Explorers Trading Cards

Hello blog land! I hope you have all had a fabulous Cyber Monday and Tuesday Sale! I picked up an awesome South Carolina Explorers Trading Cards file from Carrie Whitlock which you can purchase by clicking on the image below!

I am so in love with this idea and we are just finishing this unit so I emailed her and asked if I could create an editable and printable template to post on my blog and she was so kind and generous to say yes! I recommend purchasing her file because it has an example and rubrics for Social Studies and Language Arts!

Here is my editable file. You don't just have to use it on SC explorers. You could adapt it for anything! I inclded two versions. One version you can just print and let students write or draw in or you could let your students edit one on the computer adding pictures and text that you can manipulate any way you like! 

Just click the file above to download your copy! (Clipart is from Melonheadz Illustrations)

On top of my trading card purchase, I also purchased tons of graphics from Ashley Hughes! I just love her cute clip art!! There are other things that made it into my shopping cart as well, but I'll save that for the Blog Hoppin' post!

Happy almost Hump Day!!

I'm Still Alive and a TPT and TN Sale

I want to apologize for taking such a long leave of absence from my blogging duties, but things have been CUH-razy in my life lately. Honestly, my heart just hasn't been in it these last few weeks. I am feeling much more myself and so I am glad to be back in action!! Woot woot! 

But, oh how I have missed you all so much! 

I am here to share a little working with words freebie. We are working on Antonyms next week and so I wanted to share a fun little spin on a homophone hunt I found last year. Just click the picture to download yourself a copy!

I will also be having a sale in both my shops on Monday and Tuesday! See the button below for more details!

Thanks to Ashley Hughes for the adorable button!

I hope to have some new stuff coming soon friends! I just need to get a little more inspiration and motivation and I'll be there!

Go TIGERS!! Beat those Gamecocks! =)

Changes

I recently posted about some issues that my boyfriend and I had been having. Well, things finally came to an end last week and I am hurting inside so much. After four years, I can't seem to figure out how to move on without him in my life. I haven't thought much about school, or my blog, or lesson plans and I really need to! I feel awful for negelecting you all and everything else, but I just need to get myself together before I get myself back on a roll. I just wanted to let you guys know I didn't forget about you. I'm just going through many life changes right now and I haven't had much time for anything else. Hope to be back soon with some things to share. Hope you all have a great Sunday!

Project Idea and Text Feature Chart

Hey everyone! I feel like it's been FOREVER since I blogged! I am trying to get all of my parent conferences complete. Hopefully I will have WAY more time to create stuff for you all to use once those are out of the way! 

Over the next week, we are doing a Science and Social Studies combined project to get a major grade in both areas. While I attended the SC Social Studies conference, I heard about this menu idea to give students an alternate and differentiated assessment. Even if you don't teach in South Carolina, you could create your own and adapt it for your own needs! Here is an example...

For those of you who teach in South Carolina and would like a copy of this, please just click the picture above to download it. I included two of the same page so you can print two to a page if you wish. 

For those of you non-SC teachers, you can also download a copy because I have included a blank template page for you so you can adapt it for yourself!

We are also working on non-fiction text features this week so I created this chart for students to use during their independent reading. Each day, we will look at two text or graphic features on the promethean board and then while they read their books, they will fill in the corresonponding sections we worked on with the title of the book and page number they found an example of each feature on. They will also write how it helped them while they were reading. I will take it up for a grade at the end of the week! 

In other news, I am working on a new product that I know I am in desperate need of: The ULTIMATE Early Finisher Pack for Math. It will be Common Core aligned. I am working on the 3-5 version right now and then I will start on the K-2 pack! I plan on using the Common Core standards for each grade level and each CC standard domain as a guide to complete this massive file! 

Eventually I hope to complete one for ELA, Science, and Social Studies as well! Here is a preview!

I have only complete the cover page so far. I am still in the brainstorming phase. I'm trying to figure out what all you would like to see included, so you upper elementary teachers, this is where you come in!

What kinds of activities would you like to see included? For example, Sudoku puzzles and number searches...Games? Practice sheets? etc...

Have a great Sunday!! Who else is excited about The Walking Dead tonight!?  

Native Americans and Predictions

In Social Studies, we are beginning a new unit on South Carolina Native Americans and so my fabulous team came up with the idea to rotate around the room to three different posters of each tribe with related photos and words on each one. Students will go around the room and with their recording sheet and write predictions they have about each tribe by looking at the posters pictures and words. You will notice that some of the posters have the same pictures. Hopefully your students pick up on this and write it down on their recording sheet!

At the end of the rotation activity, students will share the predictions they made with the class and add to a class chart. We have already learned about the regions of South Carolina so we will then show a map of South Carolina and see if students can figure out where each tribe is located based on the pictures, words from the posters and from the predictions they made on their sheets. Here is a sample picture of the poster images and recording sheet. To download the full files, click HERE and HERE. 

There are more pictures and a page of words included as well to add to your posters. This is just a preview!

I love South Carolina history! I can't wait to start this unit Friday! Kids always get so into it!

I hope to be back soon with more ideas to share! Tomorrow is Hump Day!! Whoo hoo! I'm ready for Fall for Greenville this weekend (the most amazing food, beer, and fun festival of the year in our town)! Bring on the chili cook off!