Junie B., First Grader BOO...and I MEAN IT {Literacy Companion Pack}

I love Junie B. Jones... and so do my first graders. And if they love something that makes me love it even more! I enjoy reading her books in class because they get so excited about reading and can't wait to read more. I have created some companion packs for some of the books in the Barbara Park series and I used them last year with my class. It was one of my favorite things we did because they loved it so much. We started out with me reading the books out loud and then we would work through our book study booklets whole group. As the year went on and they started to become better, stronger readers they wanted to volunteer to read pages aloud, or they would read to themselves, or we would work in small groups reading the books. They then became more independent with their book study booklets and even wanted to work on them during free time or take them with them to library. With Halloween knocking on our door this week I thought it would be fun to read Junie B., First Grader BOO...and I MEAN IT. This book is all kinds of funny and I have a feeling my kiddos will think so too. I decided to last minute crank out a new literacy companion pack to go along with this book. I'm sure most of you already have your week all planned out, but if your looking for something last minute you can check out this little pack by clicking the pic below!



 In this pack you will find everything you need to create a book study booklet for the book Junie B.,First Grader BOO...and I MEAN IT. The booklet can be used whole group or in small groups. There is a book study booklet cover, vocabulary sheet, prediction sheet, 9 chapter summary sheets, 9 chapter comprehension question sheets, two venn diagrams, a text-to-self writing sheet, an opinion writing sheet, a story map, and a Junie B. character map.

Want a copy of this pack? Leave me a comment and your email and I will pick a winner in the morning. 

Well that's all I got for tonight! I still need to share a recap of bat week but I've got a bazillion things to do before bed.

 Hope you have a wonderful week full of lots of candy and fun! :)

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Fun with Scaredy-Cat, Splat! & Donor's Choose

This week we have been having all sorts of fun with Halloween/October themed learning. On Monday we read the book Scaredy-Cat Splat. I then had them work in their groups to find different things for a story map. One group wrote the title, one group wrote the characters, one group wrote the setting, one group wrote the problem, and one group wrote the solution. We discussed and then added their responses to a little chart.




We made these cute Scaredy-Cat Splats and Frankensteins. {Both of these crafts can be found in my Octoberween Fun unit. Or both can be purchased separately HERE and HERE.}


Students wrote what they thought would be the perfect costume for Splat.


This little sweetie thought a zombie would be the perfect costume.


This little sweetie thought a penguin would be the perfect costume.


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Tomorrow is the last day to get my donations for my Donor's Choose project matched by using the code INSPIRE. You can read all about the project HERE. I would love, love, love to get it funded and make my sweet kiddos some happy campers with a new listening center! They keep asking when we will do listen to reading during Daily 5. I sure hope sooner than later! HA

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We have also been having all kinds of fun learning about bats this week. I will be back soon with pics and a recap from our bat week.  :)

Tomorrow is Friday.. I hope you have a good one! :)

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Donor's Choose Project: D is for Daily 5!

Happy Saturday! When I checked my email this morning I had some exciting news! Donors Choose approved and posted my very first project! EEK! Talk about all kinds of exciting! I have always wanted to do a project but never got around to it and to be honest really wasn't sure about it. But recently I had to write a grant for a class that I'm taking and I thought what better time than now to try out Donors Choose! I got even more exciting news when they told me they would match any donations up to $100 now through October 25, 2013!! If you would like to check out my project you can go HERE to read all about it! 

To learn more or donate to this project:



1.     Visit my Teacher Page, http://www.donorschoose.org/elisabethdelk?active=true
2.     Choose my project, enter the amount of your donation, and click "Give"
3.     During check-out, enter the word INSPIRE where it says "Promo or gift code", and your donation will be matched dollar for dollar (up to $100). **Please note the offer to have donations matched is good now through October 25, 2013)



Have you done a Donors Choose project before? 

Have a great Saturday friends! :)


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Welcome to the Jungle! {Safari Fun Pack}

Hey, hey! This weekend sure did fly by! I wanted to pop in to share with you my newest little pack. Since I went all wild and jungle themed this year in my little classroom I thought it would be fun to learn about jungle animals with my firsties at some point this year.So I have been busy working on this unit for quite awhile.. I know Mr. E will be excited that I *finally* got it finished! ha  


Here's the scoop on what's in this pack...

-suggested books

-can/have/are printables and chart cards for monkeys, lions, zebras, giraffes, elephants, toucans, hippos, snakes, and explorers
-zebras/giraffes venn diagram
-writing paper printables for monkeys, lions, zebras, giraffes, elephants, toucans, hippos, snakes, and explorers
-explorer friends craftivity pattern (boy and girl)
-lion craftivity pattern
-toucan craftivity pattern
-zebra craftivity pattern
-giraffe craftivity pattern
-monkey craftivity pattern
-1 less and 1 more number fun activity and recording sheet
-safari making words activity and recording sheet
-jungle making words activity and recording sheet
-jungle guess who writing activity sheet
-numbers for lunch greater than/less than center activity and recording sheet
-safari fun read the room activity and recording sheet
-2 safari fun abc order activities and recording sheets
-safari sentence scramble activity and recording sheet
-jungle fun graphing activity and recording sheet
-let's go on a safari dice addition game board
-number order activity and recording sheet
-safari syllables activity and recording sheet

Here are the crafts in this pack!









You can check this pack out HERE!



I'd love to give one of these away! Leave me a comment and I will randomly pick a winner sometime in the next couple of days! :) Don't forget to leave your email.

Have a great week!


P.S. Don't forget to enter my giveaway for the Easy Daysies home starter kit and classroom management tool pack from Creative Teaching Press! You can enter that giveaway HERE!

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Apples and Johnny Appleseed Fun!

We have had so much fun learning all about Johnny Appleseed and doing activities with apples. This is one of my favorite themes and I look forward to this time of year each school year! I wanted to share a few of the things we did with you.

We completed a KWL chart about Johnny Appleseed. This pic was taken before we finished learning about Johnny. We added a few more things to our L column than what the pic shows.



We labeled the parts of an apple.



We worked with a partner and played this apple addition game. 


 We learned all about main idea and details. We used one of our September Scholastic News issues to complete this activity.



We made these precious Johnny Appleseed crafts.



We enjoyed a tasty apple inspired snazzy snack. {Due to an apple allergy I didn't do our usual apple taste test or any apple snacks. Instead we made apple trees! they were a hit!! :) }



And I sported a little red on Johnny Appleseed's birthday! :)



We also made an apple chart and discussed what we knew about apples and added things to it as we learned new things. I forgot to take a pic but here is the pic of last years. They were pretty much the same.


Well that's all I got for tonight! Don't forget to enter my CTP Easy Daysies giveaway HERE

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Easy Daysies CTP Giveaway!

Have you seen the award winning product line Easy Daysies by Creative Teaching Press? This wonderful line was created by a teacher mom. This line was designed to help children become more cooperative, accountable, responsible, and independent. This awesome product can also help eliminate the nagging of questions like when are we doing this or that because they can simply refer to their schedule. This magnetic schedule has a to do side where you can put the magnets of each task the child needs to do for the day. As they get something finished they can move the magnet to the done side. By the end of the day when all magnets have been moved to the done side children will feel accomplished! I think this product would be a great management tool for a child who only wants to do certain things like play time and getting them to do anything else is like pulling teeth!  This would be something to use to work towards a daily goal and child could be rewarded when so many of the their to do items are moved over to the done column. {I have my fingers crossed they will create one of these with school themed magnets because I have a couple of sweeties I know could definitely benefit from this to help keep them focused, on task, and working towards daily goals.} I know this is definitely a product I would use if I had children of my own. I think it is wonderful and would be super helpful to help keep my family or any family organized!

Since I am a mom to the sweetest and most precious fur child ever, he will be modeling for the Easy Daysies home starter kit product! :)





How does Easy Daysies from Creative Teaching Press work? It's simple.. 

1) Get the Easy Daysies starter pack for home and any add-on packs that might work for your child.
2) At home, start with one area of focus such as the morning routine or bedroom routine.
3) Choose the appropriate magnets to create the routine. Have your child look at the pictures and words to tell you what they are in order. If your child is not yet reading, teach him or her to use the pictures and beginning letter sounds to guess what it says. Later, you can move on to phonetically sounding out the words.
4) Ask your child which task is first, which is next, and so fourth. With older children, ask them why they think one specific task comes before the other. For example, "why do you think homework comes before free time?"
5) After one task is completed come back and look at the Easy Daysies visual routine with your child. Ask what he or she did and have your child locate and point to the appropriate magnet or move it form the "To Do" column to the "Done!" column on the Fold & Go Board. 
6) Repeat the process of coming back to the Easy Daysies visual routine and cheering on your child. He or she will be so proud, and will be excited about coming back to Easy Daysies the next day for a repeat performance!

Easy peasy, right??

Easy Daysies Magnetic Schedules For Kids header


They also have a classroom management tool pack that comes with 18 durable magnets. These magnets can be used as a whole class management tool. The class can work as a group towards the goal of getting all of the magnets on the to do side moved to the done side. This can also be used as a visual tool to help those who are constantly wondering when lunch or recess is. Students can simply refer to the magnetic schedule cards to see what time lunch, recess, etc. is. These magnets could also be used for an individual student who struggles to get his or her work completed each day because they are simply just worried about recess break. The student can set a goal for their self and get rewarded for completing tasks. Students who struggle to get things accomplished can start small with a few tasks and build their way up to completing all of the tasks!



Click here to view larger image

Would you like to win the classroom management tool pack and an Easy Daysies home starter kit? Enter using the rafflecopter below for a chance to win both of these amazing and super helpful/useful items from Creative Teaching Press!!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway



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