CURRENTLY JULY

I'm early I know
please forgive me...

before I get to the sponsor for this month...
I wanted to thank each and every single one of you...
every single month I am WOWed by the number of entrants...
it is just simply AH-mazing... I do read each and every one of them
BUT it is too hard to comment on each one of them...
seriously I tried one time and I was doing it for HOURS
HOURS I tell ya
that is why it is SUPER important to do the rule of 3...
give a nice feedback to the peeps ahead of you and behind your link :)

I get to meet sooo many new blogs through this little ol linky partay
and so do you....
BUT I wanted to let you know that I have a place on my sidebar
--------------> over there
for you to link up in another party
it is THE TEACHER BLOCK PARTAY
find your grade or grades and link up...
it is a great place to find all the blogs in your grade level.
it is a year round partay so head on over there too...
super easy to do that!!!

thanks to my sponsor this month...

Mrs. Wilson
is an Arizona Teacher Blogger
who might be melting right now because I heard their temps are in the 100s right now...
wowzers
anywho... she is a fellow 4th grade teacher and is a mama to TWO teenagers
BLESS HER HEART
2 teenagers...
I ask all my sponsors to tell me their top 3 and here are Mrs. Wilson's picks

click on pic to see this item

with over 30 pages of comprehension and language skills activities 

you will surely love this newly prettied up lit study

her next pick is this bright and beautiful set

click on pic to go check this one out

and then we have these too....

click on the pic if you rrrrrrrrrr ready to see this

 Do you know what a pirate's favorite letter is????

RRRRRR

and that joke will go perfectly with this purty pirate themed classroom decor set

rrrrrrrrrrr

and one last thing....

Mrs. Wilson wanted me to share this blog post....

http://confessionsofateachingjunkie.blogspot.com/2013/06/im-back.html

in it you will find out about these games (see below)

and so much more

shhhhh she has a bonus in that post...  go check it out!!!

alrighty that about wraps up  the sponsor portion of this CURRENTLY...
thanks to


and be sure to head on over there and at least say HI!!!

and now............

lovin me some CC Fonts and KH art

 * Bub is obsessed with Ghostbusters right now...
maybe it might just be my hubs is a real vintage toy dork...
that is not mean I LOVE DORKS
I think this nerdiness is rubbing off on my 4 year old...
he is requesting all things Ghostbusters for his Bday party in a few months...
and that means I am rubbing off on him too...
PARTAY PLANNING is one of my things... LOVE IT and hate it...
but I have some really cool ideas for this so we will see...
* my house is almost completely purged, cleaned, and organized
a local charity contacted us to see if we had any donations and I gave them....
15 LARGE EXTRA LARGE garbage bags of clothes...
sad to say most were mine...
I was hanging on to my "bigger" clothes and I finally said NO
and sent them on their way!!!
I went through every closet, pantry, room. corner.... and purged...donated... dunno with that schtuff
I am sure the charity was like WHAT????
*disney is in my near future... ahhhhh i love d.i.s.n.e.y
* we have new back neighbors...
I have been spoiled... the house behind us has been vacant because it was / is / I have no clue...
anyways it was a second home for the couple that we thought lived there for years.... YEARS
and now we have new people in there... WHAT??
and they have 2 huge outside dogs
and we have 2 huge inside  dogs and one little inside dog who thinks she is HUGE
and well the fence is HORRIBLE...
and when inside meets outside... it is a barking war...
mostly their one BIG BROWN dog and our LITTLE snappy black and white dog...
and
AND
just the barking breaks the boards...
soooooo I need to get a fence guy over ASAP...
seriously I have been spoiled with no back neighbors...
they have a big pool so they are out there all the time and with our fence missing every other board
and then the ones that are left are barely hanging on...
so they can see all of me and I can see all of them...
GREAT (sarcasm)
and well now I have to put a bra and make-up on to go in my backyard... just to feed the birds
*tear*
calling fence guy NOW...
* my TIP for blogging is
do it from your heart...
if you are not feeling it... don't do it...
because it shows in your writing...
it does...
DO NOT BE A ROBOT BLOGGER...
beep bop boop... boring
do posts you are excited about or love...don't force it
which leads me to
don't let your blog take over...
last summer I probably spent more time blogging and blog hopping
don't judge some of you are doing it right now *wink*
but you have a life... outside of blogging...
get out and live
your butt will thank you...
and
because of last summer's BLOG addiction... I decided this summer is more about living
which leads me to another thing...
if you are blogging about things you LOVE
throw in some LIFE in there too...
we are teachers... and OMGEEWHIZ we have lives...
SHOW IT...
and get in front of the camera every now and then too...
show us your face...

Ok your turn...
in the tips, tricks, hints..... just leave a blogging, creating, selling, or whatever else seems right....
tip, trick, or hint
ok.....
let's do this...
oh and BTW my FB fans get hints to when I am posting... jus sayin *wink*
and this month they got big HELP... jus sayin again...

don't forget the rule of 3  and basically that is it...
if you don't know how to join my PARTAY head to this POST and scroll all the way to the bottom to find some how to guides
have a fun and safe 4th y'all



toodles

Camo, Hand Munchers, and pollen shooters

I am warning you now... this post has tons and tons of pictures...

most if not all are from my phone so I apologize up front if they are not "quality"

BUT they will provide you with the general idea of what we did...

okie dokie artichokie...

I promised a few posts ago that I would go into more detail about our 

Camouflage Scavenger Hunt

we have been doing this for years...

it is a GREAT activity to do the last few weeks or week of school

the kids LOVE it and it really hits home how important camo is

so anywho... each kid will trace their hand...

they then find a spot in the room to hide their hand....

IT HAS TO BE OUT IN THE OPEN

can't be all sneaky sneaky and hide it under a table or inside a book...

well after they pic their place they make their hand camouflage so it can hide in that spot...

here are some examples....

after the class has their hands in place

you trade classes with another teacher...

sorry I forgot to tell you earlier and I don't feel like scrolling back up....

but we do tell the kiddos that another class will come in to "EAT" their hands...

this makes them want to be the best....

they have been looking at this hand all year...

and I tell them... IF it is REALLY good 

its chances of survival are higher...

and if you survive your hand will stay up through next year....

for the next year's munchers to find

OK so after all hands are in place...

we let a whole class come in at one time...

and they only had ONE minute to find a hand...

Yes the person at the end of the line has a harder time MUNCHING 

BUT that is the real world right???

if you are late to the feeding you have to work harder...

they are only allowed to find one hand...

and then they leave...

NO WORDS are allowed...

Hand Munchers are SILENT...

after the minute is up... 

they go back to their original class...

they are eager to go back to the room to see if their hand survived the munchers....

and they like to see what everyone else collected...

here are some of the hands we munched...

when they get back they have to write about their experience being a Hand MUNCHER....

2 journals actually...

one from the point of veiw from the hand...

and then one as the Hand muncher....

they are pretty funny.... especially if the hand got eaten...

they have a word bank that must be used on both stories...

here are some pics of our survivors and they will hang around through next year....

WHAT WHAT...
yes I'm not done....
there is more
more more
more is better right???
ok....
after we finished studying adaptations....
the kids watched the beautiful movie...
Wings of Life....
it is a wonderful movie...
about plants
and lots of beautiful plants
and the pollinators
and the kids loved it...
and it is well worth the investment...
it is told from the plants' point of view which is so neat to hear...
can you tell I love it???



after the movie
then they had to randomly pick a card...
sorry no pic of those...
on the card was a problem...
or a situation...
for example...
your plant has to survive the brutal winter in the Arctic Tundra
or
your plant lives among a large population of rabbits...how will it survive to reproduce
or
your plant can only be pollinated by hummingbirds
or
design a plant that can survive living close to the ocean

there were many many more...
THEY LOVED THIS...
they had to name their plant and present to the class the card and the plant with its appropriate adaptations...
the kids were given lots of craft supplies to create their plants....
and here they are....

small tundra plant... the sponge represents the permafrost frozen ground

top view

this was a plant that could grow in small and slender spaces between tall buildings in a big city...
thin flower that produces big fruit that could roll out from between the buildings...
this one was hard and she did a good job... said the flower needed to be super big and bright to attract pollinators

flower of thorns... to keep the bunnies away

its large petal is sticky and will trap crawling insects

tiny thin spaces again

desert plant that traps insects...
green stems are water storage

love this one...
has a petal cup that holds the nectar 

goat flower...
bitter until the seeds are produced and then the seeds need to be digested by the goat
and the goat will deposit them

windy beach flower....
the green is a root
it can spin in the wind...
to survive the coastal winds....

had to survive competition in a meadow full of flowers....
so she came up with....... a pollen shooter
ha ha ha...
she was really serious about this 

this one is really cool.... it had to survive long periods of drought... but was also a carnivorous plant... so this plant stores the bugs in the big bubble part and eats them when needed
the pink stipe guides the crawling bugs to their death... MUHAHAHA... 

windy desert plant... that can produce fruit for crawling, walking, and flying dessert animals
love this one too because he made it hollow like so the wind will blow through it

this one was only for humming birds... the yellow pipe cleaners are the tubes to get the nectar...
cute idea

 suppose to provide camo for the colorful parrots found in the rain
forrest... can you see the bird... it is green with an orange beak

Ok that does it...

whew

that was a lot a lot a lot of pics

sorry this was put up now BUT....

I hope that it gave you some good ideas about some fun adaptation projects...

I think I am going to work on a HAND MUNCHER pack...

that could be my summer project...

alrighty... hope you are having a great summer... 

toodles

guest post... yee haw

I am doing a guest post....
holla
go check it out


and find out what this is all about.... lol ha ha ha ha  

toodles

Looky Lou with The Hands-On Teacher In First

This is my last 

LOOKY LOU 

for a little while!!!

and I am going out with a good one....

Marie is a ROCK STAR 1st grade teacher

that is changing into a pirate teacher....

ARRRRRRR you ready to get involved in a good book study...

head on over to this first grade teacher's blog and dive into 

TEACHING LIKE A PIRATE....

after reading her chapter 2 synopsis... I am hooked and 

I am going to go buy it right now...

well not right now BUT as soon as I post this

 it is next

on my to do list...

and then I will buy it....

alright

EVERY LOOKY LOU in the past gets to feature 3 products 

and here are Marie's

one of her newest creations...
and how sweet she made this for a friend...
super cute
super bright
this huge set includes:

Word Wall Headers
Bright Bookmarks
Supply Labels
Library Labels
Birthday Cards
Job Chart tags
Desk Name Plates
Months of the Year 
Days of the Week
Number Cards 1-31 (for calendar)
Today, Tomorrow, Yesterday Signs 
My Communication Folder (cover)
5 Rules Poster Set (whole brain)
6 Table Number Signs
Student Sticker Charts
Classroom Behavior Chart System (Purple, Green, Yellow, Red Apples)
**BONUS: Cute WELCOME to MY CLASS Poem/Tags

here is the link for that awesomeness....

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Colorful-Apples-with-rainbow-and-chevron-too-Room-Decor-Theme-Kit-709198

this next packet is her 

BEST SELLER.... It is a packet of action verb practice exercises that can be used for independent practice/review, and also a few center activities. 

This is great for first and second graders.

This packet includes:
Verbs Show Action poster
Verbs Are Everywhere (verbs in different places)
I'm Going on a Verb Hunt (circle the verbs)
Verbs from Past and Present
Verb cards and Verb sorting mat for past and present tense
Can you Find the Verbs? Finding verbs in context
Guess that Verb! Act out the VERB (includes 24 verb cards)
Picture This! Write verbs to match pictures
The Verbs went on Vacation! Fill in the blanks
Match the Verbs to the Nouns that make sense
Beach themed writing prompt with verbs to use in it.
May the Best Verb Win! Choose the verbs that make sense.

Highlight the Verbs highligting page

the link for this BEST SELLER is....

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Verbs-on-Vacation-225413

alrighty and Miss Marie is SUPER UBER talented

and a girl after my own heart....

because she makes digital papers

and looky at this one....

it has MUSTACHES....

LOVE IT!!!

SUPER SASSY!!!

to go and get this snazzy jazzy 

you mustache to this link...

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Super-Sassy-Mustache-and-Stripes-backgrounds-8-Papers-personal-or-commercial-691989

if you think these are cute and useful you should check out her store....
with over 100 products I am sure there is one or two or three or 100 things you could find...

here is the link
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/The-Hands-On-Teacher-In-First


thanks so very much to The Hands-On Teacher In First
for being my last Looky Lou Sponsor

toodles

and I already bought the book...
ha ha ha I couldn't wait
and now I can cross off 2 things off my to do list today :)
off to work on number 3

Monday Made It, slanted, and hashtag it

It is that time where I bust out my crafty closet goodies and get busy 

and it is also that time where I drool over all of the crafty goodness

on TARA's 

well... I already showed you some of this 

on my previous post....  

if you want to see these fab things just click here

so last night I was thinking about.... 

TARA and how I am such a bad bloggy friend because 

I don't link up as much as I should to these Monday Made Its

and how I really love looking at all of the luverly things everyone makes 

soooooo while I was thinking I looked at my chalkboard hanging in my living room and 

WHAM BAM THANK YOU MAAM

it came to me... 

my summer bucket list...

they are all over Pinterest and soooo

I pulled out my chalkboard markers and got to work...

First I asked bub and hub what were some of the things they wanted to do this summer

Bub kept telling me he wanted to go to Chicago or New York 

to see the Ghost Busters... well that didn't make the list...

I am keepin things real!!!

there is NO way in Hello Kitty that I will be able to squeeze in a trip like that

and I gently reminded him of our vaycay plans to Disney...

ok I wasn't so gentle after he mentioned it for like the 113th time 

so needless to say 99% of our Summer Bucket List items are on here...

I noticed after a little bit it started to get a little slanted....
and I tried to correct it...

and it obviously worked because as you can see they are perfectly straight...
HA HA HA
#marthastewartiamnot
I mean come on ... this board is like
over 3 feet wide and not exactly easy to work with...
anywho....
I just let the slant be and kept going....
and then wha laaaaa
I was done....
I must say
my whole family was pretty impressed
(there are only 3 of us and they boys are always impressed... if mama ain't happy....)
I even sent a text to MY mama and she was like
WOW!!!
I instagrammed this bad boy too and had like 100 likes this morning...
not really but enough likes that it just tells me (blank) likes....
am I the only one that gets excited when it goes to ____ likes...
probably

ADD YOUR MMI to instagram too by using the hashtag #mondaymadeit
if you want to follow me I am farleyfarleyfarley


so here it is my first link up to Monday Made It...
for the summer
hope you like it...

you should go link up too...
Tara is an absolute doll
and her Monday Made Its are FAB!!!
I wonder how far from Disney Tara is... I want to see her...
I should have added that to the list...
darn it

toodles