Fabulous Finds Friday, October 18, 2013 -- A Day Late!

So sorry we are late with our Fabulous Finds Friday.  It has been that kind of week...

The first find we would like to share was found by Courtney last weekend when she took advantage of the Barnes & Noble Teacher Appreciation Sale in our area.  She found these fabulous Scholastic A True Book Series.  She purchased Polar Mammals, Walt Disney, and Sam Walton.  They are a great addition to her classroom library.  Each is priced at $6.99, yet they were buy 2 get one free plus 25% off with the sale.  You might want to check to see if there is a sale going on in your area...

The other find both Courtney and I found, but we had not even discussed our find with one another.  Great minds think alike! :0)  Wendell Minor's How Big Could Your Pumpkin Grow? is a must have!

Synopsis from amazon.com: Every year, giant pumpkin contests take place at fairs across the country—the 2012 record-holder weighed over a ton! The latest craze is to carve the most enormous pumpkins into racing boats. But what’s next? Why not think really big? Award-winning artist Wendell Minor does just that as he imagines larger-than-life pumpkins decorating some of America’s favorite places—as immense as the Capitol dome, Mount Rushmore, the Brooklyn Bridge, even the Grand Canyon! This celebration of famous landmarks and landscapes plays with concepts of size and scale and is full of fun facts.

What a great picture book for teaching about adjectives this time of year as well.  Take a look at two of the beautiful pages from inside the book.

Visit Wendell Minors website to learn more about this phenomenal artist and writer.  You are sure to be taken with him and his creations, if you aren't already.

We would love for you to link up for Fabulous Finds Friday!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Fabulous Finds Friday - October 11, 2013

Just a few finds today for Fabulous Finds Friday...

How to Grow Pumpkins: Libby's Pumpkins



Found this fun and educational video on YouTube---Growing Pumpkins with Libby.  We just happen to teach next door to Morton, Illinois, the Pumpkin Capital of the World, and home of Libby's Pumpkin.  You know that famous canned pumpkin you use this time of year to make those delicious recipes?  This video chronicles the journey of Libby pumpkins from seed to can--not just seed to pumpkin.  Not to mention, the kids get to listen to/watch a young reporter on location in the fields and factory.  A wonderful learning experience!

Mixed Media Pumpkins

Photo Courtesy of The Artist Woman

Looking for an art idea for next week? I found this wonderful art idea on The Artist Woman's blog--Mixed Media Pumpkins.  What a wonderful process for the kids to go through, and the products are unique, yet timely.  We used torn brown lunch bags, yellow streamers, and torn magazines. We also used liquid tempera paint instead of cake tempera. 

The first step was to adhere strips of each type of paper to the paper with brushed on glue.

Then students painted their papers with orange tempera once dried.

I will be posting pictures of the kids' finished pumpkins next week...  Can't wait!

Number Jugglers

Courtney "found" this oldie-but-goodie when looking through her math material tubs.  Upon finding it, she realized it was actually a book that was shared with her at a workshop the summer before last.  She was pleasantly surprised to find this jewel--a set that she has had since she student taught many moons ago.  It is actually still available new and used on amazon.com.  A great collection of math games to help build number sense.

Thanks for flying over today!  Have a splendid weekend!



Fabulous Finds Friday -- October 4, 2013

It's Fabulous Finds Friday!

Life Cycle of a Pumpkin

Here are some great finds for teaching kids about the life cycle of a pumpkin!

Now, I have A LOT of books--so this is something I "found" among the oodles of books I have in the classroom; a book I had totally forgotten about. It's always been available for students to read, but it's not one that I have taken out and read aloud to my students.  It is one of the wonderful books in the Let's Read and Find Out Science series--From Seed to Pumpkin by Wendy Pfeffer.  It will come in handy next week--a great example of informational text that models a scientific process.

This is a fun and quick crafty idea I found on Making Learning Fun--a pumpkin life cycle bracelet. You can download a step-by-step printable so students can independently make their own bracelet.  These will be a wonderful review of the process, but it will also be excellent for students to use when retelling and writing about the process of a pumpkin's development from seed to pumpkin. Photo courtesy of Making Learning Fun.

Another great find--Lita Lita's Pumpkin Life Cycle Fold and Learn.  Perfect!  ONLY $1.20 in her TpT store!

Text Talk Lessons

Courtney recently found this one and shared it with our teaching team. This wonderful PDF file contains Text Talk Lessons, an approach to read alouds, shared by the Utah State Office of Education.  101 texts and lessons are included in this resource--a MUST download! Photo courtesy of Utah State Office of Education.

We hope you find this week's finds as FABULOUS as we do!

ALSO--don't forget to take advantage of my new FREEBIE--Candy Corn Odds & Evens! Just visit my TpT store to download!

Have a fabulous Friday!

Odd and Even Math Center FREEBIE & New Graphics!

Just a quick post tonight to share a free math center and some new graphics...

Head on over to my TpT store to download Candy Corn Odds & Evens!

Courtney was in need of some simple Halloween graphics, so I whipped some up for her.  You can check them out in my Graphics by Sarah Beth TpT store...

 

Here are some other goodies I created...

Friday is just around the corner! Enjoy the rest of your week...