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Tuesday, June 5, 2012

My Spectacular Camping Day!

I think I have blogged too much about this camping day I was going to have.  I can't even think of a good title!  lol  Anyway, I had such a wonderful day with my kiddos today---it was great to hear the giggles and watch them just have a blast.  I'll try to be short, in my long winded ways!

My room:  I hung bulletin board paper from the ceiling!  Next year, I plan to tie a string along the beam up there and drape the paper over it for "ease" of setting up.

Next up-we made "s'mores."  Since we can't have food----I remembered my son's preschool craft of s'mores.  I cut 3in squares out of a cardboard box (it worked in the paper cutter!!!), brown squares out of construction paper a little bit bigger and I gave the kids 4-5 cotton balls.  BUT FIRST!  As I was passing out the cotton ball marshmallows......  the thought came to me!  ROAST them!  I had a campfire at each table.  We took the cotton ball and attached it to our pencil points and "roasted!"



 The giggles were priceless!
Then we did a few pages from my camping IN unit (on TPT)
I did NOT have "how to make s'mores" because I wasn't planning on making them.  Click on the pic to grab yourself a copy!


We continued with more from my unit and they kept these in their "camping folders" (brown construction paper folded).  We took another break to read some Charlotte and came back to our seats to make binoculars!  I L.O.V.E. the duck tape that's out there!  We decorated toilet paper rolls with DUCK TAPE!!!  I am SO mad that I did not get a close up of THAT cuteness!  You'll have to scroll down a little to see how we used them in the afternoon-and you can see how cute they were!  ;)

Then the kiddos took a break to read.  We spread out over the room on blankets and sleeping bags, turned out the lights and they read with flashlights!

Then we had our normal, recess/lunch/specials time....

In the afternoon we took a "nature" hike around school looking for the ABC's of nature!  We of course couldn't do this without our binoculars!


We had such a great day!  I'm a little sad that I'm out tomorrow for an all day long writing meeting.  I planned Charlotte's Web stuff.  I uploaded what I made to TPT also, if you are in need of some quick things to do for a day (or longer) with it!  Click on the picture to read about it!


Also-I just wanted to let you know that I broke up my Common Core Checklists by Language Arts and Math, incase you were interested in only part of it because you only teach a certain subject.  I had a request to make 3rd grade so I will be looking to do that in the near future too!  As of right now I have Kindergarten, First and Second Grades posted!  Thanks for the great feedback so far!


Have a great week!






12 comments:

  1. That's an awesome tent! Wow! My kids would love that. Thanks for sharing! :)

    Lisa
    Learning Is Something to Treasure

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  2. Just found your cute blog! I'm your newest follower! Come by when you get a chance. I'm going to be doing a big giveaway when I reach 300 followers!

    Waving from The Teacher's Chatterbox,
    Rebecca

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  3. Very cute activities! I'm going to have to do some next year. Thanks for sharing!
    Petersons-Pad

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  4. Love, love, love the camping activities!! How fun is that tent??!! I would love to do something like this, thank you for sharing:)

    Aloha,
    Corinna
    Surfin' Through Second

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  5. Thanks for sharing all those photos. It looks like a fun day.

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  6. Wow! How cute is that!!!! You made the best out of a situation where many would just complain about not being able to make smores for real.

    Every New Beginning

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  7. I love your ideas! I did a camping week (actually two weeks) in my classroom. The kiddos loved it! Your tent turned out great. I may have to hang mine from the ceiling next year too. You can see pics of mine on my blog!

    -Amy
    Krazy About Kiddos

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  8. I love the camping idea - especially with the S'Mores writing integration. I am definitely adding this to my "things to try next year" list! :)

    Abby
    Third Grade Bookworm

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  9. Love the camping idea and the tent is PRECIOUS!

    Random question...what is the border you used in your freebie? Where can I find it?

    Elizabeth
    Fun in Room 4B

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  10. The tent is SO cool! I have now tried your idea in my classroom. How did you attach it to the ceiling? I used tape and it seems to be holding, but you got a much wider base than I did. Would you mind sharing how you installed your masterpiece?

    Thanks so much for sharing this clever idea!
    Elysia

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    Replies
    1. I kinda jammed the paper into the ceiling tiles ;) (We have the drop ceiling thing going on in my room) Though, this year, I am thinking of using 2 ceiling clips (that hang decoration/student work) and running a string from one to the the other. Then I will drape the bulletin board paper over it. (Hope that makes sense)

      On the floor, I used masking tape to hold it open. I just ran it down the length of each side (piece by piece anyway)

      When I do it again this year, I'll try to take some pictures of the installation process and post it! :)

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    2. We loved this idea in my first grade room this spring. The kids made a similar campfire to yours but we also put white Christmas lights underneath the red, orange and yellow paper for an extra glow. Then I borrowed the cafeteria's microwave and made s'mores as we sat around the camp fire in sleeping bags reading "ghost stories" they had written at home with their families. Thanks for sharing your tent idea and installation. It was a huge attraction! A definite highlight of the school year for all of us!

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