Saturday, May 30, 2015

Eric Carle Author Study


Are you wanting to do an
author study about Eric Carle?
I made this super simple,
easy to print activity
(as in....easy for subs)
for my kiddos to use at the
end of the school year.
I thought I'd throw it out
there in case anyone
else wants it!
Because you're cool like that!

I have a sub on 
Monday.  I'm taking
Hollywood to our state
college where he got a
drama scholarship....
#awesomesauce
so proud of him!
The one time that 
"save the drama for your Mama"
actually paid off.
Literally!...cha ching!

Tell your son that your bloggin'
buddy said Congrats!

So my sub will be having
a read-in with my kiddos
and Eric Carle's beloved books.
They'll read a book
and do a page in
their author study guide.
Repeat.
Easy peasy!
I'll even leave her the option
of having the kids read each
book aloud for the class
using the microphone
and the document camera....
they'll love that!
"Pick me! Pick me!"

Eric Carle Author Study
by Regina Davis
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxjylOkfka4ebGtGRFNROFZaekk/view?usp=sharing
 Fold a large sheet of construction paper
in half and glue the next page onto
the front of the "book".
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxjylOkfka4ebGtGRFNROFZaekk/view?usp=sharing
Insert and staple the rest of the
pages in the book.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxjylOkfka4ebGtGRFNROFZaekk/view?usp=sharing
Mister Seahorse Writing and Drawing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxjylOkfka4ebGtGRFNROFZaekk/view?usp=sharing
The Grouchy Ladybug Writing and Drawing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxjylOkfka4ebGtGRFNROFZaekk/view?usp=sharing
The Very Quiet Cricket Writing and Drawing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxjylOkfka4ebGtGRFNROFZaekk/view?usp=sharing
 The Very Busy Spider Writing and Drawing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxjylOkfka4ebGtGRFNROFZaekk/view?usp=sharing
 The Tiny Seed Writing and Drawing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxjylOkfka4ebGtGRFNROFZaekk/view?usp=sharing
The Very Lonely Firefly Writing and Drawing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxjylOkfka4ebGtGRFNROFZaekk/view?usp=sharing
The Very Clumsy Click Beetle Writing and Drawing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxjylOkfka4ebGtGRFNROFZaekk/view?usp=sharing
The Very Hungry Caterpillar Writing and Drawing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxjylOkfka4ebGtGRFNROFZaekk/view?usp=sharing
 My Favorite Eric Carle Character:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxjylOkfka4ebGtGRFNROFZaekk/view?usp=sharing
Here are some moving bookmarks
for your author study books.
Just hole punch and tie a string
to a bookmark.  Then tape the other
end of the string onto the inside back
cover.  The kids love having their moving
bookmark "walk" or "fly" through their pages.
Well aren't you clever! 
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxjylOkfka4ecHlrcEZzZXJOQkk/view?usp=sharing

AND for anyone
wondering...
his last name is
pronounced C-ar-l.
I heard several
people including
one of my room moms
pronounce it C-ar-l-ee.
What?!  Are you serious?
I've never heard that said before!
When I heard it
pronounced that way
for about the third time
in an hour....my world
went a little bit 
Salvador Dahli-ish.  

Have I SERIOUSLY pronounced
his name WRONG
for the past 20 plus years?
It's very possible.
I wouldn't like that answer.
But it's possible.
After all...I do go by Queen Chaos.

So, my room mom was
kind enough to look it up
for my personal mental health.
 AND.....thank goodness
I'd been saying it right...
Whew! 
What did we do before
phones and google?!
Seriously?  How did we teach
without the Internet and Pinterest?
not.even.kidding.

On a last note...
just thought I'd share...
I'm down to The Final Countdown!
Sidenote:  I had to actually look up this band's name.
I had no idea that they're called: Europe.
Where was I in the 80's?
I mean really!
LOL!  
Oh my word did you just bring me back.
I feel the sudden urge to get
a can of Aqua Net, a pair
of parachute pants, and
to say "Gag me with a spoon!"
(Ok....to be honest...
I was deep into reading
Les Misérables, The Tale of Two Cities,
and Pride And Prejudice.)
Dang girl...we may not have 
been buddies back then.  LOL
I knew the song...the tune....and
"It's the final countdown!" lyric
said repeatedly....after all
that lyric is what made me want
to youtube the song to share
how I feel about summer coming!
#truth
But that's about it.
That's all I knew.
I didn't even know that they
were Swedish.
Huh.
So many things to learn...
and so little time!
I think I should have
watched more MTV.
We did ALL the time.
I know waaaaay too much
about all of those bands.
My bestie and I were all 
about those guys with big hair.
blush
I would have appreciated
my big hair just a tad bit more.
For sure!


Summer is officially 8 more
school days away!
Thank the good Lord above!
I have been chewed up

and spit out...repeatedly!
And YES...
I'm including teacher workdays!

I can't wait!
I can't wait!
I can't wait!
DITTO!
DITTO!
DITTO!



...AND

Sunday, May 24, 2015

Snakes Give Me The Shakes

Last night I was working fast and furious
on my snake comprehension pack.
You lost me at "snake". 
I.
hate.
snakes!
I'm not even kidding!
I have a severe phobia of snakes.
See them in a magazine, I jump.
See them in the grass, I scream and run away.
When I was in 6th grade, a classmate 
brought one to our Science class. 
He walked in and I was at the window in
about 3 seconds flat.  Thankfully, my teacher
saw my reaction and asked him to put it away.
...and THEN I stepped away...
from the SECOND STORY window.
I would not have hesitated to jump
if he had forced that thing in my face!!
True story people!
OK...Angela....you would not do well
at my school.  We have snakes all over
the place.  Seriously.  I can't tell you how
many times I've had to stop my line so that
we could let a snake pass across the outside,
hallway/sidewalk.  When we see one,
I've taught my kiddos to stomp their feet so
that the vibrating sound will scare the snake away.
OH.MY.WORD!
I have been so jealous of your Florida
classroom until this very moment.
The cornfields surrounding my home
look absolutely fabulous.
...thank you very much!
Try it....it works!
Uh, NO THANKS!
Stomp.Stomp.Stomp.
The snake will go super, crazy-fast away!
AND if you're wondering why we leave the
snakes alone in our Florida school....
instead of calling for pest control...
a few years ago, there was a school in our state
overrun with RATS!  They were EVERYWHERE!
Now THAT would FREAK ME out!
I just did the EWWWW dance!
Snakes eat rats.
End of story. 

I need my snake comprehension 
for next week's Learning Camp.
I was assigned a
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/A-Snake-Dice-Addition-and-RubricDifferentiated-Instruction-1863807

and I thought that we could begin by reading
a little about these little guys.
Uh, no thanks!
I fell asleep in the middle of making
the reading comprehension pack,
and had nightmares all night about snakes.
My husband was out of town,
and my house was crawling with snakes
including a pesky, little cobra.
So being the protective mama bear
that I am, I went and got 2 of my metal,
vacuum cleaner extensions and went
snake hunting throughout my house.
I got this tip from watching Naked & Afraid.

Have I mentioned that's one of my new
favorite shows?  
Seriously?!
I used to think it was a bunch 
of  bawdy nonsense...
So NOT my thing....but you enjoy my friend.
until I was deathly ill last New Year's Eve
and ended up watching a full 
day's marathon of the series.
It is now on my list of recordings.
Golden Boy walked in my room the
other day, and said, "I can't believe
you're watching this mom!"
I tried to explain the merit of the show,
but I didn't quite sell him on it.
A naked survivalist showed me how to use
long sticks to pin down a snake
...very handy tid-bit!

As I came across each creepy crawly,
Uh, you run out of the house!
I pinned it down with one metal tube, 
and clobbered it on the head
with the other one.
I was doing pretty good,
until I got to the cobra.
Uh, you run out of the house!
He was wiley
and quick.
I couldn't quite pin him
down for my clobber routine
before he'd slither away.
And you run out of the house!
In the middle of tracking
him down (again)....I came 
across another snake slunkered
down in a corner.
I went to go pin him down,
to hit him on the head...
when he lunged at me.
He ended up not being a snake,
but a four legged lizard instead.
He knocked me over and
while I was scrambling to get
him off of my chest to keep
him from biting me...I woke up.
It's about time!
What a nightmare....
...like the worse kind ever.
SHUDDER!!!

I was seriously doing crazy
arm movements trying
to get a dream 
snake/lizard off of me.
Because you didn't run out of the house!
My computer with my snake
activity was next to me
and my husband wasn't in bed.
He really WAS out of town,
which was probably a good thing
or HE would have been clobbered.
I decided right then and there to finish
the snake activity, because 
I wanted it out of my hair (and head)!
I finished it at 5:30am.
Sheesh!  You do realize that sleep is
a necessity, not a luxury right?
Like food and water.
There. Done!
Now go away pesky, snake dreams!
I've decided that the best way to get rid of them
is to let these little snakes
go free!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxjylOkfka4eOTBjbW9SNGt4WVU/view?usp=sharing
Go crawling through cyber space
my little snake friends.
Now I'm running out of my house!
I'm sending them out to our
blogging buddies.
I hope you don't freak them out!
Catch them quick and throw
them into your snake files.
They'll only be free for a little bit,
so if you missed it...become a blog
follower for future freebies!

I don't know...
is there symbolism in my dream?
Is there a snake that I should be looking out for?
Are things not quite what they seem?
Maybe I need to buy a dream catcher.
Or maybe I just need to get to bed
on time without tons of school work
snaking through my frazzled brain.
DING DING DING DING!
There's your answer my 

workaholic friend!
Ssssssummer
isssss not coming
sssssssssooon enough!
SSSSSStop it!
You're freaking me out!



Wednesday, May 13, 2015

Jump, Frog, Jump! The End Is Near!



Do you feel like you are jumping through
hoops trying to get everything done
by the end of the school year?
Girrrrrrl!  You have no idea!
Oh wait, you do have an idea.
You're living right along side me.

We're having our First Grade Learning Camp
these next two weeks.  I'm so excited!
Three of my own kids did these fun activities,
and now I get to do them on the teaching side!
I was given the assignment of reading
Jump, Frog, Jump by Robert Kalan
to 3 different groups of first graders.
I love reading....but...
I tend to lose my voice.
That is my weak spot that always
goes first when I'm sick....
and it's the end of the school year,
so of course I have a cold.
Of course you do!
I'm not really sick, sick....
just tired sick.
The kind of sick that I wouldn't
be if I could see straight.
I've learned to make little
voice recordings and videos to help me
on those days that I show up at school 
with no voice.
Now that's being prepared!

Yes. It has happened.
Believe me.
More times than I can count.
I have learned to make do,
and my students' reading skills
are truly put to the test on those days!

Here's a video I made of the book.
I decided to post it here,
so that I can access it easily
on desperate days...like tomorrow!
Or should I say today?  It is 1am Eastern time.
Go to bed already!
Let me just finish this madness!
There!
Done!
Enjoy!

                        

Here's a little froggy bonus
for all of my hoppin' friends!
Get it while it's still a FLASH FREEBIE
on Teachers Pay Teachers...
just click on the picture to take you to it!

I made this little story for my students
to learn about the four basic needs of living things:
water, food, air, and space.

 Frogs Are Living Things: Book and Rubric
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/A-FLASH-FREEBIE-Frogs-Basic-Needs-Book-and-Rubric-1857557


....and Jump, Teacher, Jump!
The end is near!