Halloween Rebus Poem & FREEBIE!

This is one of my favorite lessons for Halloween! I came up with it last year and couldn't wait to do it again. I introduce rebus poems to the kids and then I share with them a rebus poem that I wrote. I bought lots of cute Halloween scrapbook stickers and typed up the poem. I put it on foam board when it was complete.

Here is a picture of my rebus poem...

After I share my poem and we read it together, I have the students write their own spooky Halloween rebus story (or poem). I put about 10 Halloween stickers on paper and photocopied a sheet for each student. They cut and glue the photocopied stickers to replace words in their stories!

Spooky Rebus Story
Enjoy!

5 Little Pumpkins

One of my fave activities to do in October is the 5 Little Pumpkins poem. I teach a lot of poetry so we discuss end line rhyme and practice using our expressive voices. It's a short poem, but the kids love to act it out and perform for other classes :)

I made the 5 pumpkins out of cereal boxes. I cut the pumpkins out, covered them in felt, gave them faces, used pipe cleaners for vines and used tongue depressors as handles. Super easy and fun if you like a good craft project :) I do.

Here is a video I took today....This was our first day doing it...

After we act out the poem, we do another activity. I pass out a gate and 5 pumpkins to color. They color and cut the pumpkins and glue them on the gate. I also have them write what each pumpkin says since we just learned how to punctuate quotation sentences! Here is a closer look at the pumpkins...

Happy October!

Versatile Blogger Award

I wanted to thank the Down Under Teacher for nominating me for the Versatile Blogger Award! yay!

As you probably know, to accept the award you should follow these rules:
Thank the person who gave you the award and link back to them in your post.
Share 7 things about yourself.
Pass this award along to 15 recently discovered blogs.

Here are my 7 things....

1. I am getting married to my love in 12 days :) DIY wedding projects have taken over my life...
2. I LOVE cinnamon candy...Hot Tamales, Cinnamon bears....MMMM.
3. Two of my favorite movies to watch in October are Hocus Pocus and Mystic Pizza
4. I have eaten a Honey Crisp Apple every day this past week....another favorite thing about Fall....apples :)
5. A bubble bath ALWAYS cures a long day of teaching...
6. Currently reading LOVE WINS by Rob Bell
7. Looking forward to my bachelorette party this weekend....a girl's gotta have her girls!

Here are a few of the blogs I follow...

A Day In The Life of Miss Kranz

A First Grade Frenzy
Life in First Grade
The Teacher's Lane

SCOOPS Reading Program!!

Okay, so here I sit with my fall decorations up, candles lit, house clean, hot apple cider in my favorite mug and time to write a new post! YAY. By the way, I LOVE October and am totally stoked that my favorite month is here!

Okay, now time for my reading program!

Our slogan is.... SCOOP your way to a FUN day! I came up with this program last year and it has been super successful! My students LOVE it and so do the parents. Here is how it works:

1. Students are motivated to read by earning scoops for their cone and working toward the ultimate goal of reaching 7 scoops and having an ice cream party!
2. Each student is given a reading sheet with boxes. Parents initial each box for every 20 minutes of reading time.
3. When a reading sheet is complete, students turn it in and choose a scoop for their cone!
4. They earn small incentives for reaching certain numbers of scoops
5. All students are working to get at least 7 scoops (VERY attainable goal)
6. We will have an ice cream party the last month of school! Ice cream, tons of toppings, games, music, etc.

Here are the cones...I found the perfect "waffle cone" scrapbook paper from Michaels, cut the cones and laminated them. I also used glitter sticker letters to put on their name.

Here are the SCOOPS! Also made from various scrapbook paper. They love choosing their FLAVA.

Here are the reading pads I use...

Here are the rewards...
2 Scoops = cool pencil, 4 Scoops = awesome bookmark, 6 Scoops = ice cream pen, 7 Scoops = certificate and ice cream party!

When they reach 6 scoops, they earn one of these adorable ice cream pens :)

When they reach 7 they get this certificate...I made and ordered them from VISTAPRINT :)

And last, they look adorable on a boring door..

That's all folks! Happy reading and Happy Fall :)