Five Fun and Random Facts About Me!

Happy Monday and Happy Last Week of Vacation (for me)!  Today I'm linking up with Blog Hoppin' for:

 My cooking specialties are mashed potatoes and grilled cheese sandwiches!

I love having grilled cheese with baked beans - delicious!

 I used to crochet and cross stitch.  I've made several afgans and many cross stitches.

Here's a sample of one of my many creations!

 When I was growing up, my mother sewed all my clothes.  I remember going to the material store and picking out fabric for my next outfit.  Does anyone do this any more?

My favorite Disney movie is Beauty and the Beast.  I love the story and the music.  I've even gone to see it on the stage in Boston.

Maple Walnut is my favorite ice cream flavor!  I LOVE maple syrup, too!

Thanks for checking in today!  Have a wonderful week!

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Five For A Fabulous Friday!

All week my husband has been complaining about how slowly the week has gone by, but I'm still on vacation so the week flew by!  That means that it's time to link up with Doodle Bugs for:

At the end of June and the beginning of August, I took a Reading course offered by Sally Grimes.  One of the purposes of the class was to make a toolkit to help teach Reading.  Here are some of my projects:

This is a Questioning Hand.  I made mine double-sided because I couldn't fit the graphics and words on one side.  You can use this hand to help with summarizing and/or asking and answering question during or after reading.

Similar to the Questioning Hand are these Story Sticks:

The questions represent different levels of thinking skills.  (sorry for the sideways picture!)  I wrote the questions on tongue depressors.  After/during reading, a student can pick a stick and answer the question.

Another project was a describing hierarchy:

The hierarchy starts with naming the noun.  For example, a pencil is a writing instruction used to write down information.  Then you include all the attributes (details) about the pencil.

I also made a set of Questioning Cards.  The green cards are used before reading; the yellow cards are used during reading; and the red ones are questions for after reading.  I also included a Morning Message example that shows how I review/reinforce literacy skills throughout the day.

The big project was a Story Kit.  I did mine on Officer Buckle and Gloria by Peggy Rathmann.  During a read-aloud, each student would receive a sentence, a character, a vocabulary card or a lesson that is attached to a paint stick.  When they hear their sentence, word, .... mentioned during reading, they raise their stick.

There are so many ways I can use this story kit.  Making this kit involved a lot of work so I'm excited to try it out with my new students.

If you've ever had experience with any of these reading tools, I'd love to hear how they worked out!

Have a wonderful weekend!

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Wonderful Wordless Wednesday!

It's time to link up with Miss DeCarbo for:

Last June we went on a field trip to Legoland Boston.  Here's a picture of the Massachusetts State House and the Swan Boats made with Legos:

To the right of the Swan Boat lagoon, you can see the statues of the ducklings from Make Way For Ducklings!  

Have you ever been to Legoland or the Swan Boats?  I LOVE Boston!

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Five For Friday For Last Week - Better Late Than Never!

As summer winds down, I'm realizing that I'm still busy with day to day "stuff."  During the school year, I work and get my "stuff" done, but how do I do it all during the school year when I can barely get anything done in the summer?  At least, I'm finally getting around to linking up with Doodle Bugs for:

Last Thursday morning, I got up at 4:00 a.m. to see the meteor showers.  I actually saw quite a few meteors so it was definitely worth waking up.  I tried to get a picture on my phone, but I wasn't quite quick enough.  Here's a cool picture of someone who got a picture up in York Beach, Maine:

Last Saturday I managed to get a flat tire. Actually, I ripped my tire due to a poorly placed screw on a temporary water pipe.   Upon bringing my car to Wakefield Tire, I learned that all my tires were "borderline."  Now I have four new tires, and they smell very rubbery.

Thanks to a wonderful Facebook post, I learned that Mr. Sketch markers were on sale at Walgreen's for $4.99 so I bought my first box:

Also, according to my colleague, Mrs. Fenton, these are the best markers.  Well, I'm looking forward to checking them out!

My friend, Jeanne, and I went for a walk at Deer Island on a hot and sunny day.  We got stuck in bad traffic on the way due to a power line that fell across a road in Revere.  Jeanne had to do a three point turn on the highway and go in the opposite way to exit the highway so that the National Grid truck could get by to fix the power line.  By the way, this was the 2nd time in one week that I got stuck on a highway due to a down power line.

I finished an amazing book:

Now I've started to read:

Click on either book, and you'll find yourself at Amazon and can read more about these awesome books!

Three weeks from tomorrow is my first day of school (meetings).  Of course, I'm not counting, just reminding myself that summer is winding down.

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Worldess Wednesday!

Happy Hump Day!  Tonight (Wednesday, August 12), there will be meteor showers between midnight and 5 a.m.  If I happen to be up during those times, I am going to go outside to see if I can spot some meteors.  Now I'll be linking up with Miss DeCarbo for:

Today I went to buy some fruit, and my purchase came to $20.20:

I know it's superstitious, but I always feel especially lucky and hopeful when this happens - which is not often at all.  I feel the same way when I see the heron on my morning walk.  Do you have any superstitions like this?  How often does your purchase have the same amount before and after the decimal point?

Thanks for checking in today!  I'd love to know if you get to see any meteors!

 

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August Currently & Assess Me = Two For One Link-Ups!

It's the weekend!  I love the summer, and I love vacation!  Life is good!  I'm linking up with Farley for:

This week we changed from the dog days of summer to the perfect days of summer.  On Tuesday, we had a tornado alert!  After that we got cool, dry air.  Today was in the 70's!

I've been loving summer.  In the morning I clean and organize, and in the afternoon, I go in my pool and read.  I enjoy every day because this time of year flies by too fast.

Last week I finished my Reading class.  My goal is to become better at teaching reading.  Reading scores in our country have remained the same since the end of World War II.  There's a HUGE need for more professional development in reading, but there's usually not enough money in the budget.  Of course, so many of us pay for our own classes....

In addition, I'm linking up with Rachel from The Tatooed Teacher for the 2nd week of:

I LOVE wearing skirts - they're so comfortable and cozy when you wear them with tights.  I do have so many earrings and necklaces, but if I had to choose, I would just wear earrings.  I chose silver because I like platinum - I wear my grandmother's antique engagement ring, and that's platinum.  Platinum was less expensive in the 1920's when the ring was made.

I also wake up early every day; I love being at my house; and I take a shower at night.  I'm always excited to see trains - I just am fascinated by them, especially freight trains. 

Have a terrific week!

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