Super Bowl Sale

Happy February!! To start the month off right I'm having a sale today and tomorrow in my store (2/1 & 2/2).

Sit back and enjoy a wonderful Sunday!

Five for Friday

Today I am linking up with Kacey at DoodleBugs for a little 5 for Friday Fun!

Happy Friday is music to my ears!!! It's been a BUSY week!

I have always loved reading the Bluebonnet Books each year. If you have not read Flora & Ulysses by Kate DiCamillo, you need to go grab a copy! It is a quick read and a quirky fun read. It is a great mentor text for the writing classroom!! The story line is very different and enjoyable. You are hooked very quickly as the squirrel has been sucked up in the vacuum cleaner.

We ALL need a comfort food pick me up sometimes. This time of year is hard. We are all pushing kids hard, using data, having lots of conferences, and struggling to stay on top of the piles. I promise these Homemade Oreos will help!! Thank you Cara Carroll for the recipe! I promise if you try them you will hang on tight to the recipe!

If you teach 4th grade STAAR Writing go check out Rosie's Resources. I am so glad that I stumbled along her writing products. They are closely aligned to the STAAR Writing Test. Click on her store name to visit her TPT store.

Added 2 more items to my products. Hoping for a little time soon to load several more products that are waiting for the last minute touches.

Enjoy your Friday and soak up some relaxation over the weekend!

In Honor of Martin Luther King, Jr.....

In honor of Martin Luther King, Jr, I wanted to share one of my favorite quotes of his.

The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. ~MLK

This quote is so true and powerful in all aspects of life. As we face challenges, we need to remind ourselves of this. It is not easy to swim against the tide and not give up. Many times this means we can not put ourselves first. We all have to stay focused, strong, and positive. These actions as educators allows us to make a meaningful difference every day in students' lives.

Five for Friday

Today I am linking up with Kacey at DoodleBugs for a little 5 for Friday Fun!

After 2 long weeks of no sun and cold, it was an amazing sun filled day! Open up the blinds and soak up the sunshine!

Celebrate Good Times!!! After 2 long weeks of benchmark testing, we can mark that off the to do list. We all know it has to be done, but man I am glad when it is completed. Next, week will be the fun part----- data analysis. Actually, I see a weekend full of data analysis.

It feels so good to just know that I finally opened my own TPT store. I am ok with whatever becomes of it. The best part is knowing that I accomplished the goal.

One of my goals for this month was to finish up some craft projects. Two are marked of the list.

The best part is seeing these 3 precious guys. Life is a wild adventure but can't help but love them and cherish every second of playing with them.

Off to enjoy some great sunshine!

Name That Theme ...

Theme is a huge skill for our young readers in today's standards, yet it is so puzzling to their little minds. In December, I began racking my brain of what innovative way could I hook my learners.

That is when Name That Theme was born. Kids love music and can easily relate to music. The hardest part of planning the lesson was finding music with school appropriate lyrics. I projected a copy of the lyrics and the kids had a copy of the lyrics to highlight and find textual evidence. The kids loved it!!! Student engagement was at it's best! It is still difficult, but they have a strong reference point.

Songs I used:

*Happy by Pharrell Williams

*Roar by Katy Perry

*Am I Wrong by Nico and Vinz

*Let It Go By Frozen (Disney)

What other songs can you think of to teach theme that kids would love? I would love to hear what others are using.

We also used some task cards to practice in partners. You can check out them out here.

Checking Off My To Do List

Today, I can mark something off my to do list. Thanks to the gentle nudging and encouragement from a dear friend I can mark open your own Teachers Pay Teachers Store off my list. It is nothing exciting and have barely added anything but it is a start. After having the dream for 5 years, I can finally say I did it!!!

Character Traits in Kindergarten and a FREEBIE

Today, I had the opportunity to introduce Character Traits to a Kindergarten class. I think one of the keys to character traits is helping the students start a vocabulary bank of character trait words and to think about what is "inside" the character. One of the students said it best--- "What is inside their heart".

We started with a very plain anchor chart with the definition and began to brainstorm character trait words.

Then, we began by talking about character traits focusing on the most important person to them -- their teacher. We used a graphic organizer. My goal was to get 3 strong character words with evidence. Evidence is hard but they did so GREAT!! They stole my heart as they described their sweet teacher.

We reread The Wild Christmas Reindeer by Jan Brett and worked on character traits some more. Our focus was on Teeka the main character. I was so proud of the kids and their "academic talk" as we tackled a very difficult story. They were using details and did an excellent job discussing the problem and solution in the story as well as making inferences about Teeka. We created another character trait map about Teeka with textual evidence. I thought they did really well for their first time.

Here is a free template to use for an independent activity.

Thank you for letting me visit in Kindergarten (crossing my fingers that I can visit again really soon)!!!