Thanksgiving Thoughts

I love Thanksgiving time. Time away from teaching and time with family and loved ones. A time to reflect on the blessings of life. And a time to give thanks to God for his gift of salvation through Jesus.

I'm new at my school this year, and was overwhelmed (in an amazed way) with the "Day of Thanks" that we had last Tuesday. Parents and volunteers coordinated an amazing feast for the students and staff. Students (and adults) dressed up in Pilgrim and Indian costumes, making the day very festive. We ended the day with a "Praise Service," giving thanks to God for all he's done in our lives. This has been, by far, one of my favorite days this year.

Giving thanks is a healthy habit to get used to. Thankfulness keeps out bitterness and a complaining spirit. It also takes your focus off self and causes you to think about the bigger picture, and as teachers, that bigger picture is serving the lives of those precious students that God has placed in our care. I am thankful for each of them, and look forward to getting back to school to be the teacher that they need this year. But, I'm grateful for the time off. Not planning on rushing that!

Here are a few pics of our Thanksgiving festivities.

I'd love to hear what you're thankful for or your own thoughts about Thanksgiving! Leave a comment below - thankful hearts are contagious!

Supermarket Saturday!!

It's Supermarket Saturday: Thanksgiving! 

I can't believe it's already Saturday!  This week has flown by.  My schedule has been totally disrupted, because of having an unexpected day off on Friday.  Here in Northeast Ohio we had our first snow day of the season.  Crazy, I know!  Here's a picture of our playground during recess on Thursday:

You can imagine what things were like at dismissal.  Needless to say, after 13 inches of snow fell on Thursday, we didn't have school on Friday.  Not sure if this weather pattern is an indication of what the winter is going to be like, but I'm quickly hunting for my gloves and boots!  Brrr...

So, when it's cold and snowy outside, what's better to do (other than going sledding or something) than to have a TpT sale!  

One of the items that I have on sale is my 3 Dimensional Pumpkin Book Report kit.  

My students loved making these!  They each chose a book to read, and then filled in the templates for the plot elements (general book info, setting, main characters, problem, solution, favorite part).  They cut the templates out, attached them to orange construction paper circles, and glued the backs of the orange circles together to form a pumpkin.  With a little green pipe cleaner, these pumpkins were finished, ready to hang for classroom decor.  Lots of writing and analysis of the book read, but my students enjoyed the project. 

          

The 3 Dimensional Pumpkin Book Report template as well as the rest of my Thanksgiving/Fall items are on sale just for the weekend (15% off!).  

* 3 Dimensional Pumpkin Book Report

* City Mouse & Country Mouse Readers' Theater (they're THANKFUL for where they live, right?)

* Pumpkin Patch clip art set

* I Have, Who Has synonyms & antonyms game

* Thanksgiving clip art set

* It's Turkey Time ELA Games

* Fall Gourds Descriptive Writing Unit

* Turkey Story Maps

* Pumpkin Patch Board Game Templates

It's time to fill up your shopping cart for the Thanksgiving holidays!

Mrs. Hach's Owl Spot

For more great Thanksgiving products, stop by my teacher-friends' stores:

An InLinkz Link-up

Happy Birthday Giveaway!

It's my birthday (Nov.1)!  And I'm celebrating all week.  My husband has a couple different date nights planned for the week, one of them being going to see the Broadway Play, Newsies (I can't wait!).

So, I wanted to extend the celebration to you!  I will be giving away one of my products everyday this week.  There will also be a free product in my store each day, so you will want to make sure to stop by frequently to see what you can get.

To be included in the giveaway raffle, you need to leave a comment for this post. Please make sure to leave your email address in the comments so I can let you know if you won something!  Along with your comment, let me know which product listed below you would like if chosen.

I'd love to have you as a follower if you're not already keeping up with my teaching adventures.  It's super easy - just leave your info in the green bar at the top of the page.  You'll get firsthand info about my posts and any freebies or contests that I have going on.

Check out the giveaway links below... I'll also have a new product at the end of the week.  Feel free to share this info with your colleagues so they can enter for a chance to get their own for free, too!

          

    

Martha from "The Owl Spot"

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