Five for Friday - February 13, 2015

Time for Five for Friday with Doodle Bugs Teaching! It has been an absolute whirlwind of a week, and I have found myself awake at 3:30 in the morning thinking about all the things I haven't gotten done yet that need to get done today!  Add that to the fact that today is an early start for me (we have faculty meetings every Friday morning before school) and that today is Valentines Day (can you say sugar rush kiddos?), AND Friday the 13th!!!  Yikes! I can do this, I can do this, right?  LOL!

Well, here is a peek at some of the craziness of the week!

We have a ton of February birthdays in our classroom, so we have been enjoying the sugar rush of cupcakes on almost a daily basis!  This is the first year that I have taught the same grade that one of my own children was in, and he is actually in my class.  It has been a unique experience having my students also be my son's friend!  We have been at many a birthday party this year!

I hit my first milestone for my TpT store, which is kind of a big deal, and a personal goal I have had for awhile.  My hubby surprised me the moment that I hit it with a small bag of treats and a card signed by him and the younger three boys.  Swoon!

I will of course be having a big giveaway to celebrate next week!  Don't forget to stop by and check it out! 

And speaking of giveaways, if you haven't already entered this month's giveaway for the $25 TpT gift card, be sure to enter here. 

We have been working on making this amazing Valentines Day themed door decoration from Art With Jenny K.

And the final product:

 

It was a surprise for my students when they saw the final creation and they LOVED it!  Jenny also has a variety of these for other holidays, so be sure to check them out.

 

We have been continuing our non-fiction unit for reading and we have gotten so much use out of this book! 

My students have even been grabbing it as their book of choice during read to self time.  Love it!

Our read aloud right now is The One and Only Ivan.  I Love this book!

For our graphing lesson this week I asked them this question to go along with the book:

I was not ready for the spontaneous spirited debate that happened as they casted their votes!

I had to snap a few pictures!  I loved hearing them use accountable talk on their own, and they even justified their answers and gave reasons why they felt the way they did.  A few of them were able to persuade people to change their votes!  I am super excited for our opinion writing unit now!

How was your week?  Did you survive the Valentine sugar high?



Fun Faux Stained Glass Picture

If you are looking for a simple Christmas Arts and Crafts project for your students, you will love these fun faux stained glass pictures!  

We made these fun faux stained glass pictures of candles today and they came out super cute! You can use almost any coloring page if you would like a different image.

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We started with these supplies:

• Candle picture template (click to download)
• Black Yarn
• Glue
• Sharpies
• Aluminum foil

We first put glue on the black lines and then covered them with yarn.  We found it easier to do it piece by piece, measuring the yarn first, cutting it to size, then gluing it down.

When it was completed, we wrapped it in tinfoil with the picture side upside down.

Then we pushed down to make the yarn impression show on the foil.

Then the kids used sharpies to color the insides.  We found that using the sides of the markers kept the foil from ripping.

And another final project done:

Before you go, make sure you enter our current giveaway!

Christmas Light Decorations Craft

I had seen this idea on Pinterest awhile back and then got the Mailbox flyer that had this printable pattern in it, so I decided we had to make them.
Here is one of ours:

I must be honest - my room is now covered with glitter - but I think the kiddos loved adding their personal touches to our holiday decor.