Dr. Seuss! {freebies}

Hi Everyone!  I wasn't planning on posting today...yet... there's NO Grey's and NO Glee 

----> :( sad face.   Seriously... I live for Thursdays and neither show was on tonight.

So here I am ready to share with you..

and that makes me ---->  :-)

Dr. Seuss' birthday is Saturday!  Did you know he would have been 109 this year! :)  I LOVE to spend the week reading many of his classics and having my students regain a love for his books (they forget as BIG second graders how fun they are to read!).

Here's a fun fact I learned...

Dr. Seuss's real name is Theodor Geisel.  He

 put "Dr." with Seuss (his middle name and his

 mother's maiden name) to create his pen

 name.  He wrote some beginning reader 

books and signed his name Theo. Lesieg

Which is actually Geisel backwards.  These

 books were the some of the only books not

 illustrated by him.  Interesting right?? :)

I leave out a bunch of his books for the kids to enjoy all week.  They write the books they read on a "cat in the hat" hat and write a sentence about the book.  

We will be making this ADORABLE art found on Pinterest:

I also found this super fun one too...

I have two freebies for you today... first is a fun math word problem sheet- there are two versions as one is much more difficult than the other.  I am not the original creator of this I just spruced it up a bit.

click above to get word problems

The other is a letter we send home at the end of our week.  We have the kids "dress up" in a fun way to represent one of Dr. Seuss' books like- silly socks for "Fox in Socks" or wacky clothes for "Wacky Wednesday."  To get the letter click below:

What do you do for his big day??

Have a GREAT FRIDAY!!

We will be in meetings all day learning about Math Common Core.  Our district will be rolling out Math this Fall and then ELA the next year.  If I learning anything worth sharing tomorrow I will pass it on to you! :)

President and Government FREEBIES!

Oh man have we been hit with some SNOW today.  If only it had come during the night there might have been a snow day.  I'm DYING for a snow day- I can only cross my fingers that the snow will continue through the night making it just impossible for the buses to get to school in the morning.. wink wink ;)

So, I am majorly behind on my posts for some reason!  This will have some of our president projects as well as a president/government freebie (sorry for the long post!)

We started off with a president research project and we had our Librarians help!  Each child drew a president's name randomly.  They researched about that president in books, encyclopedias and websites.  They compiled their facts into a paragraph and typed it into Power Point.  I know what you are thinking... second graders doing Power Point??  I actually said to the librarian... you are NUTS!  But you know what??  They did it and they did a REALLY good job!!  

She taught them how to copy and paste a picture into the slide and they typed their entire paragraph too!!  Finally, they read their paragraph into the Power Point!  It turned out AMAZING!!

We got our Art teacher involved too!  The kids learned how to draw their president... and can I say that they also turned out amazing.  Our Art teacher is all kinds of wonderful!  The art work was scanned into the Power Point and then they were hung in our hallway!

 

We have quite the artists!

This is pretty sweet! :)

While all that was going on, we focused our attention to good 'ole George and Abe.  We read from these fantastic books by Barbara Knox:

I love the simplicity of these books which makes it easy for us to "take notes."

Then the kids used their notes to help them complete a timeline:

Which leads me to the FREEBIE!  I put our note taking sheet, two time lines, AND our branches of government tree all in one little pack!  I realize that this maybe a tad bit late for some of you- print and file it away for next year.  OR if you are studying text structure- sequencing events is a biggie... practice with a recent topic! :)

Here is a look at the freebie:

 

(click here to get a copy)

I added our "tree," which really helped my students understand the three branches of government.  I used a GREAT Smart board lesson (from Smart Exchange) to help the kids find facts to go under each heading.  You can see the Smart lesson {here}

Phew!  We were BUSY learning about those presidents! :)

Now I am working on Black History Month (just squeezing it in :)

I am using my unit that has everything I need:

(it is on SALE right now!!)

Stay tuned as I will be sharing some great math posts about teaching double digit addition without the traditional algorithms!!  This has been quite a learning experience for both my students and me!!  Be on the look out for that as well as Dr. Seuss' birthday (March 2nd)!!

If you missed the color test (super fun and great for your team of teachers) click here to grab it!!

What is your true color? A linky!

Hey everyone!  My last post prompted me to go on a hunt for the "True Colors" personality test.  Like I mentioned, my principal had us take the test so we could learn our "color."  At first I rolled my eyes and thought...Really, you are going to label us with a color??  Well, little did I know that it would be so FASCINATING! I mean these colors really do represent us to a T! :)  The documents below help you understand people of that color and gives tips on how to improve personal relationships of that color too!

So, click the pic below to get the test.  It is just one little page long and then you have to do some quick math.  That is it!  The rest of the sheets have more details on the colors:

Then I thought, wouldn't it be fun to learn other blogger's color(s)?

So I ask you this question:

Here are all the colors:

My color?  I'm a gold-

Here is some of what I am all about ;)

Value responsibility and sense of DUTY above all else

Will follow through at all costs, dependable, true

Good at organizing vague, random thoughts and putting things into action

Detail oriented, predictable

Focus on the “here and now”

Like the Boy Scouts’ motto: Be prepared!

Yep, that is pretty much me in a nut shell!  I remember taking the test and my principal asking my color ... I said, "gold" and he said, "really?" Then from ACROSS the ROOM a teacher friend said,"Ohhh yeah she is!" hehe... she had me pegged :)

Take the test and let us know your color!  THEN give it to the people you work with the most... trust me you will learn a lot! 

Then come back here and LINK UP! 

(Don't have a blog?  That is ok!!  Take the test and leave your color in a comment below!) 

Have fun! :)

Hall Pass Linky!

Thanks Reagan @ Tunstall's Teaching Tidbits for putting this little linky together! :)

P- Product:

I'm so looking forward to doing all the things in this product... can't it just be MARCH already!! :)

A- Area:

This is a tough one... I think for ME it is my carpet/Smart board area.  Boy do I LOOOOVE my Smart board...more than I ever thought I would :)

(Yes I had a slight panic attack as they put that up and covered my white board!)

If you ask the kids... I bet they would say our reading area.  I have a couch in there that was MINE from my childhood... every time I look at it- it just reminds me of home.  They LOVE to sit and read there :)  Plus there are bean bag chairs..now who doesn't love to curl up and read on a bean bag chair?? :P

S- Signal:

I actually only have one.  Yep just one.  It is this guy:

 It is called Music Wand and it is ONLY $4.99!  It has a sweet chime sound that I use for all my transitions.  I'm not one to raise my voice in the slightest (and I have this pet peeve about talking across the room when it is quiet) so I just simply ring the chime to signal a transition.   It is funny because the kids see me get up to walk to the chime and they are usually cleaning up even before I get to the chime! :)

S- Sanity

My amazing teammates usually keep me sane.  I'm the freak out teammate...you know the one.. who needs to be calmed down.  They do that for me... tell me to breathe and find my happy place :) 

A couple years ago our principal made us take this color test (I NEED to find it and put it here for you to take)...well at first we were like...REALLY??  But you know what? It sure helps us understand how the others operate.  For example, I am a "gold"... the over analyzer, control freak who worries about things like... deadlines {gasp!}

My doll of a teammate is "blue."  She is the nurturer and wants everyone to get along.  She is a great balance to my goldness :)  

Love her!

:)  :)

Thanks for reading...I'm off to search for that color test!!  You will need to give it everyone you work with- you will learn A LOT about them! :)

Grouping objects in PPT {first video!}

OMG my first video!  Ok, seriously it took me all day to figure out how to record my computer screen, save the video, and upload to YouTube... but I.did.it. Phew! ;)

This may not be new to you- but it was exciting for me to finally figure out, so I thought I'd share for those who may not know.  I am NOT a PPT expert, but learning as I go :)

This video shows you how to group objects together...

 

I hope it is helpful to you!
Let me know if there are other things that you are stumped on in Power Point... I can't guarantee I know the answer, but I'd love to help! :)

Don't forget that the giveaway on my new Leprechaun Pack ends tonight (Tuesday!).  To go to that page... click {here}  To check out the new St. Patrick's Day pack... click {here}

ps... did anyone catch that I called my blog "Tori's Teachers Tips"? Geez... don't even know the name of my own blog! ;)

Leaping Leprechauns!

Top 'o the morning to you laddies! ;)

I am SOOO excited to share with you my St. Patrick's Day Product!

There are my most favorite things to do in this pack...things that I look forward to all year!  I can't wait to get started! :)

Contents:

~Traps to hats project with TWO leprechaun letters to the kids

~GIANT Leprechaun project with short activities on each body part.  Assemble to create a cute leprechaun to display!

~Graph it- two versions with the question: "Do you believe in leprechauns?", and "What is your favorite St. Patrick’s color?"  Kids survey, tally, and create a pictograph.

~Two “leprechaun loot” money sheets

~Addition and subtraction “spin a problem”

~Addition and subtraction fact sheets

~Nouns, verbs, and adjectives sorting activity with recording sheet

~Two St. Patrick’s Day poems

~Lucky and Unlucky creative writing sheet

~Mosaic shamrock coloring

~Happy St. Patrick's Day coloring sheet

~St. Patrick’s Day word scramble

~Two writing papers with prompts

~Leprechaun Beard Craft

~Leprechaun Hat Craft

~Leprechaun Construction Paper Mosaic Craft

The kids are SHOCKED with this one! ;)

Ok, so this turns out ADORABLE!!  They are large and super cute hanging in the hallway or classroom!  Plus tons of activities on each body part!! :)

   

 

Thanks to my little man for posing for the pics :)

There is SO much more than I have here in pictures!  Please let me know if you have any questions! I just know you will love it all!!

To check it out click {HERE}

I can't WAIT to give a pack away to a lucky follower!!

I will choose someone tomorrow night (Tuesday)- just leave ONE comment/email below!

ps.... my TpT Store is on sale TODAY ONLY!! (20% off!!)  Happy President's Day! :)

Stay tuned for some President and Government Freebies!