Fresh Beginnings

Happy Tuesday!  I told all of you yesterday that I am making some pretty significant life changes, and in keeping with that, I have decided to start a new blog, called Life in my Sneakers.  It will follow more of my personal life changes and accomplishments since I won't actually be in the classroom anymore.  **tears**  Please follow me by using the link below to check out what's going on "in my sneakers"!

Life in my Sneakers

Changes are coming!

Hello blog world!

It has literally been 7 months since I posted anything...slacker much?  Things were just really busy and crazy with school, and I needed to prioritize my time.  Unfortunately, that meant blogging took a backseat.  When I logged on today, it felt good to find out my followers have almost doubled during my absence!  Wow-Thanks to all of you for your support!

Part of the reason that I have been absent is that I have been in the process of making some life changes-one being that I am leaving the classroom.  I decided to pursue a degree in administration, and I will be going back to school for the next 2 years with the North Carolina Principal Fellows Program.  This has been a REALLY exciting change for me, but I also find myself sad at the thought that I won't have "my kids" anymore.  It's kind of like that bittersweet feeling that you get on the last day of school, but a lot worse!  I LOVE teaching, and I will miss it TERRIBLY.  But, I think that a degree in school administration is the best decision for my family in the long run, so that is the path I will take.  Hopefully, I can work in an elementary school, so that I won't be too far removed from sweet kiddos.  I also get time with little ones at church on Sundays, and that helps!

There have been a few other changes and events in my life too-Here are the last 7 months in a flash!

My litte bro graduated from college!  Arrgh!  So proud of him!

One of my besties and I ran the Flying Pirate Half Marathon in Kitty Hawk, NC.  I beat my PR by 30 minutes, and lost 15 pounds while training!

My husband and I revisited our honeymoon destination in Gatlinburg TN, and did some hiking-Both of these are photos from one of the hikes that we did.

I am actually standing at the edge of a cliff in this photo, but it is so hard to tell because of the giant CLOUD that blew in when we reached the jump off!

My mom retired from a lifetime career in education!  Talk about inspiration!

So, with all of the changes that will be going on in my life, I do intend to continue to post about the goings on that happen, but I will no longer be a third grade teacher, so the content may change a bit.  Thank you so much for all of your support over the past couple of years.  Get out there and enjoy some of that summer sun!

Trying to Get Ahead...

Hey bloggies!

With our school switching to common core this year, I think that **finally*  after about 1 1/2 weeks off of work, I have caught up.

Maybe.

Maybe Not.  


But, I feel ahead of the game because my math games for February are all made and ready!  (and my house is clean!!!)  I created a Valentine's Day Math Centers packet that is for sale on TPT for only $4!  Check it out!  The games review the topics of multiplication, multiplication and division fact families, rounding, and telling time.  Anyway, I hope that your break was wonderful and that you did NO work, like I wish I could have!

Valentine Math Centers

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Valentine-Math-Centers

3rd Grade gets Grinchy....without a camera!?!?

It's the most wonderful time of the year!!  And no, it is not summer break!  I actually enjoy Christmas break a LOT more than summer break, for quite a few reasons:

1.  I only need about 2 weeks to regenerate....2 months leads to boredom and unnecessary spending.

2.  Time with family

3.  My husband is off work for a few days

4.  Fun dresses for parties

5.  Pea Coats

6.  Presents:  hubby's birthday, our anniversary, and Christmas

7.  The crazy chance that there COULD MAYBE be a dusting of snow

Need I say more?  Christmas break is just my favorite!  

Over the past couple of weeks I have been doing a lot of super fun different Christmas activities from my classroom, and unfortunately, have not had a camera to capture every moment...blah.  That being said, here is the recap of Christmas in 3rd grade using pictures from the actual creators of the ideas!  Click the link below each picture to visit the website from where I got my idea!

Grinch Day!!

I decided this year to give "Grinch Day" a try, and it actually ended up being more of "Grinch Week".  I had to spread out the activities so that I could spend an adequate amount of time on each one!

Math-3rd grade is currently working on multi-step problem solving (I know you feel my pain here...), and it is so hard!! I chose to use a homemade powerpoint using Grinch themed questions and images to help motivate.  The kids thought it was a hoot!  

Reading-  We started out with a lesson on character traits, and I took this idea from Teaching in High Heels. First, you read aloud the book How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and then you work as a class to come up with character traits to describe the Grinch.  In the idea online, she used adjectives:

http://teachinginhighheels.blogspot.com/

The next day, we had a mini-lesson on similes and metaphors from the song "You're a mean one, Mr. Grinch".  LOVED this activity!!  That song is full of metaphors, with a few similes too!  The students had a paper copy with the lyrics from the song, and had to highlight the similes and metaphors in two different colors of highlighters.  Then, each kids wrote an acrostic poem using the letters GRINCH, and writing similes to make up the poem.  They had a great time with this, too!  We also made paper grinches to go along with the poem.  In case you need a refresher:

On the last day of school, we had Grinch punch, which is just sprite, vanilla ice cream, food coloring, and some green sprinkles, and also we made Christmas trees from Whoville, which were sugar cones, white icing, made green with food coloring, and small candies for the ornaments.  We enjoyed all of this while watching the cartoon version of the movie.

idea from:  Kids Creative Chaos

idea from:  Taste of Home

We also spent some time doing holiday writing, using apple cinnamon ornaments and The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg as inspiration.  The kids always enjoy these activities.  To visit my post about apple cinnamon ornaments, click HERE. To see my polar express writing unit on TPT, click HERE.

HO HO HO!  Merry Christmas!  I hope you all enjoy the Holidays as much as I will!

Man on the Moon Timeline

Hello blog world!

It's been a hot second since I posted last.  I know you all feel the pain.  It seems like no matter how prepared you THINK you are during the summer, there is a massive amount of catching up to be done as soon as school starts back.  But, the good news is that I have a fantabulous group of kids this year, and it has been nothing but fun to head into work every day.

This week, our focus reading skill is sequencing, and today we were doing some sequencing with nonfiction work.  Integration is being pushed big time at school, so we first visited a website to learn about Neil Armstrong and the first space visit.  After that, we made one large timeline as a class.  I was pleasantly surprised at how well my kids delegated tasks!  Here are a few pictures from the lesson:

Each group was assigned a specific date from the events involving the first lunar landing.

Then they delegated tasks:  who would write the sentence, who would draw what part of the picture, who would add the color, etc.

They were so sweet to each other during the work, and were definitely constructive in their suggestions!

We also FINALLY finished up our book boxes today.  They are still in need of some modge podging by yours truly, but the kids have glued down their magazine clippings.  

**Future advice I wish I had known:  Give the kids at least an hour.  30 minutes is really just not enough time:)

That's all for now!  

Reading and Writing Posters

It's almost here!  Back to school time!!  In preparation, I have been using pinterest for my own personal professional development:)  Sometimes I think maybe looking at pictures of other people's classrooms and ideas can be just as useful as actual professional development! Just maybe;)

Anyway, I was inspired after seeing a couple of classroom posters:  one for reading book nooks, and one for writing rubrics.  I am sticking with my "free is for me" theory in preparation for the school year, so I didn't buy any new posterboard, even though colored posters would definitely be cuter:)

Book Nooks-Students will know where they need to be during reader's workshop.  I will use clothespins with student names on them to show which student belongs at which spot.

This is a writing rubric to leave up in the room to help students know what is expected of them during writer's workshop.

Now, let me say that these are COMPLETELY copied from pinterest.  I mean, right down to the stories that are on the writing rubric.  But, I made my own version, so I figured I would share it with my followers anyway.    Here are a few more pictures, up close.  I hope these pictures inspire you for ways to manage your classroom this fall!

Have you taken on any pinterest projects for this upcoming school year?

Reader's and Writer's Notebooks

Hello and Welcome to AUGUST!!

Can you believe it is already August!?  Where did the last 2 months go!?  I don't know about all of you, but while I love summertime, I am secretly excited about getting back into the swing of things.  Shhh....don't tell.

Anyway, in preparation for next year, I spent some time making sample Reader's and Writer's notebooks for my kids to see before the make their own this year.   And, for your viewing pleasure, I have included a step by step guide for you!  **Also, in keeping with my "save money" theory that I am trying to stick with this year, all of the materials that I used were scrounged up in my classroom and at home. 

Step 1:  Start out with a marble notebook, construction paper, scissors, marker, glue, and tape.  I ask my kids to bring in marble notebooks, but a notebook with rings would be fine too:)

Step 2:  Decide how you would like your students to divide their notebooks.  I decided for my reading notebook, that I would have 4 sections:  Notes (10 pages), Class Work (30 pages), My Reading (30 pages), and Guided Reading (30 pages).  You should know this in advance so that you do not allot too many pages to any one section. 

Cut the construction paper to fit the size of the pages in the notebook.  Fold that page to make 2 triangles.  They will not "line up".

Step 3:  Cut the paper into 2 triangles.  You will need to do this for as many dividers as you want to have.  I have 4 triangles, which took two sheets of construction paper.



Step 4:  Label the construction paper with the headings that you would like them to have.  I used red marker to match the red front of my notebook, and I chose to have all of the dividers look the same, to make the notebook more cohesive.

Step 5:  Glue the pages down only around the two edges that are on the sides of the notebook.  (This will be the two sides which make a right triange.)  I also used tape to reinforce.  The construction paper should make a pocket on the page.

You can see the tape on the side of the page.  This will help ensure the construction paper does not fall out or peel up.

This is how the paper will serve as a pocket.

Step 6:  Repeat the steps for the remainder of the pages in the notebook.  Use the extra construction paper to create a title for the front of the notebook.  I chose for my title to match the rest of the dividers in the notebook.



**For my writing notebook, I followed the same process.  I chose to have 3 sections in the writing notebook:  Notes (10 pages), Writing (All pages in the middle of the notebook), and Words (the last 4 pages).  I used a word wall template on the last four pages for students to record new vocabulary and tricky words to use as a reference when they are writing.  There are pictures of the Writer's Notebook below.

Writer's Notebook

dividers

Individual Word Wall for each notebook

Finished Products!

Best of Luck on getting everything ready for the year!