Help! I Need Ideas!

Is it seriously only Tuesday?!? This week is going to be a long one!!

Before I get off on a tangent about how D.O.N.E my kids are, I have a dilemma and I am hoping someone out there has some advice for me!

This year our school is not making yearbooks. We never make money on them and it's a lot of work for very little gain. I put in HOURS of work on the yearbooks last year and we sold less than 50. Boo! However, my kiddos were really disappointed when somehow the topic of yearbooks was brought up in conversation (don't ask me why or how) when we were *supposed* to be discussing why crocodiles lay eggs. ;)

Anyway, I'm thinking that maybe there is a way I can make them myself and give them to the kids as a special surprise the last week of school. SO-  I need some help! Do you have any tips, suggestions, ideas that would help me with this task??? I need something that's not too incredibly expensive... I would like for the "yearbooks" to be in color, but at this point, I'll settle for whatever! It may just have to be black and white with construction paper covers... whatever I can do!

If you have ANY suggestions, please let me know!!!!! Thanks a million!!!

Hang in there... just a few more weeks!!!

Math Mentor Text, and French Fry Prefixes!

Happy Mother's Day!!! I hope all of you are either giving or getting lots of love today!

I'm excited to be linking up with Amanda & Stacia @ Collaboration Cuties again this week for their Must Read Mentor Text linky! This week is math!

The book I chose to share is called The Doorbell Rang by Pat Hutchins.

This book is PERFECT for introducing division. Kids are at their grandma's house ready share her delicious, fresh-baked cookies between themselves, but the doorbell keeps ringing and more kids keep coming, and they have to continually work to share the cookies between them equally.

I use these cookies (that I just print, laminate, and add a magnet on the back) on my white board as we read the book together. As a new kid comes, we move the cookies around to make the correct number of groups. Get your copy of the cookies HERE.

Students see how one set of objects (cookies) can be split evenly between different numbers of people. Of course, cookies are engaging on their own, but it's always great to follow up the lesson with REAL cookies that students have to divide between them.

I'm also excited to announce that I have FINALLY made a new product! I haven't made anything in a few months!

I was shopping at Target yesterday and saw these adorable French fry containers.

I knew I had to have them, and last night I figured out what to do with them. Practice prefixes!!

It's a fun and delicious way to practice adding prefixes to words! If you are interested, you can check it out in my STORE. However, I will be giving this away to the first three people who are interested in having this and leave a comment! Be sure to leave your e-mail address in your comment!

Have a great Sunday! Head on over and link up with your favorite math text!
 I'm off to spend time with my amazing mommy!

Dazzle on a Dime, Forced Analogies, and a FREEBIE!

A few weeks ago I went to Region IV to get my GT update hours and I was not disappointed! The training I experienced was engaging and I came away with TONS  of practical ideas to implement in my classroom.

The presenters were Deanna Allison and Paula McClendon of Dazzle on a Dime.





These wonderful ladies guided us through several of their techniques that they have creatively named the "iDazzle Apps." Each "app" is a different technique or method that can be applied to any subject area and will add a little "dazzle" to your instruction. The connection to the iPhone will definitely excite the kiddos!

The techniques they included in their presentation are practical, easy to use, and effective. They are applicable for all kids, but can easily be differentiated for gifted learners. They provide the perfect outlet for creativity and create opportunities for students to display their learning in different ways.

They have several downloadable products in their e-store that apply the apps to specific content areas. I have my eye on several products that were designed specifically for third grade curriculum in Texas. Yay!

Not only have they created these wonderful techniques and products, but they have put together a fabulous website that provides all kinds of other resources for each subject area for FREE! It's obvious they have put lots of time into gathering the best ideas and they have put them all in one place- which is perfect for us busy teachers!

 This is only part of their science page. It's full of great links! No, I am not getting paid to advertise for them, I just genuinely loved their presentation and feel compelled to share!

It's worth your time to check out everything these ladies have to offer. If you're in Texas, check your regional service center sessions because they may be coming to your area soon! You won't want to miss what they have to share!

Until then, check out their website for some fabulous ideas!

Recently, I tried using one of their strategies in my classroom and the kids LOVED it! It's called Forced Analogies. Forced analogies take two things and compare them using the format: _____ is like _____ because they both ______. The strategy is so versatile and it really makes kids (and teachers!) think.

Because I love this strategy so much, I created a file that contains 30 analogies. Here's a sample of what's included:

Included in this file are 10 analogies comparing various things, 10 math related analogies using geometric shapes, measuring tools, and numbers, and 10 grammar related analogies using adjectives, adverbs, verbs, etc. 

The students can think of the most basic ways the two things can be similar (they both start with 's'), or they can come up with creative answers. The goal is to come up with as many answers as possible. It's great for all types of learners and really gives your gifted kiddos a chance to tap into their creativity. It's also a great thing to pull out when you need to fill an extra five minutes! 

Grab your copy HERE!

If you have any issues downloading it, e-mail me and I can send it to you via e-mail. 

I'm looking forward to creating other things using the strategies these wonderful ladies presented about! 

 

Five for Friday May 10th

This has been one crazy, long, emotional week for me! I'm so tired I couldn't even come up with a creative name for this blog post!  I think I might just call and schedule myself a massage RIGHT NOW! The tease of a massage I got from my awesome partner during conference today wasn't quite enough to work out all the kinks!

Anyway, it's Friday, which means it's time to link up with Doodlebugs!

1) Snowballs!

This week I pulled out one of my favorite tricks- the snowball fight! We used this to practice contractions and of course the kids were in love. Throw a snowball, pick it up, write the contraction. Simple.  Of course, they had to make sentences with all of those wonderful contractions! They weren't getting off the hook that easily!

2) Class store with student-made products!

I let my little ones use a little creativity this week and create some products to add to our usual selection at our class store. They designed a product, created a short "commercial," and sold their products to the rest of the students. They were so cute and creative!

3) Happy Teacher Appreciation Week- to myself!!!

I decided to treat myself and bought books on Amazon- some that have been on my wish list for awhile now and some that I saw last week on a mentor text link up. It's pathetic how excited I get over brand new books! My favorite one is called If I Built a Car. I can't wait to read this to the kids in a few weeks and have them design their own car! Thanks to AMC from Looking From Third to Fourth for sharing!

4) Writing Offices

I finally made writing offices!  I have wanted to make them all year, but never got around to it. They are a little bland right now, but I really just wanted to try them out and see how I would like them. I love the way the room feels when they are up, and the kids like them, too! These little babies will definitely be something I use starting at the beginning of the year next year!

I used this adorable COPS sheet from The Eager Teachers in the offices. Click on the link to get your own copy!

5) Chipotle!

My teammate and I enjoyed the buy one get one free offer from Chipotle this week for Teacher Appreciation Day. Delicious!

Alrighty- time to make a date with my recliner and RELAX! Can't wait to spend time with my amazing mom this weekend. Head over and link up with Doodlebugs!

Happy Weekend and Happy Mother's Day!!!

Must Read Mentor Text Linky: My Rotten Redheaded Older Brother

Happy Sunday!

Here in Texas, the weather is absolutely beautiful- a perfect 70 degrees, lots of sunshine, and a nice breeze.
This gorgeous weather puts me in the mood to blog -finally- after all these weeks!

This week I am linking up for the first time with Collaboration Cuties for their Must-Read Mentor Text Linky. I am so excited to join and be a part of it. I have been reading the posts from past weeks and I have gained numerous ideas and added NUMEROUS books to my cart on Amazon. These things can be dangerous, but they are oh-so wonderful!

This week's topic is language arts. The book I chose is called My Rotten Redheaded Older Brother by Patricia Polacco.

Polacco is an author that we study all year. She is an author illustrator, which is awesome, but she also writes autobiographically.

In this story, the main character, Patricia (the author as a little girl), is annoyed with her brother, Richard, who always claims he can do anything better than she can. He's the typical annoying older brother who taunts and teases and boasts until Patricia has had enough. She wishes on a star for the chance to do something- anything- better than Richard, and when her wish comes true, she realizes that even though Richard may annoy and bother her, he still cares about and loves her tremendously. (I'm keeping the summary short so I don't ruin the book if you haven't read it before!)

At surface level, this book is perfect for making connections because almost all students have siblings (except for those only children like me :) ), so they connect immediately to the sibling dynamic at the beginning of the book.

However, this story can be taken to a much deeper level. The story lends itself perfectly to analyzing character relationships because the siblings essentially can't stand each other at the beginning of the story, but by the end, they realize the love they have for each other and develop a new level of mutual respect.

It's also great for analyzing character traits at various points in a story. Each of characters display different traits at different points in the story depending on the event occurring. At the beginning, the reader sees Richard as selfish, arrogant, and annoying. By the end, the reader sees that he is caring, protective, and loves his sister. We have great discussions about the turning point in the story and how this one event impacts both characters in such a big way. This provides a springboard for excellent conversations.

Because Polacco writes autobiographically, the book is written in first person. We discuss how this point of view effects the story and how it would have been different if it had been written from Richard's point of view.

Polacco has also written an autobiography called Firetalking in which she discusses how she gets ideas for writing, how she goes about creating a new story, and tells stories from her real life. It provides the perfect connection when we get to the biography/autobiography unit later in the year after we have read her picture books.

This year, I read My Rotten Redheaded Older Brother the second week of school just on a whim one day and I am so glad I did. It provided such an excellent foundation for all the literary discussions we had the rest of the year. Richard and Patricia are a part of our classroom culture and we refer back to them frequently when reading other books and discussing other characters.

I highly recommend this story! It is great for a number of topics and engaging for kids.

Now it's your turn! Share your favorite book for Language Arts and link up with the cuties! I can't wait to head back over, blog hop, and fill up my cart with new books!

May Currently

Well, another week has passed and I have yet to post anything worth reading!

I'm not sure what's happening to me, but I have been exhausted every night. I finally got on my blog reel tonight and seeing the 200+ unread blog posts about gave me a heart attack!

Anywho... I decided to link up for the first time ever with Farley for her May currently!

 It's not much to read, but the graphic was so cute this month, I couldn't pass it up!

Eventually I will be back to post about something we have been doing in the classroom. Tomorrow? Doubtful- school carnival. Sunday? Eh, we'll see!!!

I promise I have actually been teaching :)

Have a restful weekend!!!

Sabra's 200 Follower Giveaway!

Hey guys!

I have been SUPER MIA lately, but I promise I will be back soon with at least some half-decent ideas :)

In the meantime, head on over to Sabra's blog at Teaching With a Touch a Twang for her 200 follower giveaway! I am so excited for this lovely little lady! I am so blessed to have met her through this wonderful bloggy world! She always has such great ideas!

I have two goodies in the mix for the winner- Sailing Through Text Features and Scooping Up Homophones.

 Head on over, follow her blog if you don't already, and enter yourself to win!

Good luck!