Sunday Funday/Peek of the Week!

It was Sunday so it's time to link up with Deirdre from http://aburstoffirst.blogspot.com/  and Molly from http://www.luckytobeinfirst.com/ !

 I don't know about you, but the weekend starts on Friday morning for me.  When we first got married (25 years ago), my husband and I used to go out for breakfast every Friday morning.  We did this for 5 years until we had kids.  Once my daughter and two sons were on the scene, Friday breakfasts went out the window.  Fast forward 18 years, my daughter goes off to college; Derek gets his driver's license and drives himself and Andrew to the high school.  Finally, we get to start going out to breakfast on Fridays.

These days we go to the North Ave. Diner in Wakefield.  I always get a bowl of oatmeal every single Friday with one cup of coffee.  It's the only school day I allow myself to drink coffee - that's because it's the weekend!

Now it's time to link-up with Jennifer at Mrs. Laffin's Laughings to share what's going on this week.

Reading

This week's reading selection is:

In this book, the Raja decided to keep all the rice for himself instead of sharing it with the villagers.  Rani - who's on the cover of the book - outsmarts the Raja by being clever.

Here's a summary from the Barnes and Noble web site:

Children's Literature - Marilyn Courtot

This mathematical folktale from India has been told several times recently, but what sets Demi's book apart is her beautiful bordered artwork rendered in rich colors and generously surrounded by white space. Your eyes are drawn to the art and frequently to the heroine, Rani, who is often outside the framed scenes. Clever Rani saves her people from starvation by requesting, as her reward for a good deed, just one grain of rice doubled every day for thirty days. The raja thinks this is a foolish and paltry reward, but he soon learns the magnitude of this doubling. The gatefolds of camels and elephants laden with rice bring the point home visually to young readers while the table at the end explains the math. The raja learns his lesson and all ends well.


Math
We continue to work on fractions, multiplication and getting ready for our Math MCAS which is in May. 


This week we'll be taking a benchmark test which all third graders in Woburn take in Math. 


Writing


April is National Poetry Month so we'll be reading and writing poetry.  Today we read Dogku by Andrew Clements, and tomorrow we'll try our hand at writing our own haikus. 


All in all, we will be quite busy this week!

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Walking on Sunshine!

I am quite honored to have been nominated for a

by Ms. B., the blogger behind  http://butterflyteaching.blogspot.com/



Here is what I am supposed to do:

1. Post 11 random facts about yourself.

2. Answer the 11 facts asked by the blogger who nominated you.
3. Nominate bloggers you think bring sunshine sunshine to the world.
4. Make up 11 questions for your nominees to answer.

11 Random Facts

1.  My favorite flowers are tulips.

2.  My favorite color is yellow.

3.  I spent my junior year of college in Paris.

4.  In the summer, I do water aerobics all by myself in my pool.

5.  Third grade was my favorite grade in school.  That's why I feel so lucky to teach 3rd grade.

6.  I'm right handed, but I bat and golf as a lefty.

7.  Growing up, I was a huge fan of the Boston Bruins when Bobby Orr, Derek Sanderson,... were on the team.

8.  Some of my past hobbies include crocheting and cross stitching (I would love to do these again some day).

9.  My brother and I used to have fierce ping pong games when we were growing up.

10.  I don't really know how to swim unless you count the dog paddle and back float as swimming - I never learned even though I grew up right near the ocean.

11.  I have a banana every morning with my breakfast.

I tried to think of extremely random facts that I have not written about before - although I am forgetful so you might already know about some of these.

Answers to Ms. B.'s Questions

 My questions for my nominees;

1. Best way to unwind on a Friday night?

I am usually in bed and asleep by nine o'clock on a Friday night.


2. Favourite book to read?

I love The Red Tent by Anita Diamant.


3. If you could meet one person from history, who would it be?

I'd love to meet Joan of Arc.  I've always been fascinated by her life.


4. What did you wear to work today?

 On Friday I wore a green and blue plaid fleece vest and a denim skirt.

5. Where would you go on your dream holiday?

I'm still hoping to go to the Grand Canyon and go on the Mule Train.


6. Favourite festival to celebrate in the classroom?

I like Valentine's Day because it's a day to celebrate friendship and kindness.


7. Best tv programme on at the moment?

I'm really enjoying True Detective on HBO on demand.


8. What's your guilty pleasure?

I love eating chocolate, especially dark chocolate non-pareils.


9.  How often do you blog?

During the school year, I'm a weekend warrior = twice a week.


10. Your best-selling product?

My adjective test/review - http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Adjectives-TestReview-600679 -  has been downloaded almost 4,900 times.  I've never been brave/confident enough to sell anything so everything is free.

 11. Your favourite product from someone else?

Writing Informational Text -  http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Writing-Informational-Text-Common-Core-Aligned-556891 - by Kathy O. is very easy to implement, and the kids loved writing their own non-fiction books.

 My Nominees

I tried to pick newer bloggers because I still feel like a new blogger myself - even though it's been almost year, I still feel like I'm learning the ropes.

1.    http://thirdgradebrownies.blogspot.com/

2.   Kristen from http://www.thereadbox.com/

3. 

  from http://mrsrootteaches.blogspot.com/

4.                                           

       http://owlalwayslove2ndgrade.blogspot.com/

 

     Furnell nominated me for a Liebster Award so I'm very excited to nominate her for a Sunshine 

     Award.

5. Laura from http://msritter35.blogspot.com/

 

 

 

 Here are my 11 very random questions for my nominees:

 

1.   Are you a coffee or tea drinker?

 

2.  What's your favorite type of book?

 

3.  What kind of cell phone do you have?

 

4.  Do you prefer to cook, bake or neither?

 

5.  Where in the world would you go if you could go any where?

 

6.  What was your favorite subject in school?

 

7.  If you won the lottery, what is the first thing you would buy/do?

 

8.  What's the most comfortable pair of shoes that you have now?

 

9.  Where do you like to shop for clothes?

 

10.  What's your favorite TV show?

 

11.  What is your favorite part of the day?

 

Congratulations to my nominees and thanks to Ms. B. for nominating me.

 

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Fabulous Five For Friday!

Finally, it's time for  Five for Friday!

 We were exceptionally lucky to have a guest reader - Karmen's Mom!  Here is she is reading to the kids on the rug.  She read Squaredy Squirrel and Skippyjohn Jones books.

 The kids LOVE to have guest readers, especially their own moms or dads.

 Since we've been working on adjectives, the kids have been working on their "Give me 5 adjective" projects.  Here are the steps:

1.  Make an organizer that lists 5 adjectives that describe you along with 2 reasons to support each adjective.  One of Karmen's adjectives is flexible because she can do a split and a cartwheel.

2.  Write a rough draft and a final copy.

3.  Trace your hand.  Write one adjective in each finger.

4.  Share your writing with the class.

If you want to check out this free activity, here's the link:

  http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Give-Me-Five-Adjectives-688458

 Speaking of Language, we have now moved on to predicates.  I had never heard of a verb being called the "simple predicate" until I started teaching third grade.  Also, I call linking verbs "trickster" verbs because they don't show action - I'm just trying to get the kids to remember that these words are verbs, too.

 In Math, we've been doing area and perimeter this week.  I LOVE doing this activity with Legos.  I have a collection of all different sized blocks.  The kids trace the Legos, label all 4 sides, find the area and perimeter.  Here's an example:

 Of course, it's a sideways example done by Cameron, but you can see how much he did.  The kids were so delighted with this activity.  Some of them said they were going to do this at home with their own Legos (I haven't heard back on if this actually happened).

Here's the link for this free activity:

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Lego-Area-and-Perimeter-Center-636138

 In Science, we finished up animals by learning about amphibians, fish and reptiles.

 Speaking of water animals, my hot water heater ruptured on Wednesday while I was in my RETELL class after school.  Luckily, my son got home at 4:30 and shut off the water before there was too much damage.  Good news:  the water heater was only 6.5 years old and under warranty until 10 years.  I got a free water heater but only had to pay the plumber.  What would we do without plumbers? 

Happy weekend!

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Peek at my Wonderful Week!

 Today I am linking up with Mrs. Laffin's Laughings for her A Peek at my Week!

Reading

This week we are reading:

 
I love Ananse stories because they are trickster stories.  I even found a You Tube video to go along with this book at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsqo9v_Aoow

Math

This week we'll be learning about line plots, geometry and fractions.  I also found this fun activity that uses different kinds of angles to make a picture.  You can check it out here.

http://ilovemyclassroom.blogspot.com/2014/03/angle-pictures.html

Here's a page from my Fraction flipchart that I'm making:

Science

In Science, we'll be wrapping up our Science chapter on animals by learning about amphibians, reptiles and animal behavior.

Exciting News

Miss B. whose blog is:  http://butterflyteaching.blogspot.com/  has nominated me for an award:

Thank you, Miss B.! 

Have a wonderful week!

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Storybook Sunday/Sunday Funday!

It's Sunday which means it's time to link-up with Paula for Storybook Sunday.

With Cinco de mayo coming shortly - even though it seems eons away - this is a great book to add to your repertoire because it takes place in Mexico:

Borreguita and the Coyote by Verna Aardema is an adorable and charming story of a little lamb - Borreguita - who outsmarts a carnivorous coyote.  Borreguita thinks of clever excuses - she's not fat enough; queso (cheese) is much tastier than her; the coyote needs to hold up a mountain while she runs for help..- to keep the coyote from eating her.  Plus, the DVD (which you can easily access on You Tube) is delightful as well.

I read this book to my younger son's second grade class 13 years ago, and he still remembers the experience.  Of course, I love to do the voices which make the book really come to life.  Luckily, my colleague, Ms. Aufiero, thought she should videotape me reading the book after I finished reading last week.  I really don't like seeing or hearing myself; it would take the fun out of this amazing book.

Now it's time to link-up with Deidre from:  http://aburstoffirst.blogspot.com/ and Molly from:

http://www.luckytobeinfirst.com because it's

In the past, I have dabbled in water color painting.  It's very relaxing and fun.  I've even done one of those Paint Nites.  Any way, thanks to a fellow blogger (I really need to keep a pen and paper by my laptop), I found this craft kit web site.  Since it's my first order I got $10 off, and the shipping is free any way so this is what I ordered for a total of $9.00:

Here's the web site if you want to check it out:

http://www.darbysmart.com/l/diy-projects

The kit comes with all supplies, and there is a big variety of craft projects.  Plus, it does seem like fun, and hopefully, my project will come out as nicely as the one shown above.

This is the end of my fun for a while as 3 baskets of laundry are awaiting me.

Hasta luego!

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Phenomenal Five For Friday!!!

It's Friday so that means that it's time for:

  with Doodle Bugs Teaching.

 We had our MCAS Reading tests on Wednesday and Thursday, and the kids worked very hard on their tests.  They took their time and worked carefully.  I am very proud of their hard work.   Now that the Reading test is over, we'll be starting to prepare for the Math MCAS in May.

 After the MCAS, I have a tradition of reading Borreguita and the Coyote by Verna Aardema to all third graders.  I LOVE this book because Borreguita (the lamb) outsmarts the coyote by being clever.  On top of that, I LOVE doing the voices of both Borreguita and the Coyote.  I'm quite talented at saying, "Baaaa, Senor Coyote,...."  This year I even found the Reading Rainbow DVD with Borreguita and the Coyote so we watched that, too.  Overall, this book is so much fun and so funny.

 Another reading tradition I have after the MCAS is reading Bunnicula by Deborah and James Howe:

Again, this is a really fun book to read aloud, especially since I have enough books so each student can follow along - thanks to Ms. Torrice who gave me her set of books when she retired.  I love the characters in the book, especially Harold, the Dog and Chester, the Cat.  I have a special voice for Chester.  So far, we've read the first two chapters.

We started our Animal chapter in Science.  So far we've done animal needs, mammals and birds.  The kids are very excited to study animals!

This hippo is from KPM Doodles, and it's the first clip art I ever bought.  Now you can buy her clipart on TPT at:

 http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Kpm-Doodles

Even though the 100th day of school was a while ago, we're still sharing our paragraphs on what someone has said to us a 100 times.  Here's a student sample:

I love Shoshana's message and story.

Happy Friday!

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