Five on Friday

This week was a short one for me...only 4 days. Woohoo! But somehow we crammed a TON into those 4 little days. I'm linking up with Teaching Doodle Bugs for a recap. 

1) Fun with Easter Eggs

Did you see this super fun freebie from The Happy Teacher in the teachers pay teachers newsletter last Sunday??? 

I love that it it is truly a product that can be used with any grade level. The example shows the activity as away to practice adding whole numbers.  My students worked on adding decimals and had a great time. 

Earlier in the week we also used the plastic eggs for test prep. I filled the eggs with test questions and they answered the questions with partners. Much more fun than traditional test prep. 

2) Peeps 

I sent my kids home with this sweet treat:

 (pintrest inspired of course!)

Of course mine aren't as beautiful as the pintrest version (especially with the glare!)  but my kiddos were still thrilled with the sugary goodness. :) 

3) Observation 

I had a formal observation this week. We were told that they would be looking for our use  differentiated instruction which was one of the things I've been trying to work on using more this year. 

By the way, I ordered this book a few weeks ago and I'm loving it! Lots of great stuff...

My lesson seemed to go well but I won't get the formal evaluation/meet with my admin until I return from Spring Break. It's always a relief to just have it DONE. :)

4) Parent Game Day 

This week we had parent game day. Parents could come after school and play board games in each classroom. We played chess (my boys are obsessed) and Headbandz (I'm obsessed with this one. So fun!). 

5) Spring Break 

I am officially on Spring Break...enough. said. 

Now, I'm off to blog stalk. Enjoy your weekend and have a great Easter! :) 

Linky Love

I've been wanting to blog all weekend but things have been crazy busy. Now that it's Sunday I am catching up on all things school (report cards, benchmark tests and lesson plans), but before I really get started with all that I think a little blog time is order. I think I have my priorities in the right place, right? :)

Time to link up with a couple of my favorite linky parties.....

First up, I'm linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for Five on Friday.

1) Girl Scout Cookies

Five boxes might be a little excessive for my little household of two but they are just so yummy!!!

2) College Week = New Sweatshirts  

We are celebrating college week at the end of March. I loved Chico State!! And I think that college week justifies a shopping spree on my alma mater's website. I picked up a new sweatshirt, a t-shirt and cute little onesie for my friend's sweet new baby. 

3) Colonial America Unit 
I am loving our Colonial America Unit and have used this book a lot! It's a good one!

 

4) Planet Rap 

Our art teacher takes over one unit in Science or Social Studies each year and teaches it through art integration. She is amazing! This year she is teaching our space unit. Here is one of the resources she is using. The kids LOVE it. :) 

5) Task Card Scavenger Hunt
Time to start the major test prepping! I've been trying to spice things up a bit since it can be sooo boring. One way I've done this is by creating test prep task cards and taping them to the walls and windows around the classroom. Then the kiddos wonder around the room and answer the questions on there answer sheets. It is nice to get them up and moving!


I'm also linking up with Latoya from Flying into First Grade.

This week's topic: 2 Truths and a Lie 

2 Truths and a Lie 

1) I have three sisters (Jo, Jennifer and Megan). 

2) My favorite ice cream is Thrifty's Chocolate Brownie. 

3) My car has 150,000 miles on it. 

Well, there are my 3 random "facts". 

Can you guess which one is a lie?????

I hope you all are having a fabulous weekend! Enjoy your Sunday! :) 

Jamestown Resources

We're learning about Jamestown and I found this super fun, quick game. Its similar to Oregon Trail (so of course my inner 90's child loves it!). The good news is that my kiddos loved it too!

It's super simple and can be played in about 10 minutes but it is also full of lots of info. 

Today we played as a class. I projected the game onto the board and pulled sticks every time we had to make a decision. My kids loved having the power! 

They are super excited to play by themselves tomorrow and make all of the decisions.

Super fun resource (just don't forget to disable your pop up blocker).   

UPDATE:
Here is another fun resource that Donna from Hokie Teach shared.

My kids loved this one too! It has lots of info-- especially about John Smith. :)

What resources to you use when you teach Jamestown/Colonial Times?

And a little funny before I go...

Have you seen this flow chart floating around facebook?!?!? It's too funny! 

Let's Get Acquainted!

I'm linking up with Latoya from Flying into First Grade for her fun little get-to-know-you linky. Your're supposed to use your initials and share three things about yourself....although you've probably already seen this particular linky all over blogland.

J 
Jolly Ranchers
My all time fave candy!

And
Jerky 
As in beef or turkey.

I dunno why but I love this stuff.


L
Hmmm...lattes and would be to easy......same with laughter.....
Let's go with
LOVE ACTUALLY my favorite movie. If you haven't seen it, do so ASAP

T 
Tulips have been my favorite flowers wince I was a little girl....

I've always wanted tulips at my wedding....but I've also always wanted to get married in July ....on a beach.... not sure the tulips are a realistic part of my fantasy wedding. :)

Now its your turn!  Link up HERE.

Have a great hump day...we're half way to the weekend. :)

St Patrick's Day and A FREEBIE

Is it just me or did St. Patrick's Day sneak up on us?!?!? I feel like I was just prepping for Valentines Day. Now it's out with the red and pink and up with the green...although if I was really on top of it the color scheme switch would have been made weeks ago.

In preperation for the big GREEN day (or in preperation for March 15th since St Patty's Day lands on a Sunday), I've been scouring pintrest to find some ideas. This is what I've found:



I've seen these floating around pintrest. They look yummy and easy!

Click HERE for the recipe. 

Since we can't just eat all day (unfortunately!), I've ben scouring for some academic St. Patty's fun too. 

First up, Shading Shamrocks  from Collaborative Cuties. Click on  HERE to get this fun freebie. 

I also found this great packet in Claire Somerville's store. 

I can't wait to use it!

Finally, I made these cute bookmarks for my kiddos. You can download your own FREE copy HERE. 

I teach in our school's after school program on Tuesdays and Thursdays and I have K-1 kiddos. 

This week during after school class we will be making these EASY crafts. (After teaching all day my after school crafts are always super simple! :) ) 

Leprechaun Faces from Parent Teach Play

(SOURCE) 

Rainbow Macaroni Necklaces from My Name is Snickerdoodle 

(SOURCE) 

We'll also be using Teri's Craftivity, How to Catch a Leprechaun.  

What do you have planned for the week? 

How will you celebrate St. Patty's Day? 

Five on Friday

Well, it's been a lllloooonnnggg week! I feel like I've been away from blogland and all of my teacher friends for age because lately I haven't even had time to blog stalk! Things have been all kinds of busy with me.

So I'm linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching to show you what I've been up to.

1) Yosemite 
Last weekend I was lucky enough to spend time in one of the most beautiful places in the world.

(SOURCE) 

I didn't take this picture but I did stand in this exact spot. Such a beautiful view! 

We spent the three days in these great little cabins with 3 of my childhood friends and their husbands/boyfriends. The cabins were inside the park and pretty amazing. We had a full kitchen, cable TV and a fireplace. Now that's my kind of roughing it!

I did brave the elements and hiked around the valley floor and drove up the hill to play in the snow. It was my first time snowshoeing! So fun! 

Lots of beautiful scenery, good food, good wine and good friends! Couldn't ask for anything more! 

2) Giveaways 

While I was away in the woods, some of my favorite bloggers posted about giveaways for their big milestones. I was so excited to donate prizes to these amazing ladies! 

Donna of Hokie Teach is hosting her 100 follower giveaway. There are a whole bunch of gems in her giveaway including my Frindle Novel Study. 

Amanda and Stacia from Collaborative Cuties , are also having a giveaway!

 So many amazing products in this one too, including my Graphic Organizers for Any Novel. 

If you haven't entered already, GO! Enter now before it's too late! 

On the school front.........

3) Fact Trackers 

We are knee deep in science everywhere you look! I'm trying to cover EVERYTHING before our state science test in April. I've been integrating like crazy so that I can sneak it all in.


I just used this book as we continued our weather unit this week. I love the American Revolution one too!  These are so kid-friendly and make tough subjects much easier to understand. They are a third grade reading level  but still full of great content which is really helpful since I have so many students reading below grade level this year.

4) Really Good Stuff

I got a package this week! Guess what was inside?!?!?

This:  

And THIS: 

 

I am loving both of my new goodies! And I am also very proud of myself for only ordering two items. That is a first! 

5) Starbucks to the Rescue 

(Get this adorable sign HERE) 

I normally stick with chai tea lattes but this week I had to up the ante a little bit and go for old stand by.  I don't know what it is about this week (maybe it was being away for the weekend, or the IEP meeting, or the  2 hour common core meeting on Thursday or the 2 hour  committee meeting I had on today...yes on a Friday until 6:00 pm!) but lots of Starbucks got me through!

Well, I am finally off to catch up on my blogs and then it's straight to bed for me.

Happy weekend, my sweet friends! :)