Happy Halloween everyone!  I don't know about you, but today was a verrrryyyyy lonnnggg day!  First, we had our school Halloween party which was then followed by a Halloween parade.  Then, in the evening, I took my sons out for some Trick-or-Treating.....IN THE RAIN!  The things we do for candy, eh!
 
I am linking up with Curious Firsties for their Wednesday WOW!

I'm going to make today's Wednesday WOW a quick one.  (That's because I'm exhausted and need some major shut eye.)

In Science we are learning about plants, germination, and sprouting.  In order to appreciate these concepts, we are growing our very own bean plants.  Our bean plants have finally started growing!  Every morning, as soon as my students have settled in, they take a quick peak at their plants.  They make sure that their pretend soil is moist and getting enough sunlight.  So far they are doing a great job in taking care of their plants.

That's it for now.  Oh.....I hear my bed calling my name.  Good night friends!  Have a fantabulous Friday!
Don't forget to visit Curious Firsties for more Wednesday WOW!

Wednesday WOW!

Wow!  I can't believe that it's Wednesday already!  Time sure flies by!  Well, that only means one thing....it means that it's time to link up with Curious Firsties for their Wednesday Wow! linky party.   

My teacher T-shirts arrived in the mail today!   Yey!!!!  I'm so excited!   (Can't you tell, it's the little things that excite me!?!?)    Here's what came in the mail today.

Sorry, pictures don't do justice.  The T-shirt is actually orange and the writing underneath the martini glasses is green.

What do you think?   Good choice?     I can't wait to wear my T-shirts to school!  

Do you have a teacher T-shirt?  If not, you can order yours at TeacherShirts.  

On another note, I will leave you with a hint on what we will be working on tomorrow.

Any guesses?

Thanks Curious Firsties for a great linky!  


"Remember to Laugh Each Day!"

Five for Friday - October 11th

I am happy to say that I am finally linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for her Five for Friday!

1.  This week, we visited The National Film Board of Canada.  Students were introduced to the different types of animation, such as:  puppet animation and clay animation.  The workshop we attended had students creating a storyboard with a beginning, middle, and end.  Once student brainstormed their stories, they were then challenged to design & shape out their characters out of clay.  Here's what a few of my students created out of clay.

motorcycle with a flaming exhaust, alien, bird, dog, and a monster

Then, using an iPad, they filmed their movies. (The app that we used is PixStop.  For the time being, this app is only available to The National Film Board of Canada.  However, we were told that the app should be released by December.)  In the meantime, if you choose to do claymation in your own class, you may use the app iMotion. 

Here's a two second movie that my students created while we were at the workshop.  It is about a boy getting chased by a wolf at a campsite.   

  

2.  If you have been following me on both my blog and on Instagram, then you already know that we received Pen Pal letters from Pennsylvania.  I am happy to say that for the past week, my students have been diligently working on their letters.  Their letters are coming along so well.  I'm so proud of my students!

Letters from Pennsylvania! 

  
3.  Last month, Teaching With Love and Laughter had a wonderful giveaway on her blog!  Guess who won this amazing Arts and Crafts Supply Center from Lakeshore?   I did!  I did!   So, this week my prize arrived!  It was so nice to come home and see a wonderful package sitting on my front porch!  Thanks Teaching With Love and Laughter and Lakeshore!  My students are going to love it as much as I do!

4.  I wanted to share an app with you.  It's called JogNog.  This app has a variety of quizzes and questions and it covers ALL the subject areas from grades 2 to 8.  In my opinion, I think, that it is a great app that can be used at the end of a unit.  The best part about this app is that it is free.  I am still learning my way through JogNog, but so far I'm lovin' it!

 5. Happy Thanksgiving to my fellow Canadians and Happy Columbus day to my American readers!  To kick of Thanksgiving here in Canada, here's what we worked on today.

  Thanks Doodle Bugs for hosting such a great linky!  I can't wait to read what everyone else has been up to!
Have a restful weekend!

"Take Time to Laugh Each Day!"

Wednesday WOW!!!

Wow-we Wow-zah!  I can't believe that it's October already!  Time sure is flyin' by!

I hope that you are all doing well!

I'm so happy that it's Hump Day because that means that I can link up with Curious Firsties for their "Wednesday WOW" linky party!

Today, we received our first batch of Pen Pal letters from Pennsylvania!   My students were BEYOND excited!  They couldn't wait to read their letters!  They wanted to know and meet their Pen Pals.  Honestly, you had to see their faces!  It was such a joy watching and hearing their excitement!

Here's a picture of their letters.  Each envelope was personalized and decorated!  How lovely are they!

 
When I showed my students their envelopes, all I heard were "Ooohhh's!" and "Aaahhh's!"  My students were so appreciative that someone had actually taken the time to decorate their envelopes for them.  Hearing such positive comments was truly a Wow moment for me!

That's all for now.  Thanks so much Curious Firsties for hosting such a lovely linky party!  See you all next Wednesday!
Have a great week everyone!  

"Take time to Laugh Each Day!"

Synonyms, Antonyms, & Homonyms Craftivity

My students and I are extremely fortunate to have participated in Deb Hanson's Classroom Tested - Teacher & Student Approved series.  For those of you who are not familiar with this series, Deb over at Crafting Connections was so kind to send over her Synonyms, Antonyms, & Homonyms craftivity to me so that I can share it with my students.

  

Prior to beginning our craftivity, we first reviewed over Synonyms, Antonyms, & Homonyms.  A few of my students were having difficulty in remembering the difference between Synonyms, Antonyms, & Homonyms.  I wanted to ensure that my students had a good grasp of this concepts before working on it independently.

We quickly talked about Synonyms.  I reminded my students that the words Synonym and Same both start with the letter "S".  Thus, Synonyms can be remembered as being the Same Thing or having the Same Meaning.  
As for Antonyms, I underlined the word Ant within Antonyms.  We pretended that an ant was a small insect word within the larger word Antonym;  thus resulting in opposites - small versus large.
As you can see, in regards to Homonyms, I am not an artist.  However, lucky for me, my students were able to distinguish between my baseball bat and my flying bat.   A few of my advanced students were also eager to remind us that homo means sound;  meaning words that sound the same.
Then, using a dry-erase red marker, I underlined the "nym" in each of the words and told my students that we were going to visit the NYM Planets.  My students COULD.NOT wait to get started on this activity!

I then asked my students to take out their yellow highlighters.  As soon as I asked them to take out their highlighters, I heard "Ooohh's!" and "Oh!  This is going to be so fun!"  I don't know about your students, but my students love love LOVE using highlighters.  In this activity, Deb has 21 pairs of sentences where students are required to highlight the synonyms, antonyms, and homonyms from each sentence.  My students were right on task!   There was no stopping them!

 

    

 My students did not have any trouble following through with Deb's instructions.  Deb has thought of everything!  She not only provides a sample of the completed project, but she also provides an Answer Key. I was able to quickly assess my students' and guide them into the next step.  The next step was to color in their planets and rocket ships.  

 My students were EXTREMELY engaged!!!  A few of my students decided that they were going to add their own personal touches by drawing in their own aliens or astronauts!  What a great way to be an IB Inquirer and Thinker! Score!

Once all of the planets and rocket ships were colored in.  They were then asked to cut out their planets, rocket ships, and the 21 pairs of sentences.

Then, by referring back to Deb's sample, students glued in their planets, rocket ships, labels, and sentence strips onto black construction paper.  The following are some of the finished projects that I have displayed outside my classroom.

Overall, my students TRULY TRULY TRULY had a blast with this craftivity!!!!   This is due to the fact that Deb makes teaching and learning fun!  Her craftivities are not only engaging, but memorable!  I have received so many compliments from the teachers at my school!  Deb makes me look awesome!  Thanks Deb!   Deb is so wonderful and generous that she is giving away a copy of this craftivity to one of my amazing followers.  I highly recommend that you stop by Deb's blog and enter her fabulous giveaway!  I also suggest that you visit Deb's TpT store.  You won't be disappointed!

"Take time to Laugh each Day!"