Fall Favorites Blog Hop!

The air is crisp,

The leaves are falling!

Hello squirrels looking for food....Goodbye birds full of tweeting!

Apple, Pumpkins, Acorns & More...

31 Bloggers are bringing 'Fall Favorites' to your door!

Next to summer, Fall is definitely my favorite!  I love the 'smell' and 'feel' of Fall!  I love all the fun associated with Fall too!  But there is one thing that signifies it is Fall...

It is my guilty pleasure...and thanks to Starbucks now posting the calories in this little cup of heaven, I only indulge in one each year- but Fall is not Fall without one!

But my pumpkin obsession does not end there!

I love making 

pumpkin pancakes- and when my husband works late my boys and I love to have them for dinner!

And...thanks to all those lattes of Falls past, these little gems are my 'sweet treat' without the guilt

Pumpkin Muffins- 2 ingredients and only 2 points on Weight Watchers!

Simply mix 1 box of carrot (or spice) cake mix with 1 15oz can of pumpkin.  If it is a little too thick add 2T of water.  Bake in lined mini muffin pan (for 1 point muffins) or regular muffin tins (for 2 point muffins) in a 425 degree oven for 12-15 minutes (longer for the larger muffins- until the toothpick comes out clean).  Allow to cool and store in an airtight container.  I find they are even better the longer they sit!

So it probably wouldn't surprise you then that I LOVE to bring pumpkin fun into my kindergarten classroom!

This past week we 'carved' in!  I am excited to show you all we learned- and the fun we had!

Here are my pumpkin books and resources I used this week:

And our 'Poem of the Week' was a simple one so that we could focus on some sight words, 1:1 reading, rhyming and initial sounds!

We started the week by exploring a pumpkin using our 5 senses.  We carved it open to explore all of its parts (I don't have any pictures because I was covered in pulp!)!  We even took the seeds out and I brought them home to roast.  Most of them LOVED the roasted seeds!

We learned all about a pumpkin's life cycle through books and magazine resources.  The children then helped me demonstrate by attaching pictures to a giant pumpkin:

We ended the week and our life cycle discussion by making life cycle crowns!  It was a great way for them to demonstrate what they learned and will help spark some conversation at home too I'm sure!

In addition to the crowns, they worked with a few readers this week.  We are really working on reading with 1:1 correspondence and using pictures to support the text. 

These books then went into their Readers Workshop baskets for independent reading and sharing!

To piggyback that, they also read a simple repetitive text about the locations of pumpkins.  This helped review what we had just finished in math!

For shared writing we made a list...

And for interactive writing we labeled the parts of a pumpkin! 

I have always done the same project for students to show the parts of a pumpkin but wanted to change it up this year...I wanted something to show the outside AND inside of a pumpkin.  So after a few botched up prototypes, this was born!

I have put all the steps into this graphic for you so that it is easier to reference- just pin it to your Fall craft board and you are all set!  

 When it came time to label, many of my students walked up to our class model to check their label to the class one!

Each pumpkin was unique!  I had them cut the plate in half so I got some pretty interesting and almost 'life-like' representations of a 'carved' pumpkin! 

So when we were all done we were able to show everyone what we had learned about the inside and outside of a pumpkin!

And needless to say, it made a great bulletin board display of ELA and Science learning! 

(If we didn't have strict fire marshal/code rules I would have loved to have hung these from the ceiling so that both sides could be seen at the same time!)

So now that we had explored and really learned all about pumpkins it was time to...taste them!

A few years ago a colleague shared this recipe for 'Pumpkin Pie in a Bag'- her daughter's preschool had done it and she was able to snag a copy to share!

It is so much easier than attempting to make and/or purchase and serve a 'traditional' pumpkin pie!

I put it into this graphic for easy pinning:

One bit of advice...

The kids really LOVED smashing the crackers!

 Next was to knead the pudding/milk mixture...

 Then you open up the bag and add in the pumpkin...

 And knead it some more!

You will know it is ready when your filling looks like this: 

While the kids are kneading the mix, put 2T of crackers into each cup

 Next you snip the corner off the bag and squeeze some of the 'pie' into each cup

 I had doubled the batch and it was perfect for my group of 19 (plus extra for some teachers!)

Add a squirt of Redi-Whip and you are set to go!

I sprinkled the tops with some pumpkin pie spice too!

The kids GOBBLED them up and were ready to take me down if I didn't give them seconds!

These cups were made for a kid, but it's also a perfect (and easy) treat to bring to a holiday gathering- just fill them up a tad more!

In addition to the craft idea and recipes, I have this 'Fly In the Pie' set of counting games for FREE!  It has 3 different games to play using sets of pumpkins from 1-10 (Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah Designs recently posted sets of counting graphics- perfect for these types of activities!).  

Directions and other suggestions for use and included in the free download!

Feedback is greatly appreciated! 

Additionally I am putting all of my pumpkin products on sale this weekend!

Click each cover to be directed to it on TeachersPayTeachers:

    

    

In addition, I'd love to warm you up with a Pumpkin Spice Latte on me!

The winner also gets to choose one of my pumpkin products (listed above) for free!

Entry window closes at 11:59pm EST Monday 10/27.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Ready to find some more 'Fall Favorites?!'

Next up is one of my favorite blogging duo...

Remember the hop runs from Saturday October 25th- Monday October 27th.

Happy Fall!

Until next post,

Fire Safety Fun!

October 5-11th is 'Fire Safety Week' for 2014 so we spent the last week learning all about fire safety!  My kinders will be all set with 'background knowledge' for our fire safety assembly presented by the local fire department next week!

We read a few stories this week including:

Flashing Fire Engines

Stop, Drop & Roll

A Visit to the Fire Station

Firefighters

and my Scholastic order with Gingerbread Loose at the Fire Station just came on Friday, so we'll be reading that next week!

I themed a lot of my reading, writing, math and centers around a 'fire safety' theme for the week!

In Readers Workshop we are working on reading left to right and with 1:1 correspondence.  We are also practicing finding and reading our sight words in text!

So I made a fire safety reader!

They practiced showing me how to point to the words as they read (using their fancy and fun reading finger) and how to read from left to right:

 Another way I had them practice identifying and reading sight words was with this fun Eno Board activity!  I simply inserted some graphics and text boxes into a Power Point slide and projected the slide on my Eno board.  I printed a 'squirting hose' pointer.  I would call out a word and students would find the word, 'squirt it' (aka slide the pointer under the word) and then 'put the fire out' by pulling the word off the flame!  They LOVE doing this and are always in AWE!

If you want to try it with your kids, you can download my file by clicking here!

One of my favorite fire safety projects is making a shape fire engine!

I have the pieces pre cut and bagged and the students just have to match it to build.  I give them a form to glue it down- I have tried it with a blank piece of paper but it caused a bit of frustration for some!

I have them draw in a hose/water.  I used to give them a piece of ribbon/string, but have opted for this easier, less stress method the past few years!

As a class we use interactive writing to label the parts of a fire engine.  I made a large scale version of their shape truck so that when it comes time for them to label their trucks it looks similar.

The next day we re-read the parts of the truck and I cut apart the labels they would be using and taped them near our interactive writing labels.  This year I had more than ever that came up to 'check' their label against the large one before gluing!

They worked together to help each other figure out the labels too!

It was the 'hot spot' of our room!

When they were all done, their trucks mimicked the large class engine!

They did a fabulous job and it makes a fabulous bulletin board display!

In Writers Workshop we are working on using one student's 'story' as the way to model how to write a story and then going off to write our own.

We had read 'A Visit to The Fire Station' this week and talked about things you see at a fire station.  So, during writing, I had our star author tell a story about what she sees at a fire station.

We use interactive writing to write the story, but each student is working with his/her clipboard to practice and write the group story.

This idea was our of a professional development workshop we had.

The students 'practice' in the '1' area (letters, sight words, etc) and write the story in the '2' area.  I model for them on my board: 

Where you see it written multiple times/circled that is because I had them practice writing it more than once and then circle the one they did the best.  While they are working, the author is working with me to write his/her story.  As the story is being written, the others are doing the same in their '2' section.  When the story is complete, they illustrate it.

Then students were sent off to write their story about what they see at a fire station.

So here is a student's clipboard and independent story.

I am so proud...this was only our 3rd attempt at doing this!

Here were some of the other independent stories I got showing all the different levels they are working at:

In math centers, I taught the kids how to play 'Roll, Say, Keep!'

I LOVE this game and as they learn it and practice, it becomes an independent center!

 I had them working with 2D & 3D shapes...the 'fire safety' portion came in with the themed mat!

If you have never played it, take a look at one of my kinders learning and practicing how to play:

I know it's hard to hear her the whole time, but there were 18 other kinders working independently in math stations!
As you can see I put dice in little plastic containers...it helps prevent them from flying off the table and kinders crawling on the floor in a quest to find them!

Here are a few more pics of them playing:

In listening center my kids listened to Fire Truck by Ivan Utz!

It is a catchy and fun story and if you don't have it, you can play it on your smartboard for your kids because it is on youtube:

But beware...it STICKS IN YOUR HEAD!!!

We are lucky that our school district plays for a Scholastic Lets Find Out subscription as part of our Science/SS curriculum.  This month's pack of magazines and online resources had a Fire Safety set!

So we watched the video and played the online interactive sort for items that are safe/not safe to touch!

We read the magazine and they all had a copy to take home and read with their families over the weekend to review what we had learned.

Phew...it was a 'red hot' week of fire safety learning and fun!

You can find the reader, craft and roll, say, keep in these packs available in my TPT Store:

I am linking up with Kelly & Kim's Kindergarten Kreations for:

 and have decided to put the Fire Safety Roll, Say, Keep on sale for $2!

I also just uploaded my Fall version

and have put that one on sale for $2 as well!

Find more fun deals and steals for the week on the linky!

Hope you have a 'smokin' fun' week!

Until next post,