I Now Pronounce You Husband and Wife - The Wedding of Q and U

Howdy folks!  Lindsay here . . .

Well, today was one of those there-must-be-a-full-mon-beause-my-students-are-all-acting-insane kind of day. . .  You know, like when you think you are talking, but no one seems to actually be paying attention to the words that you thought were coming out of your mouth . . .

The only thing that made me feel better about my crazy day was when I heard that my neighbor teacher actually had a student attack another student with a spray bottle of Expo marker cleaning solution.

See??  I can always be worse. ;)

Well, I didn't actually come here tonight to tell you about students being assaulted with cleaning solutions . . . I actually wanted to share with you all the fun that we have been having this week in class in honor of Q week....

  As I was perusing Pinterest last spring I stumbled across Kathleen Pederson's "The Exquisite Wedding of Q and U" pack that is a bundle of adorable activities meant to help students remember that U always follows Q in words, and I KNEW I had to make the wedding and all the fun QU activities happen this year!  (If you haven't already, you can check out Kathleen's Growing Kinders TPT store and her Q and U Wedding pack HERE.)

To kick off Q week on Monday we read "The Exquisite Wedding of Q and U" - my kiddos love it!  Especially the arrival of the quintuplets at the end! :)

 

Then we talked about all kinds of QU words and practiced finding Q words, writing Q words, etc. etc.

 

 

Then finally, the big day arrived.  The wedding.

 

 

 

All the students were invited to attend and dress up for the wedding: the boys as quarterbacks, the girls as queens.  I have to say that the girls did enjoy this part a wee bit more than my boys  . . . Those girls love any excuse for some high heels and a tiara! :)

 

 

For the wedding we first had the ceremony, featuring, of course, the bride and groom - Q and U!   (As you can see, it was a VERY elegant affair!)

 

In the wedding vows we promised that in all of our writing we would make sure never to break the bond of Q and U, and that they should always be together to make the sound /kwa/.

 

 

After the ceremony I taught my kids the Chicken Dance (Dora the Explorer party mix version . . . in case you were wondering!) and then we had cake and milk! It was a beautiful day!

 

 

 

Well, that's it for now folks!  Hope you all have a great night and a happy Friday tomorrow!

 

 

Goodnight!

 

Lindsay

 

P.S. A special thanks to all of you who stopped by and supported Kerri and I during the Cyber Monday + Tuesday TPT sale!  You guys rock! 

 

 







Happy Cyber Monday...and Tuesday!

Happy Sunday folks!  Lindsay here . . .

 Kerri and I are doing a double duty post today, and I'm first!!

Hope you all had wonderful a wonderful Thanksgiving with your families!!  My little family of three flew out to Florida to visit Jack's Grammy and Grampy and, well . . . we are still recovering.  That is a LONG flight with a fidgity one year old on your lap!  (Note to self: Next year don't be so cheap and buy son his own seat . . .)

Unfortunately now that we are home it is grocery shopping/unpack the suitcases/start the laundry time . . . so I'll be quick today!  I am so very excited to announce my newest TPT unit: Merry & Bright - Holiday Math and Literacy Centers!!  (click the image below to check it out in my TPT store)

This 62-page math and literacy centers pack includes 5 math and 5 literacy centers, for a total of 10 standards-based, hands on, ready to print centers!

Here's what's included:

1. Feliz Navidad Find the Number (number sequencing to 20)
2. Jingle All The Way Graph (sorting, counting, graphing)
3. Santa's Hellper Number Sort (representing numers using ten frames, tally marks and dice)
4. Teddies and Stockings Number Sequencing (dice game to practice number sequencing using the number line)
5. Twelve Days of Christmas Patterns (sorting and creating patterns)
6. My Christmas Wish Sentence Scramble (write, cut, glue and illustrate mixed up holiday sentence)
7. Sweet Treat Sound Count (segmenting and counting sounds in words)
8. Very Itchy Vowel Sort (sorting words according to the vowel sound)
9. Very Merry Making Words (picture word puzzles)
10. Holly Jolly Rhyming Words (rhyming pairs)

I am so excited to introduce these darling centers to my own kiddos when we get back to school!  (There are FOUR weeks between Thanksgiving break and Christmas break this year, which means even more holiday goodness!) Sigh.  I. LOVE. CHRISTMAS.

Well, hope you all have fun checking out my new unit!  I am off to tackle one giant heap of laundry as I daydream about my relaxing week in Florida . . . Cheers! Here's Kerri with news about our B.I.G. sale and the TPT code to get you even more savings!!

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Good Evening, Blogging Buddies! Kerri here...
My part of the post is gonna be short and sweet to tell you that both of our TPT stores will be 20% off on Monday AND Tuesday, PLUS TPT will be offering an extra 10% off, which will make the savings WICKED AWESOME!! Here are a few of my fun little units that you might want to pick up...

Magic Elf-my favorite AND MY BEST SELLER!!!

Christmas Math and Lit Centers-full of Christmassy fun and lots of learning!!

All of my writing centers are a great deal! During the sale, Each writing center included in the bundles comes out to like $1!! BARGAIN!!

Have fun getting your shop on!! I know I will be filling up my cart with many great units from my fellow TPT sellers!! Use the code below for the extra 10% off!!

XOXO Kerri B and Lindsay

Thanksgiving Fun and a PLETHORA of Stone Soup stuff!!

Happy Wednesday, Blogging Buddies!! Kerri here...
Hallelujah! We are finally on our Thanksgiving Break! Don't get me wrong, I love my little chitlins, but I am happy to get a little break-a-roony! Of course, what do I do on my first day of break? Blog stalk, blog write, and make stuff for my classroom. What a nut I am!!

I will be making up for it later when my bestie and I take our kiddos to...Haus of Pizza! If you live in my area, and you know who you are, then you know this pizza is MUY DELICIOSO! The perfect pre-thanksgiving meal, if you ask me!! My husband is still gluten-free, so he doesn't get to come. Too bad for him, but yay for Girl Power!!

I wanted to share what we have been doing in regards to Thanksgiving and Stone Soup making. We learned all about the first Thanksgiving and made these circle maps...

Then we used our maps to write about the First Thanksgiving. I was so proud of my little kidlets' writing...

Apparently, the Pilgrims caught sharks off the side of the Mayflower. Who knew??!

Did you know that the Mayflower stopped at Plymouth Rock??

We also made Stone Soup this week for our Thanksgiving Celebration and all the kids brought an ingredient to share. After reading the story, we worked on this Stone Soup re-telling chart together...

My kids favorite part of this activity was labeling each thing on the chart. They were SILENT the entire time and did such a great job spelling the words phonetically!

After we made the chart together, we filled out a flow map with the order that each ingredient was added. This we did together as well, but we focused on spelling each ingredient correctly...

We ran out of time, but I was going to have them write a "How To Make Stone Soup" story as well. Oh pooh...maybe next year!!
If you would like a copy of the Stone Soup flow map and story writing paper to save for next year (or later this year! Stone Soup can be made ANYTIME!), click on the soup bowl below to access a copy via Google Docs...

 I also found some other AWESOME resources on the internet for Stone Soup! Scholastic has a mini-book that we read together... (click link to download)

http://minibooks.scholastic.com/content/collateral_resources/pdf/46/0439773946_e011.pdf

We read a Stone Soup Poem and circled all of the ingredients with our HALLOWED highlighters...

http://www.dltk-teach.com/t.asp?b=m&t=http://www.dltk-teach.com/fables/stonesoup/bposter.gif

And... we watched the Chinese version of the story on You Tube!

I guess you could say my kids were totally Stone Souped out, right?? What I loved about all of these activities is that they are all different versions of the story,  so we were able to compare and contrast them!

We also made Mrs. B's Turkey Rescue turkeys last week and we all thought of what we could eat instead of  turkey (being a vegetarian myself, this made my heart smile!!)...I LOVED their responses!!

They seemed to have a candy and chocolate theme going on, but whatevs...right??? BTW, that IS my bearded dragon from last year sitting on the counter. He is GINORMOUS now!!

Welp, that's all I have for now. I hope you all have a blessed Thanksgiving with family and friends, and please know how thankful Lindsay and I are for all of your support and for being such loyal followers!!

XOXO Kerri B

50th Day Photo Dump...and more Magic Elf Madness! Plus. some FREEBIES!

Happy Sunday, Peeps! Kerri here...
2 more days and I am one free lady!! We have to school Monday and Tuesday, and then we get 5 glorious days off! I CANNOT wait! 

Here are a couple of fun pics from our 50th day of school, which was last Thursday!

We drew ourselves as 50's kids...

We wore our 50's outfits...

Mini Danny Zuko

Mini Sandra Dee

This one was my favorite of all. She kept asking me all day if her lipstick was still on! A girl after my own heart!!

We also had rootbeer floats (yumminess!), listened to 50's music (which invoked lots of giggles from the children), and did lots of activities from Cara Carroll's 50th Day of School Unit (LOVE LOVE LOVE!!)

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In other news, my Merry Christmas, Magic Elf! Christmas Math and Literacy Centers Unit is finally posted and ready to roll! I know what I'm going to be doing over Thanksgiving Break (cutting out laminate and watching my stories~Can I get a what what!!)

Here's a little sneak peek...

These centers are perfect for the month of December, and can be used alone or in conjunction with my Magic Elf Writing and Activity Pack. While you are visiting my TPT shop, you can also pick up this Magic Elf FREEBIE...

AND, I made a cutesy little poster to display that shows Magic Elf and some of the words he is going to teach my children about during the month of December. Click on the picture to download your own copy via Google Docs!

Hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
XOXO Kerri B

Magic Elf 2.0! He's baaaaack!!!

Hiya Peeps! Happy Veteran's Day! Kerri here...

First of all, I think I am in denial that I actually have to go back to school tomorrow. I'M NOT READY!! It has been glorious having an extra day off, like for serious! I think we should implement 4 day work weeks for the whole year. Anyone with me??

This is just a quickie post to say that I have TOTALLY re-vamped my Magic Elf Writing and Activity Pack, and it is UBER-CUTE now! Like, I'm gonna die from all the cuteness! Also, I added 4 extra activities for the same price! Check it out...

The magic elf notes are OH MY WORD cute now, and here are all of the activities that are included...

What’s Included:

Magic Elf and Daily Messages-Purchase a stuffed elf or laminate the clip art elf that is included in this packet. Laminate messages for durability and cut out. Each morning before your students arrive, hide “Magic Elf” somewhere in your classroom along with one of his messages about the true meaning of Christmas. I have included 17 days worth of messages, so you can choose the ones that work best for you, depending on how many days you are in school the month of December. 

Magic Elf Story Paper-Students can write a story about Magic Elf visiting their classroom, and then illustrate their story.

Magic Elf Letter-Students can use the writing paper to write a letter to Magic Elf about what he has taught them, or what they would like him to tell Santa!

Magic Elf Book-Copy the cover and inside pages back to back, including as many inside pages as there are school days in December. Instruct students to draw Magic Elf on the cover. Every day, after reading Magic Elf’s clue each morning to your students, instruct them to write what Magic Elf’s meaning of Christmas was for the day and illustrate what that means to them. At the end of the month, your students will have their own book on the meaning of Christmas to take home and share with their parents!

Magic Elf Acrostic- Students can write their own acrostic poem about Magic Elf, or write one together as a class!

Magic Elf Certificates- Let Magic Elf pass these certificates out to students who are caught showing the true spirit of Christmas! My students find their certificate on their desk each morning!

Magic Elf Scramble-Students can unscramble the Magic Elf sentence, glue it in the correct order, write it, and illustrate it!

Magic Elf Art Project- Students follow directions to create their very own Magic Elf art project. These look great mounted next to the acrostic poem or Magic Elf Story on construction paper and displayed for all to see!

So, if you purchased this last year from me (And I know there are bunches of you who did!) then PLEASE re-download so you can get all of the new activities. This was THE BEST most FAVORITEST thing my class did the whole month of December and their behavior was FABULOUS, because they knew Magic Elf was watching!! HEE HEE!! Plus, they learned that Christmas is so much more than just getting presents (you know, sharing, caring, and being thankful for our many blessings!) 

Here are a couple links for some Magic Elves you can purchase online to use with my Magic Elf pack:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Fiesta-Plush-Christmas-Santas-Secret-Elf-BOY-12-inch-Stuffed-Animal-/360507501512?pt=Stuffed_Animals_US&hash=item53efebebc8

http://www.amazon.com/Santas-Secret-Elf-Boy-Fiesta/dp/B000LLJSDS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1352779037&sr=8-1&keywords=stuffed+elf

And, coming soon to a TPT store near you (well, that would be my TPT store!), presenting...

Stay tuned, friends!!

XOXO Kerri B

Winners, Pass the Turkey locked and loaded, and a some FREEBIES of course!

Happy Sunday, Peeps! Kerri here...
This Sunday is even more glorious because we have Monday off!! WHOO HOO!! What am I going to do with all of my free time tomorrow?? Let's see...watch my stories, online shop all the good Veteran's Day sales, see if I can coax my hubs into going out to eat. Yup! Sounds like an AWESOME Veteran's Day to me!

We have winners, Peeps!! Here they are, courtesy of Rafflecopter!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I will be emailing you girls today so you can choose your Writing Pack! YAY!

In other news, I have my Pass the Turkey! Thanksgiving Centers locked and loaded and ready to roll for the next 2ish weeks. Well, ALMOST completely ready to go, except that we ran out of laminate on Friday at school (I HATE it when that happens! And this was NOT my fault. Yes, I am the laminating queen, but I haven't laminated anything for at least a week!) so let's just say I am 2/3 ready to go!
My hand had a wicked cramp in it yesterday after cutting out all the centers, but it will be soooo worth it when my little babies get their hands on these beauties. Check them out!

Thankful Noun Sort

Pass the Turkey Sentence Scramble

Give Thanks! ABC Order

Plymouth Rock Digraph Sort

Wampanoag Making Words

Let's Eat Bar Graph

This one's a two-fer! Turkey Lurkey Number Order AND Turkey Lurkey Odd/Even Sort

Thanksgiving Number Sentence Match

It's Turkey Telling Time (sad...printer running out of ink!)

Thankful Part/Part/Whole Addition AND Subtraction (my printer ran out of ink on the recording sheets-darn!)

If you are intrigued and would like to learn more about all of this Thanksgiving Goodness (which is in a week and a half-YIKES!! I'm NOT READY!) then click here!

Finally, here is a little freebie for all of you, our faithful followers who we love and appreciate so much! I was inspired by Christy at First Grade Fever, who makes the cutest Sight Word Scrambler worksheets, so I made a few for Thanksgiving using Thanksgiving vocabulary words, specifically Turkey, Pilgrims, and Wampanoag. I do these every week with my kidlets in centers and they LOVE them! Click on the Turkey Lurkey below to download your own set! ) 

Welp, that's all I got today, friends! I am off to shower and get ready for church, followed by Target, Trader Joes, Petco, blah blah blah. You know, the usual Sunday drill! What are YOU all doing tomorrow?? You have it off right?

XOXO Kerri 

Book Buddies, Writing Pack Bundles, and ANOTHER GIVEAWAY!!

Happy Thursday, friends! Kerri here...
Well, it is actually truly raining here in So. Cal. I cannot believe it! It was 90 flippin' degrees on Monday (lovely weather for conferences, if you ask me! NOT!! I was SWEATING like CRAZY!) and now today it has been chilly/rainy ALL DAY. Me loves this weather! I am currently wearing my flannel fat pants and a sweatshirt, and I feel so comfy cozy! I have 2 more conferences tomorrow, and I am SOOOOOOO darn tired. Do the rest of you feel exhausted after conference week?

I wanted to share with you the CUTEST thing EVER! My friend Sarah (who my eldest daughter is named after!), and who I have been friends with since we were babies, lives in England (you know about my obsession with England and all things British right??), and she is the most creative person I have EVER met! Not only that, but she has MAD skills with a sewing machine and makes the most ADORABLE things EVER!!

She sent me her Book Buddy creation last year for my classroom, and I about DIED when I opened the box. Check these guys out...

Here is mine sitting in my library at school. My kiddos LOVE him!! He has a pocket in the front to hold a book or two, and I put all of my National Geographic Kids magazines in the pocket. I just love him to BITS!

If you would like a little bit of this cuteness for your classroom, click HERE to go to my friend Sarah's ETSY shop. She has LOTS of other cute hand-sewn things in her shop, perfect for Christmas gifts for your little ones at home. My Katie has her eye on one of the Indie girls...

Aren't they just ADORBS??

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Okay, here comes the teachery part of the blog post! I FINALLY finally finally bundled all of my writing centers together by theme at a discounted price (YAY for discounts!!). 

This has been bugging me for AGES, and I finally buckled down and got them done! Anything to put off doing my report cards (*procrastinator*)!

So, here we go...Set #1-Awesome animals!

Set #2...Super Storybooks!

Set #3...Lots of Learning!

Set #4...Fabulous Fun!

And my older ones...Wowzville Writing!

and finally...Fantastic Fairytales!

Can you tell I have kind of an obsession with creating writing centers?? I just can't STOP! My kidlets absolutely go cuckoo for cocoa puffs over these writing mats, and their creative juices really get going by using them!

You can check them out by clicking on each picture above, but let's do a little giveaway, shall we??

Three people will choose the writing pack bundle of their choice, and all you have to do is enter through rafflecopter! Rafflecopter will choose the winners Sunday night, so hurry up and enter already! :)

a Rafflecopter giveaway 

Can I just say how excited I am to get Monday off?? God bless the Veterans!

See ya later, Peeps!

XOXO Kerri B