Multiplication Wheels

So, I have been inspired by fellow teachers to create something useful today and this is what I came up with! We are working on multiplication and I saw this idea last year, but never made any to actually use in the classroom. So, here you go! 

Just click on the image to download!

Stay tune for the opening of my Teacher's Notebook shop later on this week!! I am so excited!!

I also want to say thank you to Megan Mayhew from Inside the Classroom for the Sunshine Award and Sally at Elementary Matters for the Blog on Fire Award! You sweet ladies made my week!

There are so many other amazing bloggers out there that deserve this award so I say thank you all!!!

TPT Stores

Two of my teacher friends have opened their own TPT stores and I thought I would help them out and give them shout outs since Meagan doesn't have a blog and Lauren is just getting hers started!!

They are first grade teachers so most of their stuff will probably be geared towards that grade level. 

Head on over there and check out their adorable stuff!! 

Author's Purpose and Point of View

I am really enjoying all of this time off for the Thanksgiving Holidays! It has given me some time to do some lesson planning and other school work on my own terms. =) I don't feel rushed, I can just do it when I feel like it! 

On that note, today, I worked on a packet for teaching author's purpose and point of view. There aren't really lessons included, just resources you can use during Reading Workshop, including sticky note templates for printing! Click the photo below to grab your free copy in my TPT shop.

To print on the sticky notes, head over to Kristen's blog, Ladybugs Teaching Files, for a better VIDEO explanation than the one I put in the packet! I use it all the time now during reading!!

I hope this is useful!! I am using it this week, so I will let you know how it goes!

Visualizing

Since it was a short week because of our Thanksgiving Break, I decided to do some mini lessons on visualizing.  In the spirit of Thanksgiving I chose some Jack Prelutsky Thanksgiving poems to teach the skill and it was a big hit! 

The first day, we read The Thanksgiving Day Parade and underlined words and phrases from the poem that helped us visualize. While they read on their own, they wrote down words and phrases from their books to help them visualize and then they drew their visualization. 

The second day, we reviewed what visualizing was and then I gave them this little handout with the poem, "I Ate Too Much Turkey," and they underlined words and phrases and then drew their visualizations! They came out so cute and I forgot to take pictures of them, but here is the freebie!

If you want the document to show up correctly, you need to have Pea Heather Michelle and Wish I Were Taller fonts from KevinandAmanda.com.

I am so thankful!

Rachelle over at What the Teacher Wants is hosting her first ever Linky Party to share what you are thankful for! And I have a lot to be thankful for!!

1.  What are you thankful for in your classroom?

In my classroom, I am most thankful for my students. Without them, where would I be?? I don't only teach them, they teach me everyday also and even though I sometimes forget what their lives may be like when they are at home, I always show them that I care (even if they have been driving me insane!) 

I am also thankful for the technology that I have been blessed with in my school. We have Promethean Boards in every classroom and Activ Expressions (which I use religiously). They help me assess students immediately and their question results pop right up on my board.

We have access to all other sorts of things that I think all teachers should have! But those are the ones I am most thankful for!

I am also thankful for a decent sized classroom! I like not feeling cramped when I walk around the room and it's just open enough that it makes it look comfortable!

2. What person are you most thankful for?

I am most thankful for my mom! She is the most amazing person I know. When I'm in a pinch, she's always there and she always knows just what to say when I am down. Love you mom!!

3. What 3 blogs are you most thankful for?

Oh geez, this is going to be a tough one. There are so many fabulous teacher blogs out there but if I had to narrow it down, here are my top 3 in random order:

1) Ladybug's Teacher Files - There are so many reasons I love her blog! She has such cute resources and she created my blog design! =)

2) The Inspired Apple - Even though she teaches firsties, she has sooo many ideas that I adapt for my third graders! She has inspired me to be more cutesy!

3) 2nd Grade Shenanigans - This girl just blows me away with her creativity! I would lying if I said I wasn't jealous of her genius teacher mind! Sooo many FAB ideas over there!

4. What guilty pleasure are you most thankful for?

I LOVE to read futuristic dystopian novels! ALL the time! Any time I get a chance to sit down and read, I am thankful!! After I read the Hunger Games, it became my new favorite genre of literature. That's pretty ironic because those books are all young adult novels! So, if you need any book suggestions, just let me know!! Here are just a few!

And I actually just started reading this one. A colleague of mine suggested it since we have similar tastes in books!

5. What are you most thankful for?

 I am most thankful for time with my friends and family no matter what we are doing and Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays for that very reason.

If you want to participate, just head over to What the Teacher Wants and copy the questions to your blog! Then, link up your post to her blog post! 

Facebook Fan Page!

I have finally created a facebook fan page!! It just took me a while to figure out how to do it! 

I am so thankful to FINALLY be on Thanksgiving break! Whoo hoo!! 

So be a sport and head on over and like my new page! =) 

I hope to be posting some new stuff this week, so check back soon!

How to Catch a Plump and Perky Turkey!

As a closing to our How To Make a Coke Float writing unit, I am doing this fun activity next week (since we are going to be without ANY technology!!) **Sigh**

Anyway, I stole this cute idea from Sarah Cooley, over at First Grader At Last! 

Read the poem, "A Plump and Perky Turkey," aloud. Then have the kids write about how they would catch a plump and perky turkey!

Click on the image for the packet!

I am so excited to do this next week!!! And yay for Thanksgiving Break coming in T-minus 3 days!! 

Class Dojo Rewards

I created a poster to print out and hang in the room to go along with the Class Dojo point system I have been using since Friday and that I posted about here! Seriously...if you haven't checked this out yet...DO IT! It will change your life!! 

Just click the poster to download!

Behavior Managment

One of our instructional coaches shared this little gem of an idea during a meeting this week and the hour that I have used it so far has been PHENOMENAL for my students behavior!!

This website allows you to use your smartphone to add points to each students individual avatar. Once you click the button on your phone from anywhere in the room, the point will ding and show up on the Promethean board. This is mainly ideal for Smartboard and Promethean board users because the students can see that someone got a point right away! 

I started it during my read aloud Friday after noon and my students were all like following along and into the book! It was amazing!!

Here is what the website looks like when you create your class. 

It is called classdojo.com. You just have to register and then create your class and then add the positive and negative behaviors you want to track and then you're good to go!!

You can choose however you want to use the points in your classroom. I am going to create a poster with the point levels and rewards to post in the room. One of the suggestions I heard was to let the students choose their own avatar (which you can totally do!) at a certain level of points. I am so excited to keep using this tomorrow!!

I also tossed around the idea of having students earn prizes for earning a certain number of points each week. I'm not sure yet how I should do it! What do you guys think!? Let me know if you check it out and what you think about it. It is sooo cool!

Weekly Behavior Checklist

I send these reports home every week to keep the parents informed about their child's performance and behavior in class. 

Actually, this is my new and revamped version, but I wanted to share in case you could use them! They are in both English and Spanish and they print three to a page. 

Just click the image below to download your copy! 

Almost Friday!!! Whoo hoo!!!

Veteran's Day Bubble Map

I have been so super busy these last couple of weeks, but I want to share a freebie I made for Veteran's Day! We are going to watch a video about veteran's and then complete this Veteran's Day Bubble Map!

Click to download!

Also, I am SOOO stoked that I am getting a blog makeover by the amazing Kristen over at Ladybug's Teacher Files, so don't be startled when you visit in the coming weeks and it's totally different! It's still me! =)

Enjoy the rest of your week and your Veteran's Day!! 

Making a Coke Float

This is definitely one of my favorite writing units we do in our grade level! We make coke floats and write directions on how to make them. 

Here is the video we use at the beginning!

How To Make an Ice Cream Float by Lifestyle-GrabNetworks

I will be posting more on this later, but here is the graphic organizer to use after viewing the video! Just click the image to download! 


FYI: This graphic organizer is an adaptation of the "How to Blow a Bubble" graphic organizer from the girls at Lesson Plan SOS! 

I will post the finished unit sometime soon! Just check back!