Spandex, Space, and Symbols of America

Hello folks!  Lindsay here . . .

Well I hope you all have been soaking up the Olympic goodness this past week . . . the competition, the stories behind the athletes, the spandex . . . ah yes, the spandex.  And we're talking men's swimming spandex here folks.  You know what I'm talking about . .  .

Other favorites/weird fascinations of this year's Olympics include the Queen parachuting during the Opening Ceremonies . . .

 . . . the American gymnast guy with the lucky towel (Do you think he takes it on dates?) . . .

 . . . and, of course, beach volleyball players.  I heard they all have bodies like this.  Hmmm, maybe I will be a beach volleyball player when I grow up! ;)

Aside from showing pride in my country via sitting on the couch watching the Olympics, I have also been finishing up some goodies to share with you all!

First, as promised, I wanted to share with you all some of the goodies that I used during the America unit I did with my kinders at the end of the year.  My kidlets got to take their darling America books home on the last day after our graduation program.  Such wonderful keepsakes!

Here is a sneak peek at the inside our one of the America books - the art projects that went on each page was a mixture of TLC projects, projects from Deanna Jump's America pack, and step-draw activities that I did with my kiddos.  We did one symbol a day: we watched a video or read a story about each symbol, charted what we learned, and then my kiddos had to go and write about what they had learned - and they remembered such great details!

"Uncle Sam is on a poster. He is not really a person.  I wish he was alive. I love Uncle Sam."

 "The bald eagle is 6 to 7 feet long. The bald eagle is on the quarter. He is a symbol for strength."

"The President has guards. He lives in the White House. You can be the president. You vote when . . . (continued on second page) . . .

"The Liberty Bell cracked when they first hit it. They hid it when they had a war." (True story)

"The flag has 50 stars. The flag has 13 stripes.  I know the Allegiance.  Red = courage. I love America!"

"They plant (plant???) fireworks on 4th of July.  They only plant them at night. They plant them July. I love (continued on second page)."

"I know about the Statue of Liberty. It lives on the water. It's on an island."

Cute stuff, right?  I love, love, LOVE seeing my students display their learning in their own writing.  Soooooo . . . even though its the beginning of August and all of our patriotic holidays are behind us . . . I wanted to share my writing paper templates, book cover, and some color posters that I used to teach this units.  Hope your kiddos will impress you with their fabulous writing too!  Click on the heart below to head over to my TPT store and download this patriotic freebie today!

Secondly, I wanted to share with you my newest literacy centers thematic pack: There's No Place Like Space!!

Yes, I'll admit it. I get all excited to teach my kidlets about space every year.  It is SUCH a fun unit and my kids are always so intrigued by all of the planets in our Solar System!  They have their favorite planets, they love to act out a simulation of the planets' orbit around the sun, and they get the biggest kick out of trying to guess how far each planet is from the sun (usually the biggest number they can think of) . . . something like "Seven katillion twenty hundred and ten".  Close.  Sorry kid.

To help feed my students' apetites for all things amazingnly galactic, I created these fun, hands on and ready-to-print literacy centers. 

In this pack you get:

-Asteroid ABC order
-Scrambled Sentences Flying Through Space
-Blast Off! Sight Word card game
-No Place Like Space Making Words Activity

You can click on the spaceship below and head on over to my TPT store to pick yours up today!

And finally, just one more thing . . . Teacher Bits and Bobs is now on Pinterest!!  That's right folks, now you can check out our latest products, favorite blogs, and inspiring teaching ideas as you waste time  spend time gathering teacherific goodness from Pinterest!!  Sign up to follow us today!

That's it for now! I have a date with the couch and Micheal Phelps in about five minutes.

Night!

Lindsay

A whole bunch of good old randomness!!

Hey friends!  Lindsay here . . .

Tonight you are going to get a bit of BOTH of us, Kerri and I.  How lucky are you?  Answer: very.

Wow.  I feel like I have SO much to catch up on!  We have been busy little kinder kidlets . . . working on Earth Day, Open House, Mother's Day, etc. etc. etc. You get the idea.

First off: Earth Day.  Unfortunately I don't have many pictures to share, but we did do all sorts of fun things . . .

First, we did a beach cleanup .  Yes, my crazy school is on the beach.  This is my view every morning when I pull up: boardwalk, basketball courts, lifeguard tower and sand.

Next, I invited the father of one of my students to come in and talk about the importance of using reusable bags.  Not only did he share great insight with the kiddos, but he even brought each student a reusable bag of their own to take home from his very own company, LOVE Reusable Bags.  Check them out HERE - aren't the little snack bags adorable? 

Finally we wrapped up Earth Day by writing our own Earth Day pledges, and they turned out SO cute. 

This student wrote: 1. I will recycle aluminum. 2. I will clean up trash, and 3. I will take a quick shower.

I love what this students said on #2: I will be careful to not step on a worm.  Good stuff. :)



If you would like to download this lil handy graphic organizer, click the image below.  (I know, I know . . . Earth Day is over. Print it, save it, and pull it out next year people.)

The next big hooha (is that a word?) in our room with be our "Muffins With Mom" tea in two weeks.  My kidlets are stoked. Over the moon.  Giddy with excitement.  Except for the little boy who asked if he will have to wear a dress.  But don't worry . . . he is coming around.

Being a brand-new mommy myself this year, I wanted to do something extra special for all of the hardworking moms of my kiddos.  So in addition to a handmade gift, we will be have tea and treats, and presenting the moms with a wonderful, homemade cards of heartfelt sentiments. 

First, we filled out our official Muffins With Mom invitations - to be sent out next week.

Next, we filled out our graphic organizer about why we love our moms.  My wonderful writer-kidlets will be using their graphic organizer and putting their ideas into complete sentences! (Insert proud teacher face here.)

I LOVED this student's second idea so much: I love my mom because she works so so hard.  AFTER I stopped sobbing uncontrollably (yes, still have mommy guilt about going back to work), this sparked a GREAT discussion about WHY some mommies have to go to work.  Incorrect answer: "So they can buy stuff." Correct answer: "So they can take care of us." 

This was another sweet one. Reason #3: She makes me laugh.  (More tears.)

Next up - a Mother's Day craftivity.  In keeping with our tea party theme, we will be  making these ADORABLE little teacups for the front of our Mother's Day cards with the words "You are my cup of tea!". 

If you want to pick up my Mother's Day "My Cup Of Tea" pack at TPT, click on the teapot below. Included in this pack you get:

-Muffins With Mom invitation (customizable for your school, students, date, etc.)

-Teacup craftivity with step-by-step instructions and pictures

-What I Love About Mom graphic organizer

-What I Love About Mom writing paper

-All About Mom fill-in-the-blank activity (Warning: responses may be unexpected and highly hilarious!!)

If you check out this unit on my TPT store, pay no attention to the horrible preview images - the fonts are not showing correctly. Grrrrr. (Click on the preview image instead.)

Well, that's all for me tonight folks.  Happy Friday!

Good Evening, Faithful Followers! Kerri here...

I'm gonna keep it short and sweet tonight, cause Peeps, I am T.I.R.E.D.! What a week! This week, we were working on our Rainforest Unit whilst learning about macaws (Exhibit A)...

Aren't they pretty and bright?? Sharpie and oil pastels are a magical combination!

We also bubble-mapped AND tree mapped our thoughts on macaws (Exhibit B)...

These activities are found in my Rainforest Fun! Art and Writing Pack, if like what you see and want more... Next week, we will be making Jaguars!

We also practiced place value using ice cube trays from the Dollar Tree! I first saw this idea on TeacherTipster.com (Don't you just LOVE that guy??) and knew that I MUST run out immediately and get some of my own, and I found PINK ones!! HEE HEE...

OHMYSNAPS! Aren't they soooo beauteous?? And the rods fit oh so well in those spaces! I highly recommend that you run out to the Dollar Tree right NOW and get some of these babies!

Last, but not least, we culminated our America Unit with Oral Reports on American Symbols. Check out this cutie with his really AMAZING Bald Eagle project!

He was also the one who wore a penguin hat when he did his black and white report--I am thinking that is his signature oral report attire, right??

I almost forgot!! The winner of the Hear-All Assessment Recorder is... (click below) We will be contacting Yvonee with some details! Congrats, girl!