Making spider webs with number spirals and other Halloween activities kids LOVE


My kids have nothing but candy on their brains as they anxiously wait to go trick-or-treating so I am planning a whole day of Halloween FUN! Of course learning will still take place but in a very different format than usual. To kick off the day, we will be making spider webs for math. Look how cool these are!


Different number patterns make different designs. 



Make sure to use a ruler for the best results. 



You can add multiple colors like my sons' friend did. The colors add the WOW factor.


Here is an example that my friend Jen (a.k.a. the art queen) did with her class. You have to hop over to her site at Runde's Room and see her spectacular examples and bulletin board. You'll immediately understand why she is the art queen in my book. I just ♥ her ideas! Jen's blog is also my nine-year-old son (Coen's) favorite blog to follow.

You can use graph paper to experiment more.
This is a design from a former fourth grade student of mine. He did this all by himself after learning the techniques above. I was blown away by his creativity! Giving children the freedom to explore what they've learned can be so rewarding for the teacher as well as the child.

Below are the directions using number spirals and the graphing paper can be printed HERE.



Of course I will have to bust out one of my favorite childhood art tools, Spirographs. Anyone else remember using these or am I the oldest mom around on the Blog Block?


To see my previous posts with Halloween activities that my kids enjoy, {CLICK HERE} and keep scrolling down. There are writing activities, art projects, magic tricks, recipes and much more!

After completing the spider webs and some of the activities in my previous Halloween posts, we will be completing LOTS of activities from my new favorite site, Education.com! They have thousands of printables for every grade level and subject area. I printed off several different games and worksheets and made a Halloween packet for my boys. 

Warning: Education.com is an educator's dream site so make sure you have lots of ink on hand and your printer is ready to go! You may get lost in the hours of downloading and printing like I did!

Education.com has individual worksheets,

games,
 

crafts,

board games,

Wishing you lots of treats,
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Kid-friendly Halloween Movies


I hope you are having fun getting ready for Halloween. Today's feature is by someone very special, my oldest son Conley :) He just informed me a few minutes ago of the topic he wrote about on his blog, Movies, Cars, and Guitars, so I wanted to share it with you- Best Halloween Movies You Can Watch With Your Kids. If you hop on over and leave him a comment, it will make his day! Trust me☺

 Our family enjoys movie nights. We eat popcorn and snuggle together. I thought Conley did a great job of listing some family-friendly movies. I did find it interesting reading a list from a teenager's perspective.
I would like to add to the list this year's favorite Halloween movie that Conley's baby brother and sister LOVE- Mickey Mouse Clubhouse - Mickey's Treat

It is just adorable! My two toddlers are CRAZY over Mickey and Minnie.

They are dressing up as them for trick-or-treating.
Our jack-o-lantern is going to be Mickey, too.
They even dress up our dog as Mickey! Thankfully, our dog is a good sport. 
Yes, I realize they are just a little obsessed but it's a season of life that I wish I could pause and enjoy more. Colby and Charity are just so little and cute! Before I know it, they will be teenagers and I will be reading their blogs, too. :)

 Enjoy your little ones this Halloween,
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Creating Spooky Stories with Onomatopoeia


Whew! Aren't you glad that onomatopoeia was never a spelling word? That would have made me scream, "Ahhhh!" That silly word, which means the sounds or actions objects make, is actually a fun concept to teach kids. For little kids, it can be as easy as teaching animal sounds and the sounds from everyday objects. When children get older and begin writing descriptive stories, it is a perfect time for the lesson below.

You can teach the sounds and actions to children by doing a search on-line and printing off onomatopoeia words. Use that list as a reference sheet for your child to grab words from. I usually print my reference sheets on cardstock, so we can reuse them multiple times for the future.

Since Halloween is coming soon and my kids enjoy writing spooky stories, I thought this week is a perfect time to teach onomatopoeia. First, I will explain what onomatopoeia is and provide examples. Next, I will have them create spooky stories using the reference sheet below that I created. I searched high and low on-line for a list but couldn't find one so I made my own. You can print it for free if you'd like.


The following week I will have my kids create comic strips using onomatopoeia. Have you ever noticed that comics are filled with words like "Bam! Beep! Zap!"?

 This is a great way to have kids practice onomatopoeia by creating their own comics by using this free on-line program. Makebeliefscomix.com offers 128 characters with different emotions, thought and talk balloons to fill in with text, story prompts and printables. The site's goal is to help children use their imaginations to create wonderful stories, as well as to help them improve their writing and reading. I can't wait for my kids to hop on that site and have some fun practicing what they've learned.


Next, I will review the concept with these worksheets from education.com, my new favorite site, such as these one below.


I love using literature to writing skills. It just seems like a natural way to learn and teach. For example, I am planning to read The Spooky Wheels on the Bus to my children, which is a funny story that is filled with all sorts of spooky sounds. Clues in the Attic is a graphic novel that is filled with of all sorts of sounds, too.

If you're looking for more children's books that are fantastic for teaching onomatopoeia, check out this site's fabulous recommendations. You may already have some of these books at home that are perfect for teaching sounds.

I will continually remind them to use onomatopoeia in future writing assignments. In my 14 years of homeschooling, I've never purchased a formal grammar or mechanics curriculum for my elementary-age children. {Click Here} to read why I avoid using most language arts curriculum. This post is an example of how I teach grammar skills to my kids. I make our lessons hands-on with lots of opportunities to practice the skills they learned. That is my goal in teaching grammar and mechanics- creating strong writers with a passion for writing, not mastering a curriculum.

Enjoy making writing fun!
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Fun Ways to Teach the Parts of Speech

I like to make learning the parts of speech fun! During the elementary years, I teach my kids a few parts of speech each school year and then we take time practicing what we've learned.


This week my kids have been learning conjunctions. The first thing that pops into my mind when I hear the word "conjunction" is the song Conjunction Junction, What's Your Function....Am I the only one? I grew up listening to that song during commercial breaks back in the day when cartoons were only on Saturday mornings. For those younger readers who have no clue what I am writing about ☺, it is from the Schoolhouse Rock: Grammar



So of course I shared that song and video with my children. Next, I read Just Me & 6,000 Rats: A Tale of Conjunctions to my kids.

It's a very cute story that uses conjunctions. My kids and I love the Language Adventures best-selling series since it uses silly stories and funny illustrations to teach grammar concepts. You already know how I enjoy making learning fun and this series achieves just that!

Other titles in Language Adventures series by Rick Walton are:

I also had my kids memorize some of the most common conjunctions using this mnemonic trick.
This poster is from my Mnemonics Packet, which includes the most common mnemonic devices I have used in twenty years of teaching.


When I teach any grammar or mechanics lesson, my main objective is for my kids to understand how to apply the skill to their writing. I honestly could care less if my children know how to diagram a sentence. On a side note, did you know diagramming sentences is no longer taught in most high schools and colleges? In addition, diagramming sentences is not even on the ACT or SAT. I just learned this information last year when my son was preparing for college. I was shocked!

My purpose in teaching conjunctions this week was to show them how to combine sentences using them and to learn the rules on when to use a comma before conjunctions in writing. This is a BIG writing skill that I have seen kids miss continuously when I taught school and when I tutored elementary children.

So now that my children understand what conjunctions are, here comes the real-life application- teaching when to use commas correctly before conjunctions. I searched on-line for some free printables to practice this skill. Here is an example of one I found at www.education.com.


In future writing assignments, I will be reminding my children of these lessons on conjunctions.

Want to know my favorites site to practice grammar skills? These are fantastic for practicing parts of speech!

Create your own Mad Libs at www.itsamadlibsworld.com!


I'm just warning you ahead of time. The game Grammar Ninja is VERY addicting with its video-game style, so you may end up playing it as must as your kids. I know one of my best friends became hooked.

In my 14 years of homeschooling, I've never purchased a grammar or mechanics curriculum or workbook. {Click Here} to read why I avoid using most language arts curriculum. This post is an example of how I teach grammar skills to my kids. I make our lessons hands-on with lots of opportunities to practice the skills they learned. That is my goal in teaching grammar and mechanics- creating strong writers with a passion for writing, not mastering a curriculum.

I can't wait to share with you the spooktacular ways my kids are learning onomatopoeia next week.

This writing assignment is part of 101 Ways to Make Writing FUN!
Until next time, enjoy!
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