Testing Motivation

Hi everyone!

Well.....the week is here.  The culmination of everything that I do has been crammed into one long test, and it is here.  I am sure you can all sense how truly "excited" I am that testing is going on out in rural land where I teach.  Unfortunately, one of the "perks" of working with third graders is the dreaded EOG.  My kids have been working SO hard on their tests, and I am very proud of them!

Now that I have had some time on the soapbox, I wanted to share a few motivational things that I did for my kids each morning before their test.  I wish that I could say that I came up with these ideas all on my own and made the printables all on my own, but I totally didn't :)  To see the real creative genious behind these cutsie ideas, follow the links!

Tuesday:

Please envision the airhead that was taped to the letter before the kids gobbled it up:)  They were so surprised and excited to see their treat!  I got the idea from Adventures of Ms. Smith.  She has a SUPER cute blog!!

Wednesday:

The boys especially enjoyed this one!  I honestly found this printable one time online and now I cannot find it again!  NOOOO!!  If anyone sees or knows where this came from I would love to give them credit!

Thursday:

Glow bracelets with cutie pie notes from Fun in First.  I like this one because it is not candy;)

To all testing teachers-I hope you are having a stress free experience!  Ciao for now!!

Holy long time no blog!!!

Hello blog world!!  I feel like I have not had a single second to get online and get blogging since idkkkkk January?  (January 9th to be exact:))

The main reason for this is my stress load at school.  This is only my 3rd year teaching, so I only have two other groups of students to compare them too, but this group of kids is demanding a lot of my time.  I have definitely had to learn a lot about differentiated instruction this year, that is for sure!  Not to mention all those little 3 letter acronyms that consume most of my time at home.  IEP, PEP, EOG, PLC......you get the drift.  Anddd to top it all of NC is going over to the common core, which is a good thing, but is something that I am going to have to learn about.

The second reason for my leave of absence has been that my BESTIE was getting married!!!  And, being the matron of honor, I had a LOT of matronly duties to attend to:)

Me (left) and Grayson back in 3rd grade!!

But, I am back now, and have really missed catching up on all of the inspirational things that you all have to say!!  Blogging is definitely an outlet for me to find out what other teachers are doing and going through, and I can't wait to get caught back up!

Here are a few highlights from my few months while I was out of the loop!!

Valentine Candy Heart Graphing

Our class was donated a set of chapter books (Loser by Jerry Spinelli)  from Donor's Choose!!

I've been wondering:

**How did changing to the common core make teaching different for you?

**How do you find it easiest to differentiate instruction??

Valentines Day Monster Unit and Linky!

Head over to Oh' Boy Fourth Grade and link up!



 Farley has a fabulous blog for upper elem grades, and there is a giveaway!  Can't beat that!  She is celebrating reaching 1,000 followers with a "Currently" posting.  Check out mine:

Her ideas about "olw" or one little word, are really inspiring.  I need more of that in my life!

Also, check out my new Valentine Unit!!  This unit has a lot of fun activities for several different subject areas.  There is math (addition, subtraction, fractions, graphing, and division), crafts, and a reading smartboard series of lessons on figurative language.  There are also posters included in the unit.  I can't wait to use it during the week of Valentines Day!  Click here to check it out!!

Happy Tuesday!!!

2011 in Pictures-Linky Party!

I am super excited to be joining the linky party happening in Runde's Room!  I wish I could say I was just as excited about going back to work tomorrow;)  I have been blogging for almost a year, and I am so grateful for all of the ideas and inspiration that I get from each of you!  To join up in the linky party, click the picture "a year in pictures".  It will take you to Runde's Room! Anyway, here are some of my favorite memories from 2011!! 

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory FREEBIE!

Happy (almost) New Year!  To ring in the new year, I want to share an activity that I have done with my kids for the past two years.  It is a Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Project that we do at the completion of the CATCF novel. The project covers the topics of summarization, letter writing, descriptive narratives, and adjectives.   I would love to share my template and directions with you if you are interested in the project.  STEP 1:  Follow my blog, and STEP 2:  leave a comment with your email address.  Once you have done that your CATCF freebie will be on it's way!  The kids LOVE making these characters, and they always turn out so darn cute!  Here are a few pics of our projects!

WE MADE IT!

It's the most wonderful time of the year!  Christmas break!  I sure do LOVE teaching around Christmastime, but I sure do LOVE when we get a nice long break too!  Here are a few highlights from our last week of school!

Christmas around the world:  Welcome to France!! My teammates and I each took one country to teach to our classes in a rotation, and I was in charge of France!  Here are a few pictures from the day-

Noel Banners with construction paper, glue, and glitter



File folder passports



Yules Logs-Swiss Rolls:)

French "Yule Logs"

Yummy!

Reindeer Hands and Feet- This must be the oldest craft in the book, but my kids loved it!  And they definitely personalized all of the reindeer! So stinkin' cute!

And-as promised, pictures of our cinnamon ornaments!  Mix Cinnamon, applesauce, glue, and a little water for some amazing smelling ornaments!

Merry Christmas Everyone!!

Revisiting the Glory Days.....and apple cinnamon ornaments!

My husband and I were hanging out with some of our friends tonight, laughing about "the good ole' days"-or the "not so good ole' days" depending on which story we are telling at the time:) HA!  When we got home I was perusing through old pictures, and what should I find but a video of us back at cheerleading practice! (My husband and I met on a college cheer team-GO PIRATES!)  Anyway-have a chuckle for yourself!

Anyway-at school this past week we dug into the vivid vocabulary from the Polar Express!  So far so good!  My kids and I are pushing through these last couple of weeks until Christmas, and I am sure that you are too!  I am taking the whole Elf on the Shelf thing really seriously:)  If you are interested in my Polar Express Unit, check it out here!  There is still time to do the unit before Christmas! 

The Polar Express

We are also going to be making Cinnamon applesauce ornaments.  The recipe is super easy, the room smells amazing when they are done!  I'll be posting my own pictures and recipe next week, but if you want to try it with your own kiddos, I found a great blog about it called 5 orange potatoes. Check it out:

http://www.5orangepotatoes.com/blog/2009/12/03/cinnamon-applesauce-ornaments/

Have a fabulous week!