Monday, June 30, 2014

Monday Made It- Bunting, Chevron, Herbs, and a Sneak Peak!



      It is time for Monday Made It again! I am linking up with 4th Grade Frolics to share what I have been up to!  I have been busy again creating items for my home and classroom.  Here is a peak at what I have been up to!

      My first project was my favorite project that I have been working on.  I am creating a homophone bulletin board for my classroom this year.  I created a no sew bunting to go across the top of my bulletin board!  This is my pretend bulletin board across the floor! I made a mini one and a large one. Click HERE to head over to grab a copy of the homophone word cards.  I blogged about them on Friday's Five for Friday, as well.







      My next project, I bought a chevron decoration set on TpT and used it to create the following items.  It is a HUGE help to get these things backed, laminated, and cut NOW, instead of waiting until the fall. I prepped my new clock labels. (I left my old ones at my old school last year when I moved.) I prepped new bathroom passes.  I am going to punch a hole in the top and string ribbon through, so these can be worn around the neck and DON'T have to be handled in the bathroom!


       I am also creating colored numbers, from this set, to use for grouping students or selecting a student from each table to do a task (collect papers, etc.).

The set I purchased was the one below.  Click on the picture to head over to her TpT to grab your own copy!

      My third project was for home. I took a bunch of basil and other herbs and created basil butter in ice cube trays as well as herbs in olive oil.  I mixed them up, dropped it into the ice cube trays, and let them set over night. It is a great way to preserve your summer herbs, throughout the year!


    
      I have been busy working this summer on my novel studies.  These are the MOST helpful tools for me during the year.  I create novel studies that are mostly text dependent questions, allowing my students to use the text to find evidence, infer, etc.  I also like to create an answer key that helps a TON so that I don't have to re-read the book/chapter each day of instruction, etc. Recently I have been working on my newest book study.  It won't be ready until later this week, but I thought I would give you a preview of what it will be.  If you are familiar with my TpT products, I have a lot of Magic Tree House, Cam Jansen, and Nate the Great.  This is a new series for me that my kiddos LOVED this year. So, here it is!!!  Amber Brown!  So check back soon to grab a copy once it is finished!

Take a look over at 4th Grade Frolics to see what everyone else has been up to!



Friday, June 27, 2014

Five for Friday- June 27th



     It is time for Five forFriday again with Doodle Bugs Teaching!  This week has gone by SO fast!  I feel like this summer is just flying by.  Here is what I was up to this week:

1.  Remember that giant to do list I had?  Well I have been adding things to it that I want to work on instead of getting some things done that I NEED for this fall.  So, this week I buckled down and got busy on some much needed projects for this fall.  
       This first one is a homophone set. My school uses Fundations by Orton Gillingham.  Last year was the first year of using the program. I really liked it, but felt that I didn't have as many supplementary materials created as I would have liked.  I just finished typing up all of the homophones that are studied in the level 3 program.  You can grab a copy by clicking on the picture below.


2.  I printed these word cards off and plan to laminate them today.  Do you have Lakeshore Learning in your city? I have an awesome coupon from them to laminate up to 15 linear feet for free!  I will be heading there this afternoon with some goodies that I have been saving to laminate. I plan to create a bulletin board with these fabrics and using the ribbon to hold them on it!


3.  I have also been working on my new library system.  When I taught first grade, my students only had two books checked out at a time, so it was pretty easy to keep track of books in the classroom.  But, in third grade we allow the kids to have 5 books in their book boxes at a time.  I had a hard time keeping my library as organized as I would like.  SO, I am using a library card system this year.  Click HERE to see where I got my inspiration and freebie to help create my library pockets!


4.  Our school has a summer program where we take students who may need more social experiences or who don't have the same opportunities as their peers, on field trips.  Yesterday, I helped chaperon a trip to the Columbus Zoo!  It was a fun time, but SUPER HOT!




5.  Continuing to try and run and bike a lot this summer!  Hopefully, I can keep this up during the school year!  Here is what I saw on one of my adventures this week! This pretty park is right in the middle of the city!  So nice! :)

Happy Friday!


Wednesday, June 25, 2014

Wordless Wednesday- Obstacles



      I am linking up for Wordless Wednesday with Sugar and Spice.  I hope you are enjoying your summer as much as I am!  Today, while riding on a bike trail that runs alongside a river, I came across a TON Of spots of high water.  Each time, I just rode right through, getting a little wet and a little muddy.  No big deal. Until, I encountered this pictured below.  I had to go off the trail and into a neighborhood (WAY out of my way) to get around it and back to the trail. I just made my way through the neighborhood, without worrying too much about it. 

     However, I don't go with the flow as well during the school year.  I don't go around those obstacles as smoothly as I would like.  So here is my question for you:  

When you encounter obstacles at work or home, what strategies do you use to stay calm and adjust your plans?  I'd love to hear!



Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Two for Tuesday! Sale time!


      We all love a good sale, right?! I am linking up with The Teaching Tribune for Two for Tuesday.  This is where teachers have two products on sale for 50% off all day today!  WOO HOO!  

      Here are my two products that are 50% off all day!  Click on the pictures below to grab a copy, while you can!
      This first product is my Nate the Great Throughout the Year bundle.  It has 6 book studies.  It sells for $12.00 regularly, so for $6 you can grab this ready to go set of book studies!


     My second product on sale is my Reader's Notebook Starter Kit bundle!  Do you use reader's notebooks.  These have prompts for most of the Common Core Standards for grades 1-3.  The best part is  that you can use these to differentiate   Some students may be working below grade level and you can actually use the lower leveled prompts to build independence on a standard before moving on, or the other way around!  Check out this packet below!!  This product normally sells for $12, but is on sale for $6! I also sell each grade level as an individual packet.  Today's sale makes this mega bundle a HUGE savings!!!






Thanks for stopping by and don't forget to go check out the sales!