So Much To Be Thankful For...

I am thrilled to be off this week to spend time with family, relax, and appreciate all that I have. That is why I am linking up with Molly from Lucky to Be in First to share all the things I am thankful for.






To show my thanks to all my TpT followers I am going to have a special surprise coming your way. Make sure to check your TpT inbox soon. If you are not a TpT follower make sure you head on over to my store and become one, so you don't miss out!

I hope each one of you enjoys your Thanksgiving holiday with your friends and family! Happy Thanksgiving!

Glorious Five for Friday!!!

Oh, this is one of the most glorious Fridays in the whole month of November! I love Fridays. But this one is extra special because my alarm is turned off for the whole week! Yes, my friends, I have all next week off to be crazy busy with my two boys, but I don't have to wake up to an alarm-AND that makes me super excited, right now. It is however, time to share my week in pics with you.

http://www.doodlebugsteaching.blogspot.com/2013/11/five-for-friday-november-22.html
1. This past weekend, my boys had a fundraiser at their school called Hotcakes and Handball! It was a blast! The dads flipped hotcakes and the kids had a handball tournament. Here is my oldest winning the title of best handball player for his grade level! Oh, yes, I am a proud mama.

2. We review abbreviations this week. We played a game and made these flip books.

3. We worked on getting our turkey groove on this week. My kiddos make these turkey glyphs about what they liked most about Thanksgiving. Then, we graphed the data and displayed them on our math board. You can grab your copy {HERE}

4. Look what arrived on my doorstep today! Yes, that is correct. You see two boxes in that picture. One boy and one girl. I couldn't decide which to get, so I am going to give one to my team partner, so we can be mischievious together. Partners in crime should stick together, right? I created a Pinterest board all about Elf of the Shelf ideas. Head on over and check it out. I also put together some activities I am going to do with my students called Elf"ish" Activities in the Classroom. I hope you all join me on this little adventure and find tons of joy with this little guy.

5. I feel really silly, but I was terrible at taking pictures this week. We got a package in the mail from our pen pals. They wrote us the cutest turkey letters and sent us a fabulous Thanksgiving book. However, I forgot to take a picture of their adorable letters. But this is the book we got. It was a great story right before our school feast.

Be sure to share your week in pictures too and link up with Doodle Bugs Teaching!

Elf Preparation and a Giveaway

I have caved... I have taken the plunge.... I have made the commitment... to open my classroom to a TON of mischief. This little guy is on his way....
I have wanted to invite this little guy into my classroom for awhile, but never followed through. Well, this year I am following through in a BIG way! His plane ticket has been purchased and we are just waiting for him to land. While I have been waiting for his arrival, I decided I better have a lot of things for him to do while he is in town. This weekend, I created this little packet:

There is a calendar of events of suggested elf placement ideas for several weeks. I copied and began prepping our Where is Our Elf? journal booklets. The kids are going to write and illustrate where they find our elf each day and what he is doing. We are going to make elf hats and the kids are going to wear them while they are journal writing each day. We are going to choose a name for our new classmate too. Then, we are going to graph the top choices. 

Each student is going to fill out a job application to be one of Santa's helpers. Our classroom elf is going to "grade" each application and approve or not approve each one!  Don't worry, Santa needs lots of helpers. You can never have enough elves at the North Pole.

We are also going to make an elf craftivity and write about why we should be Santa's helper. Writing pages are also included for students to write a letter to Santa or make an acrostic poem about elves.

I can't wait for all the fun to begin!If you want to bring a bit of mystery and fun to your classroom too, you can grab your copy of my packet by clicking HERE or on the pictures above. It will be on sale until tomorrow night.

I also want to share an AMAZING giveaway opportunity with all of you. My sweet friend, Tania, at My Second Sense is having a week's worth of giveaways. Day 1 and Day 2 are already up and ready for the grabbing. There are different prize packages everyday. Each one is only up for 3 days! SO HURRY on over to enter!!!




Gobbling Up Main Idea and Details & a Giveaway

Last night I wrote a quick post about a FREEBIE festive main idea and detail craft I had posted and today I am back to share the lesson details with you. Without further adieu...Gobbling Up Main Idea and Details.

We have been working on main idea and details all throughout the school year. It seems my kiddos can never get enough practice with this skill. Today, however, I think I had a breakthrough with my entire class. 

I paired my little gems into groups of two. I gave each group a non-ficition fluency card. They read the card to one another. Then, on their whiteboards, they needed to write the main idea of the passage, along with four details. I walked around and monitored the groups to make sure they were on the right track.

Next, we cut out and glued our turkeys together. I did this first because I wanted the kids to be able to have a concrete space to write their details. I didn't want the kids to write the details on their feathers and then glue the feathers on and have the words covered up.

This was my sample that I made the day before. I decided to use some of the orange scrap paper to make a beak on each turkey. I just had the kids cut a square from their orange paper that was left over and fold it, to make the beak. I think they turned out pretty cute and my kids are much more confident picking out the main idea from a story now!

I posted them with the common core "I can" statements here. 

Click on the picture or the link above to download your copy! 

Now for the giveaway!!! My sweet friend, Heather, over at Second Grade Perks is having a great giveaway "write" now. You could win this amazing pencil sharpener from Classroom Friendly Supplies. Head on over and enter so you can have one in your classroom too! You will love it!
http://www.classroomfriendlysupplies.com/

Helpful Hints and a FREEBIE

  I am linking up with Blog Hoppin' to share some helpful teaching tips with each of you. 


The one thing I find the most helpful with the transition to Common Core is a checklist of my grade level standards. I keep them in a three-ring binder with my daily plans. I check them off as I plan to teach them and when I assess each standard. Having it right at my fingertips makes it easy to use. It also creates a living history of documentation for conferences, evaluations, report cards etc.


2. Organize Monthly Projects and Ideas in Binders.

When I first started teaching, I put each of my projects in a file folder and labeled it with the activity name. Then, the files went into my file cabinet, never to be found again. Either, I couldn't remember the name I filed it under or it would get smashed with all the other files in the drawer. 
A few years ago, I started to file everything in binders. I have labled the binders into Monthy Projects, ELA Centers, Math Centers, Writing Ideas and Grammar. Next, I tabbed them by months or subject area. I am personally keeping Avery in business with all the plastic sleeves I have purchased. However, nothing gets lost and I can grab what I need at a moments notice and copy it.


 

I also want to share a little FREEBIE I created to use in my class this week. We are reviewing main idea and details this week, so I thought I would bring a bit of the Thanksgiving spirit into our lesson. My kids are each going to make a turkey. They will write the main idea of our weekly story on the body and 4 details on each of the feathers. You can use this with your reading series story or with one of your favorite Thanksgiving stories. Click on the picture to grab your copy! Enjoy!