What the Teacher Wants!

836?!?!

2012-02-24T18:48:00.000-08:00

WOW! 836 entries in our Dr. Seuss giveaway! That's unreal! Because of the huge response, we've decided to have 10 winners!

Here's what they've won!!!! {I'll be emailing you soon}

Check out Kathleen's great packet {here} and her blog, Growing Kinders, {here}

You've got to see Elizabeth's blog {here} and her cute packet on TpT {here}.

This is Deanna Jump's packet! Check out her blog {here} and her TpT store {here}. Love it!

You can find my Dr. Seuss themed Centers {here}

Sorry for the lack of posting! It's REPORT CARD TIME!

You'll forgive me, right?

Spring is here!

2012-02-20T15:52:00.000-08:00

Ok, not really. But...I consider March 1st the first day of spring. If you don't, you should start! It's fun to wear flip-flops when there is still snow on the ground! :)

As our state moves to the new Common Core MATH, I'm trying to get ready! I've realized it's not a whole lot different from what we already do, but there are a few differences. I like what I see! :) Even if you haven't moved to the new Math Common Core, I promise it'll be worth it.

Here are some math centers for you that will keep your kiddos busy from March all the way to May!

This packet of 13 springtime math centers are perfect for March, April and May. They align with the Common Core Math Standards for 1st grade, but would also be appropriate for kindergarten and 2nd grade. Perfect for math tubs!

All center activities come with a black/white and colored option {they all include one or more recording sheets}.

*Common Core Alignment Sheet
{shows you how they correlate with the CCSS}
*Rain, Rain, Go Away! {Place Value}
*Don't Eat the Jelly Bean! {120's chart}
*Time is Flyin'! {hour and half-hour practice}
*True or False? {Determining equal number sentences}
*Let's go Fly a Kite! {Measuring with non-standard units}
*Order up! {Ordering 2 digit numbers from least to greatest}
*10 More/Less
*Egg Drop {Place Value}
*A Puddle of Fractions
*Sunny Subtraction
*Cloud Addition
*Turnaround Facts
*Greater Than and Less Than

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Did you all hear about the Dr. Seuss copyright debacle? Shhh.....it's the Seuss police! I must be very, very quiet. I had to change the name of my Dr. Seuss on the Loose Centers. Apparently "Dr. Seuss" is copyrighted. The name? Really? But maybe it's not. There is LOTS of confusing and I'd rather be SAFE than SORRY! So...the new and completely CREATIVE name is...

Drum roll....

"Centers for March 2nd"

Wow...I completely amaze myself. Do you love it?

Dr. Seuss Wonderfulness!

2012-02-19T17:05:00.001-08:00

GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED! THANKS FOR PLAYING ALONG!

This little giveaway is just for fun.

It's to say we love you,

So please don't run!

Wow! I'm practically a rhyming master like my friend, Dr. Seuss.

There will be 4 winners who will win 4 Dr. Seuss themed packets {over 200 pages of Dr. Seuss fun all together}!

Check out Kathleen's great packet {here} and her blog, Growing Kinders, {here}

You've got to see Elizabeth's blog {here} and her cute packet on TpT {here}.

This is Deanna Jump's packet! Check out her blog {here} and her TpT store {here}. Love it!

You can find my Dr. Seuss themed Centers {here}

GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED!
THANKS FOR PLAYING ALONG!

Civil War Online Resources

2012-02-16T14:30:00.000-08:00

I was able to attend a great training today all about slavery, the Civil War and reconstruction. One of the presenters shared some online resources that are interactive and fun for students. Instead of writing the websites down down on a sticky note where I'll never be able to find them again, I thought I'd post them on here so you {and I} will be able to find them when it's time to teach about this time in history.

1. Mission US - Interactive Simulation Game

2. National Geographic Underground Railroad - Interactive Learning Activity

3. Scholastic, The Underground Railroad, Escape from Slavery - Interactive Activity

4. PBS Movie - The William Tell Story

5. Interactive Map of Underground Railroad Routes

And.... in honor of President's Day...

6. Abraham Lincoln Crossroads - Educational Game

And... Just because I know you all like free downloads! Here's a copy of the Gettysburg Address for you to download. I've bolded and underlined the parts that I feel should be read with extra annunciation. Tell students to speak with power and conviction when reading it aloud. You may possibly challenge students to memorize the entire Gettysburg Address, or at least the very first sentence.

(Click HERE to download!)

Common Core and You {Part 4}

2012-02-10T19:42:00.000-08:00

I've got some freebies for ya!

Here's just a quick post showing you the posters I've made the past couple of months that align with the Common Core. I hang these in my classroom and my students use them all the time to refer to!

Have you noticed your kiddos struggling with this concept?

I made the posters and a little word work game to go along with the three sounds of "ed".

Punctuation is such a tough one. Kids are using periods on every other word, question marks where there should be exclamation points and sometimes there's...well....no punctuation at all.

I made these posters that I have in my classroom all year. At the beginning of the year, when I'm teaching about expression, I use the worksheets so that we can practice reading with expression in response to punctuation {just like the common core says I have to}.

These FREE posters are aligned with the 1st grade Common Core, but can be used in K-3.

This one's available in my TpT store for FREE!

Do you see how I spend my Friday nights? WINNER! :)

Some frames courtesy of misstiina.com
Some frames courtesy of fancydogstudio.com

I know you want to know...

2012-02-08T20:20:00.000-08:00

I know you want to know if you won our giveaway! But listen, if you didn't win you can contact my Thirty-One Independent Consultant Liz: ekedwards4@gmail.com or visit her site {here}.

Here are the winners {I'll be contacting you both *soon*}:

Wait!!! There's more!

If you STILL think you have a chance of winning a bag, fear no more!

You have one more chance to win!

One of my bloggy friends, Melanie is having a Thirty-One giveaway on her blog! YAY!

Head over there

now!

***************************************

WAIT! The fun isn't over!!!! I want to tell you about a FABULOUS blog!

Have you been over to Heather's

Heart? Ohmyword. She's the most sweet thing EVER!

She gives away tons of freebies and has some

fabulous ideas. I just love her and her blog! You have to check out her math games.

AND...she's giving away one of these super CUTE shirts! You get to customize it!

She's also giving away 2 units from my TpT store and a music CD to use in

your classroom! WOW!!!

Head over to Heather's Heart and join in on the fun!

Scramble!

2012-02-07T00:04:00.000-08:00

I got an iPhone a couple weeks ago and I am obsessed with two little fun games: Words with Friends and Scramble with Friends. Both games are so much fun to play! I like the strategy involved, I like trying to beat my best score, I like having something that challenges my brain a little.

This got me thinking about how I could use some of these games inside my classroom. Afterall, they involve skills in spelling, vocabulary, phonics, etc... I knew my students could benefit from these fun making-words type activities.

Here's what I have come up with so far. A game I call, Scramble with Students. It is similar to Boggle or Scramble with Friends, but it is adapted so your students can play. It makes a fun game to play as a whole class, in small groups, or with partners. It would even make a great self-start or fast-finsher activity for students to do on their own.

Here's a free copy of the game board, if you'd like to try it out with your students:

I did this one with my students today and they L-O-V-E-D it! I set the timer for 5 minutes and when it beeped, students had a range of anywhere from 7-21 words on their lists. After we started looking at it as a class, we made a list of all the words we found together and we ended up with 77 {seventy-seven} words!! They are so excited to try again tomorrow (with a different list, of course) and see how many words they can find!

For the full version that includes 26 different game boards (plus one blank card so you can make your own) click: HERE.

Management Monday - Read-A-Thon

2012-02-06T07:12:00.000-08:00

Do you have your students earn 'mystery motivator' points for good behavior? If so, you might want to see how I use a class READ-A-THON as a reward for my class.

My class read-a-thon is something I look forward to all year long. I only do it once a year and I make my students earn it. It is a fun celebration of reading that promotes good reading habits!

Here's a copy of the note I send home to parents to inform them of the upcoming read-a-thon.

For a successful read-a-thon, here are some things to do before/during a read-a-thon:

Send a note to parents in advance (Click HERE to download)
Let students wear pajamas and bring snacks
Make it a fun celebration of reading
Write your rules on the board and go over them (see below)
Plan little reading activities to do during the day (see below)
Make sure your students have a chapter book (or for younger grades, a book box to get them through the day)
Move all desks to the side of the classroom. Let students find a comfy spot somewhere in the room. Let them use their blankets and pillows, if they brought them to school.
Have a spot on the white board where students can list the books they finish during the read-a-thon. It's fun to see how many books get read throughout the day!

My Rules for a read-a-thon:

Read, read, read!
Eyes in books
No talking, only reading

I always tell my students that it's a read-a-thon, not a talk-a-thon. :)

Reading Activities:

Set a timer, when it goes off, have everyone meet together and read a picture book aloud to students.
Handout copies of a poem. Have students read them aloud with a partner to practice fluency.
If weather permits, take kids outside to read on the grass.
Invite a younger (or older) class to come in for storytime. Have your students read a story to them.
If possible, take your kids to the school library to read.

Do have any other fun read-a-thon ideas?? I'd love to hear!!

EDIT: Tina from Quench Your First pointed out that she does a read-a-thon to celebrate Read Across America Day, which is coming up on March 2nd. If you'd like to celebrate too, here's an edited note for you to send home:

A Very Thirty-One Giveaway

2012-02-05T07:00:00.000-08:00

GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED!

Ya'll know about Thirty-One bags, right? They are currently my favorite thing! I bought 2 in the same month! I liked my first one so much that I emailed my consultant Liz, and bought another!!!

Here are my bags:

This bag is HUGE and I use it everything {it's perfect for groceries}! {large utility tote}

This is my teacher bag! I love it sooo much! {organizing utility tote

They have so many patterns and colors and HELLO...

who doesn't love something with their name on it!?!?

My friends Randi, from Teach it With Class and Liz, an independent consultant from Thirty-One, are all teaming up to get you a Thirty-One product!

There will be 2 winners!!!!

One winner will win this:

Pink cinch sack

And another winner will win this {you get to pick your pattern and what name you want on it}:

GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED!

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Giveaway ends Tuesday, February 7th at 8:00pm {EST}

Can't wait for the giveaway to get your new bag? Email Liz at ekedwards4@gmail.com

Frames by Mis Tiina www.misstiina.com

February? Really?

2012-02-01T16:23:00.000-08:00

Where did January go? Shoooo-weeee!!!! I'm ok with it though! Here's the winner of our President's Day and U.S. Symbols Unit and Made for 1st Grade's Stars and Stripes Centers.

Congrats Heidi! I'll be emailing you tonight!

February Ideas:

Here's our free ideas that we have as printables on our blog that you can find {here}:

I'll also be doing these centers that you can find {here} in my TpT store:

P.S. if you already bought my V-day centers, there was one TINY change on page 44. It said "Who is your name" and now I fixed it to say "What is your name". :) So....go re-download in your "my purchases". LOVE YA!

Free Technology! (Have You Entered?)

2012-01-31T00:30:00.000-08:00

How does a $25,000 school technology grant, an iPad 2, and 30 iPod touches sound?

I know... like the BEST thing ever, right?!

My students would go NUTS! And I would be in heaven with my very own iPad!!

{My hubby has one, but he doesn't share very often...}

Well, the Worth Ave Group is giving out over $150,000 in prizes to some very lucky teachers.

CLICK THE PICTURE ABOVE TO FIND OUT MORE.

P.S. While you're at it, like Worth Ave Group on Facebook and tell them the girls from What the Teacher Wants sent you!

What I'm Lovin' {non-teacher version}

2012-01-30T15:51:00.000-08:00

Hi friends!!! I'm just enjoying my last week of off track with some R&R. I thought I'd use my new iphone and take some pictures of things that I'm lovin'!

So, those of you who know me, know that I had not gone to the 21st century technology when it comes to phones. I just could not do it. BUT, finally I decided it was time! The iPhone will change your life. Just so you know, I talk to Siri all the time. Last week I told her that I loved her. She said, "You say that to all of your Apple products.". Touche Siri, touche.

I'm loving my new mustard yellow pillows I got from Tarjayyy {Target}.

I'm loving my Valentine's Day decor shelf. I got the cute printable from eighteen25 {here}. By the way, when you use cute little glass vases to hold candy hearts to decorate for V-day, it's not a great idea because they are so.darn.addicting. Did you notice the missing candy hearts in the vase? Perhaps they fell out. Perhaps?

I'm loving my new Asics "running" shoes I got 2 weeks ago. Really, I don't run much because let's be honest....if you see me running, call the cops! I'm the person yelling out my car window "eat a Twinkie" to the skinny girl running in 20 below weather.

I do workout though! It's crazy that you can burn calories without running. :)
To read more about my shoe problem, see below.

Oh I apparently struggle a little taking picture with my new phone. But what I'm loving here is the new OPI Shellac! My sister and I got our nails done on Saturday. Then we ate at Cafe Rio. Ohmygoodness. If you have no idea what Cafe Rio is {I think it's just a Utah/Nevada thing}. YOU ARE MISSING OUT, but your scale is thanking you.

You can't really tell in this picture, but this little board holds tons of pictures and the pictures just slide right in!!! So easy to change pictures in and out for the seasons! My sister-in-law bought it for us for Christmas and she got it {here}.

Ok, yum! I love these panini's from Lean Cuisine.

If ya'll promise to keep a secret, I'll tell you one more thing. Promise?

Just as I'm about to hit "publish post" I get a knock at the door. It's my BFF Mr. UPS man. :) Look what he brought me. ALL 3 of these boxes are shoes.

Let me start by saying...I NEVER BUY SHOES OR CLOTHES FOR MYSELF. It's been 2 years since I bought a pair of shoes. 2 years?!?!?! So please, don't judge me. :)

3 NEW PAIR OF SHOES!!! The reason I need this to be kept quiet is that I haven't told the hubby the extent of my "I need new shoes" rampage I was on last week. He just said "that's cool, buy what you want". I know he won't mind, it's just....well...I apparently need a shoe intervention.

1st pair on the left: If you need comfy and cute, you NEED these.
2nd pair: TOMS. They are my first pair. I know I'm a little late on the bandwagon, but I just had to have them.
3rd pair: My "running" shoes from above wanted to be in the picture too!
4th pair: My Asics for walking outside because I didn't want to use "running" shoes to walk outside or to the mall or to get my nails done.

What are you loving?

President's Day Giveaway! {now closed}

2012-01-28T08:01:00.000-08:00

Giveaway now closed!

Natalie and I are teaming up with the fabulous ladies at Made for 1st Grade. Ohmyword, do they not have the cutest centers ever? LOVE them! We're doing a giveaway of our President's Day themed packets! Made for 1st Grade has some great Stars and Stripes Centers that will go great with our President's Day and U.S. Symbols Unit!

We're giving away both of these on our blog and then both on their blog !!!! 2 sets ya'll!

Feel free to check out our President's Day stuff:

President's Day and U.S. Symbols Unit

Stars and Stripes Math and Literacy Centers

Guided Reading Galore!

2012-01-24T15:10:00.000-08:00

I've had many questions about guided reading! Let me start by saying, I'm NO expert. I am still working on it myself! But, I do have some things I've learned that I'd love to share with you...and I'm not taking credit for these ideas. :) I just blog about em'!

Levels
Once you establish the level of each of your students, you'll want to check out {this} printable. It has helped me SO much! This printable tells me what I need to work on with each level {I did not create this handout, I just re-typed it!}.

Click {here} for the download

Once you know what your kiddos need, you'll put them in groups. I know you've seen this before on our blog, but this is for our new friends that need ideas. I used velcro so that I can easily move them from level to level and so that I'd have a visual of where my students are.

I use this printable to help me decide when I'm meeting with each group. If you have a lot of groups, you won't be able to meet with every group, every day. BUT, it's important that you meet with your below level kiddos EVERY day {even Friday...gaspppp....}. So, this helps me remember what day I meet with what group {here's an example of what it would look like}:

Click {here} for the download

Here is a guideline from my district on where your students should be throughout the year. Keep in mind that we are in a trimester schedule so it might be different for you.

Click {here} to download

Running Records
We are asked to do one running record in each group, each day. It's a little overwhelming and I try my best to get it done, but I'm the.worst.at.it. I know it's helpful because it let's me know when a students is ready to move a level without doing a formal assessment, but I just like listening to all of my students in the group, not just one. Uggghhh.... I'm working on it people!

I keep my running records in a guided reading records binder {check that out here}.

Click {here} to download

If you've never done a running record, it's really best to see one in action. I did find a good site for a general overview of running records {here}.

Anecdotal notes
Sometimes you notice things that your students are doing, but you're not doing a running record on them...but you need to remember to address it. I just keep a stack of sticky notes on my desk and jot down the problem. Then, I stick it on their tab in the binder on this little printable:

Click {here} to download

Planning
In my guided reading packet on TpT, I explain the planning steps of guided reading, but here's a tip that's not in my packet. When teaching a guided reading group, I always have a word work activity planned. To organize all of my games and ideas, I've put them all in a binder. The games are all copied on cardstock and put in a page protector {then they can be stuck in the binder AND they can be used with a dry-erase marker}. Then, I separate them with tabs so I can easily access them. The tabs are comprehension, word work, vocabulary, fluency, and I think that's it.

Mini-lesson ideas seen in this picture are from my Guided Reading Packet.

Mini-lessons
I use my whiteboards or my games from my binder in my lessons just about every day. They are perfect for word work mini-lessons. I just take into account the skill my kiddos need to work and/or what I see in their book for that day. If the book is called "Star Fish", I might work on the sound of 'ar', or I might work on the digraph 'sh'. OR, I might just see what they need to work on and it might not have anything to do with the book.

Management
I use the Daily 5. I modify it to make it work for me and my students. It's the best system that is a balance between keeping the kiddos engaged AND having them do meaningful things while I'm working with groups. Check out their site for more info. Another bonus...after you've set up all of the expectations with your kiddos the first month or so of school...there's really nothing else you have to do with it {I do revisit the expectations every month}.

Daily 5 board! The polka dot border can be found {here} and the Daily 5 posters can be found {here}.

Time

This one I can't really help you on. It's up to you to make time to do guided reading. I know that sometimes it's out of your hands, but it's VERY important you meet with your kiddos everyday {it's required in our district}. Even when it's during assessment time, I try to at least get in one group that day {my lowest group for sure}. My district is really big on the "2-a-day" plan. Basically, during assessment time, only test 2 students a day. This is in place of "test all the kids in 3 days and that's it" method I like. I'm not a fan of the "2-a-day", but some of you might be.

Books

I am so fortunate that I teach in a district that is HUGE on guided reading. We have a giant room full of guided reading books for ALL the levels. It's basically a library just of guided reading books. It's heavenly.

If you are short on books, there are numerous grants out there that can help!

I hope I answered all of your questions. :) For more ideas and to see our previous posts, go {here}.

Any other ideas? Tips?

Frame: Fancy Dog Studio

Clipart: Scrappin Doodles

Fonts: DJ Inkers and Kevin & Amanda

Talented Teachers and some FREEBIES!

2012-01-22T19:52:00.000-08:00

I am fortunate to teach at a school with VERY talented teachers!! I would say that the teachers at my school are some of the cute-siest teachers I've ever seen!

Two of them have recently decided to join the Teachers Pay Teachers world (they are not bloggers yet, but I'm hoping that will be the next step...) and I wanted to show off some of their work with you.

First, meet Christie Lamb. You might remember her from THIS post from over a year ago. Christie and I went to college together and randomly got hired at the same school. We've been super great friends ever since!

I wanted to give you a glance at some of her work. This is her {fabulous} money unit.

I also wanted to share a cute Beach Party Themed 100 Days Unit from my friend, Misty Hall.

Both of these cute gals have agreed to let me give away a freebie!

Christie has made a cute Sight Word Bingo game.

Click here to download the Sight Word Bingo Freebie.

Here's a freebie from Misty - it's her Snowman Fact Family! (Just in time - Utah finally got some snow this weekend!!)

Click here to download the Snoman Fact Family Freebie.

I don't know about you all, but I'm gearing up for a VERY busy week of parent teacher conferences. Here's wishing for a good week for all of you out there!!

My New Friend & President's Day & U.S. Symbols

2012-01-21T04:30:00.000-08:00

I apologize for my absence. I haven't been able to post my freebies that I've been doing in my classroom because, well, I'M OFF TRACK! :) So, I've been in my jammies a lot lately and just like my friend Kristin would say; my pjs and I are BFFs. :)

I have to introduce you to my new friend! Her name is Nikki and she is an amazing artist! She draws clipart and it's SUPER cute {and commercial use friendly}. And what do you know? We apparently live thisclose to each other. What a small world.

I mean look how cute?!?!?!?!

And she's so sweet because she takes requests! I requested some President's Day clipart and *BOOM*, there it was! :) She is also getting her Etsy shop up and ready to go, so check it all out!
Back to the President's Day clipart that I requested....I needed it for a unit I was making for my class and I just put it on TpT too! Check it out {here} in it's full capacity because it's jam packed!

President's Day and U.S. Symbols Unit

There's lots in this unit! So click [here] to view the description!

I'm sorry for such a long post. But I also wanted to leave you with a
President's Day *freebie* from my unit.

{click the pic for the download}

P.S.

Be ready for a HUGE post about Guided Reading {full of freebies, running record help, organizations, etc.}- What are you wanting to know about Guided Reading? Anything you hope I include in this post?

P.S.and S.

If you made it to the end of this L.O.N.G post, THANK YOU! I shall reward the first 3 people to comment on this post with my new unit that I wrote about {see above}. Did you read it about it or did you skip to the last sentence of the post like I do sometimes? :) Please leave your email.

This is kind of a big deal...

2012-01-18T06:58:00.000-08:00

Do you have a blog idol? Natalie and I have always loved the ladies over at eighteen25. They have such amazing ideas, they're so sweet, and can I just say 2 words that sum it up: SUBWAY ART!

Today, we are GUEST POSTING over there. Yes. Go ahead and re-read that. Breathe. We are so excited! And do you know what we've discovered? Those ladies are fabulous and down-to-earth. DUH!

So, can you do us a favor PUH-LEASE? Head over to eighteen25 {become a follower if you're not}, check out our post, and show us some love. Tell them that What the Teacher Wants sent you! :)

In honor of our readers here at What the Teacher Wants and our new friends at eighteen25, I've made a little printable for your home.

My husband and I LOVE Chinese food. We have our favorite place we go to every.single.time.

At the end of the meal we read our fortune from our fortune cookies and we always save the best ones. I would stuff them in our "junk drawer" {you are nodding your head agreeing that you too, stuff anything and everything in that drawer}. I wanted a cute way to display them so I came up with this:

Here's my non-teaching idea. It doesn't happen often, so soak it up!

Fortune {from a fortune cookie} Display

Here's what you need:

*Frame {Hobby Lobby}- make sure it has the piece of cardboard on the back

*Crafting wire {Walmart}

*Painters tape {Walmart}

*Printable {click on the color you'd like}:

{yellow}

{blue}

{red}

{gray}

Just tape the printable to the cardboard that comes on the back of your frame. Cut pieces of crafting wire {I cut separate pieces} and pull tight over the printable that's on the cardboard. Tape each end of the wire to the back of the cardboard. Repeat. :) Then, put your fortunes in the wire and put the glass on top. Carefully put the glass inside of the frame. Viola! :)

My favorite fortune {my husband got this one}:

You and your wife will be happy in this life.

Background design from Dreamlike Magic

Science Fair Time!!

2012-01-12T20:39:00.000-08:00

I love the Science Fair and I love seeing my students come up with some amazing work! I have been absolutely blown away with some of the projects that have been turned in in the past.

But, let's be honest - the science fair is a TON of extra work.

Here are some resources that may help you as you get your own kiddos ready for the science fair:

#1 - I love this FREE Science Fair Handbook I found on TpT.

{Source: http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Science-Fair-Handbook}

#2 - These beautiful scientific method signs were made by the fabulous Kristen from Ladybug's Teacher Files. LOVE THEM!

{Source: http://ladybugsteacherfiles.blogspot.com/2011/03/scientific-method-signs.html}

#3 - I great visual to walk students through the steps involved in a science fair project. (I espcecially like how it emphasizes the fact that some times we have to try again.)

{Source: http://www.sciencebuddies.org}

#4 - Discovery Education offers Science Fair Central, a fabulous resource for teachers, parents and students!

{Source: http://school.discoveryeducation.com/sciencefaircentral/}

#5 - Education.com has thousands of Science Fair Project Ideas.

{Source: http://www.education.com/science-fair/}

#6 - A good article on the Scientific Process from Fact Monster.

{Source: http://www.factmonster.com/}

#7 - YouTube - Two songs that teach about the scientific method through music. The first one is a rap and the second one is a sing-a-long.

Know of an awesome website or resouce that I'm leaving out? Make sure to leave a link in the comments so we can all add it to our science fair files! Thanks!!

A Very Sweet Valentine's Day

2012-01-10T05:00:00.000-08:00

I was in need of some fun, but *very* educational games for my kiddos to play on Valentine's Day. I decided to make a packet of math and literacy centers for Valentine's Day. It's just necessary to do things a little bit different on Valentine's Day. :)

These math and literacy centers are "very sweet" and can be used the whole month of February {and beyond}! They will be perfect for Valentine's day, but I've also included non-Valentine's Day words for the games {for my friends who do not celebrate Valentine's Day}. This 58 page packet includes 3 math and 3 literacy centers in both color and black and white.

There are 3 math centers:
Heart Patterns
Sweet Treat {cupcake graphing} with recording sheet
Don't Break My Heart {time to the hour} with recording sheet

There are 3 literacy centers:
Love Letters {long/short i sort} with recording sheet
Punctuation Sort with recording sheet
I Scream For Ice Cream {digraph sort} with recording sheet

click {here} to check it out!

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P.S. Did ya'll see my funny story on our Facebook Page? If not, here it is:

I was teaching a guided reading group today and we were reading a non-fiction book about gorillas. I decided it was a perfect time for me to expose them to the table of contents and the index.

I asked, "Does anyone know what in index is used for?"

One of my students raised his hand SO high and said, "Yes, it's what my mom uses to clean the windows!"

Nope, we were talking about an INDEX, not WINDEX! :)

"Currently"

2012-01-08T21:36:00.000-08:00

Our super cute 4th grade friend is throwing a fun linky party/giveaway! I love linky parties, especially if there are prizes involved! :)

Here's my {Natalie's} first ever "Currently".

Join in on the fun over at Oh' Boy Fourth Grade!

One more thing:

If you like giveaways, you should also check out the gals at Fun in First!

They teach at the school where Rachelle and I both did our teaching practicum in college!

Yay for Fiddlers Elementary! :)

Great News - Free eBook!

2012-01-06T16:16:00.000-08:00

Click HERE to be taken to MediaBistro.com to find out how you can download a free copy.

Don't hate me because...

2012-01-04T17:57:00.000-08:00

I just posted my Centers for March 2nd on TpT. I'm just a little ahead of the game {insert a big pat on the back}. But don't hate me too much because I'm off track at the end of January and beginning of February and I don't have tons of planning to do for those months. I just love the clipart from scrappindoodles.com and thistlegirldesigns.com.

This 91 page centers that you can use for Dr. Seuss Day {or week or month} includes activities perfect for your math tubs and literacy/word work centers. All the games come in a color or black/white version and also includes a recording sheet.

There are 6 literacy activities:
Spectacular Spin {making words}
Cat Syllable Sort
Rhyme Time
Thing 1 and 2 Punctuation Game
Cat Word Graph
ABC Order withBooks

There are 5 math activities:
It's Time to Go Fish! {telling time to the hour}
Fact Families
Number Line Number Find
Cat with a Hat Add 3 Numbers
Shapes {3D and 2D practice}

Are you ready for Dr. Seuss Day? Have you even thought about it?

Dr. Seuss themed clipart from scrappindoodles.com

Dr. Seuss themed clipart from thistlegirldesigns.com

Management Monday: Managing your blog

2012-01-03T15:40:00.000-08:00

This tip isn't really a classroom management post. It's a little tip to help you {and me}.

How many of you HATE these word verifiers? Yeah, they are checking to make sure robots are not posting on your blog, I get it.....

And by the way, I was not commenting at 3:33pm {during school}. It was 4:33pm. Promise.

I CAN NEVER FIGURE OUT THAT DANG THING!!! On some websites it's ever worse. Have you tried the word verification on Facebook? I have to refresh the word 100 times before I get it! And really, "tream". That's not even a word, I think.

It also takes away precious commenting time on my end.

So, I've devised a little plan to help you change your settings to the most user-friendly commenting settings. You can get more comments and I can give more comments. :)

Here's my tutorial:

Yes, once in a while I'll get a spam comment filter through, but I just delete it. And once in a while I get a mean comment on my blog from an anonymous reader and guess what....I DELETE IT! It's my blog and I'll do what I want to {well it's mine and Natalie's blog}. :)

And there you have it...more user-friendly commenting! Hope you enjoyed! What do you think? Clear as mud?

Um...hello? How did I not know about {this} video tutorial from Kristen at Ladybug's Teacher files BEFORE I made this post. Ahem.

What I'm Reading

2011-12-27T21:19:00.000-08:00

Christmas break has been wonderful so far! I've loved having so much extra time to be with family, clean the house, and work on fun projects. Another thing I've been doing a lot of is reading. I always enjoy reading a good book and my very favorite thing to do is to take a warm bubble bath while reading! And that's exactly how I've been spending a lot of my nights this break. In the tub, with a good book!! :)

So, what have I been reading? First up, is The Happiness Project.

I got the book for Christmas and haven't been able to put it down. It's getting me all geared up for the new year and is helping me analyze my own life and figure out some changes I'd like to make. I'm only half-way done, but so far I give it two thumbs up!

I've also been reading I Wish I Knew That: Geography.

This is a great book, and one that I plan on using with my students for sure. As I started reading, I quickly realized how much it ties in with my science core. Let me just share a list of the topics that are covered in this book:

layers of the earth
plate tectonics
seasons and climates
earthquakes and volcanoes
oceans (and ocean life)
maps
the 7 continents
how islands are formed
how mountains are formed
rivers and lakes
biomes
deserts and rain forests

I'm not done reading this one yet either, but my head is swarming with ways to use this in my classroom. I'm thinking of making it a literature circle book and creating a graphic organizer for students to fill out with information as they read. It would also include some sort of fun project to do at the end. Not exactly sure yet, but I'll try to keep you all posted on my progress. :)

So, now I NEED to know. What have you been reading over the break? What should I put on my to-read list next??

January Activities

2011-12-26T17:16:00.000-08:00

As gloomy as January sometimes seems to be {the after Christmas blues}, I really love teaching this time of year. My students seem to come back from Christmas break as new, independent learners!

I posted about some *free* January themed activities that you can check out {here}.

I also have this fun word search that I made for January that you can download free {here}.
Clipart copyright Diane J Hood and use with permission by djinkers.com

Here's what we're doing in our classroom next:

This cute board is from Really Roper. She's got a free mini-unit! Go get it (here)!

Then, we've got this amazing unit that we'll do the second week of January:

I love this unit! You can get this one from Deanna Jump {here}.

And lastly for January, we'll be learning about bears. This is from my Bear Unit.

You can find it {here} on sale today and tomorrow only!

Have a great break! :)