Ecosystems!

We are just finishing up our science unit on Ecosystems, and I wanted to share some of the resources that I use when teaching this unit. A couple of these are my own resources, but most are from other teachers.  

The Science Penguin has awesome resources! I actually purchased her bundle of science PowerPoints and notes but here is a link to the Food Webs one that I use when teaching Ecosystems. It is interactive and great as a review before the test. 

This Biome Book by Hope King was a fun group project that required the students to do some research. I had students work in pairs and pick a Biome to research and create their project. Then each group had to teach the class about their Biome. When everyone was done, I took each project and created a class book. I wish I would have taken a picture of the final project because it turned out great! 

My students love Deb Hanson's partner plays and it just so happens she has a set of Biomes partner plays! 

To end the unit, I like to use my set of task cards and "I have, who has" game to review for the test. 

I would love to hear your favorite Ecosystem resources!

Stitch Fix #31

I received my latest Stitch Fix box just in time for Thanksgiving! I am having a hard time deciding what to keep because I really like it all! Take a look at what I received. 

Help me decide what to keep! I really don't need it all, but  maybe it can be an early Christmas present for myself! haha 

Have you been wanting to try Stitch Fix? If so, I would love it if you used my referral link below!

Stitch Fix

Book Lover Gift!

Are you a book lover or do you know one?? Last year for a Christmas present, I gave my coworker a subscription to BookCase Club.  She loved it! She loves mystery books, so I picked out the Thrill Seeker case for her. Each month she received two hardcover mysteries. 

I love books too, so I decided to treat myself to a subscription. I also signed up for the Thrill Seeker case and received my box this week. Here are the two books that I received. 

If this sounds like something you would be interested in or sounds like something you might like to give as a gift to someone, I would love it if you used my referral code! Click on the picture below to head to BookCase Club. 

Fall STEM Challenge

During the beginning of the school year TpT sale, I purchased Lisa Taylor Teaching the Stars' 

STEM Challenges for the Year Bundle. It is full of fun challenges for each month. 

I finally got the chance try one out this week and it was a huge success!  We did one of the Halloween challenges where students had to use given materials to create a spider web that could hold "insects". My students worked in pairs to build their "spider web" and when they were done, each group took turns tossing plastic insects into the web. 

Take a look at some of the completed webs!

My class loved this challenge and they worked together with partners better than ever before! I can't wait to try another STEM challenge. 

If you are looking for some great STEM options, check out  this bundle!

Halloween Readers' Theater

Do your students love doing readers' theaters as much as mine? If they do, you should definitely take a look at Deb Hanson's Halloween readers' theaters. 

My students started practicing these last week, and they are excited to perform them at the Halloween party for their classmates. 

This product comes with three different scripts for a total of  25-28 parts. If you already own this product, be sure to re-download as Deb has added a brand new script!

What are your favorite Halloween activities to do with your students?

Trick or Treating Safety Tips

Can you believe it is almost Halloween? It is going to be so cold for the little trick-or-treaters around my area! 

Sam Leman Toyota of Bloomington contacted me to share some Halloween safety tips. This poster would be great to share with your students or email home to parents before they go trick-or-treating!

Upper Elementary Blogs

If you are anything like me, you are probably always searching for new resources, which includes looking for new teacher blogs! I was emailed a great link to a ton of awesome upper elementary blogs. Check out Feedspots Top 100 Upper Elementary Blogs by clicking on the picture below. I already followed a lot of these bloggers, but I was also able to find a bunch of new teachers to follow too! 

Indoor Plants!

I have a bit of an obsession with succulents right now. Unfortunately, I just don't have a big sunny window, so I can't seem to keep them alive. I was super excited when PermaLeaf® contacted me to review one of their artificial outdoor plants. 

They have tons of options to choose from on their website, but obviously I chose a succulent arrangement.

How cute is this? This arrived packaged very tightly together. This is a high quality artificial plant. It does not look fake like most artificial plants that you see. If you are looking into any artificial plants I would suggest requesting a catalog from PermaLeaf®

If you are a blogger that would be interesting in reviewing an artificial plant from Permaleaf, please let me know!

*I received these products from PermaLeaf®  in return for my honest review and opinions.

Stitch Fix Review #30

I was so excited to receive this Stitch Fix box....because I may have peeked at what I was getting before it arrived. I was sure it was going to be an all keeper box! Take a look at what I received. 

I did love these jeans, but I just couldn't justify spending $100 on them. RETURN

I love flannel and thought this looked super cute, until I tried it on and felt like a total boy! It was not flattering at all! RETURN

I really couldn't get over how wrinkly this top was. I figured if they couldn't get the wrinkles out to send to me, then I probably wouldn't have any luck either. RETURN

I kept this top mainly just because it was cheap and I didn't want to lose out on the $20 styling fee. Overall I felt like it was very cheaply made...I guess you get what you pay for! KEEP 

Let's just say I couldn't even figure out how to put this top on....it was super weird! RETURN

Overall I didn't care for this Fix. I still enjoyed the surprise of it all and will definitely try again in a couple of months. If you have been wanting to give Stitch Fix a try, I would love it if you used my referral link below!

STITCH FIX

Guess Who!?

Another one of my favorite back to school activities is Michael Friermood's Guess Who project. This project is part of his Back to School Activity Bundle. 

This fun project has the students come up with clues about themselves so that their peers can try to guess who is who. My class had a lot of fun working on this project. Below are some pictures of the completed projects. 

How cute are these?!

Back to School Banner

It's that time of year! How many of you are back at school? I just survived my first full week back and boy am I tired! It was a good week, just exhausting. I forget what an adjustment it is going back to work. 

This week I want to share some of my favorite back to school activities with you. Today I want to show you our back to school pennants we put on our lockers. These pennants came from Aimee VanMiddlesworth. They are so cute and it was the perfect activity for the first day of school. 

Here are some of the completed ones! (Ignore the ugly lockers!)

What's on Your TpT Wishlist?

I'm sure by now you have heard that the big TpT Back to School sale has officially started! I have been waiting for this because I have a ton of great products on my wishlist. I really need to narrow down the items on my wishlist, so please let me know if any of these are items that you use and would recommend!

So I really can't buy all of these products, help me pick which ones I should purchase! I would also love to know what's on your wishlist. Do you have other products you recommend?

Back to School Goodies!

It's about that time of the year...Back to School! I always have a big list of things I need to buy as I head back to school. This year I got a lot of great items from Oriental Trading Learning 365. Take a look at what I got! 

I can never have enough storage options. These will be perfect for storing the students' extra supplies. 

I was in need of new dry-erase boards. The ones I have are getting pretty gross, so I was excited to find these that were reasonably priced. They came in a set of 12 for $21.99.

I like to give the students a small gift when they start the school year, so I will use the welcome pencils. I was also excited to find the birthday cards with pencils. 

I plan on using the bracelets and pencil sharpeners to add to my prize box. 

What are some of your back to school must haves? Have you checked out all of the items that Oriental Trading has to offer for teachers?

I received these products from Oriental Trading in return for my honest review and opinions.