Such a Tradegy

Praying for all those involved in the shooting today in Connecticut. It makes me sick to my stomach and breaks my heart to think about those sweet little babies that have lost their lives.... I can’t even begin to imagine what the parents of the victims are going through right now.  Godspeed to them all!!

It’s going to be One Crazy Christmas!!

I have just completed my brand new unit for TPT just in time for Christmas and I am so excited!  This pack includes a total of 10 activities that are great for Literacy and Math Centers for 1^st grade students!  The best part is... it’s only $3.00!!

One Crazy Christmas contains activities that engage students with skills involving compound words, synonyms, reading comprehension, writing, contractions, graphing, word problems, money, fact families, and more!

Click HERE to check it out!

Great News!!

I am so excited!!!!

I have been invited to help Kim Adsit at her SDE Common Core Workshop December 3^rd and 4^th in Nashville, Tennessee.  Please stop by and say “hello” if you’re in town!!

One Crazy Christmas News

Want to add a little pizazz into your lesson plans?!?! "One Crazy Christmas" will be available on TPT Friday afternoon! This digital download is packed full of Common Core Literature and Math based centers for 1st graders.... Tis the season!!! This pack includes activities for reading comprehension, synonyms, fact families, word problems, money, graphing, compound words, writing, graphic organizers, and more!!! Most items are ready to go..... just print, laminate, and cut. Available for ONLY $3.00!!!!

Holiday Gummy Graph!!!

Make this holiday graph with your Kindergarten or 1^st Grade students using Sweetarts Holiday Gummies!!

Click here for the Holiday Gummy Graph download.

 

Give students a small handful of gummies OR pre-make individual snack-size bags for each student.  Students will sort their gummies onto the “Holiday Gummy Graph Sorting mat”.  The children will record each amount onto the graph by coloring in the appropriate squares.  Next, the students will answer the questions using their graph.  After graph is complete, the students can eat their gummy snack!

 

Happy Happy Holidays to you and yours!!!!

Exciting News

Wow!  I am so excited about all the hits on my blog since just yesterday... and I owe it all to my great friend Kim Adsit!!!  Even though my blog is new, I’m adding new ideas each week AND I hope you’ll check back often!!  I also have some very exciting news... I will be helping Kim at her next SDE conference in Nashville, Tennessee on December 3^rd and 4^th!  While there, we will be working on a new unit for TPT!!!  Please stop by and introduce yourself if you’re there... because this Georgia girl just moved to Knoxville 3 months ago!

Thanksgiving Fun Freebies

FREE THANKSGIVING DOWNLOAD!

Making Little Words is a great Literacy Center activity for 1^st, 2^nd, or 3^rd grade students.  Just print it out and you’re ready to go.  Students will use the letters in the words “Happy Thanksgiving” to come up with as many little words as they can!

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

Click here to download your Fun Freebies!

 

A Special Turkey Treat!

Click here to download the Turkey Treat patterns
 

Turkey Treat!

My old high school friend needed an inexpensive treat for her daughter’s 4^th grade class... so, here’s what I came up with!  This treat is easy to make and your little ones will “gobble” it right up!   

What you need:

·        1 box theater size candy (any will do...yum!)

·        Colored copy paper or construction paper (I used red, yellow, and orange paper) - feathers, beak, legs

·        2 sheets of brown construction paper (1 sheet trimmed to 8 1/2 x 11 inch size) - body, head, wings

·        Turkey Treat patterns (head, legs, and feathers)

·        Black marker

·        Glue or tape

·        Scissors

·        Ribbon (5/8 inch width)

 

 

Directions:

Before getting started, decide how many Turkey Treats you need to make.  Using the patterns, go ahead and cut all the pieces you’ll need.

1.        Wrap the box of candy using the 8.5 x 11 inch sheet of brown construction paper.  Secure the edges with tape and set aside.

2.       Draw two eyes on the turkey head.

3.       Fold orange beak down to make triangular shape and glue it onto the turkey head.

4.       Attach/glue the head on the candy box so that its head sticks up over the box.

5.       Glue 5 feathers to the backside of the candy turkey box... making sure feathers stick up about 2.5 - 3 inches.

6.       Glue 2 brown wings onto the front of the wrapped candy box.

7.       Fold each leg back-and-forth to make accordion shaped creases.  Glue the legs to bottom side of the turkey.

8.       Tie the ribbon into a bow and glue it onto the front of the candy box.

 

Please be sure to check out my Thanksgiving Unit on TPT called “Turkey Starts with T”... it contains 11 AWESOME Literacy and Math Centers for 1^st – 3^rd graders!!!  It’s a 54 page packet for only $4.00!!!

Have fun and Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

Wacky Word Problems

Hi All!

I wanted to post a “Fun Freebies” activity for Math.  You don’t see an abundant amount of Problem Solving activities for kids. I made this as a Math Center but students could do this independently too!  All you need are some pre-made snack-size bags of Trix cereal (I use the Trix Swirls!!).  Make sure you have a bag for each student... because when your students are finished, they get to eat their WACKY treat!!!!  Copy the Wacky Word Problems sheets front to back and you’re good to go!

Basically, the kids can use the cereal as manipulatives to work out the word problems.  However, be sure to remind your students to actually draw it out on their paper too (show work)! I usually do this activity around Dr. Seuss’s birthday -  but it can be used around Halloween or whenever!  So keep this little idea in the back of your head!

Have fun with your kiddos and keep checking back for more WACKY ideas!!!

Halloween Hobo Snack and more....

Okay...Moms and Teacher Friends,

My long time teaching buddy and friend, Heather Palmer, made these cute little guys for her son’s soccer team as a snack!  So, when she posted them on Facebook, I had to put them on the Outrageous Fun in Room 321 blog!  But for those that know me well, I couldn’t stop there... my mind went racing... those would make cute little Halloween snacks!!  So, the kids (my own two...not the whole class!) and I jumped in the car and went to Target and grabbed a few more things to make a FUN and YUMMY Halloween treat!!! 

I have posted the pictures and directions for both the “Soccer Snack Guy” and the “Halloween Hobo”.  I hope you have fun and come back soon for some more ideas!

Here’s what you’ll need for the Soccer Snack Guy:

Heather’s Soccer Snack Guy!

1 juice box (body)

2 mini fruit roll-ups (arms)

2 mini boxes of raisins (feet)

1 applesauce cup (head)

1 ping-pong ball (soccer ball)

1 plastic spoon

Low-temp glue gun for assembly

Colored Sharpie permanent markers

Directions:

First, turn each applesauce cup upside down.  Use Sharpie permanent markers to draw a face on each applesauce cup.  Glue applesauce cup on top of the juice box, making sure to center it.  Glue 2 boxes of raisins to the bottom of the juice box for the shoes.  Glue a fruit roll-up to each side of juice box for the arms.  Next, use Sharpie pen to draw lines on the ping-pong ball... to look like a soccer ball!  Glue the soccer ball onto the top of one of the shoes.  Finally, glue a plastic spoon on the backside of juice box for support (and eating applesauce with!)

Here’s what you’ll need for the Halloween Hobo Snack: 

1 grape juice box (body)

2 mini fruit roll-ups (arms)

2 mini boxes of raisins (feet)

1 strawberry/berry applesauce cup OR orange/lime Jell-O cup (head)

1 Halloween toy

1 Halloween ring (spiders work best)

1 Skittles candy (nose)

1 plastic spoon

2 1/2 inch piece Halloween ribbon (knotted in middle)

Low-temp glue gun for assembly

Colored Sharpie permanent markers

 Halloween Hobos

Directions:

First, turn each applesauce/Jell-O cup upside down.  Use Sharpie permanent markers to draw a face on each cup.  Glue a skittle candy for the nose.  Next, glue applesauce/Jell-O cup on top of the juice box, making sure to center it.  Glue 2 boxes of raisins to the bottom of the juice box for shoes.  Then, glue a plastic spoon on the backside of juice box for support (and eating applesauce/Jell-O!)  Glue a fruit roll-up to each side of juice box for the arms.  Next, pick a spot to glue on a small Halloween toy.  Slide the spider ring under one of the armpits and glue.  Finally, glue the ribbon on the juice box to resemble a bow-tie. 

Just in time for Halloween.. So, the question is... What... is... NOT... to... like...??!!

Waa-haa-ha-ha! 

Happy Halloween!!

Halloween Writing

Hi All,

Here’s a great little Halloween writing activity (Fun Freebies) for K (enrichment), 1^st graders, and 2^nd graders that contains adjective and noun practice!  You can even discuss rhyming and sight words.

I, personally, used this activity as a Literacy Center for students after reading The Teeny Tiny Woman by Paul Galdone.  But, you can pick your favorite Halloween story!!

After reading The Teeny-Tiny Woman, have students brainstorm Halloween-type adjectives and nouns.  Chart the words they come up with onto an anchor chart.  Students will be able to easily refer back to the chart for proper spelling and ideas!

Directions for Halloween Writing Activity:

Students will come up with one adjective and noun to write in the blanks on their paper.  The kids are welcome to use words that are written on the anchor chart OR come up with their own words.  Please note: students will write the same words twice on their paper...once at the top and once at the bottom.

In the space provided, let students draw/color a cool Halloween picture to depict the adjective and noun they wrote about. Be sure to encourage your

students to color the sky purple or dark blue... to give it the OPTIMAL Halloween look!  LOL

Click Here for the Halloween Writing download

***One year I cut out a dead tree using black construction paper... and let the kids glue it down on the Halloween Writing sheet before drawing their picture.  Those turned out cute too!!!!

Have some Happy Halloween fun!!

"Spook"tacular Fun

Hi Everyone!

Halloween is one of my VERY favorite holidays!  There are so many neat activities that you can do with students.  As time permits, I will be posting more ideas for you to use in your classroom.  So be sure to check back in the next couple of weeks. 

Today I’ve downloaded another “Fun Freebies” activity that can be used during Language Arts and/or center time.  “Spook”tacular ABC Order is appropriate for 1^st or 2^nd graders... hope your students have “Spook”tacular fun!!!

Technical Problem

Hi All,

The Fun Freebies link for the Truffles was not accessible earlier....it was asking for my permission to access the document.  However, the problem is now fixed and I apologize for the problem.  You should be able to download it now....Yay!!!

Thank you Andy Adsit (Kim Adsit's, of KinderGals, sweet hubby) for your technical support.

Congratulations!!!

Amy Shadix was the winner of the $20 gift card to The School Box!  She is a teacher in Douglas County, Georgia.  Congrats Amy and we hope you have fun shopping for your classroom needs!

Hi Everyone!

I'm about to be getting in HIGH gear for the blog! Yes, it has been slow going... but, I hope it's worth the wait!

I also plan to occasionally post "Mommy things" on the Outrageous Fun in Room 321 blog. As a mom, it's sometimes hard to find just the right thing for those teacher gifts, birthday ideas, or yummy recipes! So, I plan to post lots of ideas for teaching moms, working moms, and stay-at-home moms too! Every now and then, you just need an idea and a sparkle of something new!


Speaking of a recipe.... it's Teacher Appreciation Week here in Knoxville. Last night I was racking my brain about what to give to my daughter's teacher and my son's 7 teachers as a gesture of gratitude?!?! It, obviously, wasn't going to be a $20 gift card to their favorite restaurant (even though they're very much worth it!). So, I remembered my college buddy, Angie Halliburton, posting pictures on Facebook of these cute little Oreo Truffles she had made for various occasions (football games, holidays, etc.). I got on the web and found a recipe that turned out great... they are DELICIOUS!!!! and EASY to make!!!!!! I wrapped them up in a cellophane bag with colored grosgrain ribbon and attached a tag for each... they turned out cute!
Sooooo, of course I'm going to share the recipe and

the tags (Fun Freebies)!!!

Have fun!!

Oreo Truffles

1     8 oz. cream cheese (softened)

1    16 oz. package of Oreo cookies

1 lb. white chocolate/candy bark (I used Kroger candy bark)

Candy sprinkles

Place Oreo cookies in food processor for about 3 minutes (The cookie crumbs should look like dirt). Place cookie crumbs and cream cheese into bowl and mix on medium speed until blended well. Shape dough into approx. 1 inch balls (dough will be somewhat greasy). Melt white chocolate according to package directions. Use spoon to dip cookie balls into chocolate and place on parchment or wax paper. Sprinkle lightly with colored sprinkles or nonpareils. Refrigerate and keep in airtight container.

Enjoy for any occasion!!!

Remembering 9-11

What a great tribute for students to make on 9-11......

a Handprint American Flag!

 

 

Why follow this blog???

If you become a follower on my blog, you'll be entered into a drawing for a $20 giftcard from The School Box........

But the BEST part is.......you'll get some really cool and fun ideas to use in your classrrom!  What's not to like?!?!  :)

Welcome!!

Hi Everone!  I am so excited about my new blog and can't wait to share ideas with you to use in your classroom!  My plans are to have the blog up and running by the end of next week (September 7th)......so please check back SOON!!!

 

Have a great day!

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