The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles - Part 1 & a Freebie!

Our class has been reading a wonderful read aloud, The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles by Julie Andrews Edwards. I wasn't sure about this book as a read aloud at first, it's a bit longer than other read alouds I've done and it has no pictures. However, the no pictures part is also why I chose it. I wanted to end the year with a fun fantasy read aloud that really got my kids imaginations going. They've been told to pay attention to each characters description as we read because they will need it for a fun end of year project. We are also keeping a list of the characters and places in Whangdoodleland.

For homework last week students were asked to create their own Whangdoodle slippers. The Whangdoodle, you see, always wears a pair of slippers on his hind feet. These slippers change each year and he never knows what the next  pair will look like until he "grows" them. So my kiddos were asked to create the Whangdoodle's newest pair of slippers. Here is what they came up with:

I love how unique and individual each pair looks! This is just part one of our classroom transformation into Whangdoodleland! As we progress in the book we will do a variety of other activities, culminating in turning our classroom into Whangdoodleland! Children will draw and create "lifesize" characters from the book and create the setting of Whangdoodleland. This is something we are VERY excited about and I cannot wait to share the final product with you all! 

I wanted to end this post with a freebie! This an a quick Subtraction with Regrouping Classroom Hunt I created and we used last week in my classroom. The kids love getting to move around and search for the problems. I had some VERY good hiding places this time (the underside of our lampshade and tucked inside a tissue box were some favorites). The kids enjoyed it and I hope you do too! Click on the image below to go to my TPT store and grab this freebie! :)

Have a great weekend! 

10 Things I Want To Do This Summer...

Flashback to May 2012... I decide to start up this little blog as a fun way to share what's happening in my classroom and connect with all the brilliant teachers and enchanting classrooms I have been following for years. It was going to be great, I was going to be great - blogging every day (or at least once a week). Flash forward and I'm sad to say I haven't blogged since November... of 2012! So needless to say, I didn't do great. So I've decided to make another go at it and am starting with this fun linky! Here it goes {again}...

1. BLOG! - I really, really want to get better about blogging {as said before} and am setting an easy, attainable goal for myself. One post a week but absolutely not less than three a month! 

2. TPT! - I started up a TeachersPayTeachers shop a little while ago and put just a few of my novel studies/activities on there. I have zipdrives FULL of activities, novel studies, and units I would like to post and my goal is to get a bunch of them up on TPT this summer! I just need to add the "finishing touches" on them and they are ready to roll!

3. CREATE! - I want to create new literacy and math centers to use in my classroom. I taught straight grade math this year but will be back to multi-age math next year and really want to have a solid set of math centers, games, and activities created, copied, and ready to go for all of my units before September rolls around. It will be a lot of work this summer, but then I will always have them and they will be a huge time saver in the future. Same goes for literacy centers...

4. UPDATE! - I really want to update a bunch of my units that I already have, especially my pumpkin and monarch butterfly units that I do first thing in the fall. I also want to update my class website, which I will be honest and say I did not do much of this year. :/

5. Professional Reading! - I have not done much professional reading since finishing my masters program. I think I did too much of it during those two years and needed a break! Again, being practical, I am setting an attainable goal and only picking one book I will definitely read this summer, which is...

 I actually already have it in my Amazon shopping cart,
so it will be ready to be read poolside once summer is officially here!

In addition, I have wishlisted a few other books, which include...

         

I've had The Book Whisperer on my wishlist for a while now, so I would love to finally read it. In addition, the other two books listed caught my eye right away and I think would be fun professional reads for this summer. :) 

I am also looking for a great book or resource to help with math stations/centers. Let me know if you know of one!

6. FUN READING! - The number of books on my Amazon wishlist that I want to read for fun is unreal. My library has a 7 book limit for inter-library loaning and I consistently have 7 books rotating in and out of my account, including at least one audio book for the car at all times. Right now I'm listening to The Fault in Our Stars on CD and am loving it {I have Life After Life in my center console for when I finish it}. Here are the ones I have at the top of my wishlist! 

                

7. BE HEALTHY! - I've actually been working at this for the past two years. I've been working on eating healthy and living healthy. My husband and I do a lot of biking, hiking, and walking. This summer we also hope to take up kayaking and stand up paddle boarding. I tried the whole "working out" thing and, well, it just didn't work out. Instead I want to do things I love that will keep me in shape and healthy.

8. ENJOY! - I want to spend time enjoying my favorite things and people - my friends, my adorable little nephew, my family, and my husband. I want to see these people as much as possible this summer and cherish every moment with them!

9. VACATION! - The hubs and I plan on going to the Adirondacks for our one year anniversary. <3 In addition, I hope to do a bunch of mini-vacays, to places like Rhode Island, Maine, and Hampton Beach. The beach is the perfect place to read all those books on my wishlist! :)

10. GET CRAFTY! - Ok, let's be honest... I have over 7,000 pins and some 150 different boards on Pinterest. And of all those ideas I've pinned, a good couple hundred are crafty things I want to create for my home and classroom. The number of these things I've actually done - less than ten! :/ So I REALLY want to give my house a facelift with some of these awesome crafts. First on my list, creating a pallet garden for our deck like the one below. We've already got the pallet and soil, now we just need some time to get it done!

So that is my summer bucket list! I can't wait for summer to get here so I can get started on it!