Blog Hoppin'

Thanksgiving FREEBIES from Teacher Bits and Bobs

Hello there, Blog Hoppers! Kerri B from Teacher Bits and Bobs here...

Is anyone else totally excited that it is ALMOST Thanksgiving?? I mean, in just 21 days (3 short weeks!), we will be eating ~~turkey~~ tofurkey and stuffing and pumpkin pie and NOT teaching school. Can I get a Whoot whoot??

I am here to share with you some Thanksgiving ideas that I do in my class every year. I am a big fan of circle maps and tree maps, and I use them for pretty much everything!
Here is our circle map from last year on the First Thanksgiving that we made...

And, here is an example of a Pilgrim tree map that we also completed last year...

These thinking maps are an AWESOME way to help your kids organize their ideas, and they are the best thing EVER to help them with their writing. And sometimes they even add things that aren't on their circle maps. This was one of my favorites from last year because it's just too funny. Check it out...

We also make some pretty cute art in the month of November. I love our turkeys and our "Save a Turkey" signs, especially since I'm a vegetarian...

Eat more coconuts??? HOLLA!!!

And, my favorite of all are our Step-draw Pilgrim and Wampanoag portraits. Isn't first grade drawing the best??

If you are looking to incorporate some Thanksgiving themed centers or writing activities onto your daily routine this month, you might want to check out these 2 Thanksgivingy packs of mine (click on each picture for a closer look)...

Finally, you can click HERE to get a whole bunch of Thanksgiving FREEBIES from yours truly...including a circle map, 2 tree maps, and the Save a Turkey sign. :)

Happy Happy Turkey (or Tofurkey, if you're a veggie like me!) Day everyone!!
Kerri B

Gobble Gobble! Free Turkey Craftivity

Hi Friends.

November is here and it is time for some turkey fun!

This is Kacey from Doodle Bugs Teaching

Last month, I shared a free Candy Corn Guy Craftivity with you and I wanted to drop back in and share something fun for November. So.. here is a a fun turkey!

My first graders have been working on their turkeys this week and we finished them up today.

When we do a project like this I have my students keep all their pieces in a ziplock bag. We cut and put the pieces immediately in the bag.

This solves MOST of the lost piece problems!

We mounted ours on large pieces of blue background paper. These are pretty big pieces of construction paper. This isn’t necessary or you could cut and use pieces of bulletin board paper instead.

They all turned out a little different with their own personalities.. just the way I like them!

I trimmed around a few of them and put them on our hall bulletin board. The rest will hang on our door and in the room.

You can grab this free download by clicking below:

Gobble Gobble Turkey Craftivity

We Love a Good Challenge!

At the beginning of the year I quickly realized that my students love a good challenge. They are very competitive and normally operate better when they can see the finish line. So, we are all about challenges this year! Here are our favorite two so far...

The Reading Challenge Chain from The Teacher Wife. My students are working on this at home and bring the chains in once they are completed.

The 1,000 Challenge! My students started writing their numbers to 1,000 a couple of weeks ago. A few finished within two days, and some will take months to get it done. I'm not a stickler about when they finish, just as long as they try! I have this 1,000 challenge in my Number Knowledge unit. I now have students working towards 2,000 so it's a challenge that can keep on going :)

Once my students finish their 1,000 challenge, we take a picture, email it to parents, and hang our number strips outside in the hallway. We call it our Thousands Club :)

How do you keep your kiddos motivated? I'd love some new challenges for the upcoming months!

Superhero Giveaway!

Hi Everyone! It's Michelle from Fabulous in First. I'm pretty darn excited about next week for a million different reasons. We'll be celebrating our 50th day, doing one of my favorite shared reading units and I'll be teaching all about Super E!

Last year as I scoured the internet for new ways to teach CVCe I came across this video. I knew it was the perfect way to introduce this vowel pattern to my kiddos. I also wanted some other fun activities to go along with this lesson.

So I created this little unit:

My super students last year.

Sorting Super e and words from other words.

Doing a Super Search for the CVCe words.

This year, my sweet friend Holly Ehle of Mrs. Ehle's Kindergarten Connections inspired me to step up my game. She had a Superhero Day earlier in the year. You can read about it HERE. She went all out and I'm so excited to make this lesson even better this year.

So we bought these capes, just like Holly. You can grab yours HERE! They are only $7.65!

I also picked up these masks for my kids to color as morning work when they come in.

In celebration of all this super fun, I've created a little freebie for you below. You can download it by clicking on the image.

The girls of Blog Hoppin' would also like to give one lucky winner some of our SUPER units. You can enter by liking our Blog Hoppin' page on Facebook.

By entering below you'll win ALL of the following units:

Superhero KIDS Clipart by Krista Wallden

Fun with Heroes by Kelley Dolling

Superheroes CVC Memory Game by Deedee Wills

Scrappy Super Kids by Graphics From the Pond

Welcome Families: Superhero Open House by Rachel Lamb

Super e Search by Michelle Oakes

Superhero Students by Katie King

Everyone's a Superhero by Holly Ehle

Super Brights Classroom Decor by Stephanie Stewart

Super Heroes Craftivity by Deanna Jump

Powerful Partnerships by Kim Adsit

a Rafflecopter giveaway

MOVEMBER... Havin' Fun and Doin' Good!

Hey! It's Holly here, from Mrs. Ehle's Kindergarten Connections. I'm posting today on behalf of all the "Mo Sistas" here on Blog Hoppin' who love our guys... and want to promote the importance of men's health!

I love that motto!

And this month, I found some ‘stache fun with a definite purpose!

Introducing MOVEMBER!

What is Movember, you ask?!

The Movember campaign is a movement which was created to promote men's health. It’s no secret that in this busy day and age that finding time to get regular check-ups and take care of yourself is difficult, and perhaps just plain intimidating… especially if you are a man.

Thus the creation of MOVEMBER!

Movember is about bringing back the moustache (Mo), having fun, creating conversations and awareness, and raising funds for men's health, specifically prostate cancer, testicular cancer and mental health problems.

Check out this little video to be inspired "MO STYLE"...

Here is how it works…

Men are encouraged to “Shave the Date” on November 1^st and start with a clean face. Then, for the rest of November, they are encouraged to grow moustaches! When other people inquire about them growing a “MO”… men use the opportunity to share about their participation in MOVEMBER and also encourage other men to go and get a health check up!

Sound fun? You can become an official
“MO BRO” or “MO SISTA” MOVEMBER supporter by visiting http://us.movember.com/ or by clicking on the image below.

What a great cause! My family is sharing their support of MOVEMBER by showing their ‘Stache Support!

Don’t you just LOVE these MOVEMEBERish Mustache Mania themed materials?!

Of course, they are from CreativeTeaching Press! {I’m sure ya’ll already know how obsessed I am with all of CTPs stylish teacher resources!!! LOVE. THEIR. STUFF.} And in typical CTP fashion, they are 100% “in” to helping me promote this awesome cause!

So… I’m doing a RAFFLECOPTER giveaway of a

Creative Teaching Press MOVEMBER Mustache Mania product bundle!

You could win a bundle of some of these epic goodies!