Batty Politics...It's a thing!

Knock Knock.
Who's there?
Squirrels.
Squirrels who?

I know, right!!???!!!?!?!

I have been slackin'.
But I have excuses. Or explanations. Or reasons. Or valid arguements.
Or.
Or.

OK, I GOT NUTTIN'!

But I am back now- so sit back and enjoy!

As you know, I am all about working smarter and not harder (omg I am going to throw up if I hear that anymore!! Like someone once said, "Hmmmmm I have an idea, we should work harder, much much harder than being smarter..." ugh.)

So when it comes to bringing new ideas into my class, I am going to explore the wonders that are TPT before I go recreating the wheel. (omg that's another one YOU CAN'T RECREATE SOMETHING! ONCE IT'S BEEN DONE, IT'S DONE. Any attempt to make the same thing is not a recreation but rather a new thing or copyright infringement!!! ugh.)

I started with a book study of Stellauna created by Reagan.
It. is. phenom.

Such a great way to merge math and science and reading and great literature and
 BATS!
BATs!
BATS!
Bats freak me the heck out!
But they are very interesting (and freaky)!

I once thought I had a little ball of fur on my porch- maybe a mouse, a tiny kitten- who knew?
So I walked out through the garage (broom in hand in case it was something icky)
and approached the porch from the side.
There was movement.....a rise and fall of breathing...so then there was relief because whatever it was, it was not dead on my porch.
I made a noise.
NOthing.
I got closer.
It didn't move.
Closer still, with my broom at the ready, aimed right at this little ball of life.
Closer.
Reaching out with broom.
Gentle tap on the porch and finally I could take no more-
POKE!!!!
And then Holy Buckets of Wild Geese- it started to unravel and what was once tiny was tiny no more-
it was....it was.....
A BAT!
and he looked at me- right dead in the eyes- as his wings unfurled- (His disgusting almost see through wings)
and he took off from the porch!
And it wasn't like an airplane- he didn't have to run a little and then fly- he went from the
"Oh-I-am-so-helpless-and-needy" mode to "Watch-out-here-I-come-try-not-to-pee-your-pants" mode in 0.2 seconds!
I crouched. I screamed. I ducked. I think I peed.
He was coming right for my head.
If any neighbors saw what went down they probably tell a very similar story- and theirs probably contains the part where I RAN BACKWARDS (It's possible) and tripped over a chair and landed on my badonkadonk! I usually leave that part out, but since we are close, I thought I would share.
Needless to say, I am NO LONGER the fuzzy animal investigator.

None of the bats in my room last week were that scary- in fact they were rather sweet.
My firsties loved working on the Bat Facts Writing inside of Reagan's Stellaluna Unit.
They are some teriffic pieces of showcase writing (based on their research) and some award winning art.
Check out this display

 Aren't they AMAZING!???

They loved painting "dusk" and using adjectives to describe how the painting made them feel when they were finished. I am so glad I found this! It was a great thematic week for us.

This week the theme has changed- 

or has it?

We are going from a "spooky" animal to the elections....

Get it?

Cause they are spooky and the ....nevermind.

It has been four years since I have taught during a presidential election (duh- hasn't it for all of us)

and there was NO WAY I was going to use the outdated materials that I had four years ago.

I mean there was no cute clipart, no great colors, no excitement, no fun!

So it was back to my TPT homies that I ran, and check out this little gem.

It is from Gladys (Teaching in High Heels). My girls already adore her because of her Fairy Tale Centers that we have used in math and reading centers already- 

I knew that everyone would get into this unit the minute that I saw it.

This is where you would expect something funny and outrageous- like the bat story, but unfortunately, I have not come across any presidential candidates on my porch. I haven't had to shoo any of them away. I haven't been stared down with the fear that I will be eaten alive. And neither of them have made me back over a chair and pee on myself.

Although one of them has almost made me stand on a chair and yell and scream!!! HA! HA!

This is my class as I introduced a center activity from the pack.

 My doc camera is always on negative (so much easier to see the light on dark vs, dark on light).

They were making two letter, three letter, and five letter words.

What happened to "four letter" words? Well I don't use that term in my room anymore because a few of my boys have used their phonemic awareness and phonological segmentation to figure out that almost all of the "bad" words have four letters.

They still have to find them in the activity- we just don't say it:)

They are working on registering to vote. They were using their vocabulary words from the unit (a lot today) and they can't wait to work on their writing (because I am letting them do a portion of it at home).

Our admin has worked out to have refrigerator boxes converted into kid sized voting booths on the 5th. Our little boys and squirrels are going to get to vote for president and for the new piece of playground equipment we are getting in the spring,

We had a piece that went KABLOOIE with the wood deteriorating several years back and there has been a huge nothingness on the side of our playground. But thanks to Box Tops and PTO we are going to get a new piece of equipment. I'll be sure to add pics, I know you will be anticipating the breaking playground news as much as you will the country's decision for our new leader. :)

Click on the pictures below to check out each of these great units!!!

By Gladys at Teaching in HIgh Heels

by Reagan at Tunstall's Teaching Tidbits

I will be seeing ya soon, SquirrelFriends!!!