Flash Freebie!

We are having our first flash freebie! Our new "Surf Shack Summer Math" for first grade will be free for a short time this evening.

Details to come on our Facebook page!

https://www.facebook.com/JoeAndAllieTeach

Trout Release

Last week we released our trout at a local lake. It was such a cool experience to raise them from eggs and observe the different life cycle changes that they go through. The kids were a little sad to say goodbye at first, but by the end of the field trip, everyone was in good spirits. This was such a cool learning experience. Our class will definitely be doing it again next year!

Fun in the Garden

We have been spending a lot of time in our school garden lately. Our vegetables are growing fast, and there is so much beauty everywhere you look!

The other day we did a "garden color" activity. Students brought clipboards, pencils, and graphic organizers out into the garden. Then they tried to record things that they saw for each color on their paper through writing and drawing.

I also created an anchor chart to help my kiddos out, because writing is still tricky for some of my first graders. The assignments turned out great and everyone had so much fun being outside. Even if your class only has a small planter box, this activity is totally doable. This is one of the activities from our new garden product that you can check out HERE if you are interested. Have a great time out there in the dirt!

Summer Product Linky Party

Clip Art Freebie!

We just created our first clip art! It is a set of hand drawn shells, and they are really fun for creating summer and beach resources.  They are available in color and black and white, in both PNG and JPEG files.  

You can download the clip art HERE

The whole clip art thing is brand new to us.  I have always liked to draw, but I am still learning about using different software and saving files.  Since we are still clip art newbies, we are giving these first ones away for FREE!!!

Feel free to use them, and hopefully the next round of art will be even better :)  -Joe

Butterfly books

We are learning about butterfly life cycles right now. These are la books / busy books that we have been making. They have life cycle info, diagrams of different species, and fun facts. The kids really like how they have cool features that you might find in pop out books, like wheels, flaps, accordion books, and more.

Rocking Reward Bookmarks

We are giving away these cool bookmarks to our Facebook followers.  They are fun, colorful, and make great prizes or incentives.  Kids really like the alien, too! Follow this link HERE to like us on Facebook and download your bookmarks.

This is freebie is one of the bookmarks from our "Rocking Reward Bookmarks" item on TPT. The complete set has 24 different colorful bookmarks with fun graphics and slogans that promote reading.  These are great to give to kids on their birthdays, or as an end of the year gift.  They are also fun incentive items to motivate students to complete summer reading lists.

Central America Flashback: Edgar the Monkey

Just stumbled across some fun old pictures.  When we taught in Costa Rica a few years ago, we had many opportunities to travel around Central America.  These are pics from a trip that we took to the islands of Bocas del Toro in Panama.

The islands of Boca are absolutely stunning.  However, the best part for us was definitely getting to hang out with Edgar the white face capuchin monkey. He fell off his mom's back when he was a baby and a local boy found him in the jungle with a broken arm.  The bed and breakfast that we stayed at was nursing him back to health.

Edgar would play and play and play! Then he would get so tired that he would fall asleep. He was a really cuddly little guy :) We even got to "monkey sit" for a couple nights and let him sleep in our bed with us!

Edgar also really liked toys. He would play with keys, sunglasses, your nose, or just about anything else he could find. His favorite toys were probably straws. He would unwrap them with his little monkey fingers, and then put them in his mouth and bite them.

Edgar was going to enter a rehabilitation program to help him transition back into the wild.  White faced monkeys are super cute, but they are not pets.  However, we are sure glad that we got to hang out with this little one!

Cinco de Mayo Fun

Last week we made papel picado for Cinco de Mayo. It was hard for some of the first graders to fold and cut the tissue paper, but the final products looked great when they were done.

Our class has been learning about Mexico and Cinco de Mayo for the last week or so. Many students don't know that Cinco de Mayo celebrates Mexico's victory over France in Puebla. This is a great resource to help with teaching about Cinco de Mayo! http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Cinco-de-Mayo-Journal-Jar-Writing-Fun-May-ELA-Cultural-Writing-Activity

Teacher Appreciation Link Up

TPT is having their annual Teacher Appreciation sale from May 7 - 8. Products will be discounted up to 28% off! We are having our first link up to promote the big sale. Just add your product below. Also, please help us out by following our blog or linking back to it on yours. Thanks and happy Teacher Appreciation Day!