Showing posts with label USA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label USA. Show all posts

Saturday, November 10, 2012

election results.

Let me just give a little shout out to Cara Carroll at The First Grade Parade.  Besides being the absolute cutest thing I've ever seen she makes fab-fab-fabulous units.  I've purchased many and have had no complaints.

My latest download from her was the Presidential unit...full of mock-election printables.  I'm teaching about characters this week so I was looking for some good read alouds when I realized I hadn't planned a darn thing to do with the presidential election!!  Luckily, I double whammied both with these activities.

We read Duck for President, My Teacher for President & Grace for President then talked about each character and what proof we had {from their book} about why they would make a good president.  Then we made our campaign posters.  Don't you love how my little girls have started drawing me in high heels?!


Seriously cute, right?!  I hung them in the hall so they would see them the next morning and be thinking about their decision.  Then we filled out our ballots and chose a winner.


Peanut Butter M&Ms will be acceptable breakfast food as soon as I can pass my first law.  ;)


Because of my slack planning we only had time to squeeze in a few of these activities but I recommend it to you.  There are voter registration cards {hilarious} and lots of other presidential games in there as well.  If you download it, tell Cara I sent you.  But maybe leave out the part about how I want to be her when I grow up!  ;)

Tuesday, July 03, 2012

4th of July {a day of sparkle!}

I love the 4th of July for 3 main reasons. 1) Hubs is off of work & we can hang out with the family all day soakin up the sunshine. 2) Glitter in the sky. Fireworks are just millions of sparkles overhead. So fabulous! 3) And this is the most important reason. This is a day where our entire country comes together to stand as a team. Political party doesn't matter {except to the politicians} and neither do any of our other differences. For one day, it's all about our similarities as people and AMERICANS...just how we teach our kids that it should be.

Now, on to some good celebrations. Since no one is working tomorrow, neither is my blog. Enjoy the day with these festive finds.

{Red, White & Blue Sangria}
At the risk of sounding like my Magic 8 Ball, will I be cutting the pineapple into those adorable little stars? My sources say no. But I'm sure it will still be delicious.
{Firecracker Cakes}
Pop Rocks. Get ready to find them because this will be a reoccurring theme in today's list. I won't have time to try these out this year but I think they are stinkin cute...and they explode in your mouth!
{Snap, Crackle & Pop Rocks cookies}
She added her pop rocks & sprinkles with frosting but how awesome would these be as ice cream sandwiches?! Put some vanilla between 2 cookies & then roll it in the edible firecrackers. Fun AND refreshing!
{Rocket Dogs}
I laughed out loud when I saw these. Hot dogs are a grilling staple, right? Even if I thought I wanted a hamburger I would have to change my mind when these were presented as an option!
{Let Freedom Rings}
Love. And so would any kid. Of any age.
And a couple of {cheap & easy} decorations
Paper frillies in mason jars & streamers weaved over a table. Ta-da! Instant party.
To keep your kiddos busy...
How about an ongoing game of Bingo?  Who can find a hot dog, flip flop or  popsicle first?  This {free printable} will keep them busy while the grill is firing up.
Or grab your pool rings and water bottles from the cooler for a super cheap DIY ring toss!
If you have little little ones who have to go to bed before the fireworks, help them feel included be creating fireworks in a jar for them to keep on their dresser when they go to sleep.
Another super simple game for any hot day: grab a paintbrush & a bucket of water and see how many times your child can write their name, sight words or math facts {whatever you want to work on} before the water evaporates from the sidewalk.
If they're old enough to use a sparkler {wahoo!} do like the outdoor weddings have taught us and use those to write sight words as well!  Chances of singed hair highly decreased when fingers have something to do with the wand of fire.  ;)

Happy 4th of July everyone! And thank you to all who have served {past, present & future} to keep our country strong.

Thursday, February 24, 2011

George and Abe.

After studying George & Abe for the last two weeks, we created the presidents to display with our writing.  I found this George Washington craft on Mrs. Carroll's blog The First Grade Parade and just had to try it out.  They are adorable!  The students brainstormed things they learned from the various stories we read {fiction and non-fiction} and each wrote a sentence or two of their choosing...with a little encouragement from me for them to come up with original ideas.  ;)
"George Washington had hippo teeth because he lost all of his teeth."

"George Washington was a leader in the war."

My favorite fact about Abraham Lincoln is that he liked to play practical jokes and make people laugh. My students always remember the story about his muddy footprints on the ceiling! My second favorite fact is that he wasn't all that organized so he stored important papers in his stove-pipe hat. Which is where I came up with this display idea...


Ta-da!  Our papers are in Lincoln's hat too!

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