November Currently and Some October Fun

It's November, and here is my Currently, hosted by Farley at Oh' Boy Fourth Grade!

 

Listening - It's laundry day, so of course I can hear the washing machine. Otherwise, things are pretty quiet right now.

Loving - I'm loving that it's the weekend! I can sleep longer, relax, work on my TPT products, and continue reading Allegiant, which I have been wanting to do all week. 

Thinking - I brought my car in to get the oil changed (and to get rid of that annoying light that says, "maintenance needed" or something like that), and they told me I needed 4 new tires. I already knew that, but didn't really want to spend the money. Well, there goes the money! :(

Wanting - I'm looking forward to using some of the new Christmas clip art that I bought to make holiday items for TPT!

Needing - Now that the holiday season is fast-approaching, I need to start Christmas shopping. Oh, wait! I can't do that now. I had to buy 4 tires for my car - UGH!

A Yummy Pin - Anyone who knows me knows I don't like to prepare food. Here is a pin of a dessert that sounded good though. 

It's a recipe for Chocolate Chip Cranberry Cheese Bars. I found it on Pinterest, but the original link is http://www.food.com/recipe/chocolate-chip-cranberry-cheese-bars-198502 .

The day before Halloween, we were visited by the Candy Corn Bandit. 

He stole the Starburst candy corn I had for my class. Before we tried to look for him, we had to predict what he looked like and where the candy was hidden.

After that, we followed the clues to find where the candy was hidden. That bandit brought us to the cafeteria, PE, the playground, the library, and back to our classroom. It was hidden in the classroom the entire time! 

After that, we wrote about the Candy Corn Bandit and our adventures. Then, we completed the craftivity. My class really enjoyed that part because we hardly ever have time to do fun stuff like that anymore.

Obviously, some followed directions, and some decided to add their own creative touches. There were others that took creativity too far, so I didn't post those. 

The most difficult part was gluing the candy corn and the pipe cleaners. I have yet to find an easy way to get pipe cleaners to stick. I'd love to hear suggestions!

Did you do anything fun with your class last week? Be sure to let me know in the comments below!

Boo'd Again!

Thank you to Melissa at First Grade Smiles  for "booing" me! She has some great Halloween ideas listed, so please check her out!

Here are some of my favorite October activities:

My Ghostly Go Fish game (which can also be played as a memory game) is 20% off until Monday, October 15!

 

Friendly Ghosts Odd and Even Sort by Marcia Murphy was a fun activity for my class. She includes color and blackline pages so you can make a permanent game, or make copies for a class activity. I made copies and had my class work in groups to sort them on chart paper. They loved working on it, and coloring it afterward! The best thing is that this activity is FREE!

 

Pumpkin Investigation  by Sunny Days is an activity I plan to do next week. It includes a trifold the students fill out during the investigations, diagram of a pumpkin, information cards, and investigation activity cards. I can't wait to try it out!

Now for the bloggers I'm booing! Please visit their blogs for more great ideas!

Teri at A Cupcake for the Teacher

Kelly at First Grade Fairy Tales

Marie at It's a Jungle out There!

Kate at Second Grade Sparkle

The Peanut Gallery

 

If you've been booed, copy and paste the above pic and these "rules" into your post.
 

1.  Give a shout out to the blogger who booed you and link back to their site!

2. Share 3-5 October activities, books, products (yours or someone else),

or freebie(s) that you love!

3.  Share the Boo love with 5 bloggers- make sure you check this link to make sure you don't boo someone again:  http://toristeachertips.blogspot.com/2012/10/ive-been-booed-fun-october-linky.html

And don't forget to tell them that they have been BOOED!

4.  Link up {here} so that others can find you and read about your October ideas!  And while you are there... check out the other great blogs!

Thank you to Tori at Tori's Teacher Tips for starting this linky party!

Boo'd, Blogs, and Butterflies!

Cynthia over at 2nd Grade Pad is hosting a "You've Been Boo'd" linky party! You simply spotlight a fellow blogger who has more followers than you, about the same number of followers as you, and fewer followers than you. You let them know you have added them, and offer something from your store as their treat! What a great way to reach out to other bloggers!

So, my choice for the blogger who has more followers is Cynthia from 2nd Grade Pad! I know, she's the one hosting this linky party, but I found her blog because of it and I can't wait to check out more of her blog!

 

 My choice for the blogger that has about as many followers as I do is Miss Martin from Miss Martin's Classroom! I just found her blog last week, and she has some really great items! The monster directions freebie is so cute!

 

Last but not least is a blog who has fewer followers than me. However, that may change very soon since she seems to have some fantastic ideas for 4th grade! Head on over to visit Tina at Flamingos and Butterflies! You'll be impressed!

If you are a fellow blogger, please be sure to pass on the "Boo" to 3 blogs you love. Then, link up at the 2nd Grade Pad!

Games, Ghosts, and Graphics Linky Parties!

After much hard work, and many formatting issues (which I won't get into now), I created a new game! It is called, "Ghostly Go Fish." It's played like "Go Fish" except students will be reviewing addition facts 11-18.

Alternately, the game could be played like a "Memory" game with students setting the cards up in rows.

I can't wait to try this with my class!

You can purchase "Ghostly Go Fish" by clicking here.

The inspiration for this game came from Mel at Graphics from the Pond, who made these adorable "Little Friendly Ghosts."  She decided to let TPT sellers use the ghosts to create activities, then decided to hold a linky party on her site! Clicking on the image below will take you to other fantastic ideas made by teachers using the "Little Friendly Ghosts."

Oh, here are some giveaways too!

Tori's Teacher Tips is having a giant math giveaway, and a Halloween giveaway too!

Primary Possiblities is celebrating 500 followers with a huge giveaway!

Diving into Learning is having giveaways all week!

First Grade Fairytales is celebrating 200 followers with a $25 TPT gift certificate!

Be sure to check them out!