SWAP MEET - A PRODUCT SWAP BLOG HOP AND GIVEAWAY

Welcome to what promises to be an awesome Swap Meet Product Swap/Blog Hop and Giveaway hosted by the darling Hanging Around In Primary and Momma With A Teaching Mission.  I'm so happy you are here :-)  
I had the privilege to be matched up with Brooke Brown from Teaching Outside The Box.  I knew we'd hit it off since both of our first names start with the letter B aaaaaand my last name is switching to a B too at the end of this month #bridetobe #cantwaitfornovember28

I was a tad bit overwhelmed with how many amazing products Brooke has in her TPT store.  She was kind to direct me to some of her awesome looking STEM products.  Have you seen this one for the holidays?  The three challenges in this product are so adorable and motivating.

The only problem is...I don't teach Science.  Booooooo :-(

Instead, I decided to try out her Spooktacular Halloween Literacy Centers for 2nd and 3rd Grade.  Lemme tell you...my students loved it!

The product includes 6 centers.  The first one we tried out was "Top Tricks and Treats" as a whole group activity.

The students brainstormed all of their favourite Halloween candies. As you can see from my chalkboard, it was a long list.  I had never heard of Airheads before...does that mean I am one? LOL

Number 1 is candy corn?  Noooooo thank you.  Funny how you either love it or hate it.

My students were so motivated to write their lists.  I also gave them a plain piece of paper to draw some of their treats in their Halloween bags.  We glued both together and created a bulletin board display.

The second activity we did with great success was "Letter to a Creepy Critter."

I introduced the activity by reading Lucille Colandro's "There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Bat!" as there are lots of creepy critters in the book.

Of course, some of my students pulled a Sarah Palin and went rogue. They asked if they could write to a favourite movie character instead of  a creepy critter.  Here's a cute letter to Joy from Inside Out.

And here's another one to the Wizard that got swallowed by the old lady.

I was really impressed with how motivated my students were to write on both occasions.  Well done, Brooke for making my job easier!

Feeling left out because you don't already own this unit? You are in luck!  Enter below to enter our Swap Meet Giveaway for your chance to win all 15 swapped products.

You'll have to know this in order to enter...

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Good luck!

Witches Brew Recipe

I served this Witches Brew punch at school on Friday and my students went nuts for it.  At the last moment, I decided to add a bit of whip cream.  I highly recommend the extra decadence and visual appeal it brought to the drink!

WITCHES BREW PUNCH
(serves 22 students)
2 L of apple juice
1 package of lime Jello powder
1 L of ginger ale
whip cream

Mix the apple juice and Jello powder together.  Slowly add the ginger ale.  Squirt a bit of whip cream into the bottom of a cup.  Add the punch over top and allow drink to rest for a minute.  Enjoy!

Halloween Tangram Fun & A Freebie

Before you judge my highly advanced technological skills, please remember desperate times call for desperate measures.  I must have pressed something on my desktop computer because my document camera no longer works.  As there was no AV contact around to fix this, I needed to bring back technology from the 1960s.

I searched high and low in my school for an overheard projector and I eventually found one in a deep, dark corner, dust bunnies and all.

One of my all time favourite books to bring out in October is "It Was Halloween Night...A Scary Math Story-with Tangrams!" by Marilyn Burns and Grace Maccarone, illustrated by Matthew Straub. I know I've had it for a long time based on how I labelled the spine with a happy face orange sticker. That was when I only owned a few books. Sadly, it appears as if this gem of a book is out of print but the concept is easy to duplicate.

The story goes like this: the main character, a young boy by the name of Greedy Pete, is followed around on Halloween night by animals created out of a piece of broken tile he receives at a house his mother told him NOT to go to.  I love stories that emphasize how mothers know best, don't you? #youbetwedo ;-)

I start reading the story and then hand out a tangram to each student once I get to the part where the first tangram animal starts to take Greedy Pete's candy away.  Let me tell you...kids LOVE an interactive book.  And if you were wondering, I keep my tangrams in plastic sandwich bags.

I used to have my students copy each animal as I gave step-by-step instructions on the overhead projector.  Nowadays, I'm all about inquiry.

Instead, after they hear which animal is chasing Greedy Pete, they create it.  We do a "Tangram Walk" around the room to check out each other's work and then I show them how the illustrator envisioned it.

When the book ends, I give them some time to play around creating new animals.  Again, it's a tangram lovefest.

I mean, how cute are their creations?  Check out the Blue Jay below in honour of the Toronto Blue Jays.

The following day we revisit tangrams and attempt to put one back together and then create the letters in our name as well as numbers. The first few students who figure out the tangram square get stickers. Deep down I want to point out that they will likely have jobs as computer programmers, airport traffic controllers, or architects when they grow up, but I keep those thoughts to myself.

I urge you to look for this book in your local library or second hand store.  If you are lucky enough to find one, buy it!  Otherwise, turn your Math lesson into an oral story time and create your own version.

In the meantime, don't fret.  I've included this freebie that your students can use to trace their creations on. Class book anyone?  Get ready to be blown away by what your students come up with. I know I am every single time I bring out this story.

While you are here, have you scooped up the freebies from the Trick and Treats! Halloween Blog Hop that I'm participating in?  NO?  Not yet? What are you waiting for?  Start at Mrs.Beattie's Classroom and enjoy.

Happy learning!

Tricks & Treats: A Halloween Blog Hop and Giveaway!

Knock, knock...c'mon in!  This Halloween at my house we'll be handing out bags of chips to the 175+ trick or treaters we usually get (you read that right!) but you, my dear teacher peep, get the GOOD STUFF ;-)

I'm so excited to participate in Under the Maple Tree's first ever Halloween Blog Hop and Giveaway hosted by my friend Mrs.Beattie's Classroom.

My post is all about how to turn popular Physical Education items into fun Halloween themed stations by using a little Gym "Hocus Pocus".

Allow me to explain in images:

Fly around the gym like a witch on a broomstick using a pool noodle.

Play "Jack O Lantern Dodgeball" with a squishy ball.

Put on some tunes and play musical hula hoops in "Trick or Treat Tango".

Catch "candy" (a.k.a. balls)  mid air in "Candy Crush" using a scoop.

Bounce a basketball until it turns into a rotten pumpkin in "Pumpkin Smash".

I hope at least one of those inspires you to try out something new these next two weeks with your students!  What Halloween Gym activities would you recommend to others?  Please share in the comments below.  I always love comments even more than Kit Kat bars.

After P.E., head back into the classroom and try out my Batty about Addition Halloween themed Math freebie.

Before you go, don't forget my Secret Word!  Winning a $25 TPT Gift Card would be sweeeeet :-)

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Ready for some more (calorie free) treats?  Haunt on over to The Groovy Teacher's blog now.

Looking for some fun Math Halloween activities? Check out these in my TPT store.

Room on the Broom-Witchy Multimedia Art

October is bar none my favourite month of the year and Fall is, in my humble opinion, the best season. I've always had a thing about pumpkins, witches and Halloween. My elementary school growing up had a book about Halloween and I would constantly renew it year round. It was what cinnamon buns would later turn out to be for me, comforting. I would do anything to find what the title of that book is now. Did I mention it was in French? Oui, oui this girl went to French elementary school mon amie. (I'm assuming no men are reading this blog, if one is then my apologies, chéri).

Halloween is turning into a bad word in some school boards and I think that's unfortunate. Kids rarely dress up as it is these days. Yes, nobody needs that much candy but c'mon...it's one night of the year! And what parent doesn't love to pick out their favourite treats and eat them all before the morning use them for emergency snacks? I am not one to rock the boat though so I do my best to get my Halloween fill in my classroom without actually having to use the H word. Enter the amazing book, Room on the Broom. This book has it all-a witch, adorable animals and a dragon. The illustrations are magical and no mention of Halloween anywhere!



After reading it I came up with this art project. In a nutshell, it combines the best that paint, constuction paper and photocopying have to offer. This project took the better part of the day because it involved so many steps. My students loved it and the results speak for themselves...stunning!

Basically we picked a colour then added black and white2x to it to create tints and a shade (our curriculum expectation for Grade 2). I photocopied a picture of the witch and had my students colour it. Have you noticed anything missing from the broom? Yes, the poor marmalade cat didn't make the cut. Or wait, did make the cut. It just wasn't in my vision so I removed him. Next, they cut out brown paper to create the base of the broom which I stapled then grabbed a piece of "broom" and wound it around the stick. When the paint was dry, we added white stars, a moon and the witch.

If you don't already own this fantastic tale written by Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Axel Scheffler, I urge you to buy it. Your students will adore it and you'll fall in love with the characters. I can't wait to read this book to my next batch of students in October 2014! Check out the book's website: http://roomonthebroom.com/