We voted!!!

We had the absolute best time learning about the election this week!  On Monday we viewed a powerpoint presentation I made highlighting the important words we would need to know.  These included: Republican, Democrat, delegate, campaign, electoral college, and ballot.

We read about the differences between the two major parties in this great country of ours, and learned that there are also third parties.  We used the Scholastic News site to watch two short videos about the qualifications of a president and how the voting process works.

We practiced our Nonfiction reading skills by reading an article in our Time For Kids magazines.  The article told us about the Republican and Democratic candidates and how campaigning works. We made these super adorable lap books that I found at Homeschool Share!  My student absolutely loved this project!

We wrapped up our short week with a Coke vs. Pepsi election.  We first watched a short Scholastic News video on how the electoral college works.  My kiddos were floored to find out that the American people do not choose our president by popular vote.  I loved this video because it explained things so simply.  We stopped several times through to re-explain, discuss, and ask questions.

We used the interactive Electoral College map here.  The kids each got 2 or 3 note cards with various states listed on them.  The card also included the number of electoral votes that state receives.  The students wrote their vote on the back of the note card and then I tallied the votes by changing the color on our electoral map.  Coke changed to red and Pepsi to blue.  My student were so excited about this activity.  They were all just bursting to get home and tell their parents what they'd learned.  I will definitely be using the format again in 4 years when we elect another president!!

Sea Turtle Week!

So I'm changing things up in my 4th grade reading program this year.  I am following an idea from  a 6th grade teacher in our building and I'm skipping around our reading book....that's right, I'm not doing the stories in order....not quite a rebel, but I'll take what I can get :)  I've decided to pull out all the nonfiction stories and do those first.  I'm grouping them by themes, monthly celebrations, and what we are doing in social studies.

Two weeks ago we read the story "Mangrove Wilderness" and my kiddos LOVED it!  Our Social Studies teacher is wrapping up the Southeast Region and since this story discusses the mangrove forests of Florida it's a perfect fit.

Last week  the kiddos complete a readers theater called "Emeralds Eggs".  I don't know about your kiddos, but mine just love readers theater.  I put this little nest together to share with them, and to get them excited about our week of learning!

We spent the week rehearsing our parts for the play,  researching 5 types of sea turtles (I adapted some information I found at Sea Turtle Inc. to create an information sheet for each type of sea turtle...the kiddos used these sheets and the text book for their research.  I also found the coolest little video on United Streaming of a sea turtle laying its eggs),

creating a graphic organizer with our information (this idea came the oh-so-creative Tara at 4th Grade Frolics),

and making our very own sea turtles out of paper plates (I wanted to borrow Tara's rock idea, but out Dollar Tree was all out of rocks, and I had paper plates....so plan B it was)!

I was off for half the day on Friday, so I only got to see the excitement in one class when I told them we would be making sea turtles!!  They wrapped up this fun week by partnering with someone who had researched a different type of sea turtle and together they completed a Venn Diagram identifying the similarities and differences between their two types of turtles.

What are you doing for Fire Prevention Week?

I'm not actually doing anything until next week, but am wondering what others have in mind.  At 4th grade we pretty much have the fire safety rules down, and have done the fireman visit a few times so I'm looking for new ideas.

Here is one that I thought about using last year but never got around to......Laura Candler rocks!

I found these two little worksheets on Pinterest and thought they might make nice activities for early finishers next week.

I thought this might make  a nice homework assignment to get everyone thinking about their fire safety plan,

I also picked up a free packet from NFPA and thought I might adapt it.

Our reading series has a short nonfiction piece called Flame Busters about fireman and the fire academy. I borrowed a few short articles from a colleague that might make great activities for Read to Someone during Daily 5.  What else am I forgetting....what are you doing?????

Writing, Writing, and more writing!

I'm just gonna go ahead and admit it....I stink at dealing with busy schedules and stress.  Yep, I turn into a cranky, whinny, pity-party kinda girl.  It's one of the things I desperately need to change about myself.  The stress of the past couple of weeks has really gotten to me.  I've neglected blogging, I've neglected my house, and I've neglected my family.  I've been so tired in the evenings that I just want to crash the minute I walk through the door.

Anyway, I'm hoping this weekend will get me back to feeling like my old self.  I'm planning to get caught up at school (or at least as caught up as a teacher can be....let's face it....this job is never really done....ever!), caught up at home (even get a little fall decorating done), caught up on catching up with family and friends ( my Wildcats are fixin' to kick KU's butt at 11:00 today!!!! :),  and caught up on snuggle time with my two favorite peeps (We're cleaning house after the big game, but I'm thinking if we crank some music and act a little silly we'll have fun....we always do)....yep, life is good!


 On to the truck load of writing we've been doing in my classroom.  Over the past 2 weeks my little 4th graders have been working on writing.  We worked  on a lesson on writing personal letters and they wrote their own personal letters to me about the book they are currently reading. We use this personal letter format...

This was tough for them, and  after careful grading this weekend, I can see that some of them will need lots more practice.  I did have the best time reading their thoughts on their books though.  I just love looking into their little brains and seeing what makes them tick :)


We also finished up our leaf projects.  I got the idea from Doris at Third Grade Thinkers.  I provided an assortment of fall colored leaves for the kids to choose from and a piece of construction paper.  Then I asked them what they thought we would be doing with these supplies.  They all thought we would be doing some type of fall tree or fall picture....wrong!  When I told them they had turn their leaf into something else their eyes went buggy!  I told them they were to glue their leaf onto their page and make a full color picture, but their leaf had to be something else.  They could color it, draw on it and fold it, but they couldn't cut it in any way.

You should've seen their little minds working.  They came up with some super creative ideas!!  They finished the project by writing a descriptive paragraph about their leaf.  We spent some time peer editing and then wrote our final draft.  I wish we had more time to spend on the editing and publishing piece, but this project just got away from me and we ran out of time.

We wrapped up this past week with a full 20 minute Work on Writing session.  I truly thought this was going to be a disaster.  I still have some peeps struggling to do Read to Self for 15 minutes, so I thought writing would be a tragic fail.....not the case!  I found a fun prompt in a book I've had for years and put it on the white board and told them they had to write for 20 whole minutes.  You should've seen their faces.

But guys, they did it!  They really wrote, and wrote and wrote....they didn't want to stop.   They were so proud of the fact that they'd written for 20 minutes, and of the projects they'd created that they were beaming.  They are all begging to share their stories on Monday.  I think the key here was the prompt....they just LOVED it!!

Here's the prompt to try with you own kiddo's.  "September  is the 9th month of the year.  In honor of nines please use this story starter to write a story about nines.  Nine brothers and nine sisters lived in a nine-story house.  On September 9, 2999 they...."

I can't wait to listen to them read these to the class over the next week or two.....I just love it when something works and my students get as excited about it as I do!!!

Freebie Friday!

Most of you have already had a chance to look at all the fun new Word Work activities I'm adding to my classroom this year.  But, just in case you haven't, I'm linking up with Teaching Blog Addict for their Freebie Friday.

If you are need of some new Word Work activities check out my blog post from a few weeks ago.  There are 5 new activities complete with worksheets! 

If you've seen them head on over to Teaching Blog Addict and checkout all the other awesomely coolistic freebies!!!

Happy, happy Friday all!!!

It was a Word Work week!

Let me start off with something that has nothing to do with school....Jacob got a car for his 16th birthday yesterday!!  His birthday is actually on the 21st (which is the first day of school....how gross is that???), but he got his gift a little early.  His grandparents purchased a new car and were generous enough to give him their old one!!

This was a complete birthday surprise for him!  When his grandma handed him the keys in the restaurant he said, "Did I just get a car?".  I'm so nervous that he will be free to roam the streets without me, but super duper excited that he is making the transition into a young man......I absolutely love that boy!!!

This will be my last Monday Made It for a while!  We found out on Friday that we will be able to move into our classrooms on Friday the 17th after 4 p.m.  We have Open House on Monday and students start on Tuesday the 21st.  That means I have 3 days to unpack every single school thing I own, put it away in my new classroom, decorate my room, and prepare for Open House and the first week of school.....no pressure!  Since I will be in freak out mode next weekend and will be working round the clock I'm guessing I won't have time for a Monday Made it post......on with this weeks goodies!

Last year I had 6 Word Work activities that students could choose from during this time.  Most of my ideas came from Tara at 4th Grade Frolics, and Laura Candler at Corkboard Connections.  I even used Tara's idea for creating the folders to hold them in.....cute huh!

I made these new activities to add to the fun!  You can get a free copy of any of the worksheets here.

The Sand Scribes will use our new colored sand boxes!

Our typists will use our new colorful keyboards.  I had thought about using the laptop keyboards, but taking them out always seems to take forever, and with a simple keyboard we'll save time, and nobody will "accidentally" turn on a computer :)

This idea also came from 4th Grade Frolics! I found these little pouches in the school supply section at Target for only $0.97!  They hold all the Magnetic Words Supplies! The letters were also from Target near the college/dorm back to school stuff, and the magnetic white boards are from Dollar Tree.

I plan to add my new ideas to last year's choices:

Vocabulary Foldable (from Laura Candler)
Words Worth, Scrabble, Secret Code, and Stampin' It (from 4th Grade Frolics)

I even got two new ink pads in blue and red from the Dollar Spot at Target!

I also had time to create Poetry Pots (inspired by 4th Grade Frolics....again!)

I wrapped up this very busy week with a very simple Box Tops container (nothing special just a left over sand container some craft paper and some stickers)

new bins for the kids to turn their work in.  Since we departmentalize I made a bin for each teacher with folders in each bin for the most frequently turned in kinds of work.  I'm hoping this makes organizing and grading hundreds of paper each week MUCH easier! I had the folders and I got the bins at Walmart for $1 in the dish section.

And, last I made an "I'm Done, Now What?" board.  I'm loving this thing and I think it's going to make an awesome addition to my room.  I got the genius idea  from Shelley Gray of Teaching in the Early Years!!!

This little guy was really time consuming to put together, but I have a feeling it's going to be well worth the effort!

Oh, and I finished two weeks worth of lesson plans yesterday.....all that's left is to get that room put together!!!  If you haven't linked up with 4th Grade Frolics this summer you are missing out.  Head on over there and check out all the other AMAZING Monday Made it projects!!

It's all just too cute and a Linky Party!

If you don't think you can handle the cuteness don't read any further :)  This post is nothing but cute and adorable!

Last night we had a little family game night and poor ol' Charlie was feeling left out.  Without thumbs and all it's just not possible for him to play cards with us.  And, since he has those sad droopy eyes, and those big floppy ears he just looks miserable staring at you while your laugh and joke at the human table.  Well, Jake couldn't take anymore of the pathetic stares.....

could this dog be any more spoiled?!?!

I also created another cute addition for my classroom.  Just look at it's absolute adorableness....

The bin came from Dollar Tree, the wooden cutout from Hobby Lobby (it was $3, but at half price....$1.50), and I made the label.

I don't know why I never thought of this idea (originally from The Two Sisters at The Daily Cafe).  My students are always bringing me books that have seen a little too much love.  I set them aside in a pile and forget about them.  This basket is genius......the kids won't have to bother me when they find a book in need of repair, and I can just grab the basket on my way out the door each Friday and do the necessary repairs over the weekend!  What on earth did teachers do before blogging and Pinterest......I would've been lost!!!

I'm also linking up with Jodi at Fun in First Grade for my favorite Back to School activity!!  I just love the beginning of the school year!  All the excitement, anticipation, and newness just gets me all giddy!!  Like most teachers I have a ton of favorite activities, but I will limit it to one.

For the past 5 years I have been doing a Get-To-Know-You Snowball fight.  I've seen some things about it on Pinterest recently, but I originally saw the idea in an issue of Instructor magazine.  I give each kiddo a sheet of notebook paper.  They are to list three things about themselves that we might not know.  I tell them that the key to this activity is to make their three things a little tricky for us to guess, but not so hard that their three things could belong to just any ol' body in the classroom.  Once we've all written down our three things we crumple up our paper and the real fun begins!  I give them a couple of minutes to throw their "snowballs" around the room, at each other, at me......it's hilarious.

  This was my very first year of teaching (6th grade that year) and my very first attempt at the snowball fight.  I sure do miss these little peeps.

 I think I love this part the best because every one is so tense on that first day of school....trying to be good, trying to make the right impression, not sure how to act.....and this activity allows us to all let our hair down and have fun!  When the the snowball fight ends each person picks up the snowball closest to them, and we take turns reading them aloud. We all try to guess who the paper belongs too.  This part can get pretty silly.....I've even had kids forget what they wrote and not recognize when someone is reading their three things.....ahh 4th graders, don't you just love them!