Random Things Thursday

I made these adorable truffla tree cupcakes last year.  They were so easy!  The trees are pretzel sticks and the bottom half of bunny "Peeps".  (It was actually the first photo I ever pinned.)  Now if I can think of what to do with all of the bunny peep heads!

Source: Uploaded by user via Teresa on Pinterest

Speaking of bunnies...  Would you like some bunny poop?  My kids love bunny poop!!!  (a.k.a. colored mini-marshmallows)  I use them as a quick little treat for positive reinforcement.  I know food treats are frowned upon, but I only give them one and it is mostly air right!  I like using mini-marshmallows as treats because they eat them quickly.  They don't have to get up to put a token away or have anything to hold and play with.

A quick freebie for you!  I have been sending home weekly fluency practice for students.  I find fluency passage from various places.  This is a topper I use when I copy the fluency passages.  It has directions for parents and a place to record the time and errors over 4 days.  The students like racing against their times and seeing their reading improve.  Click here to grab your copy.

Reading Celebration

I gearing up for great week.  I just hope it doesn't make the kids too crazy. 

We kicked off the celebration Friday night with a family Seuss Celebration.  There were several guest readers; even the Grinch showed up to read!  We had a Cat in the Hat magician wow and amaze the kids with silly tricks.  One of our most popular guests was Yertle the Turtle.  We had a huge tortise in the library for the kids to see.  (This was great until it peed on the library floor!)

We are also having spirit dress up days.  Monday is Fox in Socks, crazy socks day.  We are also having Lorax mustache day, Wacky Wednesday wacky hair day, Hat day and my favorite relax and read in your PJ's day! 

This week all of my Super 6 centers will be Seuss based.  In word work we will be searching for rhyming words in some of our favorite stories.  The writing center will have some silly response to readings.  Questions will be:  Would you let the Cat in the Hat into play?  I do so like green eggs and ham, but I do not like....  I wish I had... (response to one of my favorite Seuss books "I wish I had Duck Feet.")  Click here to grab the printables I'm using.

Check back this week as I share all of the fun going on in my class.

This freebie with many other great freebies will be featured on Classroom Freebies Manic Monday!  Check it out.

Shape Up with the Cat!

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!  To celebrate his birthday I have a freebie for to share.  We made this very cute Cat in the Hat with shapes.  (We are covering geometry in math right now.)  The kids had a great time with it.  I did not tell them what we were making.  First I described the shapes I wanted them to color using the shape's attributes.  Then we cut and glued the shapes.  (A much needed lesson and practice with following directions.)  The students loved the finished product.

We followed up with reading the classic "The Cat in the Hat" book to kick off our Seuss celebration!  The cats look great in the hallway.  We will pair it with a book response writing.

Click here to grab the activity to make it with your class!

It is hard to believe it is already March.  In Florida, it is coming in like a Lion!  It is so windy and is going to freeze tonight!  I finished my beginning book report for March and posted it in my TpT and TN shops.  This months home project is making a story kite.  I can't wait to get them back in and hang them in my room.  The packet includes everything you need to just copy it and send home.  It has the parent instructions, printables and scoring rubric all ready for you!

March is Coming

Hi, I am Teresa and I am addicted to Candy Crush Saga! 

Oh my goodness, I have wasted so much time this weekend with this silly game.  I know I am wasting time and have so much to do, but I can't stop!!!  I have been working on this post all day in between Candy Crush sessions.  If you have not tried this app, DO NOT DO IT!  (at least I warned you)  OK now to the actual information you really came for!

It is hard to believe February is over this week and March is coming in full speed ahead!!!  With March comes one of my favorite themes, Dr. Seuss!  I love how excited the kids get when they can read one of these books all by themselves.  I have so many great things that go along with this theme, but the copyright issues prevent many of them from being posted on TpT.  I will try and share what I can with you directly though my blog, so follow me or check back often.

The first thing I would like to share with you is a Cat in the Hat color by number 120 chart activity.  First the students find 10 less, 10 more, 1 less and 1 more of a list of numbers.  (I use this sheet as a quick assessment too.)  Then they color in the list of numbers to reveal a surprise.  There are even a few challenge questions for the kids.  So grab a copy here.

I am going to link this post up with Manic Mondays (at midnight tonight) on www.classroomfreebies.com .  Make sure to check it out several times during the day.  I am sure there will be some great freebies!

I Speak for the Books!

This year as a part of our Seuss celebration we challenged our first graders to read and take reading counts test. I set a short term class goal for the kids and it worked better than I imagined!

We set a class goal of 120 Reading Counts points in one week. For every book they read, the students got to put a "truffulla tree" in our hallway forest. The color of the tree varied based on the point value of the book. They put their name and title of the book on the trunk. Students then added the points to the classes count with tally marks. The class tally marks was great math practice. Each day we subtracted the points earned from our class goal to see how many points we had left to earn. We even divided to see how many points each child needed to earn.

The absolute best part was watching the students cheer on their classmates as they worked together to reach the goal. When the kids reached their goal the cheers I heard and smiles on their faces was amazing. I was so proud of them we had a pizza party to celebrate!!!