Five for Friday (cough cough Sunday)

It's been a fair few weeks since I've linked up for Doodle Bugs Five for Friday, but I found the time this weekend so here it is :)

What better way to celebrate Spring (you wouldn't know it from the weather) than to make our own flowers! My little wonders had a great time painting, bending and scrunching to make their gorgeous little flowers. 

 How cute are they! They turned out great and brighten up our shared area. 

Huge shout out to Jennifer over at First Grade Blue Skies for her amazingly cute 'Pout Pout Fish Freebie'. I had never heard of the books until I read her blog post, and it is now one of my favourite picture books! I didn't have the book (it's now on it's was to me thanks to Booktopia) so we watched a read aloud on YouTube. I then played them Gordon True's song that matches the Pout Pout Fish story we read. He has a song for each book on his YouTube channel. I highly recommend you check it out! 

 Jennifer has created gorgeous packs to match a number of favourite picture books. Click here to check out her TPT store. 

As a fun little activity to start off the new term, we had a snowball fight! I hear you saying "but wait Zoe, it doesn't snow in Portland" and you'd be right. I had each child write their favourite holiday experience on a piece of scrap paper and scrunch it up into a ball. Before we had our snowball fight I laid down the law. No throwing at people above the shoulder and no 'piffing' it as hard as you can. They were happy with these rules. They spread themselves out around the room and on the count of three the snowball fight began. Seeing them run around frantically to grab a snowball made me laugh. For such a simple activity they LOVED it. 

When I said freeze they had to grab a snowball and sit on the floor in a circle. They then read out the writing from their paper and had two guesses as to who wrote it. I must say they did quite a good job of matching their classmates with the experiences. I'm going to do this activity at the start of the new school year with a fact about themselves. 

For sooo long I've read blogs that talk about 'Scentos' markers, and for sooo long I've been hunting for them. I was in Kmart during the holidays and came across them for $2 each! I also found an 8 pack of smaller ones for $6 from Target. I was super excited to try them out. I've used them heaps this week, it cracks me up to see the kids smelling their work hehe. I was checking the internet to see if I could find more markers (for cheap) and I found something that made me squeal a little...CHRISTMAS SCENTOS!!!! 

If anyone knows where I can get these online for less that $16 each (sooo expensive Fishpond!) please let me know.

This week we began filming our video for our Canadian Pen Pals. At the start of the week we watched the video they sent us and my kids were so excited! They had a climbing wall, woods and a cafeteria. Needless to say they would very interested in what kind of sweets were served in the cafeteria. Now to edit the video. I've never done it before so wish me luck!

Hope everyone has a great week :)

October - Currently I am...

Another month done and dusted! Can you believe September is over already??
Well October is here, so I say bring on the pumpkins, costumes and candy! Living in Australia, Halloween isn't as big of a deal as it is in America and other countries. But I still like to teach my little ones about the history of the holiday, so I'm looking forward to that :)

A new month equals a new currently! I'm linking up with Farley from 'Oh Boy 4th Grade' to share what I'm upto, so here it is!

Listening - My parents are off to the Gold Coast tomorrow for ten days and have only been allocated 20kg of luggage between then. Cue the awkward struggle to condense two adults luggage into one suitcase with a weight of under 20kg. It won't happen....I predict a call will be made to the airline to increase the luggage allowance. 

Loving - School holidays are essential! It's a much needed break for teacher and students from each other. We all love our kids, and are extremely lucky to be able to spend so much time with them, watching them grow and sharing in their stories and experiences. But toward the end of the term, it is clear that both parties are ready for a break. 

If you're anything like me a chunk of your holidays are spent making all those little improvements to your classroom that you don't get time for during the term. It's also spent thinking up new lessons, better ways to run your day, and trolling teaching blogs for new ideas. This doesn't feel like work to me though, so it's still relaxing and enjoyable :)

Thinking - Uuuuugh term 4....reports. Enough said. I know we all feel the same about this time of the year. Yay for Christmas, Boo for reports. 

Wanting - My friend just posted on Facebook about her recent laser eye surgery. She has worn contacts and glasses her whole life, and now has better than 20:20 vision. Definitely something I want to do. Just need to save for a house first, unless I win the lotto, then I'll be booked in the next day! I don't personally mind the look of glasses, or mind wearing them...at school. But when I want to go shopping or spend the day/night with friends, having rubbish vision is a bit of a bugger. I can still see by all means, but it's definitely not great. 

Needing - I think I've mentioned before that this year (and next) I am studying to gain my Catholic Accreditation. This course is by far the WORST I have EVER undergone. It has zero relevance to actual teaching and is sooo full of theological jargon that it confuses me just to read the assignment titles. I am so lucky that I have other teachers doing it as well or I would be well and truly doomed. 

Trick or Treat - Treat!! I have just uploaded my 'Holiday Themed Writing Templates' and they are currently in my shop for....FREEEEEE! (for a week!) Head on over and grab them now. 

Head over to 'Oh Boy 4th Grade' for more blogger insights :)