Go Pirates! part 3

Have you heard?

The TpT Back 2 School sale is this weekend!!

My wish list is full & I'm ready to shop.

My store will be 28% off so be sure to head over & take a look around.
(Click on my picture for the link.)

And now.....
I think this is the end of my back to school classroom pictures.

This bulletin board is in the hallway leading into my class.

(Someone on my Facebook page asked me what the numbers represented.)

The truth is...the numbers were supposed to be their class numbers (1-18) 

but we had already cut all of them out on our die cut machine when we realized that they were too big:(  Just too lazy to cut them all over again, so we used what we had.

This is a great piece of clip art from 

and I added the pirate emblem (from My Cute Graphics),

and blew it up on our ELMO.

I had to have a Pirate player somewhere in the room.

Here he is in his place guarding our math board.

This was our first full week back at school 

so we started on a few basic skills like reviewing odd and even numbers.

We called these 2 "The Fair Pair." 

They are ALWAYS fair, always equal, always even.

I filled paper footballs with skittles (Pinterest idea) and they

ripped them open and sorted them.

They liked sorting, but you know their favorite part was eating them when we were finished.

Another fun activity we did this week was writing a 1 sentence goal for the year.

Finally, if you are doing the daily 5 and want a few sporty items to go with it,
here are a couple of things I made for my room.

This file is an "unofficial adaptation of the Daily 5 by Gail Boushey& Joan Moser". 

It is not endorsed by the 2 Sisters. To access official resources, check out http://www.thedailycafe.com/

Just click on them to pick up your free copies.

Don't forget about the sale!!!

Yo Ho Ho!

"Yo ho ho, we're so cool.

We are pirates and we love school."

The last week of April is Pirate Week in our corner of the world and this post has been sitting in my computer since then. I was out sick the month of May and just never got around to finishing this. But it was too much fun to forget about.

Our town has a huge festival every year on the 1st weekend in May (Shrimp Festival)
 and the week leading up to it is "all things PIRATE."

Classes all over our school read pirate books, made pirates, walked and talked like pirates,
and even dressed like pirates on Thursday
(because that Friday is a day off for us:) How many of you have a Pirate Day holiday?!)

In our classroom we started the week with the book Pirates Go To School.

My kids all picked out which pirate they wanted to be.....
the one with no shoes, the one that smells of rotten fish, the peg legged one, and the girls all said they just wanted to be a girl pirate.

And what do pirates know ALL about? maps, of course.
So we spent most of our time that week reviewing our map skills.

We used this super cute packet from Primary Paradise.

It comes with a power point to show your students.
It features 2 characters (with really cute names that I'm not going to tell you)
and they tell you all about maps......

In order to keep my students focused, I divided the class and put boys on one side
and girls on the other.  I had my kids read the power point. The boys read with the boy pirate and the girls read with the girl pirate and of course I made them use their pirate voices (funny).

Next, we completed the practice maps that came with the packet.
There are basic maps and grid maps to check their understanding.
They were fun and the kids hardly felt like they were working:)

The end of the week was the best part for them.
We used the template that is included to have them draw their own maps.
They were free to draw whatever setting they wanted but they had to include
a title, map key, symbols and a compass rose.

Then we made the cute pirate craft that goes with it.
Here are a few of ours:)

It was a fun week with a shipful of learning!

Pumped about Polka Dot Pirates!

Do you ever look around your classroom and just think "YUCK!!"? I've been teaching for 20 years and have changed rooms 6 times and I think I have inherited 40 years worth of other people's junk. You know how it is, especially if you have moved into a teacher's room who was retiring that year. They DO mean well by leaving you their stuff. 
But my room now feels like an episode of Hoarders! 

Well, no more! 
This summer I am cleaning out that closet that may house rats, 
throwing away all the purple ditto copies that I come across AGAIN 
and giving my "treasures" to the new teachers 
who I know will be "thrilled" to inherit them. HA!

So with that thought in mind, the planning has begun for a new theme for next year 
(ok, who am I kidding? we'll still be pirates). But I want some new stuff, new baskets, new curtains, new words for the word wall, etc., etc., etc. I want neat, clean and matchy, matchy!

And that thought brings me to what I am super excited to share with you!

I've found matchy, matchy and PIRATES and even better than that....they are Polka Dot Pirates!!!
My sweet friend Cyndie over at
Chalk One Up For the Teacher, is the 
QUEEN OF ROOM THEMES!
If you want a new theme, she has it.
If you don't know what you want, she has that too!
I found over 60 sets of theme packs in her store.
Here are just a few......
rockstar
baseball
superheroes
olympics
jungle
space
racing
nature
western
circus
Hollywood
groovy
bees
bugs
dogs
zoo
and many more!


Although the other themes were VERY COOL, 
I headed straight for the Pirate section.

Here's what I found....

This packet is a Room Theme DELUXE 
and it has everything you need to give your classroom that 
themed look!

Included in this unit are:
2 Sets of Coordinating Calendar Pieces
Monthly Headers
Day of the Week
12 Pieces to Assemble a Birthday Banner
Lost a Tooth Chart
Weather Graph
Word Wall Header
Word Wall Letters
Themed Letters for a Work Display Board
Decorative Pieces
Give Me 5 Poster
5 Different Team Sign Posters (Ready for you to add your team names.)
Desk Nametags

Since we only have 22  21 and a half days left of school, I can't put up a lot
(because I have to strip the walls before I leave).
But here is what I've started on......

Pirate boy and girl calendar numbers, along with month banners.

Days of the week.

(This picture made me fall in love with the lime green and light blue - colors for next year)!

Give me 5 poster.

Desk name plates.

Word Wall Alphabet Letters (must redo my word cards next year).

This sweet girl was so thrilled to get a Pirate Girl note from her teacher:)

These number cards could be used in order on the wall, in a pocket chart.....

or as a math game on the floor. They loved them!

I laminated this list of things to do, so I can just wipe and start over each day.

I used this template for our field trip note. 

You can see why I am so pumped about this packet.

I can't wait to pull it all together before school starts again in the fall.

Now for the EXCITING news!
Cyndie has agreed to give away a
Room Theme + Matching Accessories to one lucky winner!!!
And she is going to let you choose your own theme!!
So have you been making plans for your room next year?
Enter the giveaway below and then head over to her store
and browse through the MANY items she has to choose from.

Winner will be announced on Monday, April 29, 2013!
I sure hope you win!!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Well, Shiver Me Timbers!!

My Teachers Pay Teachers store has reached 400 followers!!

Thank you!!
Here is the treasure I promised!  Enjoy!!

This is a FLASH FREEBIE and will only be FREE until Sunday, April 14, 2013 at 4:00pm EST.

For Fans Only FREEBIE updated

It's Friday!!

I have just updated "FREE for FANS only" on my Facebook page.

It will only be posted FREE until the end of the month.

I will be adding it to my store on April 1.

Please sail over and pick up your copy (click the ship).

I would love to hear any feedback you may have before I add it to my store:)

Thanks!

Pirate Girl 101

It occurred to me while visiting other blogs, that since starting this blog, I just jumped right in and started talking (yep, I do that) without any kind of introduction. So, ahoy this is Pirate Girl 101.

My name is Merinda Nunez Powell. I have been married to Todd for 21 years and we have 4 kids. 

Michael (currently deployed to Afghanistan) married to Michele, 3 kids, 1 grand, and 1 on the way.

Amanda (takes care of Todd's mom)

Jack (sophomore in college in Tallahassee)

Bridget (middle schooler).

We (our moms and almost all of our extended families) live in the beautiful, small town of Fernandina Beach, Florida. It is on Amelia Island, right on the Atlantic Ocean. Our town has a very rich history, it has been under 8 flags, named after Princess Amelia, and inhabited by pirates (that's where the pirates come in).

Our mascot (for our 1 high school and 1 middle school) is a pirate, so everyone here grew up wanting to be a pirate. Me included. When I started teaching in the school where I attended K-2, I knew that we would be Mrs. Powell's Pirates. So that's who we are. 

I have been teaching for 20 years (1st, 2nd, 3rd grade). I am currently back in 2nd grade and I had forgotten (8 years in 1st) how much I LOVE 2nd grade. Since it has been so long since teaching 2nd grade, it feels like starting over. So I am here sharing some things that I have been making for our classroom.

I also feel called by God to write Biblical units that can be used in classrooms around the world. Even though I cannot use them in my own classroom, I know that there is nothing more important than spreading His love and His word.  If you are still reading this, I applaud you and I really hope that you will consider becoming a blog follower, visit often and find many things that are useful to you and your kids. Godspeed!

Christmas gift for my Pirates....

Party Day is tomorrow and I have been around and around with gift ideas for my kids. And I have (of course) waited until the last minute. Well, I finally settled on something that I know they want a lot. We have a "Pirate Treasure Log" in our classroom as part of our behavior plan. My kids collect compliments/caught being good, etc. on individual cards (I put a dot on their card with a sharpee). When they have collected 10, they are allowed to choose anything from the treasure log. All items in the treasure log are FREE, and that is my favorite:) We have things such as....Stinky Feet Day (they get to take off their shoes for the day), Eat Lunch with a Friend (get to choose who they sit with at lunch), Stuffy Day (they are allowed to bring a stuffed animal from home), etc. They LOVE trips to the treasure log. So that is what they are getting for Christmas. I made up a little rhyme and will add it to their goody bags tomorrow. Can't wait to see what they choose. 

If you think you can use the poem, please grab a copy below.

Pirate Gift Rhyme

Pirate Boy

Our "Pirate Boy" is headed home from college today. Can't wait!

Gingerbread Glyphs

Christmas in Germany was spent with The Gingerbread Pirates.
We are Pirates, so it was a must read. The kids LOVED it.

After the story we made these gingerbread glyphs.
Many of them wanted to cut off one leg and make them Pirates. (LOL)
But instead we used a FREE glyph offered by Sunny Days on Teachers Pay Teachers.
Click the link below to visit the store and pick up your free copy. 

Gingerbread Glyph from Sunny Days