Fourth and Ten in the Kitchen

One of my favorite things to do outside of teaching/blogging is spending time in the kitchen. I love to cook and I especially love having more time to do it in the summer.  So I was overjoyed to find the Eating, Drinking, and Linking weekly link up hosted by Christy at Teaching Tales Along the Yellow Brick Road. What a great idea! :)

We eat most of our meals at home, which saves us a lot of money each month.  That's not to say that we don't enjoy a nice dinner out, we do.  We just limit them to once or twice a month.  Since we eat a lot at home, I have lots of recipes to share. :) 

We always seem to have extra bananas left over each week, so I've been making lots of banana breads and muffins this summer.  I often freeze the leftovers, so we can have them for breakfast throughout the week. 

These two recipes have been our favorites, this whole wheat / reduced sugar banana bread and these sour cream banana muffins.  I usually use whole wheat pastry flour or a mix of half white flour and half whole flour in all my baked goods. I also replace the oil with unsweetened apple sauce and sugar with organic honey when I can. I do this on a recipe by recipe basis because for some recipes this switch seems like a good fit and then for others it is not.  

I always love a quick, but yet delicious, dinner.  
One of our favorite quick and delicious meals is Maid-Rites.  Maid-Rites aren't quite burgers and they aren't quite sloppy joes. However, they are delicious. This recipe is from one of my favorite bloggers, Iowa Girl Eats.  Everything we make from her site is delicious and usually pretty healthy too.  

Maid-Rite Recipe

We also love pizza.  I pinned this fun deep dish pizza in a casserole dish and knew I had to try it right away.  We had it for dinner this week and loved it! 

Since it uses refrigerated pizza dough, this recipe couldn't have been easier. It came together and minutes and it's perfect for a week night dinner during the school year. 

My husband and I also do our fair share of grilling and we had beer can chicken the other night, which is my FAVORITE way to prepare chicken these days. 

There are lots of recipes and tutorials out there for beer can chicken. We watched this video the first time we made it. You can use root beer or coke as well. I do recommend using a beer can chicken stand for your grill.  We got ours here.  Sometimes the beer/soda cans don't hold up the chicken very well on their own. We also made my favorite green bean recipe to go with it. 

I also use our Crockpot a lot, especially in the 

summer. We love this easy chicken and black bean taco salad from Skinnytaste.  We buy Bolthouse Farm's Cilantro and Avocado Greek Yogurt to go with it. 

As you can see, we cook a lot and have a of great recipes to share! I hope that you found one that you'd like to try. :)

Gave it a Whirl Wednesday: Color Coding Text Evidence and Author's Reasoning RI 4.8

Hello friends! Happy Wednesday! I'm so excited to link up with Mrs. Rios Teaches today for Gave it a Whirl Wednesday.  

Like many of you, I spent a few hours gathering ideas to implement in my classroom from the Bright Ideas Blog Hop and today I wanted to highlight an idea that I used in my classroom TODAY. :) 

This bright idea that I used in my classroom comes from Corinna at Surfin' Through Second and you can access her original post on color coding text evidence {here}.

Using text based evidence when responding to questions about our reading is HUGE in fourth grade, so I'm always looking for ideas to make the process more engaging/meaningful for my students.  

Throughout the year, I've been using my friend Jenny's Text Detectives and I love them.  You can find them in her store {here}.

Certainly, we were already color coding our evidence with these passages and that practice was already very beneficial for a lot of my kiddos. 

I was feeling motivated by Corinna's post,  so today we stepped it up a notch. We underlined each question in the proper color before going back into the text to prove/find our answers. Then we wrote our responses down on notebook paper. 

This was certainly a little bit more work, but the extra steps in the process were so beneficial for my kiddos and made them a bit more aware of their thinking and the process of finding text based evidence.  My kiddos, even though they are bigger, still love using crayons and highlighters on anything; so they didn't mind the extra work! Many remarked that they were having fun and were a bit more motivated to focus on PQA, putting the question in the answer, responses. 

Not only did I try a new to me bright idea in my classroom today, I also taught a new standard!

I'm not sure about your kids, but mine are Olympic Crazy! I am too, so it's been a lot of fun using some Winter Olympic Units I've found on TpT during guided reading and in writing. 

I had a brilliant idea fifteen minutes before I picked my kids up from specials to write a passage about why Cincinnati would be a great host for the 2024 Summer Olympic Games and have my students work on RI 4.8 a bit.  Best decision of the day! They LOVED this lesson!

We identified the major point the point the author was trying to make in the text, that Cincinnati should be considered to host the 2024 Olympics, and then found reasons/evidence the author shared to support his major point. I modeled this on the Smartboard and my students labeled/color coded the major point of the passage and its evidence on their copy of the passage. 

Then I had my students fill out an accompanying graphic organizer I copied for the standard and well they rocked it out!

The graphic organizer is available in this pack on TpT. 

After my students filled out their graphic organizers, we did a mix, pair, share so they could share their completed organizers with each other. 

We concluded our lesson by sharing evidence they heard several times, such as: Cincinnati has two stadiums for the opening and closing ceremonies and has several colleges with dorms for athlete villages and events, and concluded those were the author's strongest evidence for proving his point. 

Today was a lot of fun in my classroom and again, I'm blown away by my kiddos.  They have grown SO much this year.  I'm certainly very proud of them! 

Fabulous Feedback Link Up and Teacher Appreciation Sale

Are you guys SO excited for Tuesday and Wednesday? I know I am because it's TpT's Teacher Appreciation Sale! TpT is taking an additional 10% off any stores' sale price.  My store will be 20% off.  Click here or on the sales graphic below to check out my store.

Thanks so much much to the sweet Beth of Zip A Dee Do Dah Designs for the adorable graphic.

Some of my favorite teacher blogging friends are joining forces for a super fun link up highlighting some of our favorite products, with a twist! :) 

 
Click on the image above to check out the Fabulous Feedback posts from some of my dear blogging buddies! 
 
We are highlighting some of our favorite products with a special twist.  Below are images for three of my favorite products and some of the fabulous feedback that I have received from my fabulous customers.  Guess what? If I highlighted your feedback, you get a FREE item of your choosing from my TPT store, just email me at lisa@fourthnten.com if I did, I just ask that you be honest. :) 

One of my favorite products is my Fabulous Back to School Fun pack.  Although this school year isn't quite over, my mind has been thinking a little bit about next year too! I love, love, love building community with my students at the beginning of the year and getting to know my students before the pressure of the curriculum starts. :) 

 
Click on the link or picture above to check it out on TpT. :) 

One of my goals as a teacher this year was to improve my students' fluency.  Many of my students were far below grade level in fluency this year, so we've played lots and lots of fluency games but Straight A's is probably my kiddos' favorite. They love the dog ate your homework cards, they always make them giggle.  

Click on the link or picture above to check it out on TpT. 

Another favorite product of mine is my end of the year memory books. :)  I have them for second, third, and fourth grade.  Last year my second graders loved filling them out and they were the perfect way to fill some of those awkward empty spaces during the end of the year.  Plus it makes a great memento of your class' year together.

Click on the links above or here, second, third, and fourth, to check them out on TpT. 
 

Also, lots of you have asked for school themed roll and covers, and I am happy to say they are available! :) Click on the link or picture below to check them out on TpT.

 

Check all my fabulous friends' posts below and see if your fabulous feedback made you a winner! :) 

  

Five for Friday and Some Spring Cleaning

So excited to link up with Doodle Bugs for Five for Friday! :)

1. Two Words: Spring Break

 I love my job. I love my students.  However, switching grade levels three times in three years has really worn me out.  I'm SO THANKFUL for the chance to recharge my batteries and to clean my house. :)

2. Elite Eight

I'll admit, I'm a much bigger football fan than basketball but I'm SO PROUD of my Buckeyes run in the tournment this year. :) Bring it on Wichita State! 

3. Egg Drop

Our fourth grade egg drop was yesterday and it was a perfect way to send a sunny afternoon before break! I was really proud of my students, we only had five eggs break! My darlings had so much fun watching all the projects fall from the roof of our school.

4. Grad School

I started my masters in reading after my second year of teaching.  Then I got engaged, married changed schools and grade levels, and built a house and well didn't have the time or energy to take anymore!  Since I'll be back in fourth grade next year and will be departmentalized, I feel comfortable taking classes again this summer.  So I haven't taken classes in awhile, I spent some time this past week reactivating my account so I can register.  I'm getting excited about going back to school! :)

5.  Spring Cleaning!

 

Some of my friends and I are having a spring cleaning sale this weekend! I know that my wishlist has gotten out of control lately, between clip art for future products and items to use with my class to prep for our state's assessments in April.  So, we've decided to put our stores on sale this weekend! Starting tomorrow, everything in my store will be 20% through Sunday night! :)  Click on the cutie pie cheerleader to check out my Teachers Pay Teachers store! 

Happy, Happy, Happy Friday! 

Five for Friday on a Sunday!

I am pumped to be linking up with Doodle Bugs for her Five for Friday link up, although I'm embarrassingly late to the party.

1. Last Sunday, I got a phone call from the Cincinnati Fire Department, a phone call I'm sure nobody wants to get!  They informed me that my sweet husband had been in an accident at work.  The freight elevator he was using at work closed on his hand.  We are so blessed because there are no breaks, no fractures, his hand was just very swollen! 

2. As a result of the elevator accident and the stomach flu, I missed three days of school last week.  It was crazy! However, this saved my life!
 

Source: teacherspayteachers.com via Lisa on Pinterest

Seriously, it did! All I had to do was type out my plans for the day and leave the binder on my desk with it.  The binder had my class list, notes about difficult students, helpful tips, etc.  All THREE of the subs I had last week loved it .  I am so glad to have it ready for the PDs I'll be attending for the Common Core this spring.  Thanks, Amanda! :)

3. I am LOVING this three day weekend.  We have yet to have a snow day and I am thankful for the break.  I got to spend a chunk of time this weekend making some of my favorite recipes   Cooking is one of my favorite things to but is also often the first thing to get neglected when things get busy.  It's a huge stress relief for me, so I'm determine to cook as much as I can between now and the rest of the school year!
 

Source: pinchofyum.com via Lisa on Pinterest

These are seriously the best brownies on the planet.  They are super gooey due to the crumbled up Oreos in the batter.  Yum!

Source: sixsistersstuff.com via Lisa on Pinterest

I am not usually a pot roast kind of girl but I love these sliders! My husband can't get enough of them. 

4. Girls on the Run started last week at my school.  I am so proud to be involved with this program and LOVE the difference it makes in the lives of young girls!  

Source: girlsontherun.org via Lisa on Pinterest

5. My husband and I built our home and are slowing working on our house one room at a time. I bought some of these baskets in green and in blue.  They have made such a difference in my office! :) They have them in a variety of sizes and colors. Love them!

 

If you have emailed me this week and I haven't responded, I am so so so sorry.  It was the imperfect storm at our house this week with my husband getting hurt and me having the stomach flu.  We are both back to work and are excited to be back to a routine! I hope to have the March editions of my fluency games, roll and cover, and a set of spring graphic organizers up and ready soon!

New Years Activities and Freebies

Happy New Year! I have two days before I head back to my classroom and I'm currently all curled up on couch with my sweet pups enjoying just a little bit more relaxation time! :)  I am going to work on some grading and try to get ready for report cards today before I work on some lesson plans tomorrow but I'm getting a little head start today by linking up with my sweet friend, Denise's Show and Tell Tuesday New Years Edition.  

Since we have a two day week, I plan on doing some New Years Resolution Writings with my kiddos.  We follow a pretty scripted writing program, so I'm really excited to break away and do something different for a change. :) 

When we return from my break, I'll be reading this book to my kiddos. 

 

{Check it out on Amazon}  

Then we will be making these adorable little resolution kids that the sweet Amy Lemons shared the templates for last year. Original idea via Cara Carroll. You can find the templates {here}.

 

Source: stepintosecondgrade.blogspot.com via Lisa on Pinterest

I meant to make this foldable last year and forgot, I already have it saved on my TpT wishlist to print off for my class this week.  I am so curious to see what my kiddos will include on theirs! 

 

Source: teacherspayteachers.com via Lisa on Pinterest

Thank you so much for the great freebie, Rachel! 

I also will be getting a new student when we return, so I'm going to be revisiting the ingredients for a perfect year from my Cooking Up a Great Year Together.  I love having a two day week so we can do some team building activities together.   Some of us could use some gentle reminders of how to treat one another and what better way to do that than with children's literature and food? :)

 

You can check out my original post about Cooking Up a Great Year together {here}.

We also never got around to doing the Toothpaste Activity that I blogged about {here}....so we will be doing that too.  Like I said, some of us need just a little reminder about nourishing words.  

You can download it {here}.  I have found that after Christmas break is a perfect time to review your behavior expectations for your class, it's often a shorter week...so it's perfect to do some community building and to spend some time investing in your classroom routines and procedures again.  

Since they'll be coming in so hyped up about everything they did over break, we will be doing a Find Somebody Who Winter Break Style! :)

   
Click on the picture above or {here} to download.  The typo in the directions is corrected...in the actual file. :)

Well I'm off to hit publish and go link up and join in the fun.  If you download one of my freebies, I'd love to hear how you plan to use in your classroom in the comments below! :)