX] 8 kids in a 45 minute segment - so my kids get a lot of small group and one - on - one time. It is easy for me to see very quickly who 'gets it' and who doesn't. 

 Here is the 'Gingerbread Words' ELA activity.

This was a great review for my 3rd and 5th grade ell's. My 2nd graders LOVED the graphics and backgrounds. 

[Heck - so did I!]

I was pretty blown away by the amount of material you receive for the minimal price… 50 cents a center? DEAL!

I will be using this for the next two weeks of school - The CCSS are already linked to the activities for me - my planning is easy!

Now… I just have to worry about Christmas shopping…. THE HORROR!

One of my favorites - that I didn't' get to showcase here …

Gingerbread Man Sweat Treats printables - they can be used with SO MANY gingerbread stories! 

Check out her homophone freebie…

Follow her store…

and her blog...

Pumpkin Books for Little Learners

I was going through my stash of books today (in the garage) while the kids were playing outside...

I wanted to share a few books I loved to use when I was teaching first and second grade, and give you some reading skills/strategies that can be used for each one. :) 

Andy Shane and the Pumpkin Trick

Jennifer Richard Jacobson

Level L Lexile 550

Easy reader about Halloween tricks and how Andy gets back at the tricksters. Good for making predictions using text and text to self connections. 

The Great Pumpkin Strikes Again! (Peanuts)

Adapted by Justine and Ron fontes

Good to compare & contrast text to movie...or other Charlie Brown adventures. Some vocabulary would need to be introduced before doing a read-aloud...this is a harder text, but children's love for Charlie Brown would keep them interested and engaged. 

Pumpkin Soup

By Helen Cooper

Sequencing....Cause and Effect....making predictions...text to world connections (not being wanted or making mistakes, helping in the kitchen...) 

Duck wants to be more involved in the soup making...but his friends get upset and run him off. They feel badly and wish him home, realizing their mistake. They imagine ducks many adventures, but find him at home at the end of the story. They were happy to have him home and let him help stirring the soup. 

Seed, Sprout, Pumpkin, Pie (Picture the Seasons)

Jill Esbaum

Sequencing

Facts....utilizing text to support answers (cite evidence) 

Non-fiction story about the life cycle of a pumpkin. Discusses different uses of pumpkins. Great lower level non-fiction. Would be good paired with Gail Gibbons Pumpkins. 

Pumpkin Town! Or, Nothing Is Better and Worse Than Pumpkins

Katie McKy

Making predictions

Cause and effect

Fictional story of a pumpkin farming family. Boys harvest seeds for dad and accidentally throw the seeds...the wind picks them up and the pumpkins take over the little town. The boys help the towns people clean up their mess and are rewarded... Unfortunately...it might happen again! 

Good to talk about the weather changing with the seasons and use the text to support their answers. 

Pumpkin Moon

Tim Preston

Fiction

Very simple, almost wordless story about pumpkins on All Hallows' eve. Reminiscent of David Wieser books. This story does reference Halloween, and has jack -o- lanterns....so if you have kids that don't celebrate or if you aren't allowed to celebrate...leave this one out.

I hope these help some of your fall planning - what are some of your favorite books about pumpkins? 

Praise to the Fudge!

OMG. I am SO HAPPY to be finished with this book companion.... 

FUDGE-A-MANIA

I can't adequately express how excited I am to be finished! I was in high school when this book was published, so I never read it in grade school.... I missed a whole bunch of fudge! :) 

My second graders will be reading this when we get back to school so I wanted to be prepared for the first nine weeks! WHEW. I have comprehension questions for the kids, for the teachers.... a writing prompt, a graphing activity, journal ideas....

OH!

And a flip book of the story elements!

I have spent most of this week on FUDGE....

and I am so happy to be finished! 

Head over to TeachersPayTeachers to check it out!

Want one for free? 

Leave me some love and I will have my DD pick a lucky number when we get home...

Don't forget to leave your email! 

To celebrate... we are heading to IKEA today! 

I can barely contain my excitement....