2015 New Year Freebies!

I have decided to have some fun!

I'm going to start sharing with everyone!
Wait.right.there.
"start" sharing with everyone?
HELLO!  You share with everyone...
all.the.time.

Be you a follower on this blog or TPT

I'm going to start handing out freebies

..........for following me!
Oooo...you're giving away your
super cool stuff?  So generous!

You'll never quite know which place I will strike!

Will it be my store on TPT?

Will there be a freebie there that you'd like?

Follow that store to be alerted of a new flash!

It'll be quick,  so sign up there to save some cash!

Will it be on our joint store

with Angela and me?

There may be a flash freebie

on there for you to see!

Become a follower

of our joint TPT store

to save, save, save

cash even more!

Will the flash freebie happen right here?

On our blog for our followers we hold dear?

If you're not a follower of our blog just yet...

You may like to follow for some flash freebies you could get!

If you are following just one

of these three that's great!

But you may lose out on a freebie

That's posted...you may be too late!

So follow me in all 3 spots

You'll never know when the mood will hit!

The freebie will be just for that one spot

And the freebie will be quick...don't miss it!

For example....

This one was posted for sale already on TPT

So those followers might miss this freebie

If they aren't also on my blog following me.

The New Year is coming

So here's a freebie just for you!

Here are some sentences

for your students to do:

New Year's Eve

Sentences: Fill In The Blank

 You can either have your students

cut and glue the answers into the boxes.

 ...Or...

You could have them write each word

into the correct box. 

(This was a freebie for all
of my blog followers. 
If you missed it, I'm sorry!
Be sure to become a follower in all 3 spots
to get any future Flash Freebies!)

 My hope for this New Year

is to have lots of fun!

Making people happy

by sharing with everyone!
Check!

Happy New Year!
...and to you my bloggin' buddy!

2015 Here We Come!

Silent Night

Silent Night!

Holy Night!

All is calm!

All is bright!
We just sang this
at church last night...
...holding a candle...
...sigh...

Silence Is Music To a

Kindergarten teacher’s ears!
Oh yes it is!

I hope that everyone has a wonderfully blessed Christmas…and here’s a gift for all of you!

 Christmas: The Nativity Comprehension

Comprehension Passages 

For Guided Reading: 3 Levels

  The medium and high level

reading passages use the same

bubble-in sheet.  Just copy it to

the back of whichever passage is

better for your student or child to read.

  Of course you have to have

it all in easy to print

black and white...
so those are all included.  :)

This WAS a Flash Freebie.
If you missed it...become a
follower both here and on TPT
so that you don't miss future freebies!

You may not be able to use this in your classroom…but you could definitely use it at home with your own kiddos, or maybe

at Church for a Sunday School lesson.

He is the reason for the season!
#truth

Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas to you
my friend!

Spreading Holiday Cheer!

Hello My All My Friends,
This is Regina Davis aka Queen Chaos,
and I would like to spread some Holiday Cheer! 
You're such a dear!
I'm so happy that we have made it
To the end of the 2014 year!
Girrrrrl.you.have.no.idea.
Just for you, I've dropped some prices,
So go and take a peek!
EEEK!
Take a look at the lower prices
as you're resting throughout next week!
...focus on the word resting...
(Who am I kidding.....just do your BEST
To get a little rest.)
I can easily pass that test!
For instance, my labeling sheets have dropped

A+ Polar Bear: Label The Polar Bear

And my graphic organizers have too!

A+ Penguin: Three Graphic Organizers

 

A+ Penguin & Polar Bear Venn Diagram...Compare and Contrast

A+ Penguin & Polar Bear: Double Bubble Maps

 

 Happy, Happy Holidays!
From me to you!
...and the same to you my friend!
 

Polar Express S.T.E.M.

I made a special Cookie Train S.T.E.M.

activity for my class,
...of course you did...
and I have to say....
they had a BLAST while learning
about shapes, addition, measuring,
and graphing.
I'm sure they did!
...and I'm sure there was plenty
of lip-smacking, finger licking fun going on too!

We used smaller shapes

(squares,circles, and rectangles)

to make either 2-dimensional

or 3-dimensional shapes.

I made up a little song

to go with it...just as an

introduction to the activity.

It's really simple and it goes

to the tune of Jingle Bells.

Cookie Train S.T.E.M. Activity
Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math
by Regina Davis

This activity would be perfect
 if you're having a Polar Express day
in your class!
There are lots of Polar Express activities
out there, but nothing like this my friend.
Well done young lady!
You are too kind!
And just for calling me "young"
I'm going to share the song
with everyone! 

Make A Train! by Regina Davis
sing to the tune of Jingle Bells

BTW:This "movie" and the accompanying
pdf file are included in the
Cookie Train STEM on TPT
so that you can read and sing
the song to your kids without my
voice--which may be a good thing!

I began making ELABORATE  Christmas trains
with my kids 20 years ago.  They were
very intricate, detailed, and it was a fun-filled
day of following directions.
Each child went home with
a perfect replication of
an edible 3-dimensional train.
Where are those pictures?
Hmmm....my name IS
Queen Chaos....and that WAS
20 years ago. 
20 years ago? 
Girrrrrl,
you're lucky to even remember
the activity.  No worries on having
the photographic evidence of it!
All good.
Who knows?
They could be anywhere at this point.
My filing system is not to be trusted.
Are you acknowledging that there is a system?
Uhmmm...no, I just like to pretend that I have one.
Remember me?
I'm the one who didn't unpack
from the July Vegas trip
until it was time to pack up
and go to Orlando in November.
I did wash the clothes,
but somehow they just ended up
tossed back into the opened suitcase.
Huh. Maybe I was subconsciously
reliving my flight attendant days.

Back to trains:
With all of our new standards,
I decided to trade in the old way of
making the trains to having
it be a child driven project.
WARNING: These trains aren't nearly
as pretty as the way my class
used to make them,
and they aren't going home to be
"Ooooohed" and "Aaaaaahed" over.
They are messy.
They are sticky.
They are oooohy
and oh-so-gooey.
They are 100% child made.
Moments like that, I hope
your students' parents appreciate
the process more than the end product.
Just saying...

Sometimes I feel like Ms. Frizzle:
Are you ready to take chances?
Make mistakes?
Get messy?
You know, now that you mention it, 
you and Mrs. Frizzle have the same hair...
just different color.
Are you not telling me something?

That's us.
I even have the matching hair.
LOL!  
I guess I should read the entire
post before I start adding my 2 cents.
Great minds think alike!
Welcome to S.T.E.M. Day Friday!

My students planned, designed,
and worked in a team to
figure out the best way to 
take 2-dimensional shapes
and make them into either 
a 2-dimensional train or
a 3-dimensional train.

They counted and added up
how many shapes they used,
they measured how
tall and how wide their train was,
and they not only graphed the
shapes they used in creating their trains,
they also made up their own
graph related question for their
classmates to answer.

AND they did all of that while
working in a cooperative group
(which is HUGE when you're small).
#priceless
Whew!  I'm all cookied out!
I'm sure you are!
Ho-Ho-Hold On A Minute....

Here are some of the pics of what my
kids made.

The bottom picture of this next page
was made by a team who tried and tried
and tried to get their train to be
3-dimensional.  It just wasn't working
out for them.  So they decided to change
their plans and make it 2-D shapes.
Good for them!
They didn't give up.  
They simply found a Plan B.
Real-world problem solving?
Check.

The top picture on this next set
is actually a combination of
the INSIDE of the train,
and a little bit of the OUTSIDE.
That's what that team wanted to do.
They felt that creating the inside
of the train was very important.
Future interior designers?

The bottom picture of this last set of pictures
was made by 2 little boys who don't
always concentrate very well during
a normal class period.
Every classroom has at least 1!
Well...for this S.T.E.M. they impressed
me with how they decided to make
their train 3-dimensional by taking
their stack of graham crackers
and actually keeping the stack
together with the frosting.
Everyone else's 3-d trains were
toppling over left and right.
Not their train.  Their train was SOLID.
They made their own "Lego stack" train.
Brilliant.
AND...the best part....
They.Were.On.Task!
#truth
Woo-hoo!
Or is it:
Choo-Choo!?!
You can download the S.T.E.M.
activity including writing paper,
a rubric (for first graders and Kindergarteners),
and a song at my
Teachers Pay Teachers Store.

I also decided to make a quickie
addition and subtraction practice sheet
with 3 different levels that can be used
for differentiation, or it could be used
by teachers who teach Kindergarten
and First Grade math.
Of course you did!
How often do you sleep?
We ALWAYS need more practice! 

Cookie Train Addition and Subtraction
3 Different Levels

 Chugga Chugga Choo-Choo!
I can add and subtract...can you?

Happy Creating!

 

Silly S.T.E.M. Songs and a Turkey S.T.E.M.

What have I been up to lately?

 Well.....
Hard to tell,
you little Energizer bunny.

Give me an S!

Give me a T!

Give me an E!

Give me an M!

What does that spell?

S.T.E.M.!

  What are we doing?

S.T.E.M.!

S is for Science!

SCIENCE!

T...Technology!

TECHNOLOGY!

E... Engineering!

ENGINEERING!

M is for Math!

MATH!

In fact,

I love STEM

 so much

that I just had

to make some songs

and chants for

S.T.E.M.
Of course you did!

Now...
let me warn you.
My singing voice is lacking.
Sad. But true.
Fortunately for me...
my audience isn't picky.
Gotta love that about short peeps.
They don't understand what "carry a tune" means.

I always tell my kids that I'm old and forgetful
so they have to help me out.
One of my little boys the other day shouted out:
"You're not old.....you're AWESOME!"
#priceless
Teachers may not get paid much,
but at least our kids are easy to please!

This first set is for purchase on TPT...
S.T.E.M. Songs
Promoting Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math
by Regina Davis

There are three songs and one chant.
The three songs are based on the tunes
Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star
Row, Row, Row Your Boat
and
Head, Shoulders, Knees, And Toes.
The chant is just a chant that I made
up that is like a cheer.


This next set of songs is FREE!

Surely the owners of the song tunes 
won't mind since it's for educational purposes only!
Little kids need to get excited about learning!
Maybe they'll hear the lyric changes
and they'll decide to make it sound really,
TOTALLY awesome for kiddos.....
wishful thinking!
I think you're just stuck with me,
and my cheeseball-ee voice!

Ideas Will Pop! is based on a tune
taken from the LDS Children's Primary Songbook
Popcorn Popping On The Apricot Tree.
FYI: This one happens to be Ma Chérie's favorite.

This one is based on the tune

from Gilligan's Island.
Remember the Professor who
would always come up with
all of these really cool inventions?
(BTW: I had a secret crush on him
when I was little.)
He was the original MacGyver!
True that!
You have to promise not to laugh at my voice!
5,6, and 7 year olds can care less if you're off key!

A S.T.E.M. Good Time!

This next one is based from the
YMCA song that everyone skated
to back in the day when we had our
4 wheeled skates.  Of course,
I never skated well, and I was a hazard at the turns.
I would just keep going until I'd hit the
rug covered wall.
OMG!  The rug covered wall.  LOL!
I'm having flashbacks.
Shoot the duck!
All Skate.
Then I thought I was
pretty cool when I learned to bend
my knees just a bit and actually
make the turn...
looking like a complete dork,
but at least I wasn't falling on my face.
Of course, I never had anyone
to skate with during the couple skate.
Never. Not once.
That was always a dagger to my young heart.
Uh did you not notice how many girls
were in the bathroom feathering their
hair at that time?  You were not alone my friend!
In hindsight, this was probably a good thing.

Me + Roller Skates + Boy = Disaster Waiting To Happen

No amount of blue eyeshadow or colorful headbands
would have helped me live down that spectacle!
But at least the leg warmers 
would have cushioned the fall.

I love the IDEA of this song....
it's just really hard to sing to.
Like: Super.Ridiculously.Hard.
I just couldn't get it to sound quite like I wanted.
So then I ran into Runway's husband
on Parent/Teacher Night and got him
to sing with me to make
it sound better.  Yes. Believe it or not...
this version is MUCH, MUCH better than
me singing it alone.
I'm sure the man thought I was crazy!
Luckily, he's part of our PTA
and is willing to make his son smile.
So, thank you Mr. Mac!
Does he know that he's
online and could possibly go viral?
Viral? Angela, I think you should hear
this first before you start commenting.
Major street cred for his kid!
It's still totally cheeseball-ee and dorky,
but not nearly as bad as it was when
I was singing it by myself....trust me! 
There is a blip, but after taking about
20 minutes of his time,
I couldn't ask him to sing it again....

so it is how it is.

A few days later, he sent me a S.T.E.M. Rap

in honor of my crazy antics!

Woo-hoo!

Score one for Crazy Lady!

Being on the crazy spectrum does have its perks!

My most recent S.T.E.M. that I've made is my

I Can Make A Turkey STEM activity.

My kiddos all made team turkeys out of

2-dimensional shapes.

Warning:  If you are looking for a

super cute turkey craft,

that everyone gets to take home...

this is NOT for you!

This is pure, 100% kid work on how to create

their own turkey while using just plain shapes.

Of course, they had to measure the height and the width

of the turkeys...they also estimated how tall and how

wide they thought their turkeys would be.

They also counted the letters in the

word "Thanksgiving" and they had

to give their team turkey the equivalent number

of orange dots....without having orange paint.

They had to decide as a team HOW to make

the orange paint from the three primary colors.

There was a team of three that had one little boy who was

sure that they needed red and yellow to make orange.

The other two on his team were not so convinced.

They thought that blue was a good idea.

The one boy just shook his head and said,

"Oh boy...this is going to be a mess!

I can't watch!"

Then he turned is head and covered his eyes

as his teammates added blue to their mix.

The next time around those two were

shouting, "No blue! No blue, Mrs. Davis!

Keep it away from us!"

This year I did this activity

the day before Thanksgiving break.

Yes, as of today

I actually have 9 days off from school!!!

You have 9 days off?!

We're no longer friends!

Just kidding.  You're stuck with me.

Of course I count my weekends! 

Now that I've actually made the activity and can just

quickly download and print--I think that next year,

it would be fun to do this

earlier in the month of November.

I could use it leading up

to the last week of school before Thanksgiving.

Here's to hoping that everyone

has a great Thanksgiving!

If you don't celebrate Thanksgiving

you could still set aside some time this week

to think of all of your blessings...

we all have them...big and small...

even if we have to give it some thought!

Some days I'm so crazed I can't see straight,

so I'm just grateful to be breathing and above ground.

That's always a good thing.

 Seriously.

Breathing & Above Ground = Good Times

Thank you, God!

Thanks for the reminder!