Diving Into Native Americans and More!

Happy Weekend!  Check out what's going on these days!

Wampanoag Morning Message

I write my Morning Messages every day because I use them to reinforce what we're learning in class:

Plus, teaching about Native Americans is one of my favorite part of Social Studies.

Wampanoag Home Site Dioramas

I have to say that this is my absolute favorite project at this time of year:

This is the perfect project for this time of year!  On Monday we made the mishoons (canoes); on Tuesday we assembled the wetus (wigwams); and on Wednesday, we put the whole project together!  I LOVE using the LED tealights for the fire - too cute!  In addition, each student puts his/her own spin on the project so they're all unique creations!
Here are the links if you would like to recreate this project:  The template for the wigwam (wetu) can be found here, while the template for the canoe (mishoon) can be found here.

Thankful Turkey Feathers

Every year the kids also enjoy creating a thankful feather to be part of our turkey display in the hall:

This year I got the template for the turkey feathers here, and I really like this template as it has a sentence stem and a place to illustrate your thankfulness!  I do love how each feather is a unique creation!

In addition, in the top right of the picture, I'm donning my first pair of LuLaRoe leggings!  These leggings were leftover from the 4th of July batch, but I'll be able to wear them all year!

A Successful Thanksgiving Dinner!

This year I managed to cook a delicious 18+ pound turkey with all the delicious side dishes.  Now we have LOTS of leftovers, and my husband is already bored of the turkey.  Oh, well, I'm hoping that I don't have to cook for the rest of the week!  Let him eat turkey!

Space Dome Fun

Our PTO treated us to a fun and educational space dome in-house visit:

You can read more about booking a similar experience here.

I hope you and your family had an amazing Thanksgiving!  Thanks for checking in today!

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Show and Tell Tuesday and Almost Over ~ November!

Happy Thanksgiving!  Today I'm linking up with Forever in Fifth Grade for:

Wampanoag Anchor Chart


I love making anchor charts and hanging them up near the rug so we can review and learn the material.

Essential Questions

My professional goal includes sharing and explaining our curriculum's essential questions.  I just completed one of the math questions, and it came out pretty good:

In Math, the kids have been so focused on multiplying and dividing that they think ALL the problems involve these operations.  Now the math workbook includes and occasional addition or subtraction problem, and the kids need to learn to really read and think.

Great Clipart at a Great Price!


If you're in the market for some 79 cent clipart, check out the selection at Prettygrafik!   I've bought a lot of clipart from this store, and I really love it.  The trees and the houses are courtesy of Prettygrafik in this graphic experiment:

I used to collect (and still have) many decorative houses.  I've always been fascinated by different houses in real life, too ~ which probably explains why I love this house clipart!

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Wrapping Up October and Whizzing Into November!

Here in Massachusetts, we had a very warm and pleasant fall ~ highs in the 70's and 80's with plenty of sun.  Well, winter has now arrived with temperatures in the 20's with biting wind.  It's quite a big change!  Either way, time marches on ~ here's what we've been up to!

Happy Veterans Day!

Our Veterans Day assembly is next Tuesday, but we've been learning about this holiday in class, too.  As part of our Morning Messages, I included this beautiful poem by Cheryl Dyson:

Check out the Veterans Day poem here too.

In addition, several students brought in family military artifacts.  Adriana even wrote a book to accompany her father's and grandfather's dog tags:

One Takeaway From the Boston T-P-Tea Party

A week ago Saturday, I went to a very informative and interesting event at the Boston Children's Museum.  Jodi Durgin from The Clutter Free Classroom and Susan Jones put together this event.  I'm sharing one tip I learned from Cheryl of The Fun-Sized Teacher:

Cheryl learned this information while attending an annual Teachers Pay Teachers conference.  Now I'm trying to look at what I make for my own students in an effort to turn it into my own product line!

Cozy Flannel Penguin Sheets!

I ordered these most adorable sheets on Wayfair and I love them:

Native American Post on Conversations From The Classroom:

Click here  or on the picture to read all about one of my favorite projects of the years ~ making a Wampanoag home site!

The Last Word on Halloween

On Halloween, we were supposed to dress like book characters.  This group of girls dressed like the Three Little Pigs and Little Red Riding Hood.  They wrote a story to combine the two stories and created a house:

I LOVE when my students write stories just because!

What has made you happy these days?  Thanks for visiting today!

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Currently ~ November Has Arrived!

Happy First Day of November!  It's time to join Anne in Residence and Julie from A Hopeful Hood for:

Realizing 

I'm realizing how fast time flies.  I broke my wrist about nine weeks ago ~ days before school started.  I went from a cast/splint hybrid to a heavy-duty cast to a splint that I can now take off while I'm at home.  Of course, my almost-healed wrist is more sore now, and my good hand is tired, but I'm moving in the right direction in such quick time!

For Halloween, we needed to dress as book characters, and I managed to recreate Clementine:

Stirring 

I can actually prepare meals again!  Tonight I made turkey chili, and now I have delicious leftovers!

Appreciating 


Right now I've managed to catch yet another cold which has led to laryngitis which makes me appreciate my voice and how important it is to my teaching job.

Investigating 

I need a new four-slice toaster.  Check out this $200 option from Amazon:

I love this toaster, but I can't justify spending such as exorbitant amount on a toaster.  My husband and I popped into a Williams-Sonoma to see one of these toaster in real life, and there was a Wolf version that cost $400.  Does anyone know why a toaster would cost so much money?  Is it really worth that much money?


Following.

I love the house and other clipart from Pretty Grafik Design on Etsy or on Teachers Pay Teachers.

Happy November!

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