Mardi Gras Update through Pictures...

Just another reason it is great to grow up in Louisiana… Mardi Gras. 

To celebrate Mardi Gras my class made mini king cakes using: donuts, glaze, purple, yellow, and green sprinkles! They loved it. My shirt I wore that day, did not. Glaze all over. 

Ms. Thomas and I in my crafty lil' headbands I made. Yeah I have a inner Martha in me!

Here are my little ones already ready for the parade!

Luckily for us in LA we get a few days off to celebrate the holiday. So we headed to New Orleans to enjoy the carnival time!

We also attended the Endymion Extravaganza {Mardi Gras Ball}.

And of course, who did I make sure I found that night… MS. THOMAS. Looking quite sassy with her lil braid! Love her.

V-Day Surprise and a Fat Tuesday Sale

Is it me or are holidays at school ALWAYS exhausting. Especially ones that involve candy! 1st graders with sugar highs… need I say more.

Despite all of my littles hyped up on candy… We did have a great V-Day! Let me catch you up on my V-Day Surprise.

Around 1:30 I heard a male's voice walking through my door. During this time my kids were at Math Tubs and I had pulled a small group. When I looked up in confusion I saw my fiancee with a balloon, flowers, a children's book, and candy in hand. Loves.

He bought a book to read to my class. Not only was I excited to see him {since we live a little over an hour away from each other} but, I was excited for him to calm my littles down with a book… which also means a break for me right?

We also had some fun with the Sweetheart Snatcher activity via The Inspired Apple on Valentine's Day! My kids got a kick out of this. 

Also, we created the "I love you as big as _______" activity. 

(the airplane)

(the moon)

(an elephant)

Now on to other classroom updates…

For the last few weeks we have been learning about America and American Symbols via Deanna Jump's Unit. I loved teaching this subject! All of the activities came out adorable, and my kiddos really absorbed all of the information. 

We also made silhouettes for my "Future Greats" front door. The students wrote "If I were President I would _______" in their speech bubbles. 

Here is everything displayed in our hallway:

We also did the Contraction Surgery activity inspired by Cara Caroll. 

And lastly, I created this little gem of a headband for our school Mardi Gras parade we had Friday. Pictures coming soon. 

And since today is Fat Tuesday, I will be throwing a flash sale today only!

Laissez Les Bons Temps Rouler!

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Classroom Happenings...

Here's a few things happening in my room....

Here is an anchor chart I made to help my kiddos remember Plot. This is the first time it has been introduced but they have really gotten a good grasp on definition of the word due to the poster and the roller-coaster hand motion I make them do! 

I then created this graphic organizer. Since we were reading Dr. Seuss books last week I had the students give me the plot the "Green Eggs and Ham". 

 

Click Here for the Plot Graphic Organizer

In Math we have begun our unit on Money. One word- wow. I mean for students who love money... I thought they would at least have some background knowledge on the coins? Not so much. 

So after much discussion on the coins last week, this week I incorporated some money counting activities. One idea I found from ChalkTalk used the book "Jelly Beans For Sale" By Bruce McMillan. 

We read this book together in class and then I had students complete the recording sheet below. First the students drew 10 jelly beans in their left hand. Then they were giving coin printables, and were asked to create 10 cents in any way they wanted using their coins, color the coins the appropriate color, and glue them on their left hand. 

Also, here is the Cat in the Hat goes to a Mardi Gras Parade Writing activity I promised I would post yesterday. The kids came up with cute ideas... I guess they know how to cause a lil' chaos?

I am SO ready to start on all of my fun St. Patrick's day activities next week... here is the poem I introduced so far. More to come next week. 

I cried, I laughed, it was better than Cats...

The Cat in the Hat that is.

With the combination of Dr. Seuss' Birthday and Mardi Gras shutting down the city, I am tuckered out. Here is a little update of some of the activities from last we did to celebrate the two holidays!

Here is my Teacher bestie and I, in our Thing 1 and Thing 2 outfits... would you expect anything else?

For one activity I read to the class, "Happy Birthday to You" By Dr. Seuss. 

The students and I discussed why it is important to be ourselves and how special we are because of our differences. We then created self portraits, which was inspired by Leslie Ann, she always has adorable ideas!

Afterwards, the students completed the following writing prompt: "I am I because____________." The students filled in the blank with traits they thought made them special and unlike any one else!

Sadly, I forgot to take pictures of the activity "If the Cat in the Hat went to a Mardi Gras parade he would..." that Ms. Thomas created for our team. We read the Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss and discussed how mischievous that Cat was. The students came up with great ideas of how he would cause a little chaos at a Mardi Gras Parade. 

(I will post those pictures tomorrow. )

Every year my school puts on a Mardi Gras Parade the day before the Mardi Gras Break. 1st through 5th grade line the hallways as the Pre-K and Kindergarden class parade their mini shoe box Mardi Gras floats down the halls and throw beans and candy. It's intense, I cannot lie... but the students LOVE it. 

Here are my students waiting on the hallway for the parade to begin!

Below is a picture of the parade going on.... 

and here are my students with big smiles and beads at the end of the day... and then I gladly welcomed my 2 day break! :)

I hope you got to enjoy Mardi Gras wherever you may be!

Like we say in the South, Le Bon Temps Roule or Let the Good Times Roll!