Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day, friends! I have so enjoyed my relaxing day with my kiddos and the hubby! I hope you have, too!

I sure do feel spoiled with Mother's Day topping off a very special Teacher's Appreciation Week! My kiddos and their amazing parents have sure spoiled me. Thank you very much not only for making this week so wonderful, but for sharing such a great group of kiddos with me!

Here at the end of the year, we have had another crazy, busy week...

Monday some of my kiddos participated in a talent show in their music class with Mrs. Vaughn.

Tuesday was our last official day with our student teacher Mr. Hall. I meant to get a pick of the kiddos giving him his goodbye gift, but the afternoon was so crazy and hectic, I didn't manage to get one.

Here are some pics of him playing a game of Mouse Trap for our Morning Meeting activity...the kiddos are sure going to miss him!

 

The rest of the week we worked hard to finish the final preparations for our Second Annual Authors' Fair!

Each student researched and created a presentation of their favorite author. I cannot express enough how hard the kiddos worked on these...or just how tired this teacher was when we were finished ...LOL...

Students had to also be prepared to answer questions from not only visiting parents but also from the lower grade level students that walked through...they were so cute sharing all they knew about their authors and books!

Here are just a few of the great projects and kiddos from the Authors' Fair...

This time of year we are also gearing up for our annual Southside Survivor's Day. This is our final celebration with our kiddos. Each class competes against the other for the title of Survivor. Now those of you that know me...well you know how much fun I think this day is! It is truly one of my favorites, for sure! 

Well, a new tradition seems to be for our Survivor Idol to mysteriously disappear out of its current home...here are some pics from last year's trophy escapades...

The first clue that something was amiss...

The Survivor Idol made it to many hot spots around town on its adventures...

 

 

Finally it was revealed just who the culprit was....

Our own Mrs. Hanna was responsible.....

It was all fun and games until the idol had to be
turned over at the end of the games, so that
it might reside in its new home...Ms. Shewmaker's
class....I was sad to say goodbye after having
won for so many years...but it is all in fun :)

I share all of this just to let you know that well...our idol is on the move again!

Here is our first message....

I have been kidnapped and they are taking me on an adventure!  I am at the Little Rock National airport about to board a plane!!!  This is the beginning of the Survivor games!  You will receive emails from me with a picture and information about where I am.  Using the clues, you must research and find me.  The first team to respond with the correct location will win the points!  If no one answers correctly, the points will be added to the next location's points.  Good luck and HELP ME come HOME!!!!!  Let the games begin!!!!!

Here is an image we received showing us its
first class travels to places unknown....

This is a picture I took from the plane before we landed!  I will disclose more information later!  Happy hunting!!!

Find me on Facebook!!! 

Survivor Trophy

This is our last image...

This was my response ;)

You are at Koh Samet Island in Thailand....get in lots of beach time before you come back to me.

:)

Mrs. Dunn

I guess we have to wait and see who will win the points!!! Wish us all luck!

On Saturday, Katie Byrd, my mom, and I made a day of it and hit up the Scholastic Book Clubs Warehouse sale before we had a lovely Mother's Day lunch at Olive Garden! OMG....was walking in that warehouse heaven! I really could have stayed in there all day!

I managed to get some good deals for my principal, Mrs. Hanna and some for myself as well. :)

for Mrs. Hanna....

All for me.... :))

Well...I know that I usually end with some wonderful picture books, but this post is oh-so-long already...and I forgot to take a pic of all the picture books I read this week (Lord knows I am so old lately I feel lucky if I can remember even one of them...haha)...

so tonight I will just close with happy reading, friends!

Currently Celebrating...

Oh my goodness...already time for another Currently with Farley! I cannot believe how quickly this year has flown! Don't forget to check out Farley and all of the other amazing bloggers out there.

Wow...not even sure where to begin...lots happening in both classrooms this past week. We are working on research projects for both classes...

We are definitely gearing up for Friday's Second Annual Author's Fair! Researching is can be tough with a group of twenty six kiddos and one teacher...whew! Think I added a few more grays to the growing collection on my head. haha

 

I have to brag about one of the authors that one of my kiddos is researching. If we can find an email address, we try to sit down and email that author together. 

Kate McMullan responded to one of the sweetest students ever, and her response was so thoughtful! It made his day, and he beamed the rest of the afternoon! Here is her response....

Hi Cade! 

Thank you for choosing me for your research project! I'm honored. 

What inspired me to write the Dragon Slayers' Academy series? I thought it would be fun to write a story about a lad who very much wanted to be a dragon-slaying hero, but really wasn't cut out to become one. (When you write, it's a good idea to give your main character many problems, and Wiglaf being small and not wanting to hurt animals are problems when it comes to dragon slaying.) It was fun creating the world of DSA, all the crazy teachers and funny kids. 

After I finished the 20th DSA book, I did leave the door open for Wiglaf and his crew to have new adventures on the island of Palmlandia. I hope to write more stories about these characters! 

When I was a 4th grade teacher, I saw that many of my students used to look for very skinny books to read for their book reports. I realized that reading wasn't always easy for them, either, so when I decided to write for kids I thought it would be fun to write skinny, funny books, filled with adventure, and I figured if kids liked reading them, they'd read on and on, and pretty soon reading would become easier. It sounds as if my plot worked in your case! 

If you need more information, you can look on my Web site, katemcmullan.com. 

Best of luck with your project, Cade.

I just love that she is a fellow educator! Below are some examples of the books she is referring to...

 

The kiddos are also working hard to create projects and presentations for Mrs. Whitt! Below are a couple examples of their projects! I am so proud of this group of hard working kiddos. Mrs. Whitt has gone on and on about how amazing some of these presentations are!

 

Tuesday rolled around, and I had to face a hard truth! My oldest son turned 21...oh my goodness....talk about "where has the time gone?!" 

My sweet brown eyed boy....
seems like just yesterday.

Such a wonderful young man he has grown up to be...
just way too soon! Can NOT believe I have a 21 year old!

Thursday...we took a little field trip to Middle School South for Step Up Day! It was so fun to see some of last year's kiddos. I've missed them so much, and I love walking through the halls of the middle school to hear my name called over and over again! So much fun!

We sure miss Mrs. Hanshaw in our room!

Mrs. Whitt misses these sweeties, too!

My sweet crew from last year...
such sweet smiles!

Precious girls!

Some kiddos steal your heart...
sure do miss them!

So grown up 

Having fun at the middle school....

Was going through some old photos earlier this week and found this one of our hallway last year...boy I have really slacked off this year...we have read just as many amazing books, but I have not been as consistent at getting them displayed as usual! Will definitely have to work on this!

Saturday our team spent time celebrating with our dear friend and teammate, Sarah, as she married the love of her life, Rustin! Such a beautiful wedding and a perfect couple! :)

Beautiful couple!

She looks so happy!!!!

Now for a couple of great picture books...

Both of the books I want to share tonight I  used as a study of common themes, but both are so different. 

Plant a Kiss  by Amy Krouse Rosenthal is such a sweet look at kindness. I love the illustrations by Peter Reynolds...so stinking cute!!!  

Little Miss plants a kiss and just wait until you see what happens.... 

Randy Riley's Really Big Hit by Chris Van Dusen is an awesome look at believing in yourself and never giving up! I love and relate to little Randy Riley...I never fit in when it came to anything atheletic...but Randy finds a way to save the day anyway! 

With that....I will say goodnight and happy reading!