T.E.A.C.H. Featured Posts/Pins

I am starting a new feature. Once a month I will be highlighting 5 blog posts or pins from Pinterest, one from each of the following categories: T-thrifty, E-educational, A-artsy, C-creative, and H-hands-on. Keep in mind, the nominees will not be a person or a whole blog, but a specific posting on a blog or a pin on Pinterest.

Here is a basic overview of how I will choose a blog post or pin in each category. I am open and flexible, so I probably won't stick strictly to this criteria. It just gives me a good place to start. If you would like to recommend a blog post or pin for a specific category, feel free to leave a comment or e-mail me!

Thrifty: An idea or activity that saves money or uses free/inexpensive materials such as recycled items.

Educational: Relates to content standards in one or more of the following areas: Math, Science, Social Studies, and/or Language and Literacy.

Artsy: Shows use of imagination to create something unique

Creative: A unique or different idea, thinking outside the box

Hands-On: An activity that gets children involved and engaged by physically touching or manipulating objects to help them better understand a concept or master a skill

Here are my picks for December:

Thrifty: 

Model Christmas Village by NurtureStore

Educational: 

Preschool Retelling Activity by Brenna Phillips

Artsy:

 Replicating Monet by Relentlessly Fun, Deceptively Educational

Creative: 

Curtain Hook Portfolio Display by Stephanie Sanchez

Hands-On: 

Pencil Grip Pipe Cleaners by The Vegetarian Mom

If you were featured, please feel free to grab the button below. I recommend linking the button to this post so that your readers can see what you were featured for. Congrats!

Also, I just realized these buttons are kinda big, so if you would like a smaller version, here they are:

Thinky Linky Thursday: Now with Thumbnails!

Hello all!
It has been a busy and tiring week and it's STILL not Friday yet. Even as I sit and type this, I'm closing my eyes and starting to fall asleep, but winter break is around the corner, so hang in there!

A few updates:
1.I have been a slacker and don't have any actual photos from the classroom for this week.
2. As you can see, this linky party is now sporting the good old thumbnail image. I think the images will bring a lot to the party, so get some good ones ready and get linking.
3. Found a cool new product at Dollar Tree. They are markers that cut! So, you can draw a border around the edge of the paper you are cutting out. They have all different colors, but I just got the gold one to try out.

4. I will be having a 100 follower giveaway coming very soon! Thanks to all my dedicated followers who made this possible and continue to read everyday!!!

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Wishlist Wednesday: The Silver Lining

This week's guest blogger, Mrs. D has some great ideas on her blog. I love her thrifty finds and activities she does with her class. Please check out her blog and enjoy her post!


Hi, everyone!  I'm Mrs. D from The Silver Lining!  I am so excited to be a guest blogger today at Cachey Mama's Classroom. :)  {This is my first ever guest post on a blog!  Woohoo!}  So, here are my wishes {just a few!} for Wishlist Wednesday:

{1}

This is my fifth year teaching (all in first grade) and I have built a nice little classroom library.  I look for books all.the.time.  Especially in thrift stores.  I literally oooohhh and aaahh when I find books for $1.00 or less.  However, most of the books I find are classic story books, Disney stories, Dr. Seuss (which of course is fab!), and so on.  I always scour the shelves WISHING I could find some awesome *leveled* books.  So, that is the first wish on my Wish List.  I would love a leveled library to keep in my very own classroom! 

{2}

Have you heard of Teacher Tipster?  I'm sure you have!  If not, Google him NOW. Anyway, he introduced me to these:

They are called Talk Point Recorders.  They record up to 10 seconds of sound!  The possibilities are endless.  I soooo wish I had a set.  I would use them for spelling word practice, sentence dictation, math facts...anything! :)

And lastly...

{3)

I wish that all my students will have a MERRY CHRISTMAS!  There are so many kids in my classroom (and my school) that are dealing with difficulties in their home lives.  I hope they all have a safe and wonderful Christmas.

Happy Wednesday, everyone! :)

Motivational Monday

Source: sueswink.tumblr.com via Julia on Pinterest

Storytime Sunday: Farm Animals

Here are some of the wonderful farm books we checked out from the library this week. There are, of course many, many, MANY more great books about farms and farm animals, so please leave a comment with some of your favorites! To see some of the activities we did this week involving farm animals, click here.

I am linking up at:

I heart my bloggy friends! (Liebster Award)

I am so honored to have received another award! Barbara from The Corner on Character nominated me for this award:

The idea behind this one is to spotlight 5 up-and-coming blogs with less than 200 followers. So here's my list. Thanks so much for choosing my blog Barbara!

Happy Heart of Mine

Stay at Home Ginger

Nyla's Crafty Teaching

Kreative Resources

How Long is This Hall?

Saturday's Top 5 Laughs

Here are my top 5 laughs from the last 2 weeks, since I didn't do one last week.

1. We are studying about farms and I asked the class "What do chickens eat?" and one child responded with "Eggs."

2. At breakfast time, we were eating fruit cups and talking about what we eat at home and one child said "My mom doesn't know how to make fruit!"

3. I asked the class "What animal lives on the farm?" I got an answer of "Tigers."

4. While lining up to go home, one child was right next to the door and randomly said "Ms. L, do you hear a giant?" I responded no and he kept asking me. Then a minute later, he starts saying loud enough for the whole class to hear "Fee, Fi, Fo, Fum!!"

5. I asked all my students today, just for the fun of it, "Are you cute?" Of course, the overwhelming majority responded with "yes," and the rest just nodded their heads. They ARE so cute!!!

Homemade Christmas Ornaments

So, I'm gonna go old school on this post. Here are some Christmas ornaments I made when I was a kid! Maybe you can remember making some of these as well. Hopefully there are some ideas that you can use. Most of these are easy and use materials that you probably already have or are very cheap. Some were broken or missing pieces. I put them back together the best I could, but as you can tell, most of them are over 20 years old!

1. Raffia Angels

2. Styrofoam Ball Snowman

3. PomPom Tree and Bears

(Hint: A piece of felt holds it together in the back)

4. Plastic Canvas Sheet Crafts

5. Pretzel Wreath

6. Safety Pin Angel

(This is the only one that might be a little challenging.)

7. Beaded Candycane

8. Lace Wreath

9. Styrofoam ball with sequins

10. Kiss Angel

11. Oscar the Grouch

(If you can even find film canisters anymore)

12. Felt Mouse

(Ok, so this guy is missing a couple things. 

To see a completed version of this project, check out Skip to My Lou.)

13. Clothespin Bear

14. Angel Yarn Wreath

(Yep, missing a candy cane on the other side.)

15. Pine Cone Skier

16. Pill Bottle Bird Feeder

17. Clothespin Reindeer

What fun crafts have you been making for the holidays? (Or made 20+ years ago!)

I'm linking up at:

Thinky Linky Thursday: On the Farm

This week, we are studying farm animals. Here are some of the activities we've been doing.

Beans in sensory table with farm animals and props.

Farm animal craft stick puppets. We colored, cut and glued them and then used them to sing Old MacDonald and do some dramatic play. 

Then the kids decided they wanted to have a puppet show and did this on their own. Mostly they were just making noises and not really having the puppets talk, but it was still cute and they were getting the idea of how a puppet show works. Maybe we will extend this interest in the coming weeks.

Then we sorted farm animals by which ones have fur, which have feathers and which have scales. There were, of course, no animals with scales, but I liked the idea of adding that as a choice to allow children to realize that sometimes there are categories that none of the items fit into.

Here is our farm felt board story. You can print these for free at Wondertime. They also come with little paper stands so you can use them as story props or game pieces.

And lastly, we played farm bingo. You can print these at Busy Bee Kid's Printables.

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