Five for Friday! October 18th

I am linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for Five for Friday!  We had another fun week with lots of fall activities. Thank you so much for hosting this linky party!

Here we go!

We had a McWonderful time with our McSightwords.  (OK- I am done with that.)  After the children built the word with "French fries," they recorded it on their French fry writing sheet.  The kids had a great time writing with their "catsup pens" (aka red pens...).

One comment to the children about how you HOPE they don't start  eating these words because they are looking delicious, and they think it is the best thing ever. 

 

McDonalds was wonderful and gave me lots of Kids' Meal French fry containers.  I just put magnets on the back, as well as on the backs of the pop sickle stick letter fries, and the kids had a ball!

Here is my simple little recording sheet if you would like it.  Just click on the picture below.



While I am on the McDonalds theme, I have to share that I stopped to get a large, unsweetened iced tea every single morning this week.  They are $1- and brought me JOY all day long.  Remember one of my tips for the year was doing little things for yourself to make yourself happy each day? Well- apparently this was my happy of choice EVERY day this week.  I McLoved it.  (oops. I guess I had one more McWord to use.)

We loved playing with pumpkin play dough this week. Next week, when I screen for report cards, this will be a great center for the kids, too.  Hopefully my  mats will be back and laminated! I can't wait.   Erin from Creating and Teaching made these perfect Pumpkin Counting Playdoh Mats ! They are FREE at her TPT store.  Thank you, Erin!  Aren't they wonderful?

This Bisquick recipe is my favorite, because it stays such a nice consistency and is really no fail! In case you didn't see my post, here is the recipe:

Bisquick Playdough
2 cups Bisquick
1 cup salt
2 cups water
1 Tbsp cream of tartar
1 Tbsp oil
 
Mix all ingredients in a microwave safe bowl.  Microwave for 3 minutes.  Scrape and stir the bowl. Microwave for another 3 minutes. If it is not quite ready,  microwave for another minute.
I made a double batch, and this time I did put it back in the microwave for another minute because it was sort of sticky. That worked perfectly.

I added LOTS of pumpkin pie spice, some cinnamon, and orange food coloring!  The room smelled delicious. 

I have lots of Pumpkin Freebies on that post, too, if you want to check them out.  Just click on the picture below.

 

The kids were getting a little comfortable in the hall and not walking as quietly as they had been, so I broke out some old favorite tricks.   One that I love is our "Magic POOF" before we go anywhere.  If it is library, it is "Magic Library POOF," and they instantly get so quiet and ready to go.  "Magic Lunch POOF," "Magic Music POOF," "Magic Art POOF," work equally as well, as you can imagine. So simple- but they love it. I don't question why. I just enjoy it.

Also, I have started saying, "Quietly line up in an AB pattern," (or a Boy, Girl pattern.)  Although this seems like a way to reinforce patterning, it is really a way to separate some of my boys who walk much better with a girl in between them...

We have also been working on the "sh" blend, so I broke out my "SH" spray (aka water and beautiful glitter in a spray bottle).  Once I squirt this down the line, nobody dares to make a peep. I don't question this either. 

Here is another favorite:

One magic quiet dab on the back of the hand, and the kids are quietly smelling their hands all the way down the hall.



 

I have three crayon box bins on each table for the children to share.  Each box has two pencils in it.  The children are great about making sure each box has the two pencils in it before they put them away.  If one box has only one, or - heaven forbid- three- there is a problem to solve!  Well, after a while, the crayons get mixed up, and some boxes have 3 black crayons and no reds- or some other horrible combination- that does not sit well with my girls.  So  today at Free Choice, some of my girls did some "authentic sorting" and sorted every single crayon into color piles, then put one crayon of each color back into each box.  



    

   

Can you believe I transferred my OCD to them this quickly.  I KNOW!  I sort of loved it so much I had to grab my camera.

We also do lots of "authentic counting" every day.  Whenever we wait for my Prezis to load, or for a song to start on the smart board, we count.  When one group goes to get a drink or to wash hands, sometimes the rest of us count until they get back. 

Our little Googly Eye Glue Ghosts were precious!

You have probably made these, but if not, they are SO easy to make.  They take about a day to dry, before you can peel them right off the waxed paper.

Finally, my bonus fun of the week was my mother sharing one of our FAVORITE Halloween books with the children.  She reads this each year, and the kids are mesmerized. When she gets to the page (bottom right picture) where the ghost appears when you pull the tab, she pretends she doesn't see it and it drives the kids crazy. :) 





Happy, Happy Weekend! 

(That is NOT a real "Mini Me" by the way... ha!)