Reindeer Noses:)

Y'all, I about died over a bag of "Reindeer Noses" I saw an intern give my coworker's class yesterday! I just had to have them for my sweeties!! When I got home from school, I found the idea all over Pinterest!! Whoever originally came up with this is AMAZING!!! They are too cute & so stinkin' easy to make!!

Here's what you need to make them....

1. 1 huge party size bag of Whoppers

2. A couple bags of gumballs (you have to pick all the red ones out). I found the perfect size gumballs at the Dollar Tree..check out the name...Au'some Bubbles...love it!!

3.Cello treat bags - I like the vase shapes ones shown in the picture!

All you do is put 8 Whoppers and 1 red gumball in a treat bag!! If you want the tags I made for my bags, you can get them {HERE}!! These would make an awesome gift for your students!!! I'm planning on handing mine out on our Polar Express day that's right around the corner!

Look what I got in the mail today!! Woot! Woot!

I still can't believe I did it!!! So excited that I made it through with a 2 year old & full time job!!! I'm not going to lie. It was HARD! But I can't even put into words how happy I am that I accomplished this dream!!!! Now on to my specialist degree...JUST KIDDING...haha...maybe in a few years if I'm brave enough!!

Happy *almost* Friday! Please send fast ornament making vibes my way for tomorrow. My classroom is going to look like Santa's shop!! Fun stuff!!

Shapin' It Up!!

I just wrapped up my geometry unit with my students! Here's a snapshot of some of the activities we enjoyed together!

The Greedy Triangle is a great book to introduce or reinforce 2d shapes! I love anything by Marilyn Burns...she IS a math genius!! This year instead of reading the book to the students, I let them listen/watch the story on Schooltube! I love this resource!! If you don't know about it, you MUST go check it out now!!! 

We also enjoyed a CUTE Greedy Triangle SMARTboard activity from SMART Exchange {another one of my favorite online resources}! Check it out {HERE}!! 

Then we went on a "Shape Search"!! My students enjoyed looking for 2d shapes that are all around us in our classroom! Click on the picture to download the recording sheet for this activity.

Our shape searching fun led us into a great discussion about the plane shapes we see at school, at home, while we are in the car, etc. The precious little song below from Schooltube reinforced this concept!!

Then Geoboys, Geogirls, and even Geoelves came to life in our room!! I just gave my kiddos paper pattern blocks and they took off!! The pictures below were taken early on during the activity...wish I had some of their final creations to share!! I was oh so impressed with their creativity! Not only did they create fabulous shape people/elves with detailed shape backgrounds, BUT they also wrote stories to go along with them! LOVE!!

Learning about 2d shapes was a blast! I'll be back soon with a post about our 3d shape adventures!!

Hope everyone is surviving the last days before Christmas break! Whew! My name is Anna Brantley and I am T.I.R.E.D. Seriously.....between the craft sticks, glitter, sequins, and the kids bouncing off the walls holly jolly spirit...I am exhausted with a big ole' smile on my face. 'Tis the season for hustle and bustle...how many lessons, assessments, & ornaments can we do?!?!?...READY....SET....GO!!!! With all the craziness, I just keep reminding myself how lucky I am to have a group of 22 children that are happy, excited about the holidays & working hard on their centers in my Holly Jolly packet because they know "Santa is watching all the time"! heh-heh... If you have any time left, check it out! If you're already thinking,"What am I going to do after the break?", then you should check out my Winter Wonderland Math & Literacy Centers! I plan to start these the first week back & can't wait!! I'll have my Penguin pack coming very soon...along with other goodies for 2012!!

Now back to spray painting more ornaments...coat #2 here I come....pics coming soon!!  

Happy Hump Day!!