Bunny Treats: An Adjective Adventure with Plants

We love to get packages. We also go crazy for special visitors. On Wednesday morning we found this letter in the classroom.

We learned that a Mystery Friend sent us the letter. The letter told us to find some Easter eggs around the school. Hidden inside each egg was an adjective clue that would help us infer who sent the letter.

After finding all of the eggs, we came back to the classroom to read the clues.

Then, we inferred who sent us the letter. We also identified and colored the adjectives from the clues. We had some wonderful discussions about our inferences. One little one did think a camel sent us the letter. I worried at first that the Easter eggs would make them think that the Easter Bunny sent us the letter but the clue about brown fur kept them from inferring that. =)

After lunch, we came back to the classroom and found the TOP SECRET envelope and a package. Inside the envelope were 12 riddles about treats a bunny would like to eat and some that a bunny would not like to eat.

Here is an example of one of the riddles.

The kiddos LOVED reading these riddles and trying to solve which ones would be the bunny treats. I loved seeing the way they worked together. After we sorted the cards by which ones would be bunny treats, we talked about the things rabbits eat....PLANTS!!!

We just started learning about plants this week so this was a great way to continue our discussion about the parts of the plant. We talked about the parts of a plant and how we eat plants ALL OF THE TIME! They thought this was too cool. =)

We opened the package and found HUGE Easter eggs that were full of plant parts.

We then made our own plant! =)

sunflower seeds

carrots for the roots

celery for the stem

spinach for the leaves

broccoli for the flower

strawberries for the fruit

Click on the pictures to go check it out in my store.

You can also do the activities in this packet AFTER Easter.

It is on sale and so is everything in my store. =)

I am soooooo sorry for not getting around to share the winner of my giveaway.

Barbara Balius...check your email. =)

Thank you to everyone who entered. I loved reading about all of your blessings. Thank you to each one of you for being such a HUGE blessing to me.

I would love to hear what you think about this packet. Leave a comment with your email and I'll pick 2 people to win it later this weekend. =)

From My Heart to Yours,

No, I Didn't....Yes, You Did!!!

I am not sure about you but when I hear

No, I didn't!!!!

and then

Yes, you did!!!!

My right eye starts twitching.

I have the urge to bop a kiddo or 2 on the head.

I want to start hollering calmly say "Please, just be quiet."

But, I know that will only solve the problem temporarily...even though, I might feel better if I do a little head bopping (Which I never do). =)

I would love if every day was like this...

(I DO try and help my kiddos see that you CAN disagree with someone but arguing about it won't solve the problem.)

Part of me would like to try this...

{source}

In the past, we talked about telling the other person I disagree with you but I am not going to argue with you because I care about you. 

I noticed that this was giving some kiddos the excuse to get out of their hurtful behavior....especially when they had done something intentionally.

This year I started thinking about the WHY behind a child not wanting to just apologize(or admit to the problem) ...when a lot of the things happen on accident.

My kiddos get very, very good about not tattling and using their BIG VOICE. They might tell a friend I didn't like it when you stepped on my foot. Most of the time a kiddo will apologize and we move on...no big deal.

But sometimes, I have a kiddo who will argue with me OR anything breathing about ANYTHING and EVERYTHING....grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!! I am sure none of you have kiddos like that, right??!!??? =)

I remembered something I learned from Ruby Payne who is the guru of working and teaching children of poverty. One of the big things a child of poverty will always do is try and save face. This can be why they laugh in your face when you correct them or smile when you talk to them about their poor/bad choices.

If they are laughing in our face, they REALLY don't want to look bad in the eyes of their friends.

So, here is what we have been working on....

Child 1: I didn't like it when you kicked me in the back (This is when everyone was moving up toward the pocket chart.)

Child 2: I didn't kick you!!!

***instead of the Yes, you did....we now have NEW words***

Child 1: I am not saying you did it on purpose. I think it happened on accident when you were scooting up.

Child 2: Oh, I am sorry. I didn't realize that happened. I am sorry for accidentally kicking you.

Child 1: I forgive you.

Here is the part I really like: Child 2 takes ownership of their behavior AND they have to then find a way to make the situation better depending on what happened.

So, our new helpful sentence stems are:

I am not saying you did it on purpose. I think it happened when....

You maybe didn't realize you....

I am not mad at you. I'm just trying to help you understand you what might have happened.

This works well with my Hoovers and my kiddos who are a Frosty (prone to HUGE meltdowns)! =)

I always need to remember to try and stay calm when they start to fuss and argue. =)

Now, some BIG news....

Heather's Heart is now on FB =)

Click on my button to go to my FB page. I would love for you to like me there. =)

Please let me know if the link works...it was acting all wonkers.

Be sure and check out my giveaway too. =)

How do you handle fussing and arguing? I would love to know. =)

From My Heart to Yours,

Spring Blessings Giveaway

I love Spring. The weather is gorgeous, flowers are blooming, and summer is quickly approaching.

Easter is my favorite holiday of all time because without the cross where would we all be???

I also got both of my sweet fur babies in the Spring.

Edison

and

Houdini (as known as Boing Boing)

My niece Grace and I also have a birthday in the Spring. =)

So to help celebrate my favorite month, I am having a little giveaway.

1 person will win:

a $50 gift card to Target

AND

a $25 gift card to TpT

I will also donate $50 to the animal shelter where I got Edison in your name.

Enter below.

Be sure and double check to be sure you are following me. =)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thank you all for being such a blessing to me. =)

From My Heart to Yours,

A Leprechaun's Birthday ...A Compound Word Investigation

On Friday morning, we opened the breakfast cart and found a letter from Lucky the Leprechaun. In the letter he told us that he is having a birthday soon. Since all leprechauns LOVE rainbows, he sent us on a search to find the rainbows he hid all around the school.

As we found the rainbows, we talked about what kind of words we kept finding on the cards. We knew they were all....

COMPOUND WORDS

After finding all of the rainbows, we opened the TOP SECRET envelope.

Inside were riddle clues.

We got into our investigation groups and each team came and got a riddle to try and solve. The kiddos were able to look at the compound words we discovered on our RAINBOW HUNT to infer which compound word it could be.

When the mission was complete and all of the riddles were solved, we got to open the final envelope. Inside was a poem from Lucky.

Lucky the Leprechaun told us he left a birthday present for us...and it was a compound word treat. We brainstormed what the present could be. He also told us in the poem that the gift would be found in a place that was also a compound word. We thought it could be a classroom, the bathroom (ewwwww) or....

               THE PLAYGROUND

When we went out onto the playground we found this.

Inside were rainbow cupcakes and Leprechaun necklaces.

You cannot see the red layer but it was there.

Lucky the Leprechaun also left us some compound word activities to work on when we come back from Spring Break. He also told us to be looking when we come back because he just might hide a pot of gold for us to find! =)

Here is a closer look at what is in the fun and engaging packet...

I am joining together with the wonderful Miss-Kindergarten to give away my packet

AND

Her adorable compound word craftivity.

Enter below. The giveaway will end on March the 11th.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

March *Freebie* Fun...and Sound Racers =)

I love Spring. Here in East Texas we are already seeing the signs of Spring:  tulips trees, dogwoods, azaleas, and many other flowers are all starting to bloom. March also brings Spring Break, my birthday and my niece's birthday. But, I also start freaking out a bit....

3 months of school left???!!!???!!! Holy Moly...I need to see how much more I can cram into my kiddos heads. There are times I am feeling good about all of the progress my kiddos are making then....BAM!!! They say or do something that makes me want to go bang my head against the wall. Seriously, where have you been the last 7 months ????!!!!!????

One of my kiddos last week could not remember what this sign meant -....and this happened right after she just successfully finished a math sort that was mixed addition and subtraction. I had a 5 minute conversation with her that made me think I needed either an adult beverage or medicine for the migraine headache that was coming on. I felt exactly like this...

At times like this, all I can say is Help Me Jesus.

With Easter being in March this year, we will be doing a few of our leprechaun and St. Patrick's Day activities this week. Here are some of the *freebies* I shared last year.

Click on the picture above to grab your *freebies*.

My kiddos LOVE dice games. =)

Here is a subtraction sort....

And some ABC order fun.

***************************************************

I finished this packet several weeks ago and just never got around to sharing with you about it. My kiddos love this and I am able to use it with all of my Guided Reading groups. The packet has around 300 words that focus on:

*short vowels and CVC words
*blends
*digraphs
*CVCC and CCVC words
*magic e
*r controlled vowels
*the 2 sounds of ow
*ou words like in mouse
*oo words like in boot
*vowel teams like ai, ee, oa, ay, etc

This is wonderful for RtI and is amazing at helping children blend sounds together to help decode words. The kiddos LOVE using little cars to drive over the sounds and then race and blend the sounds faster to read the word.

It is on sale this weekend. Click here to go check it out. =)

I hope you enjoy the *freebies*. I would love for you to leave me a heart note if you grab them. 

From My to Yours,