Welcome to The Schroeder Page!

Porridge Tasting!

2013-05-18T09:00:00.002-04:00

Friends~I just had to share! We are ending out Fairy Tale unit next week and my teamie and I were setting up our Fairy Tale Land Centers for the following week. We have lots of goodies planned like comparing beans and peas and also porridge tasting! Check out how darn cute the porridge tasting is going to be!

The kiddos are going to visit the center and taste bowls of porridge (Oatmeal) at different temperatures. They then get to vote with magic beans (green beads). We will finish by graphing our findings. It is going to be hysterical!

They also get to wear these sparkly crowns that I grabbed at The Education Express. Really just gold boarders but they totally work!

They mark the tasks that they finish on the clouds with sticky jewels!

Grab a FREE copy of the Task Clouds by clicking below!

Find all my Fairy Tale Goodies below!

The Yummiest Ice Cream Float Science

2013-05-13T20:20:00.001-04:00

Friends~One of my very favorite summer time treats is an Ice Cream Float. I make them every year with my class to celebrate the end of the school year. This year, I am going to bring some science into my lessons. We are going to be experimenting with fizz and foam!

Watch my kiddos at home enjoying some float fun!

Please excuse the mess and the excitement! I had neighbors over and the kiddos were super wired!

The really neat thing about Ice Cream Float Science is that you get to play with fizz and foam. My students will experiment with different liquids and also test out the best way to make a float: Ice Cream First or Soda First. The video gives it away but it is still fun to test it out yourself.

During my research for this project, I found out that the floats actually have names like the Boston Cooler and the Purple Cow. I decided that my kiddos needed to learn these names so that they could order accordingly:)

I also found this adorable game at my local Education Express Store called Lickety Quick! It is a word building game that encourages students to think of words/parts of speech that begin with certain letters. The best part is...I don't have to make it! It is printed on fun ice cream patterned card stock. My kiddos are going to gobble it up during centers. (I love that it looks like an ice cream sandwich!)

I plan on using this fun filled pack during our last week of school! I think it is going to be a BIG hit! Check out what this file has to offer! Give the picture a click to read more about it!

Past, Present, & Future Friendship Pins

2013-05-07T21:07:00.004-04:00

Friends~As the school year comes to an end, I love reflecting on the memories and friendships that have been made. I am writing today to share one of my very favorite end of the year activities. My Past, Present, & Future Friendship Pins. I make them every year with my students.

They are pretty simple to make. You will need to collect some large safety pins, pony beads, and letter beads. I have my students slide on 3 pins for their future, their initial, and 2 pins for 2nd grade. The beads are color coded for their unique personalities. They love wearing them on their book bags and shoes. I wear mine on my lanyard with my name tag. Check them out below!

We even make a pin for a special friend and add the poem below. They love passing on this memorable project to their friends. It is a must for the end of the year! Click the poem to grab a copy of it for your class!

If you want to take this to the next level and add some poetry, color coding, and reflection to your Friendship Pins you need to check out my packet on Teachers Pay Teachers. It is on sale now May 7-8th.

Click the image below to read all about it!

Big 2 Day Teacher Appreciation Sale!

2013-05-06T20:56:00.003-04:00

Friends~The celebrating continues for teachers. Today I was showered with flowers from my students. I even purchases 6 bouquets of flowers for Lily and Ian's teachers. I am so sad I didn't grab a picture for you of them bustling into school with book bags and flowers. Tomorrow is a sweet treat for your day! Good think I worked out today-Tuesday's treats are going to be hard to resist.

More good news! I am gearing up for the HUGE end of the year sale on Teachers Pay Teachers from May 7-8th. It is the best time to stock up on fantastic teacher tried and true lessons for your classroom. Whether you are looking for end of the year goodies or looking forward to next year this is the time to stock your cart!

Here are some of the units I am currently using in class. Be sure to check them out to add them to your wishlist:)

I am off to fill my cart with goodies for the big day tomorrow!

They Hatched!

2013-05-06T10:44:00.001-04:00

Friends~They hatched! I am so excited!!!! Our unidentified creatures hatched on Friday! It was wild!!! I have been checking on them every morning since spring break. Friday morning when we came back to school, I didn't check and my kiddos did. Hundreds of praying mantis babies! Check them out below!

It was a long wait but it really was worth it. When they were first born they were translucent and by the time we came back in from field day they were already a dark green. Some of them where even in a praying pose. They were all over the habitat and I knew they were hungry. Since it was Friday, I took them home and released them in our garden. It was amazing! Watch the reaction of my kiddos and our neighborhood kiddos. They were so excited and even were brave enough to hold them!

I have feeling these little guys are going to be on the schedule for next year too!

Teachers Notebook-Teacher Appreciation Sale!

2013-05-04T07:55:00.002-04:00

Friends~As teacher appreciation week approaches, I think about the teachers that have been an influence in my kiddo's lives. I am so lucky to be able to say all of these teachers are colleagues of mine. These amazing ladies have supported my kiddos and I will be forever grateful!

Lily

Mrs. Eason ( Kindergarten)

Mrs. Pace ( First Grade)

Mrs. Conklin (Second Grade)

Mrs. Hardister & Miss White (Third Grade)

Mrs. Newman (Fourth Grade)

Mrs. Jones, Mrs. Plummer, & Miss Quigly (Fifth Grade)

Ian
Mrs. Allen (Kindergarten)

Miss King (First Grade)

Teachers are IMPORTANT! They worker harder than you will ever know. They think about their students at night and worry about what else they can do. Teachers go to sporting events to watch their students excel after school. Teachers drop off forgotten homework to student's homes. Teachers tutor after school to help any child do better. Teachers use their own money to supply learning materials for their classrooms. Teachers do so much behind the scenes!

Teachers deserve to be appreciated all year long but this week especially- The Schroeder Page and Teachers Notebook will be appreciating them with a HUGE sale.

Everything in my shop will be 20% off from May 4th-May 10th.
Teachers Notebook will be giving an additional 10% off at checkout. Yep, that's 30% all of my products!

Click below to check out my shop and all the goodies!

You also can enter to win a $100 gift card to Oriental Trading!

Click to enter!

QR Code Craze!

2013-05-02T20:43:00.004-04:00

Friends~Here I go again but this time the QR Craze is for you! I know lots of you know about my .COM site The Schroeder Page right? Well, Webmaster Ken and I wanted to have some fun with QR Codes. The site has gone through many transformations but it is looking fantastic and we would love for you to check it out. It is FILLED with tons of fun teaching ideas and videos. I even have my own store for you to shop from and loads of freebies!

There is even a membership section and virtual training.

So here is the QR Craze! I would love it if you all would head to The Schroeder Page.COM and check out what is new. While you are there please keep your eyes open for a QR Code. When you spot it...click it and it will take you to a SECRET PAGE. This page will lead you to one of my products at 50% off. You also will be able to scan a code and watch a short video all about the product.
(No worries if you don't have a QR Scanner you can still get in on the deal by clicking on the code and then following the links:)
Be sure to let me know what you think once you check it out.

The code is little so don't leave any stone

un-turned!

I also am offering a FREE 3 month membership to my .COM site!

to one lucky follower.

Enter below!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Twister Review and Game Board Day!

2013-05-01T21:02:00.002-04:00

Friends~I don't know about you but I feel like I am on a sinking ship! It is May and my budding third graders are off their rockers:) I love them but man I am exhausted every night from keeping the lid on their excitement for the end of the year.

I try very hard to make the end of the year special but with a academic twist. I wanted to share with you one of my very favorite end of the year activities...TWISTER Review. I promise your kiddos will love this plus it is super easy to prep for & academic.

First you will need to cut a class set of red, blue, yellow and red circles. They need to be large enough to for the students to stand on. Then you will need to add a question on each circle from throughout the year. I color code mine like blue is reading and red is math but that is up to you.

I then send a note home to my parents asking for individual bags of Skittles. A big bag broken into sandwich bags works too. I like to use the spinner on my smartboard but a plain spinner or even one from the real Twister game would work.

This is how to play. I have the students sit around the Twister Review game. I pass out colored dots and they add their names to a dot and place it in a bowl. I then pull names from the bowl to come up and spin the spinner. Whatever color they spin is the color they need to choose from. They flip one colored circle over and read the question. If they can answer it they do and they earn a bag of Skittles to enjoy. If they do not know the answer they can ask one friend for help. If they still can't answer the question they have to sit down and wait til the end to try again. My kiddos love this game. It is so fun and they don't even realize they are reviewing!

Grab a FREE copy of my TWISTER Rap!

Just click the image below.

You can read more about my TWISTER Review and also my Board Game Day by clicking the image below. We make our own board games but not before learning how the pieces are made and what strategies are used to play some of our favorite games.

Mrs. Schroeder's HOT Reads!

2013-05-01T10:50:00.000-04:00

Friends~While presenting at the North Carolina Reading Conference in March, I had the pleasure of hearing Mr. Steven L. Layne speak. He was such an inspirational and funny speaker that I had to grab his book Igniting a Passion for Reading. I even stood in line to get an autographed copy!

I had planned to read his book this summer but after a 4 hour evening meeting with my leadership cohort group on professional literature, I went straight home and got started. This book is an amazing resource and motivator. (Beware...he is super funny and I was laughing out loud while reading!)

In our leadership group, we have been talking about what our school's THING is. We have a lot of THINGS going on at our school and I couldn't say for sure what our main focus is but I knew I wanted mine to be reading. Especially after plowing through Steven's book!

I decided that I would sample his idea of HOT Reads and bought rain gutters and had then cut into 12 inch strips. I convinced my teammates to join in on the fun. We made fire for the background and typed up strips with each teacher's name. (Mrs. Schroeder's Hot Read) Steve suggest with any little project like this- it is important to create some anticipation. I did not tell my class what I was up to and put the shelf up a little each day until it was complete. You should have seen them checking it out. They were asking tons of questions and I had not even added a book. The cool thing is all the 2nd graders in our school are curious about it. The book I added first was Waiting for Magic-such a great read! Steve suggested in his book, that your Hot read needs to be a grade level book that you are reading during silent reading. Not one you are reading to the class. I also have been giving SHORT book talks after silent reading on my book. It really has helped my students when they go back to reflect on their own reading.

So far, I have had 3 Hot Reads and they have been gobbled up! I have also had other students come and ask me about my book. My teammate reports the same. At first I felt a bit guilty reading during silent reading as a pile of work sat on my desk or running records/conferences needed to be done. After a few days of committing to silent reading, I am floored at the change in my classroom reading climate. Work can wait! Modeling reading is a powerful tool!

Thank you Steven L. Layne!

A Castle of Fairy Tale Elements and a Freebie!

2013-04-24T06:43:00.000-04:00

Friends~I totally can't take credit for this! My super, amazing, handy, crafty, organized, punctual, assistant Valerie Cleary took it upon herself to create this amazing bulletin board for our fairy tale unit. My kiddos are gawking at it every time we head into the classroom. The amazing part is I don't know how she found the time. This lady has three 2nd grade classrooms that she supports, co teaches with me in my leveled math group, she runs a daily Direct Instruction Reading group, teaches 9 different 50 minute sessions a week so teachers can have planning time, she also runs small groups for upper grades in math, plus her morning duty. She is like the Tasmanian devil some days. She flies in and out of my classroom and gets things done!

She is not the only one. Our school runs on Teacher Assistant POWER. Without them our students would miss out on so much! I am so very thankful everyday for all that they do. From morning duty to just watching my class so I can race to the bathroom.

Thank You to all Teacher Assistants, your support does not go unnoticed!

If you are interested in grabbing these elements for a bulletin board in your hallway just click HERE! (After you click, just scroll down to May and click the PDF for Elements.) See below:)

BEWARE, you will be heading to my new .com site and you will be sucked in with all the fun so make sure you have lots of time to hang out!

Check out more Fairy Tale fun by clicking the image below.

Be sure to download the preview to get a copy of my

Guess that Fairy Tale sheet!

Just Some Mother's Day Fun!

2013-04-22T13:34:00.001-04:00

Friends~I am always trying to incorporate technology into my classroom and now I have found a way to bring technology into my Mother's Day gifts. This year along with some fun poetry and writing my students will be reading my Thumb Body Loves You poem into Croak It and I will be creating QR codes of their readings. They will use their thumb prints to make these adorable key-chains with stamp pads! I ordered the key chains from Oriental Trading.

I am so excited about how they turned out! I just love the idea of parents being able scan this code and hear their child's voice years from now.

I am planning on sending directions home with the students on how to download a QR scanner on their phone or ipad. For my families without QR Readers, I am planning on doing the key-chain and the code but I am also sending a copy of the poem. You could always send the recording via email too.

Grab a Free copy of the poem by clicking the image below!

I used the same poem last year to make these thumbprint necklaces.

I have also made pot holders with fabric markers for Mother's Day. They are super easy to make. I ordered the potholders from Oriental Trading and passed out fabric markers. I let the kiddos decorate the potholders and then add the following poem.

Mother, I made this pot holder just for you.

I decorative it with things we love to do.

Use it each and every day.

Remember it was a gift for you on Mother's Day!

Watch the video below to see more about what my kiddos will be doing on Mother's Day!

Award Season!

2013-04-15T21:08:00.001-04:00

Friends~It has been award season in the Schroeder House. I am not bragging but I am. On Sunday, I had the privilege of watching my daughter and fellow teachers & students accepting their Young Author awards. It was such an amazing moment. I don't have Lily's writing home tonight because I brought it to school to share with my students but I promise to add it tomorrow. I am so very proud of her. Check out my baby girl on the stage! That is her...2nd from the left. The rest are students and teachers from my school. We filled the stage!

This is her best buddy Marley who won from another

school in the district. Marley has won 4 years in a row!

The story goes on! Tonight I had the honor of accepting the Hilbish Ford Teacher of the Month Award. When I came back from spring break I had an email from Hilbish. One of my sweet parents (Mrs. Cramer) nominated me and I won! Check me out below:)
Sorry about the basket of clothes...I just got home! The best part is Hilbish Ford donated $ to my classroom. I can't wait to go shopping. I have lots of goodies in mind for my kiddos!

These 2 awards show the power of the written word. Lily won with her own words and I won because of someone else's.

A special thank you to Sarah and her family. Thank you so very much for taking the time to nominate me!

It is an honor I won't forget!

My Dirty Little Secret

2013-04-13T22:38:00.001-04:00

Friends~Most of you know me as a teacher but I am also a mother. I have an 11 year old daughter and a 7 year old son. This morning however, I was just me. I ran in my first 5K with a team of other teachers from my school. We have been "training" for it for several weeks. (Really we have been squeezing in running and walking during our crazy schedules.)

I felt guilty at times because I ran after school and did not come straight home. I felt guilty when my son asked to come run with me because I let him once and we only made is a few trots before he was tired. This little goal of running a 5K was mine. My dirty little secret.

Also, I hate running or so I thought. I am not fast at all. In fact, I have little stubby legs which equals a little stubby stride. My friends at school come from all different age groups and athletic ability but we all supported each other. We all had our own reasons for training but mine was always because I knew it was going to be hard for me not to win. You see, I am extremely competitive and I LOVE to win. Now that my little ones are getting older and not needing me as much- I knew I needed to find something to challenge me. Something hard.

I have to report that I did not win at all. I did however run the entire 5K. No stopping at all. I actually had my fastest time today. When I crossed that finish line I was amazed. Amazed that I actually did it. Amazed at my team cheering and waiting for me. Amazed at how good it felt to cheer on my teammates that followed after me.

It truly was just amazing but I do have one problem now...I have another dirty secret. I can't wait to do it again and someday I am going to win!

We are not hatching WASPS & a GIVE AWAY!

2013-04-12T08:00:00.003-04:00

Friends~When I taught in Ohio, I remember the schools not having air conditioning. I remember sweating all day long with 23 other kiddos and coming home exhausted! It was always 2 showers a day in the warm months. Well, we got a taste of the hotness this week in Room 331 because they did not turn the air on until Thursday. It was in the 80s all week!

Due to this, I was forced to open the windows which in turn let in several wasps. My kiddos have been obsessed with watching them, predicting about their every move, and comparing how many each class had. (I did not create ANY of these lessons:)

Finally, Thursday allowed us to get back to business and the wasps were gone. I may have killed 2 of the 4 but don't tell anyone.

Thursday morning I was so excited to bring in our Unidentified Creature Hatching Basket. I set it back in the science center. I decided I really wanted to keep them predicting about what might be hatching so I made a quick video and then created a QR Code. I wanted them to scan the code and write their prediction on an index card.

The funny part is they totally starting predicting as soon as they saw it. Butterfly was first because there was a butterfly book on my desk and then came the best prediction. WASPS! Those sillies thought we were hatching wasps! I still chuckle about it!

Here is the code that I created:

This is the really fun part! Guess with your class! Scan the code with your students and leave a comment below with your email. I will collect all of the correct predictions and place them in a drawing. My plan is to have my students draw the winner next

Friday, April 19th!

Happy Scanning!

Earth Day Celebrations!

2013-04-11T12:43:00.001-04:00

Friends~We are really spending lots of time reading and writing about the wonders of nature. Today we dissected seeds to learn all about the seed's parts and pieces.

They loved that the seed coat came off after soaking and that once they opened their seed-they could see their baby plant. All this plant fun is just leading up to our Earth Day Unit in a couple of weeks. We will be making these fun hats on April 22!

We will also be doing a book study on the book City Green. If you have not read it, be sure to check it out. It is a wonder story of diversity coming together to make a beautiful city garden.

I also just finished up my book study for this book combined with my fun Earth Day lessons. Grab a FREE making words activity from my Earth Day Celebration file by clicking the image below. It comes with letter cards!

Click the image to see more Earth Day fun!

My City Green activities are included:)

R U QR-ing?

2013-04-10T22:00:00.000-04:00

Friends~Another addiction for me! I just spend the day with my kiddos putting together QR codes for some of their favorite books. We have been working on our book responses everyday after our Snack and a Book Time or Silent Reading:) I let them choose a favorite response and turn it into a book recommendation summary. We then read them into this really cool voice recorder our tech facilitator introduced me to. Check it out below.

It is so simple to use. Just open the big grey button in the middle and press to record. Then press the green copy button to copy the generated code and then past the code into your QR Generator.

Check out some of our QR Codes below. You will need to download a FREE QR Scanner to your phone or ipad to scan the codes. I am so very proud of them!

Scan this code to hear about the book I Survived the Titanic

This code is for The Chocolate Touch!

My plan is to print off all of the codes and add them to our classroom library books so students can scan the codes to see if the book might be a good fit for them.

(Now... to grab more devices that will scan the codes!)

Be sure to scan one more!

This is more learning fun from Room 331!

I totally told my class if you plant a jellybean after Easter it will grow! I also told them that singing to plants helps them grow:)

We are inspecting Lima Beans for the Life Cycle of a Seed too!

Down in the Schroeder Hive!

2013-04-06T10:09:00.000-04:00

Friends~I am sure that by now you think that I am totally insect crazy after my creepy crawly post & butterfly business post. The truth is, I really want to be a bug lover but they freak me out. I only pretend to love them for my kiddos and my students.

Please don't tell!

I did have tons of fun learning about bees over spring break. They truly are amazing creatures. I wanted to take a minute and show you some really cool stuff I found while getting my unit together for April. First, here are the books that I used to plan with. Great reads and tons of fun information!

Click any of them to check them out!

Here is another really neat resource that I collected over the years. I have had a bee keeper come and visit the class. His name is Buddy the Beeman and last year he brought baby bees hatching. Check out the video below. Try to ignore all the babbling in the background. We were just really excited!

Below is Buddy and his presentation! The students loved him! He brought tons of gear and live bees!

If you are interested in more bee fun you can check out my newest unit. You will be cross pollinating and doing the bee dance with these fun hands on science activities.

Butterfly Business!

2013-04-03T09:39:00.002-04:00

Friends~I just love integrating science and reading with my daily lessons. With the warm weather and spring in full swing my mind turns to one of my favorite life cycles: BUTTERFLIES. If you have not raised butterflies with your class you are truly missing out on a beautiful learning opportunity.

Check out just a few of the fun things I have collected over the years to bring the world of butterflies & into my classroom.

My very favorite is this GEO Safari Talking Telescope. It comes with tons of insect slides for kiddos to explore. It tells insect facts and even gives a quiz! Click the image above to purchase:)

I also have models of the life cycle out for my students to refer to. Insect Lore offers fantastic life cycle models. Here is the one I use in class.

My favorite butterfly book to read with my class when studying the life cycle is The Life Cycle of a Butterfly by Bobbie Kalman.

This book is wonderful because it walks you through each stage of the life cycle!

When reading this book, I journey with my students through the stages while focusing on text features of an informational book. Like captions, bold face words, insets, and diagrams. We make a craft to represent each stage. I then display them on the bulletin board outside my classroom. I change them as our study develops. Check out our caterpillars!

Yep...those are gummy worms! They work perfectly! I use the image below to diagram with the class. I blow it up big on my smartboard. Once we are done labeling, my students have a great model to use when creating their own gummy caterpillars!

Click the image below to grab a FREE copy to use with your own gummy caterpillars!

(Just a tip...I hot glue the gummy worms first to card stock:)

If you are interested in the other stages and how I represent them in a craft, just give the image below a click! I promise your students will LOVE them all!

Zippin Down the Freebie Trail

2013-03-30T20:15:00.000-04:00

Friends~ The TBA Gang is Back! Brenda over at Primary Inspired put together a super fun blog hop for all of us!

I am the last stop on the trail but no worries...I have something special for you below!

Check out my jellybean graphing freebie!

Have you been wondering what to do with all those jellybeans left over from Easter?

Well look no more!

Click below and grab yourself a FREE copy of my Jellybean Graphing Packet!

Make sure you did not miss any of the freebies by clicking the egg below to head back to the beginning!

Happy Hopping!

A Jellybean Jamboree!

2013-03-26T13:09:00.000-04:00

Friends~I am going to tell you a little secret. I HATE eating jellybeans but I sure LOVE teaching with them. My kiddos are heading off on Spring Break on Thursday. They will enjoy some much needed family time and all of them will be celebrating Easter. A Sunday morning at church possibly and a basket of goodies from the Easter Bunny that will definitely be filled with jellybeans.

I have been planning for after break and I thought that I would carry over some of that jellybean fun in class as a way for them to ease back into the routine.

When we return on April 8th we will be continuing our Patricia Polacco author study with Emma Kate and then growing jellybeans with my If I Planted a Jellybean creative writing unit. I just know they are going love this JELLYBEAN JAMBOREE!

When I created the file, I was thinking it needed a little excitement so I decided that we would really plant jellybeans but I would add Zinnia seeds to the potting soil so that they would grow beautiful flowers. I can't wait to see their faces when their jellybeans GROW!

Grab a Free copy of my If I Planted a

Jellybean Opinion Writing Prompt!

Click the image below!

We are also going to be reviewing our Math Skills 2.MD in our Math Workshop. I put together some fun math centers with jellybeans like measuring jellybean jars and graphing jellybeans. There is even an I Spy a Jellybean Jar for telling time. Click below and download the preview to see all this file has to offer:)

I did the measurement centers in file folders so they could keep all the pieces in one place!

Check out this quick video and see just how it is done.

So if you end up with lots of jellybeans that no one wants to eat...bring them along to school for some fun learning!

Painting a Story with Words!

2013-03-22T15:56:00.002-04:00

Friends~We have been using our Patricia Polocco books this week as mentor texts for our narrative writings in Writer's Workshop. We have spent many mini lessons focusing on vivid words and how they can bring a story to life. We read the book Hairy, Scary, Ordinary by Brian P. Cleary. My students always love this book and get a huge kick out of the illustrations. It is perfect for introducing adjectives to young learners.

We spent tons of time this week reading and rereading our writings to make sure there were great adjectives to bring our stories to life.

I told the class that writers paint our visualizations with their words. This can be a very hard concept for students because they have their own visualization going on in their mind while they write. It is difficult to remember to paint it on the page too.

I decided that I needed to model this with my class. The first thing I did was to tell my class a simple small moment from my life. I asked a student to come up front and sketch their visualization I purposely gave little description. We then looked at the illustration and generated questions about the illustration.

I retold the story and another student came to add to the visualization in another color. I asked them to do this so they could see when I added more description, the illustration became more vivid.

I then challenged them to do the same. I buddied them up and sent them off to read their favorite part of their story. I had them sit back to back and sketch what the reader was saying. They took turns and then exchanged papers. I then instructed the students to look over their illustrations. They added more detail with colored pencils.

I asked the students to then look at their stories again and add to the part they read. Using the illustration to guide them. What they drew in color told them how to extend their story so they were able to paint everything they wanted their readers to know.

Watch them in action!

It was really interesting to hear them discussing the illustrations with each other. They were a bit disappointed that their partners did not create as vivid of an illustration as they wanted but it was a great for them to see how important word choice is.

Grab a copy of the poster that will be hanging in my Writing Center on Monday!

Click the poster below to download:)

A Revamper Give Away!

2013-03-20T14:01:00.003-04:00

Friends~I have said this before- I am a firm believer that people come into your life for a reason. When I first moved to North Carolina, I knew no one and I was basically a train wreck! Without the support system of my friends and family in Ohio, I was lost.

In steps Ivy...my neighbor across the street. Really out of nowhere she swooped in and saved me. Saved me from worrying about everything, saved me from getting lost in my days, and saved me from feeling sorry for myself. Plus added to my coffee addiction. She became my friend and my children adored her. She even babysat my little ones while I moved into our rental.

I lived across the street from Ivy for several months before moving to my current home and starting my new job in Harrisburg, NC as a 2nd grade teacher. I am sad to say we lost touch until recently and crazy enough we both ended up back on a similar path. The path of online entrepreneurship. Now Ivy has always been a crafty gal. She even turned my rental home into a pretty nice looking place without putting a hole in a wall.

I am so proud and pleased to introduce you to IVY and her online business, REVAMPER Designs!

My name is Ivy and my shop started, by people asking me the question " Do you have an Etsy store?" I have been selling my wears for a long time, either making them, specifically for a client, or directly to people on the street, I started getting really busy, with selling coffee bag purses. I made one for myself, and the day I started carrying it, I had requests for one. My items are also sold in a store here, in N.C.
I try to keep things out of the landfills, and it gives me great pleasure to figure out how to "save" things from ending up there. I love vintage, and anything made by hand. Which is my goal for my store. New life, for old things.

A good example of saving things, is buying this record player below, gutting it, and giving it a new purpose. I stenciled the bees on a scrap piece of muslin someone had given me to repourpose. This little 50's record player, will now find a new home, and will bring someone an up to date piece.

Click below to visit her blog and see what Revamper is all about!

While you are there give her a follow-she is just starting out in the blog world:)

Take a peak at some of her adorable work.
I only wish I was this crafty!

Check out the How To on this fun wreath. Gosh, I think I might have a few wine corks laying around.

The best part is you don't have to make any of this if you don't want too. You can just hope over to Ivy's Etsy shop and purchase something already made by this artist!

Click this fun COFFEE bag to check out her shop!

Now to the best part! Ivy and Revamper Designs have agreed to give one of these classic bags away for FREE to one of The Schroeder Page's followers! It is a $49 value.

Starting today March 20-27th you can

join in to win.

To enter to win this adorable bag you there are a few steps you will need to follow:

First: You must be a follower of The Schroeder Page

Second: Follow Revamper Designs on blogspot.

Third: Follow Revamper Designs on Etsy

That is it!

Leave a comment below with your email for

each step you do.

Each comment will be counted as an entry!

Our Vocabulary Tour and a $ Saving Tip!

2013-03-19T10:52:00.001-04:00

Friends~I am always trying to make going over vocabulary for a story more exciting and today my kiddos loved what we did. I first passes out the packets. Check out the video below showing how I copy my packets and save money at the same time. 4 sheets to a
page!

I then read over the vocabulary words for Thundercake by Patricia Polacco. I numbered the words with 2 numbers per word. I then broke the students up into partners. Whatever 2 numbers were in the word made the partners. Those students then went off to look up the word and create a child friendly definition and picture. We met again in a large group and I gave the students directions to begin touring the classroom and asking each other to teach them their definition. It was really neat because the words were numbered and we have memorized our classroom numbers so they knew exactly who to go to for words they needed. Below is a copy of what the vocabulary words looked like when I assigned them.

Watch this video below to see my students discussing the vocabulary words from the story. Speaking and Listening...HELLO?

I just love it when stuff comes together!

Lightning in a Jar

2013-03-18T20:23:00.002-04:00

Friends~As I type there is a rip roaring storm going on outside my window. It is a perfect night to jump back into my Patricia Polacco author study. I am planning into the next week with a fantastic book all about family reunions and fireflies...When Lightning Comes in a Jar by Patricia Polacco.

I love this story because it hits very close to home with me. I spent my summers at my grandparent's house catching fireflies in mason jars. It is truly an art of patience. This book paints vivid visualizations for your students to begin to comprehend and make connections. It the perfect read aloud for students! The story spins in a circle and wraps itself up perfectly.

After we spend time reading and discussing this book we make an adorable craft with Firefly Poetry. Check them out below!

They are so simple to make. Just click below and I will walk you through the process. I love having them on my bulletin board for the end of the year.

Grab a Free copy of my Firefly Poetry Jars by clicking below!

If you are loving this activity...you have to check out my When Lightning Comes in a Jar Book Study! It is 55 pages of reading and writing fun!

An Book Study Freebie!

2013-03-17T12:22:00.001-04:00

Friends~I am gearing up for my very favorite author Patricia Polacco. You may have read my post about Thundercake. That is the first book we will be diving into on Monday. Here is what my board looks like as I type!

Those are the story cards that my students will be using to retell the story. We will also be making our own cards with our favorite part to add to the sequence.

I am really excited about how Particia's stories are based on her life experiences. My kiddos are going to love being introduced to memoirs. Her books are perfect for Writer's Workshop too.

My blogging buddy Hilary Lewis from Rocking Teacher Materials introduced me to the best book for teaching writing. It all stems from telling stories verbally first. I am so excited to get my students writing memoirs!

During my planning for this unit I fell in love again with another Polacco book: Emma Kate

It is such a sweet story about an elephant and her imaginary friend. This story packs such a twist you students will flip!

Grab a FREE 10 page download that I will be using with my students this month!