Scarecrow Art

Pinterest has made teaching much more interesting.  With one quick visit to Pinterest, I am overwhelmed, but in a good way, by the all the possibilities and I love it!

I recently did a crayon resist water color painting with a group of 3rd graders.  I found the idea on Pinterest, but the original idea came from Art Projects for Kids.  This site is wonderful for non-artistic types who want to come up with a classroom friendly art project.  I don’t have an artistic bone in my body, but I was able to walk my kids through this project with ease and the pictures turned out GREAT!




I loved the fact that we had step by step directions to follow, and yet, there was opportunity for the kids to add their own personal flair to their artwork.

As you can see, the kids are definitely proud of their art.



If you haven’t been to Art Projects for Kids, you should definitely go.  Soon.  You’ll be amazed at what you’ll find.  In fact, you’ve probably already seen some of Kathy Barbro’s projects on Pinterest.  Kathy Barbro’s Scarecrow Portrait can be found here.

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There’s a Nightmare in My…

Are you familiar with Writing Fix?  It is an amazing collection of writing activities that are easy to implement.  Not only do Writing Fix writing ideas come with graphic organizers and student samples, they use children’s literature as a starting point.  If you haven’t checked this site out yet, click on the graphic below.

I recently had my kids write their own nightmare stories based on Mercer Mayer’s There’s a Nightmare in My Closet.  I got the idea from this activity from Writing Fix.  I started off by showing a video I found on YouTube with Billy Crystal reading the book.

After the video, we brainstorm a list of the different things we have been scared of.  I included some of my own childhood fears which the kids got a kick out of.  I then showed the class the student writing samples from Writing Fix.  At this point, I turned them loose to start writing and they were definitely enthusiastic about this project.
When they were finished with their writing, they created their own monsters by coloring on coffee filters with markers.  I sprayed the coffee filters with water and the colors bled together which gave us some interesting effects.  Once the filters were dry, the kids added details.

Here are some of the more interesting stories that were written.

The Monster in My Potty

The Monster in My Desk

Ghost in My Attic

Here are some nightmares that I just HAD to share!



I’d like to hear about your favorite writing activities.  Leave me a comment about which picture book is your favorite to use as a springboard for writing.

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200 Follower Giveaway!!

I’m amazed to know that I have over 200 fantastic people following my blog!!   This calls for a celebration!  Instead of having the typical giveaway with only one winner, I’d like to show my gratitude by making everyone a winner.  Keep reading to find out what you can get.

I have 4 versions of BOOM! available in my TPT store – addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.  The kids get a kick out of playing this game because the container looks like dynamite.

The container is super easy to make.  I made mine by covering a Pringle’s can with red Contact paper.  The hardest part was eating enough Pringle’s for a class set of these games…yeah, right!


The addition version is a free download.  Click on the pic above if you haven’t already grabbed it.

UPDATE: This giveaway has closed.
Now, here’s the good part:
I will give all my awesome followers their pick from my other three sets.







All you need to do is leave me a comment with the name you’re following under and your choice of one of the above sets.  Please leave me your email addy so I can send the file to you.  I’ll send the file as soon as I can, but you might want to make a run to the store to get some Pringle’s while you’re waiting.
Please spread the word if you know anyone who might be interested.  This giveaway will close Sunday night (10/21/12) at midnight.

Thanks for following me!

8 comments fact practice, Giveaways, math facts

I’ve been BOOed!

I’ve been busy and got a little behind on my email, blog, etc.  Eeek!  When I checked in, I noticed that I had been BOOed – twice! 



I’d like to thank Leah from Learning 4 Keeps and Holly from Fourth Grade Flipper.  Thanks ladies – you made my week!

I’m a book nerd so I’m sharing some of my favorite read aloud Halloween stories.

Seinfeld’s Halloween is hysterical!  I LOVE it!!  It’s not necessarily appropriate for younger kids but it’s a fun read.


This is one of my old favs, but I think it’s out of print which is too bad.  It’s modeled after the 12 Days of Christmas.  My kids always have a hoot singing along with me.


I read this one for the 1st time a few days ago.  Scarum Fair is a book of poetry so I wasn’t really sure if I would like it.  My class loved it and described it as being disgustingly funny.  I’ll be sharing this one again next year.


Hallowiener is my all time favorite.  It’s just a cute story about acceptance. Dav Pilkey does a great job with this one. 
Now I’m off to BOO some bloggy buddies.
Melissa at More Time 2 Teach
Krista at Stellar Students
Katie from Rock and Teach
Mrs. G at Teach on a Limb
Brittany at Stickers and Stamps

1 comment favorites, linky

Halloween Decorating Ideas

I love the people I work with!  Our hallway is separated from the main part of the campus so we’ve become our own little family.  We can certainly have a good time together and we feed off one another.  The last couple of days we’ve experienced a door decorating frenzy. 

It all started off with Liz.  She found this adorable door on Pinterest.

Source: blog.passion-for-parties.com via Deirdre on Pinterest

This is how Liz’s version turned out.  I love the polka-dot bow tie! Too cute!


I got so excited about her door that I decided to do my own.  Here’s my Pinspiration followed by my own creation.

Source: itswrittenonthewalls.blogspot.com via Deirdre on Pinterest

I do NOT get along with butcher paper!  There’s always a struggle and I end up on the losing side every time.  Brenda caught the decorating bug as she was helping me with my butcher paper battle.  Her door is adorable.  The monster’s tongue is actually sticking out but it didn’t show up too well in the picture.

At this point, the creative juices are flowing and all I can do is think about all the possibilities.  It was really hard to focus on what I was supposed to be doing.  Robin was sitting on the fence about whether or not she should join in the fun. Then Brenda and I covered her door with paper without consulting with her first.  It was a bold move but we knew she would forgive us.  Robin created the face herself but she was sure to show us how she felt about us!

I came up with another idea that I just couldn’t pass up, so I decorated Diane’s door as well.  I knew she would be a good sport about it.

Anybody who knows me would understand that this is completely uncharacteristic of me.  I don’t really enjoy creating bulletin boards and I can usually be heard grumbling whenever it’s decorating time.  I had so much with this that I have sketched ideas for the rest of the school year.  These doors were quick and easy which suits me perfectly.
We do have 2 more people decorating doors who didn’t quite get finished so I may have a follow up post next week.
Have a great weekend!

2 comments Classroom Decor, fun