All About Earthworms and a Giveaway

If you follow me on Instagram,  you know my firsties are studying earthworms.   

This is a directed drawing activity we did just for fun.  You can find the details here.

We always start our studies out with some research.  I created fact cards, printed them on orange card stock, and placed them around the room.  They clipped their research collecting sheet (printed front and back) on clipboards and began roaming the room to collect information.

After we get some background knowledge we jumped right into the good stuff.  Of course, we did a few experiments. 

This one is called "DoesTemperature Matter?"  We used ice and hand warmers to create the different temperatures.   A little gross, but fun!!   Also included in the packet is an experiment called "Does Moisture Matter?"

We used our gathered research to do several other activities. Here's a look at a few of them.

We even created a mini-book!

We ended the study by placing the earthworms in our school garden.  We made predictions and timed the worms to see how long it took them to burrow and disappear into the dirt.  I was surprised at how fast they work.

Another fun activity we completed was Saving Sam.  You can find out about it here.  

You can take a look at everything that is included in the All About Earthworms in the preview below or in my TPT store.  This unit is perfect for 2nd or 3rd graders.  I used it with my gifted and talented 1st graders and they loved it. 

Enter below for your chance to win your own copy.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Five for Friday~April 17, 2015

TGIF and I'm linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching again.

I've finally gotten back into the gym and have found my new love.....Cross Fit!!!  I love the competition, the bare bones of a gym (aka "box"), and the fact that it's at 7:00 at night and I can take a nap before I go!!  Sad, I know!

Here's a few of this week's WODs.  We do a few warm-up exercises and several strength exercises before we hit the WOD or METCON.  I'm usually in the "box" about an hour and a half and leave feeling amazing!!  (FYI: in Cross Fit the gym is a called a box.)  I'm still trying to learn all the lingo.

Anyone else have a love for Cross Fit?

My second graders are studying bridges and we did a STEM bridge building challenge using marshmallows and toothpicks.  I walked around eating marshmallows uncontrollably the entire time!!! I have zero self-control.

We used a product from Teachers Are Terrific for this challenge.  She has ton of STEM Challenges in her TPT store.

We are still working on our Earthworm Study in my first grade classes and I ran into a bit of a snag when my lunch looked eerily like the worms!!

YUCK!!!

I finally loaded the "All About Earthworms" unit in my TPT store.  Check it out!

Have you ever wanted to do something and just get out of the house, but you don't feel like getting dressed up and putting on make-up?  Well, when I feel that way.....I go to Bingo.  It's called Boxcar Bingo Hall.  It's located beside a railroad track, so I guess that's how it got its name.  It's a total smoke pit and no one talks because they are so serious about their cigarettes and bingo cards.  I need a few hours of no interaction every now and then...do you?

I'm perfectly content with my 21 bingo cards and my little blue dabber!!

If you follow me on Instagram, you know that we are building a new house and the process is moving very slowly.  Between the ice/snow and now the constant rain, we've had very little progress.  Finally, the past two weeks they've really made some moves and I'm getting excited.

 Head over to the linky and see what everyone else is up to.

Five for Friday~March 27, 2015

I'm linking up with Doodle Bugs Five for Friday.  This is an easy way to catch up and get in a quick blog post.

If you're looking for an awesome designer for your business cards, Laine at A Little Peace of Africa, is GREAT and she works fast.  Here's what she came up with for me.

 Tell her I sent you, if you decide to contact her. ;-)

My kinders are working on the lifecycle of frogs, so I whipped up a little cut and paste lifecycle sudoku.  I made two versions, one is a little easier than the other.  I added them to my Pond Research and Creative Writing Activities.  If you already own it, you need to download the updated version.

I have NOT added the two sudokus to the preview pictured above. :-(

During the BIG Teacher are Heroes sale I purchased way too much clip art.  I heart Educlips stuff and one of the new sets I bought was her spring clip art set.  I couldn't wait to make something with it, so I came up with these cute spring themed book marks.  You can print them on colored card stock or white and allow the littles to color.  Either way would be super cute.  Here they are and they are FREE, just for you!!!  Let me know how you decide to use them.

Click the pic below to grab them.

Those of you that follow me on Instagram already know this but, the Starburst flavored jelly beans at Target jumped into my basket.....darn it!!!  I managed to eat all of the strawberry ones out of one bag before I even made it to school.  Oops

I've been working on a big earthworm study with my 1st graders.  We've been having so much fun.  I'm trying everything out and making some tweaks before I post it to my TPT store.  Here's a sneak peek.

UPDATE:  All About Earthworms has been added to my TPT store.  You can check it out HERE.

Hop on over to Doodle Bugs Teaching for more Five for Friday linkups.

Teachers are Heroes~TPT Sale 28% off

Yes...you heard that correctly 28% off my ENTIRE store.

Let me take a second to recommend a few items I think you need in your cart.  

Check out my Instagram account to see more previews of other TPT products.  I'm off now to fill my cart!!  

Remember to leave feedback on all of your previous purchases, to save money during the sale!!

February Freebie

Here's a quick freebie for you, as I enjoy another snow day!!!   Enjoy!!  Click here or on the pic below to grab it.

Stitch Fix #5 Review

I received my 5th Fix this week.  I requested and got back my original stylist this time and was very pleased with what I got.  If you're not familiar with Stitch Fix you can read more about it here.  
To see my previous "Fixes" here are the links:

Fix 1

Fix 2 and 3

Fix 4

I requested some light colored, distressed boyfriend jeans.  I got these Just Black Riley Distressed Boyfriend Jeans.  Perfect fit and super soft.  These made me smile!

I also asked for some colored jeans.  My stylist sent me these Just Black Dean Skinny Jeans.  They are the perfect color of purple and the fit of these was also good.  The material is thick and really soft.  I loved these and planned on wearing them with booties.  But all four pairs of my booties zip and the zippers at the bottom of these pants was just too much zip-ish going on.  (Yep, I made up that word!)

Up next was a dress.  I asked for a cotton, maxi dress for my up coming trip to Cancun.  I got this Pixley Lyra Chevron Print Dress. It has 3/4 length sleeves and is WAY too long for me.  Not what I had in mind for my trip. What do you think?  This print was a little too granny for me too.

This next piece rendered me speechless.  I can say nothing good about the material or the print.  So just take a look and I'll let you form your own opinions.  May I present to you the 41Hawthorne Zappo Printed Mixed Material Sweater.

My fifth item was this Fun2Fun Torrey Henley Button Top. I liked the fit and the length was perfect to wear with leggings.  It covers all the right parts! 

Overall this fix was good.  I must say Stitch Fix has the BEST pants ever.  I still can't get over the great fit of their pants and the amazing quality.  It makes me want to request an "all pants" fix.  I may just do that!!  If you're interested in jumping on the Stitch Fix band wagon, here's a link.  Go get started!!!  Just a warning...it's addictive!!

I have not received compensation from Stitch Fix for this blog post.  These are solely my opinions about my experience with this service.