Hungry, Hungry Hippos

Brain pops.

I know all teachers can relate.

Where this one came from I have NO clue. ZIP. ZERO. ZILCH. NADA.

It started with a hippo and then sent my OCD brain to find this.

BTW- Most of my kiddos have never played this.

Meet Mr. Hungry Hippo.

He gobbles up letters when they get in his way. =)

Here is how you can play Hungry, Hungry Hippos with letters:

*Buy the game or just print the hippo cards and use magnetic letters.

*Write each letter of the alphabet on a marble. You will need a few extra marbles. I already have some but you can buy them at a Dollar Store, Wal-Mart, or a craft store.

*Play the game. After all of the letters have been captured, take the letters (marbles) and place them on the letter cards.

*Use the sentence stems to talk about the letters and letter sounds. This is a great opportunity for your ELL kiddos to develop language and for all of your kiddos to start learning how to speak in complete sentences.

I will be playing this with a small group because I don't trust a Firstie to keep marbles out of their mouth, ears, or nose no matter how many times we talk about being safe!

I would love for you to grab some Hippo fun!

I'll be back soon with Conscious Discipline and a GROOVY Pete the Cat giveaway that you won't want to miss! =)

I would LOVE for you to leave me a heart note and let me know what you think. Please let me know if you have any questions. =)

From My Heart to Yours,

Pop 'Til You Drop

Are you already enjoying your summer or are you still counting down the days as your kiddos' eyes spin in different directions as they hop down the hallway or twirl in circles on the rug?????

Way to go if you made it to the end....will you pray the rest of us do too???

Will you come take us out of the straight jacket on our last day???

What's your phone number because you might be the 1 phone call we are able to make to bail us out of jail because all of our teaching buddies are in the cell with us! =)

My kiddos actually have not lost their minds yet
..................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................that was me on my knees praying. =)

To survive this week, we have been having some popping fun.....I almost typed pooping and that is true too because some kiddo (not one of mine) seems to be missing the potty......or a large dog visited the bathroom. I won't share with you the conversations this brought about and of course the potty stories! =P

Okay, that was a squirrel moment!!!!!

Since my buddy Carla and I are the Queens of Brain Pops, this was very fitting!

Here is a quickie of what we have been up to:

*popsicles- you could  make your own as a science lesson but my brain didn't think of that until after I bought some

*popping bingo- the kiddos made their own compound word bingo boards that we are using popcorn for the markers.

*bubble party- different bubble wands and gadgets....each kiddo also has a thing of ice cream or soda bubbles to take home as part of their gift from me

*pop go the numbers- 100's chart clues and number hunt with bubblegum covering the numbers. When the number riddle is solved you get to chew the gum and pop some bubbles

*word pop hop- a race to pop the word wall bubbles (balloons)....kind of like musical chairs and this is a brain pop in the making....I will probably end up adding shaving cream so we can clean our tables as we practice spelling and taking the word wall words off the word wall.

Today, we did the Vowel Pop. I am sorry I have no pictures.

This was so much fun and hysterical!

We had bubbles (balloons) with the vowels written on them. Big blue bubbles (balloons) because I could not find clear balloons at 2 different party stores and the ones they did have were 4 balloons for $1....ummmm, no thank you.

The kiddos came and found a card and after sorting it they had to find the vowel bubble that popped out of the word. They then had to "pop" the bubble. Hilarious doesn't even begin to describe this. I guess since these were helium balloons they were extra thick...especially since I didn't blow them up all of the way so they would be more round like bubbles.

The kiddos were slamming their little booties onto the balloons and bouncing right off of them. Many bubbles had to be popped with scissors. =)

I couldn't even pop one! This was pretty funny too when I bounced off the bubble balloon! =)

You can grab your copy of the Vowel Pop and have tons of fun too!

If you have any questions about this post or game, please leave a comment or email me because my brain is thinking of the 1,000,000 things I need to be doing to wrap up the year and I am sure this post might make sense only to me. =)

Here is another *freebie* that I would love for you to go grab from my TpT store. If you grab it, please consider following my store.

It might be time for me to pop into a bubble bath now! =)

Blessings to you on this Hump Day!

Even though they might be acting like HUGE stinkers, remember that you might be the only one to love that kiddo for the day and many are about to be sent home to no structure and very little love.

We are making our helpful heart bracelets tomorrow and doing a bucket filler activity....my heart is already smiling about this and the sweet, sweet things we will share with each other. This is kind of my way to send off with my kiddos a reminder that they will always be part of a School Family where someone loves them...they just need to look at their bracelet to remember that. =)

Cooking with Chef Ad J. Tive

Bonjour Friends! I survived our day of Fun in the Sun- water slides, wet and muddy kiddos, Firsties changing clothes....and the uncontrollable giggles when I had to say "underwear" numerous times in the past few days. =)

As we count down the final few days, we are having lots of fun reviewing all we have learned. One of the best ways to review adjectives is with food! =)

On Wednesday, we came back from lunch and we noticed we had a visitor. We found this note:

Yes, Chef Ad J. Tive looks Italian and speaks French! =)

Chef Ad J. Tive left us 4 mystery bags with some riddles. I am sorry for no picture but I left the memory card for my camera in my computer at home. These were just 4 brown lunch sacks numbered 1-4. Inside each bag was an ingredient we needed to make adjective pizza.(The ingredients are strawberries, kiwi, blueberries, and cookies)

We read the first riddle and listened for the adjectives describing the secret ingredient. We inferred what we thought was inside the bag. As we found the adjectives in the riddles, we recorded them on this Chef Ad J. Tive chart using interactive writing.....I am blessed that my district strongly believes in interactive writing so I don't have to worry about having pretty handwriting on charts! =)

The kiddos each had a recording sheet to record the adjectives for each mystery bag.

After solving all of the riddles we checked our inferences. =)

Now, it was time to make our own chefs. Cara's chef was my inspiration....please remember I am not crafty like Cara, Abby, Hadar, or Teri!

After each kiddo made his or her chef, it was time to make adjective pizza! =)

We had a cream cheese pizza "sauce".

Several kiddos kept calling the kiwi seaweed!

After the pizza, we wrote adjectives describing the pizza on the paper plate each chef holds. They loved writing with markers and in a circle. I love how a Firstie is so easy to please. =)

Finally, they made a paper version of the pizza. I think they ALL turned out adorable!!!

I love this one. =)

You can hop over to my TpT store to grab this *freebie* here. While you are there, I would love for you to follow my store. I am going to start sharing my *freebies* there so I can see how many people download the activity....I am just curious and worry at times if anyone does download the *freebies* I share.

My kiddos loved this and I would love to hear from you about what you think...especially if you use it with your kiddos. =)

Here is my Blog Helper watching me as I work.

I hope you have a weekend that is relaxing and full of blessings.

From My Heart to Your's,

Laugh Therapy and In Your Hand and On Your Heart

Several years ago I heard the song "Cletus Take the Reel" and about hurt myself from laughing so hard.

Since then, I have become a HUGE fan of Tim Hawkins....He is a hilarious Christian comedian. He even came to my little ol' town of Nacogdoches and my whole family went to see to see him. My nieces watch his dvd's ALL of the time. He has become my LAUGH THERAPY!!!!!!

Here are some of my favorites! Take a break and have a dose of laughter! =)

To end this post, I want to share again something I did that makes a huge impact with helping me remember to have a Heart of Patience. Tonight before I go to sleep I am going to write the initials of one of my toughies on the palm of my hand. In the morning and throughout the day tomorrow, I am going to stop and say a prayer for that kiddo every time I see his initials. If he is near me, I am going to hug him or rub his back or make some positive connection. I might glance at his initials and need to celebrate him at that moment. Since I will be constantly having a glimpse at those initials, I will be consciously making an effort to show him love and patience. I have done this throughout the year with different kiddos and even some grown-ups at school....it makes a huge impact on not only the kiddo but on me.

Hold them in your hand so they will always be on your heart. =)

I'll be back later this week to share what I hope will be a fun "brain pop". =)

From My Heart to Your's,