Surviving Spring to Welcome Summer Blog Hop: Fiesta Balloons

 

This is it!  It's almost here!  I can see the light at the end of the tunnel...  Sometimes though, this is where the tunnel starts bottle necking.  Students might begin to adapt the mob mentality and a teacher will do whatever it takes to survive to the end of that tunnel we all know and love as school!  Several of my BBB's have come together to bring you some tips to get you through the rest of the school year and also give you a chance to win a gift certificate to TPT and a sharpener from Classroom Friendly Supplies!

 

 

**I am going to start off by apologizing that I do not have any photos of this because when my flash drive broke I lost the photos :o(  I did try to find photos elsewhere so you could get an idea but I will update this post later with my own photos once I get them!**

 

Everyone has probably seen some form of the balloon countdown on Pinterest and this is exactly what it is. Since we end school in May (and I grew up in Texas), I always like to put a fiesta twist to it though!  I begin by hanging up ten festively colored balloons from the ceiling.  Inside each balloon is confetti and a slip of paper that has an activity for the day.  The confetti is fun because when you pop the balloon it gives it that piñata effect!

 

 

 For the last ten days of school we pop a balloon each day and do whatever the card tells us to.  You can really write whatever you want on these cards!  The last time I did this was pretty tame, this year I am stepping up my game!  Here are my ten for this year:

 

1. Bubble Gum Contest

I will buy all different packs of gum and we will do experiments to see which kind blows the biggest bubble, who's flavor lasts the longest, etc.

 

2. Extra Recess

This is just heaven to them no matter what!

 

3. Glow in the Dark Dance Party

Michael's sells glow in the dark necklaces and bracelets that come 15 in a tube for $1!  I buy a few of those and pass them out to all my kiddos.  They crack them and place them all over themselves while we choose a couple songs we would like to dance to.  Once we have our playlist, I turn off the lights, turn up the music and watch them go nuts.  Literally.  They go crazy, but in a funny kind of way.  I recommend going over the safety rules of your classroom before doing this, lol. 

 

4. Board Game Day

So many of my kiddos don't play board games or have ever played the classics like Monopoly or The Game of Life!  I bring in a bunch of board games and everyone gets a chance to play a few, if not all of them.  It's like a Family Game Night but for our classroom family :o)

 

5. Tie-Dye Day

We have our white science lab shirts left over from this year and with just a few boxes of dye and rubber bands, we've got ourselves an art project and 5th grade memorabilia!  If you don't want to dye it, you can always buy fabric markers and let them decorate it.

 

6. Popsicle Paradise

The weather is beautiful in Florida this time of year so why not enjoy it with some popsicles outside?

 

7. Movie and Popcorn

I usually have this balloon be on a Friday or one of the last days of school.  I bring in a selection of movies for the students to choose from, a box of theater candy for each of them and pop some popcorn.  They all snuggle into the floor and enjoy the movie just as if they were at the theater!

 

8. Ceiling of Fame

I wanted to do this last year but never got around to it!  This year I will buy a ceiling tile from Home Depot and let my kids decide how we want to decorate it.  My only stipulation is that it has to represent our class this year some way and they all have to sign it.  Heck, I might even go hog wild and buy a few to let them decorate them in groups!

 

 

9. Silly String Fight

Good old silly string...  I will take my little darlings out to the bus ramp, each of them packing their own can of silly string.  Object of the game: to be the one with the least amount of silly string on them!  What happens if you don't win???  You have to clean up!  Yep, I'm sneaky like that ;o)

 

10. Kickball Game

Last but not least, a friendly game of kickball amongst our class.  I love playing kickball with my students!  I've even done so in my heels :o)  This is my most competitive class ever, so it will definitely be interesting!

 

So there you have it!  My last ten days of school all wrapped up in a nice little Fiesta Balloon.  The kids understand that if they cannot behave for one activity they might miss out on the next one.  Very motivating to keep them focused and behaving correctly!  If you would like your own set of Fiesta Balloon cards, click on the picture below.  Included are the ten I listed above and two blank cards to create your own!

 



 

After entering my secret code in the Rafflecopter below, click to continue the hop to Holly at Fourth Grade Flipper!

 

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 



Tried It Tuesday: Movie Maker and BOOK STUDY WINNER!

Ladies and gents I can not tell you how ready I am for summer.  One more day.  ONE MORE DAY.  It's not even because the kids are done but because I have had so much to do these last two days that I would really like my life back, lol.  Today I'm linking up with the wonderful Holly from Fourth Grade Flipper for Tried It Tuesday!

This past weekend I spent the majority of my time trying to make our 5th grade video in Movie Maker.  Now, it was quite easy when I just put in the photos for my homeroom class, the difficult part (and more so because of my OCDness than anything else) was making sure that every class had a fair amount of pictures, what order they were in, etc.  Then we had some music difficulty but once I made Movie Maker compatible with Windows 7 (not the Windows 8 I have... don't ask) it worked!  And after all that hard work, I played it this morning in front of EVERYONE at the award ceremony and... it skipped and jumped around and everything else that happens when it works perfectly on your computer but not when it matters most, lol.  I think it was just the projector we used because on the computer in our room when we watched it again later it worked just fine.  As long as the kids got to see the "pretty version" I'm happy :o)

These are the songs that I used.  I started out peppy and then the songs got a little more sad and tugging at the heart strings.

Beginning of the Year: "I've got a feeling" by the Black Eyed Peas

LEGOLAND - "Life is a Highway" by Rascal Flatts

Mud Walk - "Celebrate" by Kool and the Gang

Science Center - "Firework" by Katy Perry

Field Day - "Home" by Philip Phillips

Good Times - "So Long" by Zooey Deschanel (Winnie the Pooh Soundtrack) and "Time of Our Lives" by Tyrone Wells

Now for the big winner of this summer's Book Study!  Drumroll..........................

WORD NERDS!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I want to thank everyone for their votes and support!  If you are interested in hosting a chapter please leave your email in the comments section or you can email me personally and I will compile a list and send out a google docs form that you can fill out with the chapter you would like to host!  I'm very excited!!!!  Don't forget to link up with Holly for Tried It Tuesday and check out what everyone is trying today!

 





May's Monthly Market and GIVEAWAY

It's that time again for Monthly Market!  To participate all you have to do is write a post about one, two, or all three of the topics for the month and link back up to share your ideas.  They can be ideas you've already tried, things you want to try (hello Pinterest!), or products that you've used or plan on using.  The whole point of the market is to swap or trade ideas with people in the same situation as you are.  You can link up all month as well.  This month we are celebrating Cinco de Mayo, Mother's Day and the End of the Year (VERY excited to be celebrating that one!). 

Cinco de Mayo:
Is it awful that we really don't do anything to celebrate Cinco de Mayo in the classroom?  I usually eat lots of salsa though at home if that compensates for it??? LOL  I would LOVE to hear what some other classrooms do and get some great ideas.

Mother's Day:
Click here for last year's Mother's Day gift: Mom's Gazette.  The kids had a lot of fun creating a newspaper for their mom.  Thanks Martha Stewart for the front page template!  Since there was no back we created an Author's Spotlight (the student's favorites in fifth grade), a BioPoem and coupons for Mom to use!

 

This year I want to make silhouettes of the students with a little twist.  The picture below was my "pinspiration."  Now the twist is that instead of pretty scrapbook paper for the background, I want students to write either twenty different adjectives that describe their mom, or maybe ten reasons why she's the best mom ever, and have them continually repeat like digital art behind the silhouette.  It won't be perfect and some words will get cut off but since it continually repeats down the page you're bound to see it again somewhere else.  Our amazing art teacher showed me this cool site called Tagxedo that will help out with all that and I'm VERY excited to get started.  I'm going to try and make a tester tomorrow so fingers crossed!  I will post pictures of the final product and tell you more about my Tagxedo experience next week for Fourth Grade Flipper's Tried It Tuesday :o)

End of the Year:
The end of the year is always so crazy for fifth grade?!  We have the maturation video (yikes!),  Sunshine State Party, Fifth Grade Party, Safety Patrol Party,  Sunshine State Feast, Book Fair, Award Ceremony, etc.  You get the point.  Since there is all this going on and it is during the day, my kids are always being pulled out of the classroom so it's rare that I have them all together for activities.

One thing I love to do though is Paper Plate Awards.  They aren't the "fancy paper" kind of awards but I think the kids actually prefer these because they are designed and decorated just for them.  It's unique and special and shows that I paid attention to them over the year and I really "GET" them and appreciate them.

(Not from my classroom)

Cannot forget the new monthly writing prompt calendar for our Daily 3: Writing Connection Station!  The first three people to link up will get a copy for free!!!

Go ahead and post your amazing ideas as well!  If you do please include the button and a link back to this post.  Also remember to comment on the blog before and after yours (who doesn't love comments?!).  Don't forget that my 200 Followers Giveaway is still going on until May 5th so be sure and enter for some FANTABULOUS prizes - yep prizes, plural!