Mardi Gras and ELA Fun

Where does the time go? I was thinking I still had plenty of time to prepare myself and my class for Lent, March 1st was still a ways away... We already had our school Ash Wednesday liturgy planned... and then... I saw Katie's posts from Look to Him and Be Radiant with her always awesome ideas for the upcoming Lenten season. Egads, I realized that I had to get busy!

MARDI GRAS fun comes first...

We celebrate Mardi Gras as a last blast of excessive fun prior to the solemn season of Lent. I looked through my Mardi Gras material to use on Monday and Tuesday of the coming week. We will use a scoot activity in fifth grade that incorporates Mardi Gras with Language Arts class. Scoot is such a fun activity since it incorporates English skills, such as practicing alphabetical order, while letting students get up and move around. Can't beat that for a class activity! Click HERE for more about this set of scoot cards.



I needed a bit more Mardi Gras fun for my fifth grade Language Arts students. We've most recently been studying adjectives, in particular, the degrees of adjectives: positive, comparative, and superlative. I decided to whip up something fun to help my students practice this somewhat ho-hum skill. Thanks to Zip-A-Dee-Do-Dah Designs and a brand new FREE product, Mardi Gras Color By Code Clip Art set, I was able to craft a fun, engaging color by degree of adjectives Mardi Gras worksheet. Click HERE to read more about this worksheet or grab your own copy.


While I had fifth grade planned for some Mardi Gras fun, I still needed something for my sixth and seventh graders. Art with Jenny K. came through for me! I just love her material, as do my students! She and Brain Waves Instruction have been creating Reading Comprehension/Art passages for students in grs. 3-8. Just this past week, the duo offered a set with a Mardi Gras passage... PERFECT! Students read a passage, answer comprehension questions, then use the answers to help color a pop art Mardi Gras design. Check out this terrific set HERE; you'll be happy that you did.

Finally, I recently created a brand new ZAP! game to help my students celebrate Mardi Gras while still practicing their ELA skills. You can download this recent addition to my growing cache of popular ZAP! games HERE.

Meanwhile if you use brag tags in your classroom, HERE's a fun freebie Mardi Gras tag for you to share with your class(es) for the upcoming holiday. ENJOY!

Watch for Lenten/ELA activities posted shortly after Ash Wednesday.

February Show and Tell

It's time for my favorite monthly linky!

Shortly after last month's Show and Tell party, we celebrated Catholic Schools Week. Part of the week was lost due to three snow days, but we still managed to squeeze in a bit of fun. Students in grades 3-6 traveled by deluxe coach to Peak and Peek Resort in upstate New York for a fun day of tubing. Here you see everyone getting into their snow gear ready to hit the tubing run. I stayed warm and snuggly in the lodge, keeping an eye on personal belongings.

Our Valentine's party is the LAST "party" that students celebrate. When they enter junior high there are no more "parties" for the holidays. Our Valentine's party was full of fun games and yummy goodies. Our second grade buddies even came to visit and deliver special cards.

At the end of last school year I received a wonderful FREE kit from Scholastic and Nascar. Students build their own Nascar racers and explore science concepts such as aerodynamics, gravity, motion, friction, energy, and more. Here you can see our sixth grader racers, parked and waiting to be put through the paces!

Finally... a pic of my fur babies... This month is a picture of just Lulubelle. I came home from grocery shopping this past weekend, dropped the bag in my utility room, and began putting away my items. No sooner had I stepped away from the bag then there was Lulie! Nothing in my house is safe from the girls!

Be sure to stop by Forever in 5th Grade to read more Show and Tell blog posts. 

It's a great way to keep up with some terrific education bloggers.

Love TpT! Love a Sale!!