Monster Mash Giveaway

Today my students earned a Monster Mash Party! 

We started our Monster Mash today by reading the book, I Need My Monster by Amanda Noll.  I absolutely love the illustrations in this book.  It is filled with loads of descriptive words and is great for Halloween.  After our read aloud, students responded to some multiple choice, short response, and extended response questions.  You can find my literature pack on this book here.

Then students wrote letters to the monster under the bed persuading him to come back along with other fun monster related writing prompts.  They topped their papers with cute monsters and we used these to decorate our hallway.  You can find my monster theme writing pack here.

For math, students reviewed addition and subtraction problems with a monster match-up activity during centers. 

We ate a delicious monster cupcakes for snack and drank some juice.

We also ate a monster mash snack containing popcorn, M&Ms and candy corn while we watched a few clips from the movie Monsters, Inc.!

I created a little Friday freebie for you.  It includes these two worksheets.

      

Check out all the other Friday Freebies available by clicking the button below.


The adorable monster clipart that appears in all my new monster products was created by Krista Wallden.  Take a peak at her lovely blog, The Creative Chalkboard.  She has loads of freebies, including some monster ones!  You can purchase her Monsters Under the Bed clipart at her TPT store.

But wait, there's more!  Want to have your own Monster Mash?  Enter my giveaway to win a copy of Amanda Noll's book, I Need My Monster and all 3 of my activity packs (for reading, writing, and math monster fun).  If you win, I'll email you the PDF files for all 3 activity packs and will send the Hardcover book to you in the mail as soon as you give me your mailing address.

The monster that appears on my giveaway button is one of the many you can find it Krista Wallden's Monsters Under the Bed pack.

So what are you waiting for?  Enter now!

a Rafflecopter giveaway
Can't wait?  Want to have your own monster related day (or week) now?  Purchase my monster theme items here.

Happy Friday!  Unleash your inner monster this weekend!

Native American Extra Credit Projects

We have been studying Native Americans these past few weeks.

One of my favorite teaching activities is a Jigsaw.  Students split into groups to research different aspects of Native American life an history.  They created posters and then returned to their original groups to share what they learned.  At the end, I had all groups gather back together so present to the entire class.

I assigned an extra credit project for students to further research the Iroquois at home. Here are some of the great projects and presentations students have already begun to bring in (and the project isn't even due until Tuesday).

Here are some Native American recipes:  corn bread, fresh gathered nuts, and venison stew (in the background).

One student decided to bring in some Native American props and music to share with the class.

Another student created a diorama of an Iroquois village.

My students are so creative.  I can't wait to see what other projects come in on Tuesday!

Oh, and before you go...pop on over to The Peanut Gallery for a Spooktacular Halloween Giveaway!  You can win a product from my store plus loads of other great resources.  Check it out!

Product Swap - Fun Telling Time Activity

Today I'm participating in Jessica Stanford's Magical Product Swap!

In fourth grade we no longer set aside time in our math pacing guide to focus on telling time.  The hope is that students will come to us already able to read the clock.  The reality is that this is not always the case.  While looking around online I found the coolest telling time activity on Teachers Pay Teachers. This activity was created by Lacie Brown from Polka Dots & Pencils. You can find her Teacher Pay Teacher store here.

This activity is a rotation game for telling time to the minute using digital and analog clocks.  I placed each sheet in a different spot around the room and students rotated through the four stations with their answer sheet, a clipboard and pencil. 

My students had a blast visiting each of 4 different stations:  telling time on an analog clock, telling time on a digital clock, matching analog and digital times, and drawing times on an analog clock.

Not only did students have fun, but this activity was a great review of previously taught clock reading skills.

I am so glad that I found Lacie's blog and TPT store.  Lacie has taught 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade in South Carolina for the past 4 years.  Pop on over to Lacie's blog and check out all her great ideas!

Then take a look at some other cool products at Jessica's product swap!

October Currently

Yippee...it's time for October's Currently compliments of Farley from Oh' Boy 4th Grade!

Check out Jerry Seinfeld's book, Halloween!  It's super cute and great for making text-to-self connections.  The illustrations are to die for and you will definitely have a few good laughs throughout your read aloud.

A Little Math for Monday Made It

For Monday Made It I wanted to share with you some of the things we made for math!

This past month we dove head first into the Common Core Learning Standards for math, starting with Module 1.  Our focus for the last few weeks has been place value.

We started out thinking about all the different ways we can make or represent a number.  We used place value blocks, other various manipulatives, and even recorded some possibilities on pumpkins.  This picture shows all the different ways students were able to make a specific number.  Each pair of students received a different number.

Then we moved on to practicing some of the different ways to write a number:  standard form, written form, and expanded form.  We choose numbers and wrote them in different ways on candy corn and hung them in our hallway for all to see.

We also compared and ordered numbers.  We colored candies in, cut them out, and organized them from least to greatest and greatest to least.  We displayed these in our hallway as well.  Our hallway was looking pretty fabulous for open house.

You can try out these activities with your class, and many more, with my activity pack here at my Teachers Pay Teachers store.

 

Check out some of my other fall related activity packs on my Teachers Pay Teachers store!

       

 Enjoy! 

Check out Tara’s site for more Monday Made It fun!  What have you made this month?

Halloween Freebies

Today is my 27th Birthday!  I'm very excited it has fallen on a Sunday this year so I can relax and actually enjoy the day.

Since tomorrow is the first day of October, I figured what better day to start BOO'ing the teachers at my school.  It's simple.  Print off a "You've Been BOO'ed!" poem and door sign, purchase a spooky and fun treat, drop it off outside a classroom door when no one is around, and RUN!!!!

Let's face it, the first few weeks of school have been pretty stressful.  Add some fun to your "ordinary" school day and start a chain reaction at your school!  It's perfect for teachers, students, and staff in your building....and it's FREE!  You can download it here at my Teachers Pay Teachers Store!

Here is an example of what I am going to leave outside a mystery teacher's door tomorrow morning!

    

And, since it's my birthday and I'm in a giving mood check out my Spooky Stationary!   You can download them at my Teacher Pay Teacher store for FREE here as well!

Two versions are included: primary lines and intermediate lines.

    

Well, happy last day of September, happy first day of October (tomorrow), and Happy Birthday to me!

Real Reading Salad

Today we made a real reading salad. 

Before we put on our chef hats, I started out by reading a challenging passage to my students fluently.  I asked students what they noticed about my reading.  They complimented my appropriate pacing and intonation.  They complimented my ability to decode tricky words and to not sound like a "robot."

Then I let students in on a little secret.  I told them that although I read fluently, I really had no idea what I read about.  I didn't know what any of the words meant and if they were to ask me a question about the passage, I probably wouldn't be able to answer it.

Students glared at me in awe and we started our discussion on the importance of thinking as we read and pausing if what we read does not make sense.

Then I introduced the ingredients for our real reading salad.  We started out with some lettuce (to symbolize reading) and tomatoes (to symbolize thinking).

I selected a volunteer to put on the big chef hat.  While I read our story for the day I had the student add green lettuce to the salad bowl when I was reading and red tomatoes when I was sharing my thinking.  We used little pieces of red and green construction paper for convenience.

At the end we had created a real reading salad, a great symbol for the importance of thinking while we really read. 

I told students that in fourth grade, we need to be really reading and always thinking.  For more information on making a real reading salad with your class, or for more great comprehension connections, check out Tanny McGregor's book:  Comprehension Connections.

Happy Friday's Eve!