Resource Rewind: February & Five for Friday

Check out my favorite February resources!

Valentine's Day
I HEART<3 this writing activity from What I Have Learned. The reason why I love it is because children brainstorm and write positive affirmations about themselves.

We used this hug bug craft made by From the Pond on the front of a Valentine Card for our parents. On the inside of the card we wrote a note telling the special person how much we love hugs from him/her. 

President's Day/Lincoln/Washington
There are a ton of great President's Day resources on TpT, but my favorite is probably the mini book in this resource from Teacher to the Core.

Now it's time for...

I rearranged my classroom! First, I got a bit of Spring Cleaning Fever. Then, I was thinking about how my room is cute, but could definately be more functional. I decided that next school year I definately needed more floor space at the front of the room because I teach "from the floor" with the kids all sitting on the carpet at front of the room. When you put 20 bodies, even little bodies, down there at the same time it is cramped! We didn't have very much room for math games or a large circle either, so I decided I had to fix it. Then, I thougth, "What am I waiting for?!" Why try a new arrangement on a new group of kids, when you can try it now on a group that already knows the rules and expectations? So I did. I arranged the desks around the outer edge of the room and moved the storage shelves to the center of the room. We are loving the larger space we have at the front of the room. It's A-W-E-S-O-M-E. I'll have to edit this post with a pic. 

You gotta see the portraits we painted of Abe Lincoln! This month we learned about President's Day, George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. We read books, created anchor charts, made a venn diagram, and did some crafts. We did a guided drawing of Lincoln and then used water colors to paint him. These two crafts will part of our patriotic Open House diplay.

Here are some other crafts I'm considering for Open House. We will read and write about the eagle and the White House before we complete each craftivity, of course!

Both of these were Pinterest finds, but here are the links to Mrs. Jump's Class and Adventures in Mrs. Martin's Room where the pins originated from.

Today we built a little 32 square foot raised garden in our back yard. My four year old is so excited to grow strawberries, tomatoes, and peppers. I can't wait until we can actually see a fruit growing on a vine! I hope I have a green thumb.

This week we learned about air in science. On Friday I hosted the Balloon Olympics.

 We competed to see who keep their balloon in the air the longest.

Students used coffee straws and their own air to blow styrofoam balls  across the finish line. Check out the kiddo laying down. He said he laying like a seal!

In my favorite game students blow bubbles then pick one and try to blow it across the room and through a hula hoop.

Did I mention I visited Phoenix and Sedona recently? Well, I did. It was beautiful. My husband had a conference in Phoenix, so I went along for the weekend to do a little sight seeing. Here I am "hanging around".