Monster Book Fair and Two Winners!

Happy Monday! I hope your Monday was as delightful as mine! After a week of Book Fair Chairpersoning, I was ready for a normal, average, everyday kind of week! Have you read Too Much Noise by Ann McGovern?





Last week I felt like Peter getting more and more crowded by life's activities and chores. Like Peter by the end of the week I got the quiet I was longing for. Unfortunately, it ended with an accidental kick to a full box of books and a broken toe! An ice pack and the couch were my best friends on Saturday!

I do love my job as Book Fair Chair! Getting to push books on eager readers and giving lots of books away to those who don't know they are eager readers yet is a great joy! The Monster theme of  Scholastic Book Fairs was too much fun. We did all kinds of monstery things during the week. My favorite was letting children add an eye to our big purple monster with each book bought. Here is our little guy half way through the week! He is now standing in the hall thanking everyone for all the books that were bought.

He was easy to make. I projected his image using clip art onto a large sheet of paper. I used one of the monsters from KPM Doodles. (Click on the link to check out some awesome freebies!) Then easily cut around the outline and voila...A monster! I do this frequently to make full size animals and people to add some pizzazz to different units!

Are you ready for a winner? I hope you took the time to check out Primary Punchbowl. Grab a cup and head over to get yourself a cup of good ideas! And the winners are:
$10.00 TPT winner is Emily
$10>00 Giftcard to Starbucks: Bekah
Congrats!! Happy shopping

Five For Friday

I'm linking up with the amazing Doodle Bugs Teaching for Five for Friday. I get the opportunity to share five random things about my week.

The end is near! I always have such mixed feelings about these final weeks/days of the school year. I feel rejuvenated by spring in the air. I also itch to be outside watching and waiting for migrants of the bird kind to pass through on their way to their nesting sites here or further north. Luckily I manage to find ways to integrate the outdoor learning with reading and math. I teach at a school that has a delightful wooded lot attached. We've used this woods to learn about insects, birds, fairy house building, environment and oh so much more. My BBF posted a picture of Birdology on her Instagram and I'm pretty sure she knew before I did that I'd have to have it. What a treasure trove of great information about birds, color photographs and activities, 30 to be exact!

We learn about nests and what materials are best for putting out for birds to use in nest building.

I've been watching birds since I was 6 months old. Crazy? My mom tells me that I used to take out all the toys in my toy box, climb in and look through a birding guide. My sister and I were out birding last weekend and had the pleasure of seeing an American Woodcock taking a stroll with her three young. I was shaking so hard from pure excitement that I couldn't get a great picture.

Aren't you glad you don't have to carry a beak like that around?!

Check out this sweet video of young eating. They have this cute little wiggle when they walk.They are just darling.

I think my little American Woodcock story counts as number 2.

I run two book fairs a year. I just finished up number two today. This  was our BOGO fair where everything was buy one get one free. I'm stocked up on books for the rest of the year and next year too! Favorite book of the fair...

This story is told by the tree and starts at its roots and grows up to the leaves introducing the reader to the delightful creatures that find shelter in its branches. Jennifer Ward hasn't written a book I don't like! I'm going to read this to my class next week outside under an oak tree! Not only do Jennifer and I have the same first name we also both have four sisters. What are the chances of that?!

I was starting to talk about the book fair when I got distracted by Jennifer Ward. Sorry about that! In December a former student of mine was hospitalized. She is still in the hospital. She's had one health crisis after another and is only 13 years old. She used to love the book fair visiting every day to pick out books and erasers! This year the book fair is going to visit her. We were able to raise enough money to send her more than a couple of books to read and to gift to other children in the hospital as she meets them. If you are a prayer warrior, please pray for my friend Sable to be returned to health. If you would like to help Sable you can read her story here and give her a helping hand. These books and assorted fun items will arrive at Sable's bedside soon!

Oh, no! I'm back on birds again. Our chicks will be three weeks old on Monday. They love to sit on the edge of their box and roost. My Owlets know they are making too much noise if they wake up and start hopping around. We started with eleven chicks. Seven have already found a forever home and these four are left...

I had so many more random thoughts to share. I guess I'll have to wait until next week . . . or tomorrow!