My Brush with Greatness - DAV PILKEY!!!

Johnny Carson used to have a segment on the Tonight Show – My Brush with Greatness!  People from the audience would tell a story about a celebrity they encountered.  WELL . . . I’ve had MY BRUSH WITH GREATNESS!! 

My all time favorite author is DAV PILKEY!  I had the opportunity to MEET HIM!!  I love his humor and his ability to encourage young readers to read!  If you’ve ever viewed his videos on YouTube – the guy is a downright comic genius!!  I treasure his Dogzilla and Kat Kong books.  I use his Dumb Bunny series to make my students laugh AND to teach children the difference between “funny” names and “mean” names.  (There is a big difference between being “dumb” and being a “dumb bunny.”) 

And how can you not LOVE the wacky humor of the Captain Underpants series!!!  It is my dream to be cast as the Wicked Wedgie Woman in a full-length feature movie of Captain Underpants!  No one can come close to MY HERO – DAV PILKEY!!!

Me and MY HERO - Dav Pilkey!!

My Dream - to be the Wicked Wedgie Woman in a Dav Pilkey movie!!!

Click on Dav's nose to see this cool unit!

Click Kat Kong to see a VERY FUNNY Reader's Theater!

Click Dogzilla to see another VERY FUNNY Reader's Theater!

Drama Chronicles - Walking On Sunshine

Any time my students have to sit for a while – they NEED to get up and move around!  I love playing music and leading my class in a somewhat structured movement activity!  One of their favorites is Walking On Sunshine by Katrina and the Waves!  While the music is playing I do the following side 

coaching –

Are you hot or cold?

What are you wearing on your feet?

Does your whole body move?

Are you moving high or low?

What are your arms doing?

After the music, we have a class discussion –

What do you think it means to walk on sunshine?

I ask them to write about it and/or create a picture of what it would look like to walk on sunshine.

Worms, Worms, and More Rain = More Worms!!!

There is nothing more endearing (or startling - depending on your personality) than a young child running into your classroom with a giant WORM dangling from his little fingers yelling, “Quick, I need a jar!”  Yes, we have to accept it, KIDS LOVE WORMS!!!  (Actually, I enjoy them, too!)

So, with that in mind, I created a WORM Thematic Literacy Unit filled with WORM Themed learning activities!  Click the pic below to check it out!!

SINK or FLOAT!?!

Now that spring has arrived, so has the RAIN!!  Every time I walk out the door I don’t know if I’m going to sink or float!!  I thought this was the perfect time to conduct some sink or float science experiments in my classroom. 

I gathered a variety of items from centers throughout the classroom and put the items on a plastic tray.  I filled a medium sized plastic fish bowl with water and had a few hand towels handy!  Before a student drops the items in the water, he/she must write the name of each object they would like to try out, and PREDICT whether or not they believe the item will sink or float.  (See the worksheet below!)  Once they have written all their items and predictions, they get to experiment with the items and record their results!  Sooooo fun!  And who doesn’t love to play in the water!?!  My students are always great at drying off the items after they take them out of the water (and the table!)

Spring Math! Print and Go! No Prep! Common Core Aligned!

Spring is here and those math assessments are just around the corner!  I created a set of SPRING THEMED math worksheets to help reinforce skills we have been working on aligned with Common Core.   Click on the Bunny to see this 26-page resource!  You may also like my math assessments I created to align with Common Core.

Click Mr. Bunny to see my Spring Math Collection!

Click Mr. Lego to see my Math Assessment Pack!

Spring is in the Air! (Finally!!!!)

Here is a spring poem with finger play movements I wrote to get my students out of the winter rut and into the spring groove!  It looks great as a poster hanging in the classroom! Click on the poster to get an entire set of 30 poems for the whole year with fingerplays for each poem from my TpT store.

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles - The Great Parachute Project!

Transportation in the Air Sharing Project - After reading several transportation in the air books, I instructed my students to make a small parachute and attach it to a small doll at home for homework.  I told them we would release them from a special spot at school!  (I put a small step ladder in the front of the class.  I helped each child up the ladder.  Two other students were on hand to hold the person on the ladder in place.)  I gave each student two or three chances to launch his/her parachute from the ladder.

Guiding questions I asked each student about their parachute -

What materials did you use to make your parachute?

How long did it take you to make?

Who is going to take a ride on your parachute today?