November 2013

Saturday = Storybook Link-Up

Hi there! Paula is back this week so I get to tell you about a favorite read-aloud from last week:

You can check out Paula's blog/link-up by pressing on the above button.

I found a very engaging book called:

This picture book by Chih-Yuan Chen tells the story of an alligator egg that gets mixed in with a duck's eggs. The mother duck treats all her "babies" the same, and Guji Guji doesn't even realize he's an alligator until another alligator tries to trick Guji Guji into doing something to his duck "siblings." This book can lead to many worthwhile activities/discussions about character. In addition, you can have the book read to your class by checking out this link:

http://www.storylineonline.net/guji-guji/

Thanks to my sister, I also discovered a new way to do presentations called Prezis. A Prezi is similar to a Powerpoint, but it has animations. I actually made a vocabulary Prezi to go along with the book:

What Do Authors Do? by Eileen Christelow.

You can check out my very first attempt at this link:

http://prezi.com/xpxy86oboinl/edit/

I'm just at the very beginning stages of learning about this, but I can definitely see some uses. Do any of you make these kinds of presentations? I'd love to hear what you think.

Five For Friday - Thankful Style

Five for Friday

I can't believe that it is already Friday!

Here are 5 random events from my week.

We had a very enjoyable Thanksgiving feast. I made turkey, LOTS OF mashed potatoes, turnip and squash. My sister brought delicious desserts. Of course, my dog was in her glory with all the eating opportunities:

We had a very quick week at school. We finished up our Backpack activity by grouping our backpacks by style (messenger bag vs. backpack) and by color/design. The kids then designed their own backpacks in small groups. They truly loved this activity. Here's the link if you want to check it out yourself:

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Teaching-Blooms-Taxonomy-with-Task-Cards-965381

We watched the Charlie Brown video about the Pilgrims. I LOVE watching this video because it is historically accurate and funny which makes the kids want to watch it. The video mentions how a main beam of the Mayflower broke and how they Pilgrims fixed it.
In addition, the Pilgrims sign the Mayflower Compact. If you're still studying the
Pilgrims (we'll be finishing up next week), try to watch this video.

In Math, we are diving right into symmetry and congruent shapes. We also started
learning our zero and one times tables which are always fun and easy to remember.

Two extraordinarily generous bloggers each gave me an amazing product from their TPT stores for FREE because I left a comment on their blog. I am so thankful and excited to use these products.

                 Special thanks go to Amber whose blog is:

                  http://amber-polk.blogspot.com/

                  Here's the link to the animal lapbook which looks tremendous. You can check it out at her
                  store:

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Animal-Kingdom-Lapbook-Unit-Common-Core-936896

I also want to thank Jeanette whose blog is:

http://thirdgradegalore.blogspot.com/

She has a brand new sports-themed product that you can check out at her TPT store:

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/SCORE-with-Math-and-ELA-Printables-Sports-Themed-Worksheets-995598

I also want to highly recommend these blogs and their respective stores. Please check them out - you will not be disappointed.

The Perfect Vacation

I'm linking up with Denise from Sunny Days in Second Grade to talk about my dream vacation!

http://sunnydaysinsecondgrade.blogspot.com/2013/11/my-truth-monday-dream-vacation.html

Of course, after I have my dream vacation, I would need a real vacation to recuperate.

Right now I really need to take a vacation from eating. I'm going to need a lot of exercise after all the delicious food I ate today.

Are you feeling as full as me?

Healthy Recipes/Eating Tips

Here's proof that I might be losing my mind. I thought I had found a link-up for healthy recipes, and now I can't find it. Oh, well, I'm just going to post this quote because I love it:

With Thanksgiving tomorrow, making good food choices is definitely going to be an ENORMOUS challenge for most of us. One hint from Weight Watchers is to take a sip of water after each mouthful of food. I tend to eat slowly any way, but my husband just shovels his food into his mouth. Sometimes I wonder if he even tastes it. He was trying to use this technique last night. Of course, tonight he was back to his old eating habits.

Happy Turkey Day!

Perfect - A Thankful Link-Up Just In Time For Thanksgiving

Today I'm very thankful to link-up with the Reading and Writing Redhead who is hosting a conversation about what makes us thankful.

Over the weekend, one of my sons' very good 21 year old friend, Ben, died in a car accident in Vermont. As I write this, a group of young men in the next room, are dressed in suits and ties preparing to go to the wake. This explains my list:

Right now I'm feeling very sad and sorry for Ben's family. I can't even begin to imagine losing a child. It really puts your life in perspective. I'm very thankful for all the good people in my life.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I am thankful for "A Peek at my Week"

It's time once again to link up with Jennifer from Mrs. Laffin's Laughings for her weekly:

http://mrslaffinslaughings.blogspot.com/

Before getting started, make sure to head over to Jennifer's blog to enter a giveaway. Click on the icon above to go to her site.

1. We'll be doing an MCAS practice question - Don't Throw Your Bones On The Floor by Lucille Penner Recht. This passage is about the Pilgrims and the manner they used while eating. You can check it out here - just go to page 15 to find the right selection:

http://www.doe.mass.edu/mcas/2007/release/g3all.pdf

2. We going to be learning about symmetry and congruence in math. I cut out a square and a rectangle so the kids can fold both shapes to see how symmetry works.

3. We finish up on Wednesday at noon.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Highs and Lows = A New Link-Up

Hello! It's Saturday! My voice is getting a little better every day, and I am very thankful to be able to use my voice and be heard after my bout of laryngitis.

Paula is taking a well-deserved rest from Storybook Saturday so I feel quite lucky to have found another Link-Up called:

Here's the good news first:

1. I met with all of my students' parents for a conference this year.

This year I have an amazing class of 16 students. Every year I want to meet with every parent, but for some reason, I never manage to see every child's parents. This year I sent out reminders if I didn't hear back the first time, and it worked - I did meet with all the parents! I really enjoyed meeting the parents and having time to discuss how their children are doing.

2. I got several caring notes from my students because I was under the weather.

Several of my students gave me either a get-well card/note or messages telling me that they hope I feel better. Several of the parents also mentioned that their kids said I couldn't talk. I love knowing that my students care so much about them. My grandmother used to say: "A heart feels a heart." I know how much I care about my students, and it's very heart-warming that they care so much about me.

3. I saw 2 deer last weekend.

I just love seeing deer - they're so beautiful and graceful. Of course, my dog is ready to pull my arm off to go chasing after them, and my friend says that they're on their way to eat the bulbs in her garden - which just goes to show that there are 2 sides to every story.

Here are the low points.

1. I didn't go spinning last week.

I really missed going to the gym, but I stayed home, rested and hoped to get healthy again. Unfortunately, even with spinning 4 times a week, I've been managing to gain weight at Weight Watchers so I'm not exactly looking forward to weighing in tomorrow.

2. Here's some information from Weight Watchers about how many points/calories are in different Thanksgiving food.

Last night, I had a piece of 14 point pumpkin pie which was delicious but not a good choice.

I'm still thankful that I ate it - I just wish it wouldn't make me gain weight.

Check out some other bloggers' highs and lows at:

http://owlthingsfirst.blogspot.com/2013/11/highs-and-lows-linky_23.html?showComment=1385215571101#c8799213084150015874

Finally Friday!

Since it's Friday, I'm linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for:

This week we thoroughly enjoyed reading Nights of the Pufflings by Bruce McMillan:

After we read the book, we watched a short video clip that shows these adorable birds. You can check it out here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bMJ79lJW8w

2. We read about the Pilgrims and their trip from England. It's really a miracle that they made it across the ocean in this type of ship:

3. This week I had laryngitis on Wednesday and Thursday. Luckily, today I have some of my voice back. I got to become very creative with my interactive whiteboard. I typed a lot, and the kids seemed to focus and "listen" better. I was thinking that it was like closed-captioning. We did quite a bit of review for our Social Studies quiz this way. I typed the question; the student read the question and answered; then I typed the answer on the board.

I also found this site to be particularly helpful since I couldn't read to the kids. Celebrities read well-known picture books. I figured out how to add the closed-captioning so that the kids could read along. Check it out:

http://www.storylineonline.net/

We started learning our zero and one times multiplication facts. We're also starting a new chapter in Math about symmetry and congruence since we finished the chapter on word problems.

We had a character assembly today. Karim from our class received an award for showing respect, and he got his addition certificate on Xtramath. He definitely had an amazing day. Next month's character trait is citizenship.

Happy Thanksgiving!

It's Wednesday. Where did my voice go?

Here are two highlights of my day!

1. Two of my students decided to do extra homework on their own. They watched a video clip of the Mayflower, took notes and typed up a report that they read to the class. How amazing it that! The added bonus was that it gave my voice a rest. Hopefully, maybe, other students might be inspired to do extra work as well. Did you know that there were 2 dogs on the Mayflower?

2. A Mom of one of my students sent me in some homemade tabouleh and pizza which was very tasty. This worked out particularly well because I was supposed to go out with the other 3rd grade teachers, and I didn't have anything for my dinner (other than canned soup). Of course, I had prepared leftovers for my husband and son so they were all set. I LOVE to eat food that someone else prepares and that is delicious and different that what I normally eat.

Tomorrow night is Parent - Teacher conferences. I'm resting my voice tonight in the hope that I'll be able to talk.

That's my quick update. Thanks for checking in!

Grateful for Great Giveaways!

I am loving this giveaway! There are so many prizes!

Head on over to: http://www.mysecondsense.blogspot.com/

to check it out. Good luck!

A Peek at my Week!

I'm so happy to be able to write about next week. We will be learning a lot!

Now it's time to look forward to the week ahead with Jennifer at
http://mrslaffinslaughings.blogspot.com/

1. We'll be reading more non-fiction by reading this book:

This story takes place in Iceland and describes how children roam the streets at night searching for lost pufflings. When pufflings take their first flight, many of them fly inland by mistake. The pufflings need to be rescued and brought back to the ocean. That's where the kids come in - they help the pufflings get where they need to be.

2. We'll be learning about the Pilgrims and the first Thanksgiving. Here in Massachusetts, we're so lucky to live an hour away from Plimouth Plantation. It's an amazing living history museum. Here's a picture.

3. In Math, we'll be wrapping up our chapter on word problems and starting a new chapter on geometry.

4. Here's a craft I did with the kids a week ago, but I want to recommend it because it is SO CUTE! It's a canoe that the kids can decorate with Native Americans symbols. Here's the link so you can check it out:

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Native-American-Birchbark-Canoe-Paper-Craft-405844

5. On Thursday from 5:30 - 7:30, there will be evening parent conferences.

Here's a quote that my friend, Lisa, sent me, and I think it goes along with how most of us feel:

Have a wonderful week!

Just catching up on news.....

The last 2 weeks I have not had much time to blog, and I have news to share from the classroom to the home front.

1. To go along with the book, Me on the Map, the kids described their bedrooms and drew a map to go along with their paragraphs. Here are 2 examples:

The kids loved sharing their paragraphs and maps with their classmates. Plus, we have them on the bulleting board, and they look great.

2. We'll be writing our final copies of our "Create Your Own Monster" paragraphs next week so I'll be posting pictures of that shortly.

3. I got two special gifts.

On the left is some candy from a student. I offered my younger son some of the candy after dinner while he was home. His response: "OK, I'll take that back to my apartment." Where is the logic in that conversation? I'm sure you can figure out who got that candy.

On the right, my friends found this adorable pillow at a yard sale. Of course, I have to put it on my blog - for obvious reasons.

4. I'm still going to Weight Watchers. Since my birthday on October 12th, I have been eating treats. Once I had that birthday cake, my self-control went out the window. I am still enjoying the treats more than ever, but I pay the price when I get weighed in.

One activity, all of us can easily do: