October Fun

Well, I started a post on the plane to and from Hawaii, but didn't get it finished and now it is lost in cyberland somewhere. Good thing is that now I have a product for you to go with the blog post. :)

Boy, has it been busy around here. I know it's been a while, but if you remember I was on my way to Hawaii for a week for an singing competition. Well, I made it there and back. My class survived. My sub survived. My classroom mostly survived (can't be gone without something getting broken, right?!) My family survived. I felt like I wasn't going to survive! Who gets sick in Hawaii?! This girl!! I got terribly sick my 1st day there. Lost my voice, horrible bronchitis which caused asthma issues, and more. Nice, huh? So pretty much I just laid at the pool every day because I couldn't breathe at all. Someone was sitting on my chest the entire time I was there. No fun, that's for sure. I missed all of the cool things that make Hawaii, Hawaii. Oh well, one day I'll go back. Maybe? Until then...

We did some fun things at school in the month of October, though. Let me show you.

We were learning all about communities, so we decided to make our own community map. They LOVED it. Here is the blank map.

 Then we went outside and explored natural resources. They took their clipboards and paper and drew what they saw. I loved seeing them outside, exploring. They found so many resources, some that surprised me. It was awesome, and they really knew what they were after that!

Then we came back in and felt real cotton. No, not cotton balls, cotton still on the stalk. They compared it to their shirts. Awesome!

Then they made their own natural resources to go on our map. I gave each group a certain resource, and let them create. Love it!

The next day we talked about the different buildings in a community and then they created their own. I think they did an excellent job. 

The next day, we walked around the school building, finding all of the people that helped in our school community. We talked to a janitor, the nurse, the secretary, etc. Then we came back and talked about who was important in the community. They made people to go with each building. Apparently, I did not get a picture of that. :( Let me just say that it was the coolest map I ever saw. ;)

We did lots with pumpkins. We compared them to apples. We gutted them. We decorated them. We counted seeds. We did an experiment to see if it would float. We only had one right guess! Who knew big, fat pumpkins could actually float! ;)

We learned all about bats. Bats sure have some awesome vocabulary words. The kiddos loved using those words all week. I partnered them up and let them read a magazine all about bats. Then they each picked their favorite fact and added it to our bat can/have/ are chart. 

Then that darn Candy Corn Bandit came and stole our candy corn. We had to make lots of predictions on where we would find it and who had done it. Thanks Abby Mullins from theinspiredapple.blogspot.com! This activity rocks!

We did our book report projects. They decorated a pumpkin to look like a book character. Look at this fantastic character!

October is such a fun month. I can't believe it is already almost Thanksgiving though! Geez, time sure does fly!

I finally finished my Unit 3 Selection Tests for the Wonders Reading Series. I meant to get it done in Hawaii, but that didn't happen. Here it is though. 

Comprehension tests of the weekly story for McGraw Hill's Reading Wonders Anthology stories. This pack is just what you need for all of Unit 3! Unit 1 and Unit 2 are also available.

Each test is 2 pages (10 questions) that can be copied front and back. They include multiple choice, true and false, and short answer questions perfect for the beginning of 1st grade. They cover comprehension of the story, details, sight words, and the spelling skill for each week. The tests will increase in difficulty with each unit. You can start out by reading the tests to your students, and gradually move to them reading it independently. 

Weeks covered are:
Week 1- On My Way to School
Week 2- The Big Yuca Plant
Week 3- The Gingerbread Man
Week 4- Long Ago and Now
Week 5- From Cows to You

Be Fun and Fabulous!

~Mrs. Sweeney