Prayers

After finding out that we lost a staff member suddenly over the weekend, I didn't think my day could get any worse.  The news of OK has added an extra heaviness to my heart.

I will be saying prayers for OK, for all of my students and co-workers, my family and friends, and for all of you.  Life is too short.  Please hug your loved ones tonight, and always.

Synthesizing with a GREAT book!

Hey Everyone!  I am so excited to share a fun project you can do with your students to practice their "synthesizing!"

What is synthesizing?

We talk about it as being the 

BIG IDEA or the

 Author's Message

I've done these two things to show synthesizing.  We first talk about this picture:

the kids tell me the "details" of the picture

~sand

~water

~sunset

~people

~clouds

And then we talk about the BIG IDEA of the picture- this is the "Frame" that might be put around the picture.

We end up with- the beach or even family time on the beach.

I've also used nesting dolls to represent synthesizing too...

Each idea builds on another until you have the Big Idea!

We were just in the midst of practicing this tough skill when I was contacted by the author of this book:

by Vincent A. Mastro

(click on picture to check out the book)

It was the "ah ha" moment I needed... YES Fables were perfect to help the kids see the Big Idea or the Author's Message!!

So my brain started on overdrive.. how can I incorporate this great book with this skill and still have a cute outcome??

Cue cute project (thanks TpT!)

 

Spring Fever Butterflies

So here is what we did...

I started by sharing a story called The Fox and the Stork in the first grade Basal

and we filled out an organizer together.

Once they knew the expectation of finding the "Big Idea" and the details of the story, I sent them off to work with a partner to read one of the the 3 fables from the 1st Book of Childhood Adventures.

They had a copy of the story and their highlighters ready!

It was so cute to see them intently reading the story and highlighting the important information.  This book is so well written and really captivated the interest of my students! :)

(plus the illustrations are amazing!)

Then they used the information they highlighted to fill out the organizer.

This was really "key" because I could quickly see who got it and who didn't.  Then I could do a short reteach using the text (I could also see who truly understood the story!)

Click for organizer

Once they completed the organizer and had it checked, they moved on to creating their butterfly!!

They grabbed the materials they needed

And started writing their notes from the organizer onto the parts of the butterfly.

And then cut, glued, and added more to the butterfly...they turned out SO cute!!

And they look adorable hanging in the room!

I'd love for you to check out the great book used in this lesson (and the just released companion book which I will be purchasing!!)

I am also VERY excited to be able to give a copy of either book (your choice) away!  Please leave a comment below with your email and let me know how you might use the book. 
(Vincent will be thrilled to hear your ideas!)

I will pick a book winner on Saturday (5/18)

Don't forget about the other giveaway that will end Thursday night!

Thanks so much for reading!

I Appreciate You--- Lots of Stuff Giveaway!

Happy Teacher Week!
As a teacher myself, I KNOW how hard a teacher works.  I know that we can't just leave our work at work.  We are constantly trying to learn, create, discover, adapt, and change our way of teaching.

We cut in front of the T.V.

Grade at dinner

Plan at kids sporting events

and Blog/FB/Instagram/TpT more than we should...

But that is what makes us good teachers.

I appreciate all your hard work as you are molding the future!!

I wanted to do a little giveaway to show my appreciation for you teachers...PLUS..
all the great followers out there!
Love you guys! :)

So onto the GIVEAWAY!

There will be FOUR Winners!!

Winner 1 will get a $25 gift card to either Amazon or Target!!

Winner 2 will get to pick out $25 worth of stuff from my store!!

Winner 3 will win ALL of my math stuff 
(7 PRODUCTS- over $30 value!)

Winner 4 will win any two products of their choice from my TpT store!

LOTS of ways to enter!
LOTS of stuff to win!!

Good Luck!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Five for Friday through Instagram

Well there must be pigs flying somewhere because I can't believe I'm going to say this.... if you are not on Instagram... get on there fast!  I'm seriously in looove ;)

It is SO easy to post pics of things going on in my classroom, and I can catch up on my favorite bloggers too!  

So, my Five for Friday will be shown through my pics I took this week :)

1. Mystery Student

I shared last week that I was going to try this out... it's working like a charm!  If you look carefully you can see the envelope hanging from our maps in the bottom picture.  Yes, it's just hanging there...watching their every move... and all I have to do is point to the envelope and they are magically quiet again.  ahhhh :)

2. Mother's Day

The kids had a lot of fun making their Mother's Day projects.  We created the cards above with "gifts" for mom to "pick" (written on the stems of the flowers).  The kids loved decorating the flowers.

We also made note cards for mom too!

The kids drew a picture of their family and we printed it on card stock, folded, and included envelopes.  They turned out SO cute!!

3.  Field Trip

Don't you just love bus rides!  Yes I know a teacher's worst nightmare is a long bus ride on a field trip.  Luckily our ride was only about 10 minutes into our downtown.  We went on a guided walking tour of the downtown area and the kids learned about some of the history, architecture, and stories about our town.

We even toured our City Hall and stepped into the Mayor's office...

I just love how they are all hovering over his desk like they are going to uncover some kind of secret!  It was a fun trip!

4.  CAFE

I just love this!  I snapped this pic while I was at another school in my district.  They have the CAFE letters and the corresponding books below the letters.  The books are labeled with the letter and the matching color.  I love this and plan to make something similar during the summer!

5.  Teacher Appreciation Week!

How was your week?  We were showered with kindness all week.  

Monday- letters from the kids

Tuesday- catered luncheon

Wednesday- letters from the parents

Thursday- flowers from the kids

Friday- gift card to get lunch

I sure did feel the love!

"Thank you for being my teacher.  You made math fun a lot.  I wish you could be my teacher in third grade."

(makes my heart melt!)

I'd love for you to follow along with me during the week... I will most definitely be posting to Instagram more often than I get to blog.  You can find me here.

Have a nice weekend and I will be back VERY SOON with a giveaway!!

Double Digit Subtraction Giveaway and Sale!!

In case you hadn't heard by now ;)  the GIANT TpT sale is on it's way... just in time for Teacher Appreciation week!  I'm SOO excited!!  I have a TON of stuff on my wishlist that I can't wait to buy!  What are you excited to buy??

I wanted to do a quick share of a new product which led to a bundled product...both I am VERY excited about!!

The Subtraction Pack has two strategies (no, not that "borrowing" strategy!) that I worked on with my kiddos this year.  It went so well that I created a subtraction unit to go along with the addition version:

I love them both so much that I though that maybe there'd be someone out there that might want both together so I bundled them for HUGE savings...

Make sure you click the links to learn more about them!!  AND... I want to give one away (your choice!!)  This will be a pin to win giveaway!  Just pin one and leave the link in the comments.  You can pin each separately for THREE chances to win!!

Giveaway will end TUESDAY night!

ALSO!!!!  Make sure you are a FACEBOOK follower... I will be doing some Top Secret things there all week!!

Five for Friday

 

Here we go... another installment of Five for Friday! :)  Thanks to Doodle Bugs for the great linky!

 

1. Mother's Day!

 

Boy are the weeks just FLYING BY!!  We started our Mother's Day cards this past week with more to complete next week!  I actually got a "this is so fun" today... that is music to my ears!

 

 

We will be making the above cards and note cards for mom!

You can see the above card project HERE

 

 

2.  Do I have enough money?

 

I LOVE this activity!  We have been practicing counting combinations of coins.  I have a fun activity (here) where the kids get a bag of coins and they count how much is in the bag.  They write it on the recording sheet and then I put up an item to "buy"

 

They are dying to see if they have enough money...I usually get cheers and boos depending if they have enough or not.  It's super fun!!

 

 

 

 

3.  Flowers

 

My hubby surprised me with flowers!  cue...awww...

He left them in my car for me to bring to school.  I had to share because they were just so bright and colorful!!

 

 

 

 

4.  Resorting to "gimmicks"...

 

Yes, it is that time of year.  Gimmick time!

 

 

My class is falling apart at the seams as it gets closer to the end!  I have decided to start the "mystery student" on Monday.  I've already got my first student ready to go in the envelope.  Here's crossing my fingers my sweet chickadees fall into this trap love this new totally educational activity. ;)

 

 

 

5.  Instagram Addiction

 

I seriously have to laugh at this one.  I was JUST telling a friend that I just don't need anymore things to do.  With 3 emails to check, 3 Facebook accounts, this blog, all kinds of messaging etc... I'm up to my eyeballs in technology madness.

And then comes "Instagram."  Ugh.  I am so mad that I even decided to peek at it.  It is so  addicting that I just HAVE to check it almost as much as everything else!!  Yes, I'm posting to that darn thing more than Facebook!  Plus its fun to play with the look of your photos...

I'll be posting about this fun project SOON!!

 

 

You can follow me HERE  hehe.. I know you want yet another way to follow me! :)

 

 

How was your week?

How many weeks/days left for you?