3rd Grade Gridiron

Craft "Happy Happy Happy!"

2013-05-18T09:21:00.000-04:00

Have you ever had one of those days where it's kind of a "me" day?

Today is that day for me!

I got up at 7:30, got ready, made my coffee,

and have a plan of attack for my "me" day.

So teaching stuff is taking the back burner today.

Crafting and decorating is taking center stage!

What's on your Saturday agenda?

It's Memory Book Time!!!

2013-05-16T20:30:00.000-04:00

In my best Pauly D voice - "It's Memory Book Time!!!"

Ok. Sorry. I'm a dork and YES, I watched the Jersey Shore.

I only have four more days with my kiddos. They have an autograph party tomorrow during Specials, so we busted out the memory books!

My kids had a blast getting started! I've never seen them

color with such focus and determination! :) And when

they started filling in names of BFF's...hilarity!

Kid #1 - "How do you spell your name?"

Kid #2 - "Wait a minute! What?!

We're friends and you don't even know how to spell my name?!"

What a hot mess!

If you're looking for a memory book and a super fun way to end the year,

I have this listed in all of my stores. Click the picture above for more details.

Ugh...Manners, PLEASE!

2013-05-15T17:43:00.000-04:00

Seriously.

I'm ready to stop teaching the CCSS and start teaching manners and respect. It's so hard to accomplish activities and lessons when certain kids are being rude to myself and their peers. I think it boils down to the fact that they don't respect themselves.

It's so discouraging to the hear the kids talk to each other the way they do. No matter how many lessons on manners and respect we have, they still fall back into their old ways. I have to stop teaching so often to stop arguments.

We're even a PBIS (Positive Behavioral Intervention and Supports) school. We have videos, lessons, and discussions each morning. We have posters all over the school. We even recite a creed every morning:

As a member of the Ferguson Elementary team, I will always be respectful, responsible, and a role model to everyone. I treat others the way I would like to be treated, and believe that anything is possible.

Sadly enough, some of these kids are lying each morning when they recite this creed. Why say it if you don't truly mean it? I know it's the end of the year, but this has been going on for 2-3 months.

Do you guys deal with this at all???

Mother's Day Fun!

2013-05-09T19:04:00.002-04:00

"Busy" doesn't begin to describe this week!

But we've almost made it - Friday!

We started our Mother's Day activities today.

The kids started working on their "Mom, You're FAB!" cards.

Their creativity never ceases to amaze me!

If you're still looking for a Mother's Day activity, I have this one listed in my store. Click HERE to check it out.

I hope all of you have a fabulous and fun Friday!

Motivation Monday: Sweet Notes of Appreciation

2013-05-06T18:50:00.000-04:00

I'm super busy tonight and don't have time for a long post,

but I did want to share this sweet note from a friend:

It brought an instant smile to my face

and helped keep me motivated throughout the day!

I hope that ALL of you have an awesome Teacher Appreciation Week!

May Newsletter and New Freebies!

2013-05-04T11:22:00.000-04:00

Happy, happy Saturday!

It's been one heck of a week. But thankfully, testing is over.

We have Field Day this upcoming week and I'm praying the kids

can release some of this built up energy.

The May newsletter is hitting inboxes at this very moment!

If you're not signed up, you're missing some fun, exclusive freebies!

I have also included links to several activities for Mother's Day,

Father's Day, and the end of the school year. One of my newest freebies

is a booklet that includes this end of the year poem:

Be sure to click the "sign up" picture above! I don't anyone to be left out. The exclusive freebies are just that - they will never be posted on TpT, Pinterest, or anywhere else!

I'm taking the rest of the afternoon to finish up my Math Endorsement portfolio. Then it's church and dinner time!

I hope everyone has a great day!

Cinco de Mayo Excitement!

2013-05-01T18:30:00.000-04:00

My kids and I have been really excited about celebrating Cinco de Mayo!

The kids have been telling personal stories.

We've watched BrainPop videos.

We've also been talking about how influential Cesar Chavez was.

Friday, we're going to read this book:

and complete these activities:

This mini-pack is on sale for 25% off through the weekend!

What are you and your kids doing for Cinco de Mayo?!

Instagram Shenanigans and Geometry Fun!

2013-04-30T19:27:00.001-04:00

Happy Tuesday! But I must admit - all day I've had to stop and think, "What day is it?!" Today totally felt like a Wednesday.

First up today - the teacher fun and shenanigans going on over at Instagram!

I am having a blast sharing/checking out all these pics!

Here's one I posted last night when I should've been working:

Here's one from this morning when I was jammin' on the way to school:

Several other bloggers are on there and it is a HOOT!

Everyone's sharing their classroom pics from throughout the day.

Second thing I wanted to share:

This game is called "Shape Inlay" and it's full of geometry fun (from ABCya).

The gist:

Students choose puzzle pieces as they scroll across the bottom and fit them into the puzzle. They get more points for using a piece in a really cool way (by rotating it and squeezing it into a tight spot).

I can't wait to take my kids to the lab and have them play around with it!

It's perfect now that testing is over. Anything that's fun and engaging!

I hope you're having a great week so far!!!

And I'll see you (and your pics) soon at Instagram!

1,000,000 Views Celebration WINNERS!!!

2013-04-26T21:18:00.001-04:00

HAPPY FRIDAY!!!

Yes...that's all caps and I'm screaming it! :)

Testing - over. Spring Fling - over. R&R - bring it!!!

I'm hoping to be in bed by 9:30 tonight (and it's 9:09 now).

I wanted to stop by before I knock out and announce

the giveaway winners for the 1,000,000 Views Celebration!

Shaundricka - congrats on winning the $50 Target gift card!

Heather - congrats on winning the $25 TpT gift card!

Lindsey - congrats on winning the $25 TpT gift card!

I will send each of you an email in the morning to get

your info and get those gift cards on their way! :)

Thanks again to all who entered!

I have several exciting projects planned for the summer and

next year and I can't wait to share them with you!!!

We've Been Adopted!

2013-04-24T20:12:00.000-04:00

As in "we" I mean my class. :) A sweet 2nd grade class down the hall adopted us during the week of CRCT! It is the most thoughtful thing I've experienced in a while.

The 2nd graders from Ashley's class have been writing us letters each day this week. They also made this inspirational banner wishing us good luck! They all signed it and had it hanging outside our door first thing Monday morning.

It has truly been an inspiration to my kids.

Each morning they get an extra dose of positivity and encouragement!

My kids wrote back to the 2nd graders. They expressed their gratitude, but also wanted to share a few tips about the CRCT.

"It's really long. You have sit there for over an hour."

"You can't say anything!"

"Your teacher doesn't help you at all."

It's funny to hear their perspective of it. LOL!

Another thing I've told my kids is:

If you're testing this week, I wish you the BEST of luck! We have Science tomorrow and SS Friday. Then we have our Spring Fling/Carnival Friday after school.

Here's to hoping for a fabulous week/Spring Fling!

1,000,000 Views Celebration!!!

2013-04-22T17:30:00.000-04:00

Milestones are amazing accomplishments!

No matter how big or small, celebrate them!!!

The blog hit 1,000,000 views yesterday and I almost had a heart attack!

You guys are completely amazing and supportive.

Y'all are such an important part of my life.

And look at all of the places y'all are from:

It's nothing short of amazing!

And to show my appreciation, I say we celebrate!!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I wish the best of luck to all of you!

The winners will be announced Friday night!

Changing the World - It's Not Rocket Science!

2013-04-21T09:09:00.000-04:00

I LOVE Kid President!

And the fact that he's a 3rd grader makes it even better!

My kids can totally relate to him.

Here's a video of his that I saw on Elmer's Teacher Club's FB page:

How true is Obama's answer?!

Kindness and respect.

That's not rocket science.

And I completely agree that if children start truly learning about kindness and respect when they're young, they will continue these behaviors as they grow up.

I can't wait to share this with my kids tomorrow. I've shown two other Kid President videos to them in the hopes of some of them being inspired and taking to heart what he is saying.

Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend. :) I'm going back into "me time" mode again today. It was a hectic, challenging week this past week. We also have testing starting tomorrow. I was to rejuvenate and relax before the week starts. I hope you're doing the same!

A Teacher's Mission Fulfilled

2013-04-17T18:18:00.001-04:00

This is the time of year when everyone is wearing thin.

Teachers are nervous about state testing.

Kids are excited about summer break.

Personally, I feel more frazzled now than I have all year long. Here lately, each week seems to be a Monday to Friday battle. I feel I spend countless hours preparing for my students' lessons and activities. I feel like half of them are trying their best, while the other half could care less.

In the midst of all of this, I decided to share this book with my kids today:

They were captivated from page one. They shared the sorrows of the little girl. They recognized how the teacher went above and beyond for the little girl. And at the end, they all gave a roaring round of applause for Patricia's success story.

I can only pray that I get to experience this one day. I pray that I get to meet some of my students in the future and hear of their success stories. It would fulfill my mission as a teacher.

So in the midst of all the "chaos" and the desparity I sometimes experience, I keep in mind this book. I keep the hope alive that my hard work, love, and dedication will be meaningful to the children I've taught.

And I wish this for every single one of you as well. When "thank you" seems far and few between, just know that you ARE appreciated. You may not get the chance to hear it, but know that you ARE making a difference.

I went to our Area Board meeting last night and heard testimonies from several students in our cluster. Testimonies of how these students overcame their surroundings. How these students didn't succumb to the pressures of the world around them. One young man had been kicked out of our cluster high school and was sent to an alternative school. He spoke of the amazing journey of redemption and new opportunities he had been blessed with at the alternative school.

I don't know if those testimonies will go any further than that auditorium, but it proved one thing to me:

Somewhere out there, a kid and/or family has been forever impacted by the love and diligence you showed them. They are grateful for what you provided them and may not even know how to thank you.

Sorry for the long, personal, and slightly emotional post. It's been weighing on my heart and I feel better having shared it with you.

I hope all of you are having a fabulous week at both school and home.

Winner Winner, Chicken Dinner!!!

2013-04-15T19:24:00.000-04:00

Wow! So many of you participated in the Holiday MEGA Pack Giveaway!

There were 724 entries and I'm grateful for each and every one!

And now for that moment we've all been waiting for!

The winner is:

Congrats, Brooke!

Check your email for further details. :)

And thanks again to everyone who entered!

Hope everyone had a good Monday!

Pinterest Crafty Fun Time!

2013-04-13T18:04:00.001-04:00

Happy Saturday, everyone!

It's been a gorgeous day (minus the ridiculous amount of pollen that has me trapped inside)! The only time I went outside today was to take a trip to Hobby Lobby. And no, it had absolutely nothing to do with school crafts. Actually, I've done NOTHING school related today. It's been kind of nice. :)

My friend Melissa at Plug-n-Plan shared this pin yesterday for a menu:

It came from Clair Dickson!

I knew it would be my Saturday project!

And $25 later, I had my own menu!

I put the background paper in the frame (behind the glass).

I hot-glued the pockets to the glass and the clothespin to the edge.

Here's a close up of the pins. I glued on tiny day labels.

As Clair suggests, all the cards start off in the bottom pocket. As they're used, I will put them in the top pocket. It's a nice, healthy rotation!

I didn't read her directions closely enough and didn't buy sticky letters.

But it was extremely easy to type up "menu" in the font of my choice

and then just print/cut/glue.

And done! Bon appetit!!!

Clair's directions made it very easy to put this together.

And it's super easy to go into Hobby Lobby and choose coordinating scrapbook paper and match it to your kitchen.

Do you use a menu at home?

Holiday MEGA Pack GIVEAWAY!!!

2013-04-11T21:05:00.000-04:00

I went back into some of my holiday fun packs, changed the fonts, and added answer keys! How big of a doofus was I to leave those out the first time around?!

I've decided to offer my holiday fun packs as a MEGA pack:

These will be sold on CD's.

(They will still be listed individually as well.)

The Holiday MEGA Pack includes:

- New Year's Math Bundle

- Valentine's Day Math Fun Pack

- Famous Feline Friend Fun Pack

- St. Patrick's Day Fun Pack

- Brilliant Bunny Pack

- Springtime Buggy Bash

- Cinco de Mayo Mini Pack

- End of the School Year Memory Book

- Seaside Friends Fun Pack

- "Welcome Back!" Fun Pack

- Autumn Math Fun Pack

- Halloween Fun Pack

- Thanksgiving Mini Math Pack

- Winter Math Fun Pack

All of these centers are worth over $70,

but the bundled set will be priced at $56.99!

This is more than 20% off!

But one lucky winner will get the Holiday MEGA Pack CD for FREE!!!

Just enter below! The winner will be chosen/announced Monday, April 15th!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Best of luck to everyone!!!

"Bingo" Games Galore - More Test Prep Fun!

2013-04-10T18:30:00.000-04:00

Here are some more ideas to making test prep fun!

I LOVE these games...probably more than my kids!

Sometimes we play as a whole group. Other times we have two or three different games/small groups going on. It makes test prep and reviewing concepts so exciting!

Here are some of the Bingo games I have:

I have at least 6 more in my storage cabinet!

Maybe I should join a support group. :)

Shake 'Em Up: Using Dice and Cards in the Classroom!

2013-04-09T17:30:00.000-04:00

Dice and cards have a bad reputation outside of the classroom,

but it doesn't have to be that way IN the classroom!

We play SO many games with cards!

War is their absolute favorite! You could also use it for place value and greater than/less than games.

Jenaya from Lesson Plan Diva has some super cute freebies for dice!

Do you use dice or cards in your class? Any ideas you would like to share? Feel free to add them in the comments!

Mini Math Booklets: Test Prep Fun!

2013-04-07T10:00:00.000-04:00

"Test Prep Fun?!" Is that an oxymoron?!

My kids and I have been working very hard to prepare for the CRCT. We've worked hard all year long to master the content and now it's time to show what we know.

I have many ideas and activities that I'm going to use for test prep,

but this one is more fun than the others.

I took five sheets of copy paper, folded them in half, and stapled the folded edge. The kids were able to put whatever they wanted to in their books. Anything that we had learned about throughout the year was fair game.

They added table of contents and then started adding the content on the different pages. This is obviously my example, but the kids were having a blast with theirs. They were getting so creative and the conversations were priceless.

One little sweetheart asked me, "Do we have use a table of continents?!" :)

Test prep doesn't have to be boring and make you want to pull your hair out. It can actually be fun, engaging, and let each child show their individuality!

Are you doing any test prep for your state tests?

Earth Day (Books, Freebies, and Pins)!

2013-04-06T10:36:00.002-04:00

Happy Saturday!!!

I'm getting all packed up for Miami!
I'm ready to get my toes in the water and my butt on the sand! :)

I'm getting ready for Earth Day (Monday, April 22nd).

I've found several books:

I also put some Earth Day freebies in my April newsletter.

(click the pic in the right sidebar if you're not signed up and you'll get the freebies!)

Here's an Earth Day freebie I made last year:

Denise from Sunny Days has two great Earth Day freebies:

Word Work Freebie

Task Cards Freebie

I also have an Earth Day board on Pinterest.

What plans do you have for Earth Day?!

"Gallon Guy" Fun! (And a FREEBIE!)

2013-04-05T17:30:00.000-04:00

Today was my last day before Spring Break and I could tell that my kids had truly checked out. They are SO ready for a break and I'm right there with them. :)

One thing I've added to our Math instruction is this guy:

Gallon Guy!

We watched a couple BrainPop videos about liquid measurement and then we did some work in our math journals. Then I remembered a friend let me borrow her "Gallon Guy."

We pulled him out yesterday and the kids put him together. Then I asked them several questions:

- How many quarts are in a gallon?

- How many pints are in a gallon?

- How many cups are in a 1/2 gallon?

The visual that Gallon Guy provides is phenomenal!

Today we put together Gallon Robots from SuperTeacher.

(I forgot to take pics, so I'll post one tomorrow.)

Here's an assessment FREEBIE to go with it!

Click on the picture to snag the freebie!

Enjoy!

No April Fools! It's a Monday FREEBIE!

2013-04-01T19:19:00.000-04:00

No joking here!

Hope you didn't "get got" too bad today. :)

My kids tried their best, but it didn't work!

I've uploaded my April version of the "Sentence Sort: Complete or Incomplete? Center." Click the picture below to check it out.

I also created an assessment freebie to go with it!

Click the picture below to snag it.

The assessment could be great for test prep!

Hope everyone has a great week! And be sure to look out for the April newsletter (set to hit inboxes Thursday morning)! There will be more freebies in there - including an Earth Day reading/writing activity!

Sunday Pinterest Fun!

2013-03-24T20:54:00.002-04:00

Happy Sunday!!!

I hope everyone had a fabulous weekend! I've spent my weekend at church, with family, relaxing, and snuggle time with my fur baby and my DVR. :)

Just in case you're not over at the FB page (which you totally should be!), I wanted to share some of the awesome pins I've been pinning from Pinterest!

Don't you just love Pinterest?!

Friday Freebie - Multiplication Bookmarks!

2013-03-22T18:15:00.000-04:00

This Friday Freebie isn't new, but it's definitely updated and ready to go!

I'm in that mood this week of going back through "old" stuff and freshening it up a bit. :) I gave these to my kids yesterday and they loved them!

Click the picture to snag the bookmarks.

Let's SALE-ebrate Spring!!!

2013-03-20T17:35:00.000-04:00

I'm SO excited about Spring!!!

I'm ready to put away my boots and bust out my flip flops and sun dresses!!!

And to celebrate Spring's arrival, I'm throwing a sale!

Enter the code SPRING at the 3rd Grade Gridiron Teaching Resource Store!

The sale is happening at TpT and TN as well! My updated and revamped historical figure packs are included in the sale as well!

They are listed individually as well as the bundled mega pack.
I hope the first day of Spring is treating everyone nicely!

Now off to date night with the hubs...at Jason's!

I love our simplistic dates!!!