It's SHARK Week and a few other random things!

I live in Florida. I LOVE flip flops (check out the blog name). I LOVE Jimmy Buffet!!! If you live in FL you would have to be living under a rock if you didn't know who Jimmy Buffet is... SO go ahead and click on the video and sing FINS with me!! Make the triangle fins above your head! No one is watching and just sing your heart out because this week in my classroom is  SHARKS WEEK!!!

My class has been looking forward to this week. They are so excited and I plan on introducing them to good ole' Jimmy with this song as our transition song this week. As you may have noticed I always post a song or two or five to go along with a theme of mine. Music is so powerful and it's good for kids to experience different genres of music much like the different genres of books we give them So, yes, my class will be Parrot Heads for a week!

This week we will be learning all about sharks and working out of my newest unit being offered on TPT!!(click on the preview to take you to my store)

I will post some pictures as soon as we start! 

Speaking of sharks... this is my own little shark (modeling the shark headband included in my unit if you are interested!!!)...

My little boy will be participating in his Kindergarten end of the year ocean program next week! Yikes!!! Next year he will be in First Grade!!! Time really flies! He really has grown so much and I love his teacher...Mrs. Gaglione!! She has done such a wonderful job and I am so thankful that she is in his life!!! 

Anyhow, back to school stuff... we are slowly winding down... Last week was the last topic in math: Geometry. We did a geometry review with these cute "Cootie Catchers" for geometry. Now, let me go back on this since I am an old person...since when are they called cootie catchers? I thought they were fortune tellers! When I was little a cootie was something you got when a little boy you didn't like touched you and then you had to do the "circle, circle, dot, dot thing..." Apparently not... In any case, my class L-O-V-E-D them!!

Click on the image to download your copy! I promise you won't have to give yourself a cootie shot! LOL!

We also had our butterflies hatch! The kids have truly enjoyed watching them grow! I HIGHLY recommend buying a milkweed plant from your local plant nursery and starting this way versus ordering a caterpillar kit from one of the larger science distributors (unless you live somewhere where this is not possible) because it is just so much prettier to watch a monarch caterpillar munch it's way through the milkweed leaves and get big and fat (sorry no pictures-- I was busy!) and then turn into a pretty pupa and then watch it hatch! Plus, it's way cheaper to buy a plant $4.50 or so than a kit. I used some tulle and a tomato plant guard thing (I cannot think of the word-- but that circular wired cage like thing you put around it) to keep it all contained. No more than $10.00 for the whole project. Totally worth it!! 

Father's Day is in my upcoming plans this week and if you haven't downloaded my Father's Day in a Bottle freebie, click on the image to do so!! We are doing this this week. It has everything you need to make this project a success!!

Already this has been a LONG post but there has been so much going on that I just had to share with you!!! I am so close to 100 followers! If you are new to reading my blog, please join in on the fun and follow me on my blog and if you like the products you see, be sure to follow me on TPT! Please help me to the 100 follower (or more) mark! 

10 more days until SUMMER!!! Just keep swimming... Just keep swimming!!! 

Is Summer Here Yet??

Who's ready for summer? I am! These last few weeks are going to fly by!! At my school we always send home a summer packet of little activities for students to do over the summer. We include the sight words for this year and next year as well as some suggestions for sight word games and internet sites to visit. 

I have uploaded a simple version of ours for you to download. It is primarily for a first to second grade transition. I hope you find it useful as we move into these last few weeks of school. 14 more days as of today!! 

I am still working on my sharks mini-unit. It should be done by the weekend. My kids are so excited for shark week. If you are still looking for a fun beach/surf theme for centers, please take a look at my Surf's Up unit on TPT! There are a week's worth of centers for you to use! 

As always, enjoy the rest of your week! 

Happy Mother's Day!!

Me and my two monkeys... Aidan (L) and Gabriel (R)! They are the loves of my life and I adore them with all my heart! As Bryan Adams sings.. "Everything I do, I do it for you..." They are like night and day-- Gabriel is very type A and is structured; Aidan is very calm and happy go lucky. Can you guess who takes after me??? Not Aidan!!! Aidan may look like me but is totally Brian in personality-- thank goodness. I cannot have three of me running around this house! LOL!!

My mother's day tea was fabulous! Most of the moms came and it was just a sweet time together. They came in and the kids presented them with their tea ladies hats (for this idea and more check out my previous post), and then they were served light refreshments by their own students. 

Afterward, they had some activities to choose from:

The kids got to paint nails and give chair massages... Sorry that I didn't get pictures but I will and post them! It was so cute to see. I will tell you that only the girls participated in the nail painting but I know they gave great chair massages!!!

I cut out foam mustaches, glasses, hats, whatever was fun and put them on a stick and they had so much fun playing around!! Here is my cutie playing around!

This was a really sweet one! They were to write a sweet note to their child and vice versa. I kinda left this one alone and didn't take pictures or really read them but some of the notes from the moms were long and I could tell were so heartfelt! Awe!!! Here is a copy if you would like to keep it for next year! Just click on the picture for your download from Google Drive. 

All in all, it was a great morning! The moms loved their gifts and I cried, like I always do as I thanked them for the opportunity of being their child's teacher. I have to say that I really LOVE this class and I will truly miss them when they move up. I have tried to prepare them as much as I can and they are ready to spread their wings and go! So I am going to enjoy these last few instructional weeks with them! 

Next week I am starting my ocean unit then after that will do a week of SHARKS!!! for the boys! They love it! I like to separate ocean animals (fish, hermit crabs, star fish) and sharks because there is so much content you can teach with both. 

I will be posting about a mini shark unit in a few days! Here is a cute craft I do that week. Shark Jaws!!! There are no directions on the website on how to make it so I just free handed a jaw pattern to cut on a paperplate.  Fun times!!

Hope you all have a relaxing Mother's Day with your families! Enjoy your day together! It will just be me and  my 2 little ones tomorrow  (The life of a pilot's wife can be lonely...)! We will go to my Mom and Dad's and have lunch with them... SO thankful for my mom because she helps me so much and just adores the boys! 

Beach Giveaway Winner and a Sale! I appreciate you!!

Congratulations to Evette for winning the Surf's Up summer packet! 

Thanks to all who entered! I am new to the blogging world so THANK YOU so much for your support!!! If you would still like my Surf's Up unit, it is on SALE at my Teacher's Pay Teacher Store. 

Everything in my store is 20% off as a Teacher Appreciation gift to you and TPT is offering an additional percentage off with their code:

Happy Teacher Appreciation Week, my friends! I certainly appreciate you and hope you are enjoying your week. I am off to get my two little stubborn monsters to bed.. please tell me that you have some, too!!! LOL! 

Who's ready for the Beach and a Giveaway!

Okay picture this:

Then click to listen to this:

In the mood for the beach? GREAT!!! I've got a great giveaway for you!!! In honour of beach season (well, in Florida, its ALWAYS beach season!!!) I am offering up my newest unit as a giveaway:

It includes a:

*Sandcastle Writing Craftivty

*A Surfer Lingo Dictionary (Dude!! It's awesome!!) 

*WipeOut! Long Vowel sort

*Beach Fun and Safety Sentences (sort by safety tips and fun in the sun)

*If the FlipFlop Fits (using non-standard measurement) 

*It's Time to Cool Off  (time to hour and half hour)

*A Drop in the Bucket (adding/subtraction 2 digit numbers w/o regrouping)

It's a great unit! To enter, you must be a follower of my blog and leave me a comment  with your e-mail address and your favourite beach activity or memory! I am totally in a beach mode! It's calling my name! I told my first grade BFF's that we will be hitting the beach house after school is out for a girls weekend together!!! Can't wait! 

To help you out in your beach craving, I am offering through my TPT store, a FREEBIE, Fun in the Sun. Click on the picture to take you to my store. If you download it, please leave me a comment and be sure to be a follower. 

The giveaway ends Tuesday, May 7th at 8:00 p.m. Good Luck!!!

Such a long day and..... Mother's Day Projects

Wow!! What a day!! I am pooped!! Today was my town's Relay for Life event. I came by early in my 80's fabulousness (it was an 80's theme-- you could imagine my delight as I am an 80's girl!!!!) to help set up and participate a bit and then birthday party this afternoon. I am one tired girl. My poor boys are even more tired!!! It is for a good cause so I cannot complain-- too much!!!

So.. only 23 days of school left and I realize that time is ticking by and am trying to squeeze in as much fun learning as I can. This week, we are going Dino Crazy!!! I will be using Abby's Dino Centers this week. The kiddos LOVE these centers. I will also be making fossils using some Crayola Model Magic, shells, and some   footprints from toy dinosaurs. I will post some pictures for you this week.

I also found some great youtube videos, songs, websites to go along with our study on dinosaurs:

Video about fossils

:  

Reading rainbow video about dinosaurs/fossils:

Dinosaur Song:

A fun song for transition:

Websites for kids:

PBS Kids Dinosaur

Kids Dinos

Sheppards Software Dinosaurs For Kids

Other goings on... 

It's my annual Mother's Day Tea Party this Friday!!!  And here is why I love motherhood:

Gabriel and Aidan!!! They drive me CRAZY some days but when those little arms hug me, we have dance parties!!, when we lay down before bed and read together, play games together, and laugh together--- it's worth it!!!! They are growing up so fast that I cannot stop time fast enough! 

Although I acknowledge that everyday we should celebrate all the family members but... it is nice to set aside a special day! The kids have been fabulous in keeping our projects secret.

Here are some projects my class will be doing (click on the pictures to take you to the links):

Thumbprint necklace 

For the Moms-- Tea Party Hats

And now... a FREEBIE for you! Click on the picture to take you to Google Drive to download this simple writing activity! Enjoy!!

I am off to go and create as I find it relaxing. I know my body is tired but my brain is a-buzz with ideas for summer centers. I am also excited as I am almost (well, hopefully getting there) to 100 followers!!! If you are reading this and have not become a follower, please do so! I will be doing a 100 follower giveaway! Tell your friends to hop over and join! Thanks for reading and have a great rest of the weekend!