Cinco De Mayo Festivities, Monthly $25 TpT Gift Card Giveaway, and BIG TpT sale!

Today was an amazing day of learning as we celebrated learning - Cinco de Mayo style!   I had already shared a few things we had done last week including measurement poke cards and sombreros. Here are a few more things we did today to honor Mexican culture:

We made pinata bags to hold some goodies from our afternoon fiesta. Many of the students brought some yummy Mexican foods and candies to share with the class.  (Of course I forgot to take pics as I was dishing up the goodies)!  Our overwhelming favorite thing was the homemade horchata made by one of the moms - yummy!

Before the party we did a fun little Reader's Theater from Deb Hanson.

We learned lots of interesting facts - Did you know that Mexico City is sinking?  Or that the biggest Cinco de Mayo celebration is in Los Angeles? Or that they have a chihuahua contest in Arizona on Cinco de Mayo?

We also used some of the activities in Teach from the HeART's Cinco de Mayo Crafts and Printables Pack



And this Cinco de Mayo Math Scoot from Teacher's Desk 6 which was a great review!

And unless you live under a rock, you know that today and tomorrow is the big Teacher Appreciation sale at Teachers Pay Teachers!  I am participating and all items in my store have been marked down.  Combine that with the site discount and you can save 28% on any items.  Remember to use Code TPTXO. Time to clear out your wish list - I know I will be!

And now that you've made it through this epic post, it is time to enter my once a month $25 TpT gift card giveaway that I have as a special thank you for following!  Maybe you can pick up anything extra you missed during the big sale!

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Five For Friday May 2, 2014

I have survived the week AFTER Spring Break.  One of my co-workers made an off-hand comment about the Tuesday after Spring Break being the most exhausting day of the year.  Thinking back to all of those first days of school exhaustion - I disagreed - and that night it hit me.  SHEER EXHAUSTION.  Seriously, every night this week I came home and collapsed - which explains my lack of blogging and my three half finished TpT products.  Oh well, the week is over - and it is time for Five For Friday with Doodle Bugs Teaching! Here are a few things that tuckered me out this week.

I started my week with a pick me up treat from Starbuck's and a little shameless begging asking for some stir sticks for these poke cards.

The students convert measurements (this little guy is using our conversion "cheat cards" which I had planned about blogging about last Tuesday, but since I was exhausted, stay tuned to next Tuesday's post to read more about them), and then look for the answer on the card.

They poke the Starbuck's stirrer through and see if they got the correct answer (if it is circled).

They collect as many cards as they can.  This one likes keeping her correct cards on her stirrer. 

These poke cards will be in my Cinco de Mayo packet (if I ever finish it!) hopefully this weekend.

Tuesday after school I had the last rehearsal with my drama club before their performance on Wednesday of their Spring play - The Lost Treasure.

I teach drama club to 5th and 6th graders at the school next door.  Here is a cast shot.

And a selfie fail!

Here is a picture of Cody before Wednesday's performance.  He is with the girl who was the main pirate  - he was her sidekick in the play.  She had to hit him several times in the play and I think she secretly loved it.  She MAY have gotten a little too into character! LOL!

Here is Tyler in his costume.  He had to fill in at the last minute for a sick student (what a trooper!).

We made sombreros to decorate for our upcoming Cinco de Mayo Fiesta on Monday!  We are so looking forward to it!  We have been using Cinco de Mayo centers, researching Mexico, and creating Mexican inspired art.

And the final products

And we wrapped up the week with a fun new version of Scoot I made up on the fly this afternoon.  Musical Chairs Scoot!  

We used these cards (area model multiplication).  I placed them around the room on the tables, but the catch was that I had more students than cards!

So... I played some music.  When the music stopped, they found a card as fast as they could.

If they didn't find a card, they checked their work or finished unfinished problems.

If they found a card, they solved the problem.

And I would love to say that I am off to rest, but... I am off to the Spring Carnival at Cody's school tonight!  Wish me luck!  Have a great weekend!

Fiesta Fun: Context Clues!

People are always asking me to create more context clues activities.  Since this is one skill I am constantly working on in my speech room, I decided to make an activity for Cinco de Mayo!

Using this activity:

-Print and laminate all of the cards.

-Have students one at a time pick a card from the pile.

-They must identify the meaning of the bolded word from the choices provided in order to hold onto the card.

-If they pick the “fiesta” card, they get an extra turn!
The student with the most cards at the end of the game is the winner!

You can access this activity by clicking HERE!

Cinco De Mayo Wh- Question Fun!

I cannot believe May is around the corner!  It is time to take out some May themed activities!  First up, Cinco De Mayo!!

In this file:

-Open-ended Board Game

-Cards to use with board game which target the following question forms: who, what, where, and when.  Students must respond accurately before being able to take a turn in the game.

-Why Questions Card Game:  Students should pick a card from a pile.  They must respond accurately in order to hold onto the card.  If they pick the “fiesta” card, they get an extra turn!  The student with the most cards at the end of the game is the winner!

You can grab this activity in my TpT store by clicking HERE!