OU & OW Spellings

Fall. ..Fall. . . oh how I love fall. . . It's cooler outside, the sun still shines and here I sit at my computer. . . shame on me!

I'll make this quick so you too can get outside and enjoy this day.

My kids need to work on learning the difference between the OU and OW spellings on words. They can sound like "OW, I just hurt my finger!" or "OH is that gift for me!"

It's tricky and while there isn't really a special rule to help them learn this, they just need practice in seeing which looks correct.

I made an activity that will help them look at a picture, check out two words and decide which one is the correct one to match the picture. There are 24 cards so you can do this with a SCOOT game if you'd like.

(I would have made more, but it was pretty hard to come up with 24 pictures of words in the clip art that I have!)

 

I also included an answer key, but sometimes it's just as easy to write the answer on the back before you laminate them. Your choice!

You can pick it up at my TPT Store I'd appreciate any comments that you want to leave!

Yesterday was my husband's birthday. . . oh well. . . he was in Chicago at the Ryder Cup with his brothers in laws and nephews. . . . (this looks very much like our anniversary when he was golfing with these same guys!) I guess I'll have to plan a getaway for MYSELF for my birthday in a few weeks since he isn't celebrating with ME anymore!!! ha ha!

Tomorrow is my Dad's 91st birthday. . . 91! Can you imagine living that long? I struggle with the mid 50's sometimes. . 91, that's huge. . . And he is driving down to see us ( a 2 and a half hour drive) this week. He's actually a pretty good driver still. . . notice I didn't say perfect! I'm so glad that he is still around and so independent.  I do realize that things could be so much worse for him and mom.

Today Mom was skyping with me.  . . . I know My MOM Skypes! At 89 years young she is pretty tech savy.

So she is asking me about Facebook. Because in her circle of friends all that she hears about is the BAD stuff on FB! Jeesh! I always try to tell her that I'm ok and that I know who all my friends are and that I don't put things on there that I wouldn't be proud of.

I try to explain to her how the 'friends' thing works. . . I don't  think I was successful, but she said to not worry, she wasn't going to join it anyway!

 Ok, on to the outdoors! This weather is just too nice to sit inside! Plus I think there is an MSU ball game on tv, but I'm not such a fan that I need to watch it!

Patty

Halloween Pronouns

I was so excited to use my Pumpkin Pronoun activity with my kids today. So proud of how it turned out. My top group used it first because I knew they could handle it. . . . and then it hit me. . . . . . OH NO! There is a mistake! . . . . and ANOTHER ONE. . . and OH NOT another one!  Jeesh! I thought I had gone over and over that! But I missed them. So now they are fixed and if you haven't picked them up, you  might want to take a look at them.  You can buy them in black and white, in color or both. All three sets have their own prices. Thanks for looking!

Check them out HERE in my TPT Store.

Patty

A Halloween ABC Order Freebie

We have seen zillions of ABC order activities. . . mine is no different. . . I just wanted to make a quick one for my students and I figured someone out there in this big ol' blog world might also want a quick one.
And because it's small and only 5 pages long, I didn't think it was worth charging for. . . and so you're getting a freebie tonight!

It's called Halloween ABC!

I know that's a real original title, but hey, when it's almost 11:00 on a Monday night ya gotta be happy for what ever you can come up with!

The idea is pretty simple. They have to sort the pumpkins first by design then put them in ABC order. Or if you are really gifted, you can put them all together and put them in ABC order that way! Whooo ooooh! Except I didn't make an answer key for all the pumpkins together. . . maybe tomorrow! These pictures are also from the Spook Tacular Smiles CD from DJ Inkers. You can pick it up at www.djinkers.com
The frames come from their Kiddoodles Younger Years CD.

The fonts are my new favorites. They come from Rowdy in Room 300. I wanted to try them out and I'm so happy with how they look on the clip art. Don't cha agree? Thanks Nicole for the FREE FONTS!

Hope you like it! Let me know. . . don't just take it and fly away without leaving me a message. . . . You don't want the GREAT Pumpkin to come and take your spirit away do you?

Patty

Hurry Hurry Before You're Blurry!

 You have just a few hours left to grab something from my little store that is 20% off. At the stroke of twelve, when the last bell rings you will no longer have a chance to save some money. Go Go Go! I'm sure you'll find something you like.

This past week, technology finally got my color printer to work. . . that was a frustrating few weeks to go with out color! I'm a color addict and things just don't look good in black and white. I have purchased things and grabbed many freebies all summer long, stored them on a zip drive and was just waiting for this printer to work. Finally it got fixed.

So guess what I did today. . . yup, you guessed it. I printed a ton in color. Gosh it looks so good! Then I heated up that laminator and I laminated the whole pile! I so wanted to take a picture of it for you, but my camera was at home. Let's just say. . . I think it would reach the better part of a football field. . . . maybe I'm exaggerating. .. . but maybe not. 

Now I need to cut, cut, cut! This is where I appreciate when people line their products up so they are on the same margins so it makes it easier to just zip it down the cutter and it's done! I plan on using many of these in my class tomorrow, so I need to get off here and get back to cutting.

I decided that I need to buy stock in laminating film and printer ink. . . . maybe that will make me a lot more money than teaching!

Patty

A $ale! A $ale! A $ale!

It's Fall Sale Time. . . and I'm going to hold a sale too! I'm joining Casey at Second Grade Math Maniac who is leading this sale.

Go to my TPT Store and you'll find everything 20% off starting at Midnight tonight and going Sunday at Midnight. I don't have a lot, but you might want to take a look at my Halloween themed Pumpkin Pronouns made with DJ Inkers clipart. (It's oh. so. cute!)

Patty

Winner of the DJ Inker CD and a tip

I am so excited to announce this. . . but wait . . . .first. . . . I have to tell you that I was So So scared to do this. . . learning something new and going out on a limb by yourself is frightening! But I think I figured out this Rafflecopter thingie and I can now announce the winner. . . 

But wait, one more thing. . . I have to apologize for not doing this sooner. . . . I'm sick. . . (boo hoo! poor little ol' me!) No I'm suffering from a sinus infection and it's knocked me off my rocker! I taught today only because I couldn't turn my class over to a sub yet. . . I know. . . I'm a control freak! So now that I'm home and before I crawl up on the couch and  nap, I can now announce the winner!

Ta da!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Congratulations Tanja Tlusty! You are the lucky winner!! wooo hooo!!

Well I guess I didn't everything so perfect with Rafflecopter! I some how got two winners.

Oh Pooh!

But since this is a new adventure, and I'm so happy happy joy joy about it, I will send a copy of the Pumpkin Pronouns as a consolation prize to Cindy Clark

I know, I know that was a very nice thing to do. . .

I wanted to spiff it all up with a cutsy colorful background but I think for my state of mind today, this is plenty good enough!

I would like to share a tip I have used for a few years that you may or may not have heard about.
Do you have several sets of black dominoes? And do they all get mixed up when the littles are playing with them? Or you find one on the floor and wonder which box it goes in. .. . . Here's an end to that problem. .. .

I spread the whole box out on newspaper out side. I turned them over so only the back side was up. Then I sprayed one whole box orange. On another newpaper I spread out another box, and painted those yellow. You get the idea. .. So now when I find one on the floor, I know exactly which box to put it away in.

Thanks for stopping by! And don't forget. . . Tomorrow's FRIDAY . . . All day long!

Thanks for all of your visits and supporting me. I hope to do this again.

Patty

DJ Inker CD Giveaway! Hurry Hurry!

Don't forget to sign up for my DJ Inker CD giveaway!  It's over tomorrow and I'll pick one lucky winner! I hope it's you!


Also want to share with you a new blog called Reading Olympians. Not only will this be a fun blog to watch grow, but the creator, Michelle Tsivgadellis has posted as their first post the directions of how to put a picture on your signature. I want to try this soon. So hit up this new blog and read all about it!


Patty

DJ Inkers CD Give AWAY! FREE!

Yea! Today's the big day! I'm so excited for you! I'm also glad you stopped by!

If you have been following me, you know that I'm a huge fan of DJ Inkers. I'm so glad they offered a license and I grabbed it right away. I have had a lot of fun creating things with their clip art. And of course just making up a worksheet is no longer good enough, it has to be cutsified with DJ Inker pics!

I have some REALLY good news to share with you. . . I mean REALLY!

I have a CD of their latest Halloween clipart called 'Spook'Tacular Smiles to give away. . . . yup that's what I said, GIVE AWAY!

It's free . . . .it's brand new. . . . it's still in the plastic shrink wrap. . . and it's loaded with some cool things.
Here is a FREEBIE that I made with this clip art to share with you. There are two worksheets in this Freebie!

I also made this pronoun activity that you can buy at my TPT Store. You can buy it in color or you can buy it in black in white. Or you can even buy it with both! What a deal! I know that some of you are unable to copy in color so with this option you'll be a happy camper  teacher! And your school will be happy too!

There are 18 task cards plus a recording sheet and answer key so this is an independent activity that would be great for centers.

If you are still with me, here's how you can enter to win the DJ Inker Spook'tacular Smiles CD. Use the Rafflecopter below to enter. Leave me a comment about your favorite Halloween activity with your students and follow my TPT Store. 

If you want to see more of what DJ Inkers has to offer you, click on their title and you'll see all they have for you.

My favorite activity is dimming the lights, putting on scary music, sitting in a circle, calling the spirits to ask the children to not talk during this activity. They are to say no words.

They may make sounds, but no word can cross their lips!

We are going to "feel" the ingredients that go into the Witch's Brew. I use about 10 lunch sacks with words like Franks Toes, (vienna sausages) Dracula's brains, (wet spaghetti) Bat's heart, (canned peach halves) lizard tongues, (pickles sliced the long way in quarters) Ghoul's hair, (pencil shavings from the sharpener) dried Mummy bones, (dry rice) and several others. But the last one is always MUMMY DUST and this is glitter of any color! Their hands are damp from the other things (they do have a paper towel in front of them!) so the glitter sticks nicely to them!

Don't forget to leave your email address too!

I'll want to find you to mail this to you!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I hope you win! So be sure to enter and just maybe you'll be getting an email from me in a few days with the good news!

Patty

Vowel Circle Maps

Today feels like a Saturday to me. We don't have school tomorrow. That's the perk of living in a small rural communtiy. Our county fair started today so all the students in the county get the day off from school tomorrow. Usually the teachers get to go to some wonderful powerful inservice or work on a project. But since our budgets are in check, there is no money to pay us to come to any inservices. So I get the day off. I'm not bragging, I'm just stating a fact. And of course I'll be taking advantage of this extra day and will work on school stuff for most of the day.

Be sure to come back tomorrow night or Tuesday for a great giveaway that I think you'll all want to be checking out.

My district has bought into Thinking Maps and we are supposed to use them as often as we can. I know how to use them and I know  how good they are. But sometimes I'm at a loss as to WHAT to do with them to make them meaningful and helpful.

Then I noticed one of my colleagues had used it for short vowels with her first grade and the light bulb went off. So thank you very much Heather Vettes for inspiring me to get back on the band wagon!

I decided to grab some "Short and Long vowel A" cards that Christina Bainbridge made. You can get her free Short and Long A and Short and Long U cards by clicking on the highlighted words.  I had each child make their own Circle Maps by tracing paper plates and little cups.

They put the words "Short A Words" in the center. Then I put one of her cards on the elmo and asked them to listen to the sound of the 'a' in the word and decide if it had the long sound or the short sound. If it had the short sound they wrote it on their own paper.

I really liked doing this because they "should" have learned these in first grade,

but just in case they didn't remember them, this was a great review for them.

Then we paired up and practiced reading all the short A words with a partner.

Don't cha love how they can fit two little booties in one chair!

Oh I wish I could remember when I could share a chair like that!

This week I plan on doing the same thing with the Short and Long I, the Short and Long O,

 and the Short and Long E.

Since these ideas all come from Christina Bainbridge, I would love it if you would not only leave me a comment, but leave one for her too. After all SHE is the one who put all the hard work into making these. And I love them because they are made with DJ Inker clipart!

Dont' forget to come back in the next couple days!

Patty

The Nuttiest Give Away!

Do you like to win things? I do! In fact today I just won the Common Core 2nd grade Math assessments from Primary Possibilities. Woo! Hooo!

So if you're in the mood for winning, go on over to Going Nutty and enter her contest. She has many give aways, but one of them is mine and it's these multiplication cards to help your kids see what they are doing when they are learning to multiply.

You have until Friday to enter for these. So become a follower of my blog and my TPT store and you'll increase your chances. . .

Hurry, it's quick and fast and you won't regret it! I promise!

Patty

Labor Day Monarch Search! And Math Game

How is your Labor day going? If you are sitting at your computer, then maybe it isn't going so well!! Get away from here!
No, No NO! Don't go. . .read my blog then you can go!

Someone recently asked what I did on my Labor Day weekend. It usually revolves around getting the last minute things ready for school.

But the most important thing that has happened every year for the last few years is that I collect Monarch caterpillars. In Michigan you can find them all summer long eating on Milk Weed plants. But I wait until this weekend and make a trip back to my mom and dad's farm. They live in a little town called Lennon near Flint, and have a railroad tracks behind their farm. It's loaded with milk weed plants. I take my nieces with me and teach them how to search gently for these critters and how to stay away from the poison ivy!

It wasn't long before we found this guy!

We kept looking and found 6 total! It was a very exciting search!

Life cycles used to be a 2nd grade objective, but now it belongs to 1st. This is one activity I hated to give up! I decided that if I could get my specimens for free, then I could find some time to do a review for these 2nd graders. They (and me too!) find it so interesting to watch the whole process.

Here's some more.

Do you know what that is in the bottom of the jar? Yup! It's poop! Caterpillar poop has a special name. . . it's called Frass! And take one guess as to what color it is?  . . . .

Do you give up?

It's green! Yes it is! Just smear it on paper and you'll see. .  Then go wash your hands!

The ONLY thing that monarch caterpillars eat is milkweed and it's only green, so their poop is only green! This is a great fact that the kids love to remember and share with their families. . .

especially at the dinner table!!!

This little guy died. . . so now I have only 5.

I put this one in my hand so I could move him/her onto some fresh milkweed, and he goes into this fetal position to play dead. . . . but wait!!!

 In just a few seconds, he starts moving around again. . . searching for more green stuff!

Look at the holes in the leaves where they have been eating. Hungry Howies!

This will be their home for the next couple weeks.

I cover the jar with some left over tulle from my kids' weddings and wa la!

We are set to watch them change!

My kids can use this as an intro to our science program, as writing topics, as discussion topics, as measuring their growth, and also as watching them very closely!

Now if you are still with me. . . I have to share something I grabbed from Live Laugh and Love to Learn. 

I saw on her blog a game similar to Boggle, but using numbers instead. If you click on this link and scroll down near the bottom you'll see her game called Add It Up.

I created my own Add It Up game and this is what it looks like.

I'm in the process of making a recording sheet for them to put their problems of adding two or three numbers, but I'm having trouble with excel! Stay tuned. When I get it to work, I'll repost this.

I used my Cricut to make the letters and numbers for this.

 I put them up with clear push pins so I can change them up from time to time.

My kids will use this board when they give those dreaded words we all hear:

 "I'm done! What can I do now?"

I also made a Boggle Board with letters.

I used our Ellison die cut Lollipop letters for the letters and my Cricut for the title.

I'm so excited to have this back up for that Just In Case time!

Ok, now, I'm going to go get some work done on my classroom. . . See ya!

And for all my Michigan friends and others who will see their kids for the first time tomorrow, I wish you a wonderful year with lots of fun while growing and the ability to not let the beauricratic red tape get in your way of doing what you know is best!

Thanks for stopping by! I appreciate everyone who comes to visit. Leave me a message and I'll be sure to check out your blog too!

Patty