Monday, January 14, 2013

Tell Me Something Good

Well, the temperature has not climbed above the 30 degree mark and so I'm in the mood to look for something good with Jennifer over at Rowdy in First Grade.


Something Good From School: I have two good things to share.  I'm currently directing the 4th and 5th grade play called Once Upon a Mattress   We are one month from our opening night performance and the cast is doing a fantastic job.  My second goodie from school is that my teammate just welcomed a healthy, happy baby boy on Sunday.  Welcome to the world, Parker! 

Something Good From Home: My gallery shelves are finally up at home.  I found another inspiration picture on Pinterest and I quickly got down to business creating my own gallery wall shelves to hold all of my family photos.  Check that off the list!



Keep your head up and STAY POSITIVE,

Saturday, January 12, 2013

Reader's Response Freebie

Hey Everyone-
The snow has just started falling and I'm snuggled warm inside working on this freebie for you all!  Well, truth be told, it's for some kiddos in my class who could benefit from the outline structure.  My 4th and 5th graders are expected to turn-in weekly responses about our read aloud book. (Currently, Out of My Mind by Sharon M. Draper)


Within the reader's response, the student has to provide a summary of the main events that take place including the title of the text and author.  The second paragraph is when the student demonstrates the use of two reading strategies including text support and a reflective statement that requires students to prove how the strategy has helped them.  The final statement is an overall lesson that demonstrates a key understanding of the text.  When this is all rolled together it becomes a challenging and exciting way for students to share their thinking!



Head over to my TpT account to download your copy today!

Enjoy,


Sunday, January 6, 2013

Changing Blog Font

Everyday I find myself learning something new about blogging or learning how to add personalized touches to my blog.  This is very exciting for me since I've built my blog from the ground up by watching helpful videos or reading about tips from other bloggers.

Today, I'd like to thank Christi over at Ms. Fultz's Corner for showing me how to add a unique font to my blog.  Blogger does have a variety of fonts, but sometimes they just don't seem to have what I'm looking for.  Thanks to Christi's helpful video and few clicks I was able to change the font of my blog. The name of this font is called Happy Monkey.  :)



Be sure to check out her video if you're interested in learning how to add a unique font to your blog.

Happy Fonting,

Friday, January 4, 2013

The day has finally come!

It's finally here and I have mixed emotions about it being the last day of Winter Break.  I'm ready to get back on schedule and into the swing of things, but I LOVE that I've been able to tackle projects, enjoy my house and visit with family and friends.

I'll confess, I haven't touched any of my school work until just recently.  My school bag and I kept having a starring contest until it finally won the battle the other night.

What I'm really proud of is the projects that I was able to accomplish.  A huge thank you to the website, Pinterest.  As all of my inspiration for these projects came from there.

Project 1
The Inspiration

The Result
You can't see it, but we have little red hearts on our states.

Project 2
The Inspiration

The Result

Project 3
The Inspiration

The Result


So you can see that my projects may not have been school related, but I still feel like my break has been a huge success!

Enjoy!

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Look What I Found!

Jennifer over at Smiply Kinder is having a giveaway for a Classroom Friendly Supplies Pencil Sharpener   I've heard nothing but positive things about this sharpener and I can't wait to get my hands on one.  Head on over to her blog to enter in the giveaway!




May your pencils be forever sharp!

Guys Read Linky Party

This rockin' party is brought to you by Courtney over at Swimming in Second.  Be sure to stop on over and sign up for the party as she is offering a $25.00 Amazon gift card!  SCORE!


Well, I don't have a long list of books for boys, but I do have one fabulous recommendation that kept my boys begging for more!  The book is called The Limit by Kristen Landon.



Thirteen-year-old Matthew Dunston lives in a world much like our own until his family goes over a financial limit.  As a result, The Federal Debt Rehabilitation Agency has taken custody of Matt and placed him in a workhouse.  Now, most would consider a workhouse to be like factory with endless rows of nonsense work.  However, for Matthew Dunston, he's lucked out by being placed on the "Top Floor" which is reserved for only the brightest around.  Everything he needs is right at his finger tips and only a computer click away.  It's not until when Matt's sister becomes a part of the system that he begins to dig deeper and discover that things aren't as wonderful as appear to be and his chances of getting out of the workhouse before he's 18 are slim and slipping away! 

Caution: The end of the book does have a gun involved, but my teamie and I made some simple changes to keep the story appropriate for our audience.

With my kiddos loving the book so much I seized upon the opportunity to write letters to Kristen Landon to share our love.  Mrs. Landon was kind enough to email back with answers to our questions and even offered a Skype session to chat more about the book!  My kiddos were beaming from ear to ear about being offered the chance to Skype with a live author!  Who knew that a read aloud could lead to so much more!

Be sure to check it out!

Enjoy,


Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Happy 2013!

Hey Folks!

I know it's been ages, but here's to dusting off the keyboard and giving this blogging another go.


Thanks to Farley for giving me a reason to dust off the board!

Cheers,