Per Request - Friendly Letter

Someone asked about getting the printable of the friendly letter guy and I found who I stole it from! Visit Thriving Third Graders to download the document with the friendly letter guy in it! She also has some great lesson ideas for teaching the friendly letter!

All I did was take him from paper to poster! But he looks so cool hanging on the wall!

I am also working on finishing my Rocks, Minerals, Fossils, and Soils unit! When I am done, I will post for all to have!

Just a few ideas I've stolen from Pinterest...

So, like most everyone else in teacher blog land, I live on Pinterest. I have an app on my iphone and I use it constantly on commercial breaks! This guy, who has yet to be named, was an inspired by someone on Pinterest who I can't think of at the moment! But it really helped my kids remember the parts of a letter!

Isn't he cute!? I mean, he has a big ole head that isn't really proportional to the rest of his body, but who cares! 

I actually did not find this next idea on Pinterest. I actually came up with it all on my own! =)  I gave my kids a learning style survey during the first week of school and then I turned it into a consensogram! 

This idea came to me this week when I was trying to figure out what to do with my students South Carolina landform maps. I decided I would just make a collage out of them and make one large map! 

I will post more from my world later this weekend! 

Now, if you'll excuse me, my glass of wine and I have a date!

Free Teacher Clip Art and Social Studies ideas!

Hold on to your pants! I have discovered the Holy Grail! I was perusing some blogs through a linky party hosted by Kathy at First Grade a la Carte and clicked on Primary Graffiti's link up. She had a Social Studies freebie that included clip art from phillipmartin.com.

Now, I have seen this clip art before all over the internet and just NEVER knew that it was totally free and that there was TONS of it!! I was in teacher clip art heaven! It was all broken down into categories so it was easy to search and find what you are looking for! Click here for a direct link to the page with the clip art. Prepare to be excited.

Please tell me that I am not the only person who didn't know about this or just fib and pretend you didn't because I will feel reaaaaally stupid for sharing if I am! HAHA

Oh, also, if you are interested in some Social Studies freebies, head on over to First Grade a la Carte and link up! Not only are there some great Social Studies ideas, but she is always giving away some freebies JUST for participating! =)

HOLLA!

My Top Ten Blogs

I was overjoyed last night when I checked my blogger account and saw that Mary Pitner at Pitner’s Potpourri had awarded me with a Top Ten award! It makes me feel like all the work I do is for something!

Here they are in no particular order! I tried to pick ones that didn't already have a post about Top 10!

Lesson Plan SOS (I love all her lesson ideas and freebies!) 

Science Notebooking (She has fabulous science lessons and ideas! Totally stole my science notebook decorating idea from her! Check them out here.)

Regurgitated Alphabits (She’s hilarious!! Just read her blog…you’ll be falling out of your seat.)

What the Teacher Wants (She has such great free resources and printables!)

Extra Special Teaching (She has lots of great freebies too that are great for my low third graders.)

iLearn Technology (I have found so many great techy resources and websites for teachers and for students on this blog.)

Mrs. Lewis' Learning Library (I just recently discovered this blog, but she has amazing free stuff for teachers!)

Lory's Page (This is also a recent discovery, but WOW! What cute stuff!)

The Inspired Apple (I just love all of her ideas! I "steal" them quite often!)

Ladybug's Teacher Files (I'm cheating here, because she was already picked, but I have been in love with her site since I stumbled upon it!)

To get your button, head over to Teaching Blog Addict!

Rocks and Minerals

At the beginning of the year, we always do a unit on Rocks and Minerals. Last year, I wrote this post on some activities that we did. I have revamped the unit a little bit and wanted to share with you all! 


I also created the science notebook tape in to go along with the first lesson! You will notice there are two pages of the same thing and then the teacher resource page. When you print for your students, you want to print pages 1-2 only (not the teacher resource page) and choose the option multiple pages per sheet. It will then print both pages on one sheet so you can cut the in half and tape them into the journals.

Click the pictures to download the files.

I will be posting more of the resources soon, but this is a good start! If you need any of the flipcharts or have questions about the unit, please feel free to email me at glauren4556@gmail.com.