Fabulous Field Trips!

     
      We had a FABULOUS time at our field trip!  I don't know about your schools, but we can only go on two field trips a year.  The first grade usually takes one to the pumpkin patch in the fall and one to our Children's Theater in Charlotte in the winter/spring. 
      The Children's Theater has wonderful productions for young children.  This is an experience that I LOVE to provide for our students.  Many of our students have never been to a formal show in a theater.  We teach them about appropriate etiquette and dress. We have also had years where our students have never been to downtown Charlotte and they are amazed at all of the huge buildings. Today, you should have heard the kids telling us about who they know that works in "that really tall building"!

     We went and saw "The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs!", where we were able to hear the Wolf's side of the story.  It was really funny and very cute!  I loved hearing my students talk about whether or not they believed the Wolf!  There were even a few discussions on the bus ride back about how it is OK to disagree about our thoughts on the verdict.  Tomorrow my students will write about whether or not they believed Alexander T. Wolf.  Click here to grab your copy of this writing prompt for free. 

                                                          

     To get ready for this play, we used a variety of reading materials.  My students are reading on a wide range from levels G through level U.  In order to read materials about the three little pigs, I found three stories that are on a variety of reading levels, providing great differentiation.  The kids have really enjoyed reading these books this week and they will continue their work with them into next week.  Click on the pictures below to grab your copy of these great activities!

What types of field trips do you take at your school?  What do you do to get your kiddos ready and pumped up for the trip?  I would love to hear your ideas!
Happy almost Friday!

-Michelle 

Ready for Spring, St. Patrick's Day Ideas, and I'm a NC Blogger!

     Ready for Spring, St. Patrick's Day Ideas, and I'm a NC Blogger!

      I am SO ready for spring!  To me, the month of March means springtime is here!  In North Carolina you never know what type of weather you might get, especially in March!  Last March it was VERY warm!  This March hasn't started out the same way.  Thankfully we are NOT going to get the snow they thought we might get tomorrow and this weekend we should finally have some average to above average weather! 

     Nothing tells me spring is on the way more than springing our clocks forward (this upcoming weekend), warmer weather, and of course my favorite March holiday...St. Patrick's Day!  I LOVE this holiday and all the fun that it can bring at school.  The only downfall of having a student teacher is that I won't actually be doing any activities with my kiddos this year, for St. Patrick's Day. My student teacher is using a bunch of my items, but it is still not the same!  In the spirit of St. Patty's Day, I am linking up with Primary Inspired to share my St. Patrick's Day Pinterest page. 

     Also, if you haven't seen it, Fifth in the Middle, is having teachers link up by the state in which they are teaching/blogging.  It is amazing how many teacher bloggers live in NC!  Make sure to head over there and link up and maybe meet some other bloggers from your area!

                                       

Have a great night!

- Michelle

March Currently

I have read other people's currently blogs for SO long and I am finally linking up with Oh' Boy Fourth Grade for her March Currently Linky!

•  Listening to Pandora!  Now that we have unlimited Internet at home, we can crank up the music!  Music makes working so much easier!
• Loving that my student teacher is almost ready to take over!  This week I will still be teaching for about an hour and a half each day.  She is pretty much teaching the rest of the day!  Then the following week, she will begin taking over full time for 4 weeks!  I have a lot of projects planned. :)
• Thinking about how it is supposed to snow this Wednesday!  We CAN'T have any snow!  We have a field trip on Thursday and I don't want to miss it!  All we need is a dusting or a threat of a dusting, for them to cancel school.
• Wanting spring to be here!  I am ready for the cold weather to be over!
• Needing to iron!  I iron my clothes for at least 3 days of the week, so I have one less thing to prepare each night.
• Like- March is a great month.  I love St. Patrick's Day and how spring is usually arriving!
•  Love- My new books.  I went to Ollie's this weekend.  I bought all of these books for $18.00!  It was fabulous!
• Hate- Monday mornings are tough.  I love my job and I love my kids, but Mondays are always tough for me to get up and get moving! 

I am glad that I finally linked up after so long of reading other people's currently blogs!  Thanks for stopping by my blog! 
- Michelle

Five for Friday...on Saturday!

     I am Linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for Five for Friday.  I am a little behind.  I was SO tired yesterday that I just couldn't get it together to link up after school!

Three of my five random things are about Read Across America Week.  We had a BLAST celebrating the works of Dr. Seuss, but it was a LONG week! 

Here are my five random things from this week:

1.  Our Read-A-Thon was awesome!  The students brought in blankets, pillows, and books by Dr. Seuss.  We spent a little over an hour reading books by Dr. Seuss.  The best part is that the students really spent the whole time reading!  I walk around and give stickers to those who continue reading and this really keeps them going!  We had a great time!

2.  Green Eggs and Ham!  On Tuesday we read Green Eggs and Ham and then ate them!  I love watching their faces and seeing who realizes that it is simply food coloring!  I always tell them that they were moldy eggs and ham.  They never believe me!

3.  One of our centers this week had the students read a book by Dr. Seuss, write down their information about who the character is, the setting, and the problem.  Then the students used a great app called Storykit to take pictures of the character, setting, and problem within the text, record their voices, and insert text.  They turned out super cute!

4.  My dad turned 62 this week!  Happy belated birthday to my dad! I hope he had a great day!

5.  Last, this week I signed up for an amazing giveaway and am so excited to be a part of it!  I know that I already blogged about it, but I shared the information with my grade level this week because I can't even believe how many amazing bloggers are giving items away!  Click on this picture to get more information on how you can enter to win over $100 worth of items!

Happy Saturday!

-Michelle

A Ginormous Giveaway

A Ginormous Giveaway!

I am linking up with a bunch of amazing bloggers for a ginormous giveaway! 

Phase 1 - Link Up! (Our Sweet Success)

If you would like to join this giveaway by offering one of your products, then join us in the biggest linky party EVER!!!  The deadline to enter will be Saturday, March 2nd!  Head on over to Our Sweet Success and link up!  There are some amazing teacher bloggers who are joining us in the fun!       

Phase 2 - Enter to WIN!  (Mackey's Classroom)

Starting on Sunday, March 3...Mrs. Mackey over at Mackey's Classroom will begin the raffle for the winner!  Make sure to sign up to try and win!  ONE lucky winner will win: 

ALL of the products offered by the most amazing teacher/bloggers on TPT.  

Phase 3 - Prizes Sent!

All teacher/bloggers who linked up will email their product to winner!!

  

I just couldn't decide what product to give away.  The winner will get to choose ANY ONE item from my TpT shop!  Go ahead and start browsing through the items at my shop! 

Here are just a few new items that I recently added to my TpT store: 

Equal and Not Equal sorting!

Three Little Pigs Companion Packet! 

This pack includes reading comprehension activities to go along with 3 different "pig" stories!  The stories include: The True Story of the Three Little Pigs, Wolf!, and My Lucky Day.  These are great companions and are all different reading levels. 

Don't forget to link up for the Ginormous Giveaway!

Come join us in the fun!

- Michelle

Five for Friday Linky Party

Five for Friday Linky is here again!

      I am linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for the Five for Friday Linky Party!  Last week was the first time I linked up and it was a lot of fun. 

      Here are five random things from this week:

1.  While all of you are enjoying your Friday night and getting ready for hopefully a relaxing weekend, I am preparing to go to work tomorrow!  YES, that is correct!  We have a make-up teacher work day tomorrow.  I am going in for a half-day.  The positive side is that I didn't bring work home to do for the weekend, like usual!

2.     This morning I was at the gym and while on the elliptical, I was reading The Book Whisperer.  I had heard so many wonderful things about this book, that I decided that I needed to read it!  While reading today, I had one of those aha moments that I pretend to have all the time during my read alouds!  It really happened!  I realized that there are things that I do in my teaching that I learned from my fifth grade teacher.  I didn't even like her!!!  However, she really let me choose book and discover my path as a reader.  It was in fifth grade that I started to really like to read.  I had always been a decent reader, but I didn't like to read.  

      This coming week we will have a read-a-thon for Dr. Seuss week and that was something that I loved about my fifth grade teacher.  We spent once a quarter, ALL day reading  and writing in our journals and this was something that I LOVED.  (Plus we could bring our own snacks!) 

3.  Our February Calendar!  Can you believe that February is almost over?!?! Neither can I!  Today was day 112, which means we only have 78 days of school. 

4. The Valentine Bears... We finished this up this week!  I found an idea over at Mrs. Plant's Press to use the book The Valentine Bears for inferencing.  My students gave examples to show how they were able to infer that Mr. Bear loved Mrs. Bear and how Mrs. Bear loved Mr. Bear.  I used super cute heart sticky notes!  The kids loved doing this too!  This week we are going to take the notes down and put them in their reading journals, so that they can keep them as a record of their thinking. 

5.  I added a new Nate the Great packet to my TpT site!  I LOVE Nate the Great!  This one goes to the book Nate the Great and the Tardy Tortoise.  Take a look!  Your kiddos will love it too. :)

I hope you have had a super week!  Enjoy your weekend!

- Michelle

Desire 2 Inspire Linky and Happy Birthday!

I am linking up with Lovely Literacy & More for her Desire 2 Inspire Linky party!   This is a perfect Linky for me, since I was going to write today about someONE (who has a blog) and inspires me everyday!

You have to list at least 3 non-teaching blogs and 3 teacher blogs that inspire you.

      My first non-teacher blog that inspires me belongs to my Mom!  It also just happens to be her birthday today.  She has a blog called Living Intuitively, where she shares reminders and inspiration to listen to that voice within all of us!  You should definitely check out her blog!  She is a writer and artist.  She is extremely creative and I thank her for that trait!!  She is my biggest blog follower, biggest supporter, and a HUGE inspiration to me and many others. Happy birthday Mom!!

     My next non-teacher blog is Simply Kierste (formerly Brown Paper Packages).  It is a great craft blog.  Click on her picture to check out her blog.

     My next non-teacher blog is I Heart Organizing!  It has great organizational inspiration!

       Choosing my top inspirational teaching blogs is VERY hard.  I have to say that I am inspired by each blog that I follow and that shares information.  I am so proud to be part of such an amazing blogging community.
      My first teaching blog that inspires me has to be The Schroeder Page.  Monica was the first person to introduce me to blogging and she encouraged me to get start my own blog!  Thanks Monica! 

     The second teaching blog that inspires me is The Inspired Apple.  It was one of the first blogs that I started following and she always has amazing ideas to share.

     My third inspiring teaching blog is First Grade Blue Skies.  This was another blog that I started following a at the beginning of my blogging adventure.  She has been inspirational to me and to many other new bloggers!

     Thank you to ALL of the amazing bloggers who inspire others each day!  I know that being a part of the teaching blogging community has made me a better teacher! 

Happy Birthday Mom! 

- Michelle