faulker099

Hello Everyone! Brrrr! It's chilly here!!  I've got some yummy soup going and just took out my cranberry pumpkin bread.  It's beginning to smell a lot like Thanksgiving!   The next few weeks will be crazy busy for me as my youngest graduates with two degrees from UTD.  Lots of company coming in, meals to prep, house to clean, announcements and pics to send out, and so much more!!  So this post is very quick.   I wanted to show you some fun stuff we were doing in math, what's coming up in math, and a cute little turkey my kids are going to love to make!   We have been working hard on composing and decomposing, beginning addition, etc. in math.  We played a fun whole class game which helped the kids understand number relationships. It was called Turkey Trouble. I made a giant turkey and used 10 of my candy corn pieces from other games.  The kids took turns closing their eyes and one kiddo would hide some of the candy under the turkey ...

Hello Everyone! A super quick post tonight.  I realized that I had not posted my Veterans day unit update.  I added a few things from last years unit. If you are still in need of a few extra things to do tomorrow as you celebrate and remember those who protect and serve, you can find the link at the bottom of this post. Here are a few pics Click HERE For Your Free Printable!! THANK YOU to all the Veterans who gave and continue to give so selflessly. You have our hearts!! Have a wonder-filled day tomorrow!! Joyfully! Nancy

Hello Everyone! I love this time of year.  I love learning about the trials and successes of the small group of Pilgrims who traveled so far and lived through tragic times...all for freedom. I love sharing with kids the differences in the wants and needs between our generations. I love learning and teaching about the different environments and settings. for many of our kids, the stories of the Pilgrims are just that...stories.  I often wonder if they realize that most of what we read about from that time period really happened. There is a legend out there that I came across many years ago, The Legend of the Five Corn Kernels.  It is said that the Pilgrims endured such hardship that there were times when all they had to eat were five kernels of corn each per day. When times got better, they continued to serve the five corn kernels on their plates to honor and remember those hard times.  Many families of original descent continue this practice.  From my research, ...

Hello Everyone! This is a super quick post tonight.  I'm Taking my sweet mom out for her birthday!!  Happy birthday, Mom!!!  My mom and dad were my first teachers.  They taught all five of us kids the value of sharing what we have been blessed with.  They both gave the best of themselves every minute of every day. I'm dedicating this post to them tonight. I am simply sharing a couple of quick units. They will get me joyfully through the coming week with my kids.  One unit is focused on the Native Americans who welcomed the Pilgrims to America so long ago, sharing their knowledge of living in this land.  The other is a set of 5 addition math tub activities with a Thanksgiving feel. Click HERE for your printable unit (20+ pages) Click Here for the math addition unit :) I hope you can use parts of these to help your kids next week.  I appreciate the opportunity to share my love of teaching in a hands on way with you!! Now off to celebrate the woman ...

Hello Everyone! PHEW! We made it through a very busy week! We have been studying objects in the night sky this week (among MANY other things!!!) and after reading a couple of Splat the Cat books, especially Good Night, Sleep Tight , we decided to make a sweet treat inspired by that cute kitty!! This idea is an embellishment on the Black Cat Oreos on the Party Pinchers site.  Thank you for the fun idea Party Pinchers!!!  They turned out so cute! And they look like Splat!! We celebrated our annual literature appreciation day with Starlight Reading (also went along with our study of night time sky!) and dressing as Splat!!!  LOOOOOOOOVE This Team!!! We are always up for fun!! We are now gearing up for a big study on composing and decomposing numbers in math. It being November, I decided to create a little unit with a Thanksgiving feel. Here are some quick pics. The unit contains 29 pages of whole group learning opportunities and math tub practice opportunities.  If you ...

Hello Everyone!! What an exhausting but wonderful week!  (21 Parent conferences, 21 report cards with 3 assessment result reports and parent letters for each, instructional specialists, WatchDogs, All Stars, field trip planning, technology enrichment lessons, planning for next week, and of course teaching.) I had to put just a little fun (both for the kids and for me!!) into our week, sooooooo..... This post is directly attributed to a Good Housekeeping craft idea. You can find it here!  http://www.bhg.com/halloween/crafts/easy-to-make-candy-corn-halloween-garland/ I loved this idea for turning a paperplate into paper candy corn!  We are so into candycorn lately! Well, I decided to take our science study about the sun and stars  and infuse a little candy corn into it! Huh??? Hold on...you'll see!  The kids traced the natural circle  and drew a small circle on a plain paper plate, creating three sections.  Then they painted the outer edge yellow and th...