New Book About Bullies/Friendship, Facebook Secret and a Giveaway

We had the annual book fair

at school last week.

I LOVE looking for new books.

 

The families bought my class some wonderful books.

One of the best gifts was from our librarian, who

used some school funds to buy me two new books. 

Here is one of them.

One by Kathryn Otoshi

It's a story about Blue and he gets bullied by Red.

It tells how the other colors react.

I like it because it deals with the bullying

in words that younger kids can understand.

I used it to talk about bullies, but also point of view.
We discussed the narrators/students point of view
of the two main characters - Blue and Red.
Have you read this book?

Are you following other teachers on Facebook?
I have "liked" a bunch and I'm also on it.
This year I have been so busy with
two kids and work.
I'm finding that it is easier for me to post
ideas on FB rather than write a whole blog post.
I'd love it if you joined me on FB.
My link is at the top of this blog.

Here's a little secret:
FB is where I will be announcing any Flash Freebies.
For example: I may make a priced item a freebie on Halloween.
SSHHH!

 

The other good news?

A fellow blogger is having a birthday giveaway. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tried It Tuesday - SNOWBALL FIGHT!

Before writing my post,

I was reading Holly's over at Fourth Grade Flipper.

She hosts this great linky.

Anyway, she mentioned how she hasn't had any time to blog.

I'm so glad it is not just me.

I have never been so busy in my life!

 

My post today is a quick activity you can try in your class.

SNOWBALL FIGHT!!

 

I gave each student a 1/2 sheet of paper

with a spelling word written on it.

 

Then came the fun part.

I told the kids to crumple up the paper.

The looks I got were great.

One kid started to fold the paper.

NO!

Crumple it!

 

They stood up and tossed the paper across the room.

Don't worry,  we talked about a few rules ahead of time.

Then everyone had to find a "snowball."

 

I had these cards placed around the room.

The kids wrote their word on a dry erase board

and stood by the correct Long E pattern.

Then we did it all again.

We sorted ourselves about four times.

 

Once we finished,

everyone went and sorted all the words on their own.

 

It was great practice before doing the sort

and everyone had fun having a snowball fight.

 

Another teacher used this idea with math facts.

The kids recorded math equations and solved them.

 

Have you ever used this?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My Truth Monday - Fitness

My truth about fitness?

I'm writing a blog post instead of working out.

 

Today I'm linking up with Denise

for her new weekly series

 

This week we get to share our truths about fitness.

Read mine, comment and then ask me in a few weeks

how my running routine is going.

 

 

 

 



Fun (and Super Easy) Math Fact Practice...and a Freebie

Last week it rained on Thursday.

That meant the kids were going to be

inside for lunch recess.

I dread these days because

I know the kids will be NUTS all afternoon.

 

 I needed to come up with an active math lesson.

 

So here it is!

 

I taped a multiplication equation onto everyone's back.

The kids walked around the room, copied equations and solved them.

So simple!

The kids loved it.

I was able to get a quick assessment of their math fact fluency

and no one was sitting down.

After we finished that activity,

I came up with another idea.

 

They had to line up in order based on the product of their equation.

The line went from least to greatest.

 

I put the cards and recording sheets on TpT as a freebie.

Click on the picture below to take you there.

 

Have a great weekend!

 

 



History of Halloween QR Code Winners!

Congrats to Melissa and Allison

on winning my new History of Halloween product.  

 

They were numbers 5 and 10.

 

Thanks for all the comments.

It seems I'm in the minority

because most people like Halloween.

 



Grammar Girls/Guys and The History of Halloween

Here it is! 

This will be my one post for the week.

I have parent/teacher conferences

Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday night.

I'm sure by Friday I will have no energy to post.

Wish me luck.

 

So instead of getting things ready,

I'm writing to all of you.

 

These are two of my

 

1.  Grammar Girls/Guys/Animals/etc.

 

We are working a lot of recognizing and using

the different parts of speech.

A fun way to practice these skills

was by creating grammar characters.

Everyone chose their character.

We had animals, famous people, classmates

and some kids even created themselves.

Then we added hands, feet or other equipment

and details that went along with the character.

Finally, we filled in our information.

Each hand, foot or piece of equipment

had a different part of speech.

We used nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs

that were related to our character.

The whole project took about four days,

and the kids had a lot of fun.

Plus it will be great to have these up

for the parents to see at conferences.

 

#2 - The History of Halloween

with QR codes

 

I'm not a big fan of Halloween.

Never have been a fan,

but most kids love it!

In order to make it somewhat educational,

my students will learn about the History of Halloween. 

 

The students get to go around the room

and scan the code.

Then they read the information and answer the questions

on the worksheet that is provided.

 

I know that not everyone has access to QR code scanners,

so I've also included cards with the information and no codes.

 

This could be used as a whole class activity

where the teacher does one card a day.

I place the cards around the room

and we spend two days scanning and answering.

You could also make it into a center.

 

As always, I like to have a mini-giveaway

with my new products.

To enter, comment below:

Are you a fan of Halloween?

 

 



It's a surprise TpT sale!

TpT has reached 100K Facebook fans!

As a thank you,

they're having a sale.

 

Everything is 10% off.

I'm also having a sale,

so all my items are 28% off!

 

Click HERE to head straight to my store!

 

Be sure to use promo code

FB100K.

 

 



Five for Friday - My daughter is a liar and other random stuff!

It was a busy week,

but nothing compared to what is coming up...

Parent/Teacher Conferences!

 

Until then,

I'm here to share my Five for Friday.

1.  My 4 1/2 year old daughter is a liar.

All week she has been lying to our daycare provider.

She lied to me yesterday.

She again lied to our daycare provider today,

3 TIMES!

HELP!

Has anyone else had this experience

and what did you do?

 

2.  My 4 1/2 year old is working on riding her

bike without training wheels.

She is really trying hard

and I love watching her determination.

 

3.  Here is a link for a post

about some great ELA Common Core resources.

You'll find a few links to sample lessons, assessments

and even a classroom practice video series.

 

4.  We had our yearly lockdown drill at school this week.

I'm so glad.

I get so nervous about that drill.

 

5.  I learned the difference between persuasive writing

and opinion writing this week thanks to

a linky at Ideas By Jivey.

I know it's a big part of Common Core and

I'm going to start some opinion writing next week.

I can't wait now that I found

some really great and fun ideas.

 

How was your week?

Any plans for the 3-day weekend?



Granola, Worms and Pumpkins?

Today on my Facebook feed

I came across three pumpkin/Halloween themed items.

I'm sharing them just for fun!

 

Recipe #1:

Killer Pumpkin Granola

 

Recipe #2:

Homemade Gummy Worms

 

Free Clipart by Krista Wallden

(Love her work!)

I'm off to try and get some work done.

Enjoy! 

 

Tried It Tuesday - Generate Your Own Newspaper Article (Website)

I did something today that I haven't done

in a VERY long time....

 

I came home with NO school work!

 

I recently read a FB post about what teachers

do so they don't burn themselves out.

One teacher mentioned that at least once a week

she doesn't bring any work home.

 

It felt very weird, but I did it.

I'm hoping to get in a little bit of exercise

and maybe some laundry/cleaning.

 

I also have some time to blog

and today I'm linking up with

Fourth Grade Flipper for

 Today I created a fake newspaper article for my kids.

We are working on words that have the Long A sound.
So I gave the kids this article and
they had to circle the Long A words.
They thought it was so funny to see
my name on the title and their names in the article.

The website is great!
You type in the newspaper name, date and title of the article.
Then you write up your story and
it comes out as a picture that looks like the one above.

Click on my example to take you to the website.

How else could you use this activity?

I just thought of one...
Choose a topic.
Write some real and fact facts about the topic.
Your kids need to sort the real from the fake facts.
Maybe they could use two different color markers
to show their answers.
 

 

 



Math Vocabulary Freebie

What?

A second blog post from me this week?

It's a miracle!

Should I be starting my plans for next week?

Yes!

Am I going to do that?

NO!

 

What I will do instead is link up with

I'm Lovin' Lit for

My district is really pushing math vocabulary this year.

We are expected to teach at least five minutes

of direct math vocab each day.

 

One activity I've been using is

Be A Mind Reader.

I choose one of the words on the math word wall.

Then I give the students five clues.

After each clue, the students write down a guess.

By the end of the clues, they should know the word.

 

Here is the example from this week.

1.  It's a word on the word wall.

2.  It has two syllables. (Grammar skill!)

3.  It is related to multiplication.

4.  It starts with a blend.  (Spelling skill!)

5.  It tells the answer to a multiplication equation.

 

Did you guess the answer?

Product

 

I'd love to hear how you incorporate math vocabulary

into your lessons.

 

Do you want a freebie?

You can get this "Be A Mind Reader" recording sheet

by following me on Facebook.

The button is at the top of my blog.

I've been so busy lately

and I'm finding it easier to leave quick posts on FB.

So come on over and get a Fan Freebie.

 



Rock It - Using Songs, Movement and Stories in the Classroom (Book Review)

I recently had the opportunity to review a book titled:

Rock It!  Transform Classroom Learning with Movement, Songs and Stories.

 

I was so excited to read/review this book because a few

students in my room have a lot of energy.

I knew I would find some ideas to use.

 

What I loved about the book:

 

1.  For each activity, Steve tells you why the movement helps our students.

 

2.  Throughout the book, you will find tips on how to make the

activities more effective.

 

3.  Stories are included to show you how the activities have worked in actual classrooms.

 

4.  Did you know there are specific warm-ups for students

to do before they start writing?  You will find them in this book!

 

Now for my absolute FAVORITE part of this book...

There are stories and movements to go along with CCSS math and ELA standards.

The one I want to try with my class is "The Story of Area."  

It's pronounced AH - re - uh.

There is a story and then movements to go along

with the story. 

Students get a chance to act out the story

to help them form of mental image of area and perimeter.

 

There is so much great stuff in this book.

My goal is to try one of the activities each week.

I won't get to everything this year,

but I figure it's a start.

 

You can read more about the book on the book's website, 

and the book is available as both a physical book and a digital download

on the Brigantine Media website, on TpT,

and as a physical book through Amazon, Barnes & Noble,

or ordered in bookstores.

 

I'd love to hear if you have used this book.

 

 

Did you know it is Currently October?

Did you remember to change the 9 to a 10 on the date today?

If so, then the first thing that came to your mind

was it's time for...

 

Currently with Farley!

 

My husband is listening to Storage Wars and I no longer

hear my daughter walking around. 

Let's see how long that lasts!

 

The district I'm in just started math CCSS this year.

I was a bit worried about starting the year

with multiplication and division.

The kids are doing great!

I've been trying to get a student "check-up" in every few days.

This is really helping me to assess my students.

 

Two more weeks until Parent/Teacher conferences!

All the "check-ups" will pay off

because I can give the parents a very clear picture

of how their child is doing in class.

 

Anyone know the Cleaning Fairy?

If so, can you please send her to my house?

Thank you!

 

Who doesn't need more time?

I bet the Cleaning Fairy has plenty of time

because she isn't doing her job at my house!

 

My "treat" is an awesome CCSS website I found.

Click Here

and it will take you to the site.

 

Hope you have a great October!