Pumpkins. Spiders. Bats. {A Spooky FREEBIE too!} Oh My!

So if you read my Five for Friday post HERE you know that last weekend was all about pumpkin taste testing and Halloween decorating! Well it happened and it was AWESOME! The verdict is in and pumpkin m&m's are a NO GO...but pumpkin spice oreos are where it is at! {Even better if you put them in the freezer!}

Channeling my inner Hocus Pocus I decked out the house for Halloween!

And of course I had to get some Halloween nails to match my Halloween house! ;)

Next week the creepiness will extend to the classroom!  The kids will be working in lots of math and ELA centers filled with pumpkins, bats and spiders. Oh my!

Pumpkins, Spiders, Bats...Oh My! {Aligned to the Common Core}

Since you made it all the way to the end of this extremely long post, here is a quick freebie for you! My kids ate up the "Red Hot Reader" and the "Sound the Alarm Writer" awards {Read about it HERE!} that I did during fire safety week, so I knew I wanted to do something similar for these Halloween-erific days. Really, it is a trick and a treat...I will trick the kids to work hard, and treat them for their efforts. All eyes will be out, searching for "Spooktacular Readers" and "Bootastic Writers" These students will be rewarded with the privilege of wearing a Frankenstein mask to read and using Halloween-y pencils for writing. As a sweet little treat, they will be rewarded with eyeball candies. I mean, who doesn't love to eat eyeballs? {Everything you need to complete this little freebie was purchased at either the Dollar Tree or Target Dollar Spot. Dollar deals get me every time!!!} Grab your freebie below!

Five for Friday!

Happy Friday! I am linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for my Five for Friday!

I feel like this picture speaks for itself...blow my mind amazingness!!!! October + pumpkins= happiness...and I am on a mission to put pumpkin into every meal I can. I even contemplated finding pumpkin toothpaste. Too much?!?! 

This week we started Fire Safety. The kids are loving it! Every day they ask me "Are we going to have a fire drill?!" Hopefully this week will help us be more prepared for next time we do have a fire drill. I won't lie, the first fire drill of the year was pretty much a HOT MESS...anyone remember Kindergarten Cop!?!

All of our fire learning this week has gotten me excited about watching Chicago Fire again! Anyone else watching? I wish when we went on our field trip to the fire station the fighters looked a little more like this! Wink! ;)

You can read all about our week and grab some freebies too, HERE!

Mo' money NO problems! :) This week we have been learning about community helpers and economics in our community. Who doesn't love money?! Probably my proudest achievement of the week is that the kids are no longer saying that there is just "some old man" on the coins...they now know that those "old men" are past presidents of our AMAZING country!

Here's a little trick for ya...I use money to teach the concepts of greatest and least in math. It is easier for my kids to catch on to these concepts when thinking about money and its value. They tend to understand that they want $10 over $1 because it is GREATER in value!

STOP IT RIGHT NOW...look at what was spotted on the news...HOW LOW WILL IT GO?!?!?! A cool front is on its way. Notice they said cool front, not cold front! :/ I will take it here in South Florida! We are still rocking 90 degrees outside every day, and honestly...girls just wanna wear BOOTS!

Please cross your fingers and blow some cool weather my way. Look at these poor dusty boots that are just dying to come out and play!

This weekend will be filled with pumpkin taste testing and Halloween decorating! Whoop! Whoop! If you are decorating this weekend, you might wanna check out this FREE BOO Pennant! Check back in to see how things turn out!

Happy Weekend!

October Currently & A Free Treat!

I am linking up with O'Farley for my October Currently!

Listening to... The Voice- on DVR of course-I don't do commercials! :) Is anyone else loving the judges this season?!?! It just so happens that I have had a HUGE crush on Pharell...since FOREVER, so I love watching him!

Loving... The book Crash Course by Kim Bearden. I love reading a little bit every night before bed!

Thinking...I wanna start this fun little number at my school! {You've Been Boo'd!} If you haven't heard of it check out these super cute and FREE printables from simplykierste.com!!

Wanting...basketball back! Only 5 more days! Let's go HEAT!

Needing...to go to bed! Dang, I drank my second cup of coffee a little late this afternoon! :/

Trick or Treat!?! TREAT!!!! Inspired by The Voice- Blake and Pharrell's new friendship...just for you, BOO! ;)

Happy October!!

ABC's Easy As 123!

Have you ever had a kid who just got stuck on a letter? No really, I mean like "STUCK"! Have you ever "acted a fool"...dancing, singing and doing all sorts of craziness to get a student to remember a letter...and they still forget it?!?!?!? 

This is one of my favorite activities to get students to remember specific letters that they are just "stuck" on. It has saved me a lot of frustration and "acting like a fool"! Plus it is super simple to have the kids create! {I use this activity for numbers, letters and words.}

We create a letter necklace...OOOOOOOO! So fancy! ;)

Here is what you need:

{ANY stickers you have, notecards, string, hole punch and markers}

First have the students watch a letter video/song to get them movin' and groovin'!

{Have Fun Teaching Alphabet Videos}

Next do a letter sorting activity with the kids. I like to use this pocket chart activity only because it is easily accessible for me and I can target the specific letters that I would want to work on.

Then give the students a note card and marker. I have the student write the letter that they are working on. The student then searches through the stickers to find pictures of things that start with the letter. I use stickers because it requires no cutting or pasting, just grab and stick! Plus...who doesn't LOVE stickers?!?! And come on, every good "necklace" has stickers, right?!?! I get stickers from parents, the Dollar Tree, Wal-Mart, Highlights--- anywhere! {I include both alphabet stickers and picture stickers for letter sound work.} Last I punch the hole at the top and add string. The entire necklace took about 5 minutes to create! Usually as an extra fun touch we rename the student for the day. For instance, instead of calling me Ms. Shope, if I was working on the letter Nn, my name would be Nn for the day! The kids think it is too much fun!

{stickers: nut, Nemo and Ninja Turtle}

Hope your kids like this idea as much as mine do!!!

Heating Things Up! {Fire Safety Week FREEBIES}

For the next 2 weeks we are learning all about Fire Safety...I like to play and pretend, so this is a fun theme for me!

To get the kids excited about the week I hung "flames" around the room. I was inspired by this blog post and tutorial! {HERE} The kids FrEAkeD out this morning!

Amazing how a little hype and influencing of imagination can make learning SO MUCH FUN! :)
Here are some pictures of us hard at work in reading and math!

We are really working on our reading and writing muscles and developing our stamina. My students really are working so hard, and I wanted to reward them for all of their efforts. {Sometimes I have to remember that they are just like me...I like to be told when I am doing a good job, and I especially like to be rewarded for my efforts!}  So I made these little banners. As my students are reading and writing independently, I am looking for those who are displaying qualities of a good reader or writer. When I explained the reward to the students they became even more eager to get to work! Well look at that...tricked 'em!!!! ;)  

I also let the Red Hot Reader read wearing a fire helmet and a reading chief badge. {At this point my kids were going BANANAS---sang just like Gwen Stefani!} During writing, I "sounded the alarm" {rang a bell} to announce who I had seen working hard as a writer. Those students got to wear a writing chief badge, and wait for it...use "Fire Writer Pencils"! {Stop it!} :) The pencils were just yellow, red and orange mechanical pencils!

All day long whenever I saw my students "blazing" with amazing work, I gave them a "fire hose" to cool off! {Twizzlers} I also gave away lots of Red Hots for students that were "on fire" with their behavior! 

I know it seems cheezy, ridiculous or even over kill...but can I tell you that my Monday was ON FIRE!!! If being cheezy and silly gets my students to work hard and have FUN doing it, I am all for it! If you want to join the fun, grab your free copy by clicking the picture below!

Fire Safety Resources...

YouTube songs for Fire Safety...

Hope your week is off to a great start!