Parent Gift Ideas {freebie}

Hello Friends! How were your Mondays? Mine flew by, and I have an even busier night ahead of me.

Today's is my daddio's birthday, and in honor of his special day,  I thought I would take some time to share with you what my kiddos are doing doing for their parents this year for their parent gift in my class.

This is my sixth year of teaching, and I finally found an idea worth repeating last year.  Thank goodness for Pinterest. Am I right?

This is the ornament we made last year inspired by a post I read on eighteen25. 

Source: eighteen25.blogspot.com via Lisa on Pinterest

As you can see, some came out a little bit off kilter but most were adorable! The parents and kids loved them!

Instead of using little canvases, we used trading card sized canvas paper, which was much cheaper since I need enough canvases for 25 kiddos. 

  

I got mine last year at my local teacher store, but you can also find them on Amazon.  They are Strathmore Artist Trading Cards 2 1/2 in. x 3 1/2 in. 300 series Canvas paper Pack 10 cards I used just basic acrylic paints, and we painted the background and snow at the bottom of the ornaments one morning and did the fingerprint snowmen and details the next.  I punched a hole in the top and attached a string, and that was it! 

The parents in my class loved these, and I loved how less fragile they were than the glass ornaments of this idea that I had seen. :) 

Once the ornaments were dry, we placed them in our gift bags, which we made of various sized rectangles. 

I have uploaded the templates for this bag to Google Drive.  Please click {here} to download your own copy!  I did make the To/From tag a tad smaller, so everything should fit on the bag now! :) 

Before I go, I just wanted to let you know that I thought of the coolest container for Jingle Jangle, this month's fry phrase game! I put the cards in a large stocking! The kids LOVED it!

If you'd like to check out this fun way to practice oral reading fluency and sight words for the upper graders, please check it out {here}. 

Have a great night friends! :) What are you planning on doing for your students' parent gifts?

I linked this post up to my sweet friend Tara's Made It December! I can't wait to see everyone's craftiness! :)  Pinterest has turned me into a bit of a crafter. :) 

  

 

A post full of inferring fun!

Hi friends! I hope that each of you are enjoying your weekend, I know I am.  I'm currently cuddled up on the coach with my two sweet pups getting ready to watch some Christmas movies. :)

Aren't they precious? I sure do love them. :)

This past week, my kiddos and I hit inferencing hard core during our reading block.  I LOVE teaching inferencing because of all the fun things you can do with it!  There are lots of freebies scattered throughout this post! One from me and many from my favorite blogging buddies. I hope they can be of use to you! :)

We made the Treasures vocabulary story into an anchor chart and used the inference thinking stems throughout the week from my sweet friend Amanda's Reading Strategies Thinking Stems Pack!

It made my teacher heart so happy to hear my kiddos use language like "I infer", "It could be that", and "Perhaps" when they shared their responses to questions to questions involving inferring throughout the week.  

Each day, we started our reading block by making some inferences from this AWESOME freebie from Primarily Speaking and recording them in our reading journals. 

Source: primarily-speaking.blogspot.com via Lisa on Pinterest

  

My students and I loved these holiday themed cards! :) The organizer is from my Christmas Themed Graphic Organizer Pack. We don't have time for a lot of fun holiday activities in fourth grade, so I have to sneak in holiday fun where we can, even if it's just clipart on graphic organizer. :)  I have pulled the inferencing organizer out of the pack to share with you as a freebie.  Just click {here} to download your own freebie copy!

  

We practiced making inferences with our main story, Dear Mr. Winston, and after reading the story, we completed a reader's response question in our readers response journals. 

You can download the freebie I use to organize my kiddos responses for their indepedent reading {here}.  To save time/energy we also include our whole group reader's response questions for our weekly stories, gotta practice those extended responses in the testing grades, in them as well. :) 

On Wednesday, I gave my kiddos a quick formative assessment, and then used Rachel's awesome task cards to create a tiered lesson for inferences later in the week.  Students that were at mastery and beyond completed Rachel's inferencing task cards for grades 3-6.  Click on the pictures to check them out on TpT. 

I LOVE Rachel's task cards and so do my kiddos and I was so happy to see there were two sets so I could differentiate my lesson!

  

Students that needed more support/weren't at the mastery level completed her grades 1-2 cards. 

  

I've used a handful of each set before, so I pulled out six cards that I haven't used from each pack to use, since were running short on time. Students sat with other students who were completing the same set of task cards at our tables and this worked perfectly, the kids were so focused, on task, and were having fun! :) They did great and I'll be grading their recording sheet for a grade. My kids love these cards because they are so different from a worksheet.  I've used Rachel's cards in a scoot format, in small groups, and discussed them as a whole class. 

We also did a fun inferencing activity with SHOES! :) My girls were in heaven. :)

My kiddos had so much fun with this activity.  They looked at pictures of various shoes and then made inferences about their owners/who wore that shoe.  They LOVED this and I heard so many GREAT discussions about inferences each table.  If you'd like to do this activity with your class, I've uploaded it to my Teachers Pay Teachers store.  Just click on any of the pics below to check it out! :)

My kiddos even insisted on doing this activity several times, making sure they got different cards each time! The especially loved the snow boot! I heard everything from the belonged to Pocahontas to an Eskimo or a trendy girl who likes to wear UGGS.  ;)  

Before I go, I just wanted to share with you some of my favorite freebies from some of my dear blogging buddies that I like to use when teaching inferencing.  Some I used last year in second grade and some I used this year/both.  :)  Happy Inferencing! 

From my sweet friend Michelle who I spent the day shopping with today. :)  My second graders loved these cards last year!

Source: fabulousinfirst.blogspot.com via Lisa on Pinterest

From my sweet, sweet blogging pal, Amanda.  This baby was a lifesaver the last time we did studied inferencing and I was out with a sub! :)

Source: teacherspayteachers.com via Lisa on Pinterest

From sweet, sweet Abby, who I had the pleasure of meeting earlier this year.  My second graders LOVED this activity last year.  :) I need to remember to do this again this year the next time we study inferencing. :)

Source: theinspiredapple.blogspot.com via Lisa on Pinterest

Have a great night and enjoy the rest of your weekend! :)

Eleven, Elevens: Specials Behavior Management

Hello, sweet friends! This post is going to be short and sweet because graded papers and progress reports go home tomorrow and I have to grade our spelling tests. :)

Lately, my kiddos have really struggled with making good choices at specials.  Which makes me really sad, because they are a good group of kids.  They are just a wee bit implusive and need lots and lots of structure and don't always thrive in more unstructured settings. 

A sweet friend of mine shared with me a behavior management system she used in the past for specials called "Eleven, Elevens."  We've been doing doing it this week, and I've been loving the positive reports from our specials teachers! 

Basically, I tell my kiddos their behavior should be better than a ten on a zero to scale at specials, it should be an eleven! This is because they only see those teachers a few times a week.  We keep track of the 11s in our room and once we get eleven elevens, we brainstorm a small treat to celebrate...like gym day, slipper day, etc.  

They are so jazzed about this system because they are so competitive. As well as smart, because they realized that eleven great specials in a row earns them a reward! :)

I had been keeping my elevens on notecards in my classroom {not pretty}, but spent some time making some cuter ones tonight to use.  

Just click {here} to download them from Google Drive.  Please remember that I don't need to share the document, I already have by sharing them with you in the Google World. :) 

I've been really good at documenting our study on inferencing this week, I can't wait to share the fun with you this weekend! :)

Happy almost Friday! 
  

Cyber Monday + Tuesday Sale and a Freebie

Hey all! I hope you are enjoying your holiday weekend! I know I sure have!  My hubs and I adopted a new dog on Tuesday, and I've just been loving the puppy cuddles.  We got family pictures taken today by our sweet wedding photographer, and I'm so anxious to see them!

 Even though, I have LOVED the time off and am sure I won't love the alarm clock tomorrow, I am so excited because tomorrow is Cyber Monday and I can't wait to move some items from my wishlist over to my cart. :)  

Everything in my little store will be 20% off Monday and Tuesday.  TpT is taking 10% off the sale price of any item you purchase, making everything in my store 28% off. 

 Many thanks to the sweet Ashley Hughes for the adorable graphic.  That girl is so, so, so talented. :) Just click on the image above to head over to my store. 

I just uploaded my Christmas Fry Phrase Fluency Game last night.  I am so excited to use this with my kiddos. :) I know they will love playing Jingle Jangle!

  

Also, just in time...my Christmas themed graphic organizers are ready! :)

My Teachers Notebook store is also on sale, and the sale has already begun.  Everything there is 20% off too.  Although, I haven't been the best at uploading to there lately.  My apologizes, life has just been flying by lately!  Just click on the cheerleader below to head on over!

 

I also uploaded my Christmas themed roll and cover to my Teachers Pay Teachers store. :) I love having these games available for my kiddos to play during the occasional down time or with my parent helpers. :) Just click on the image below to check it out!

Sweet Michelle over at the 3AM Teacher has organized an awesome link up of the sales happening over the next few days.  I'm about to head over and link up.  :) Happy to join in the fun, but not so sure my wallet and my husband will enjoy the outcome! :)

Enjoy the rest of the weekend sweet friends, now that we are in a better routine with the two pups and I'm no longer sick, I'm looking forward to sharing more of what my fourth graders and I have been up to in classroom! :)

Beat Blue Sale!

Yes, I am participating in TpT's big Cyber Monday sale as a seller and a buyer, I can't wait! My wishlist is getting a little out of control. ;) But I wanted to share with you a special flash sale I'll be having tomorrow out of love for my Buckeyes! Hopefully it will help you out as you prepare for next week. 

If you've been around my blog for awhile, you know that I LOVE my Ohio State Buckeyes. :)  

  

Ohio State and **ch*g*n have one of the biggest and best rivalries in college sports, and I've been hyped up all week long. :)  I have not actually said **ch*g*n all week.

My dad and I have been texting **ch*g*n jokes all week long and I played my Ohio State marching band CDs in my classroom just a few times this week. ;) 

 

I would *never* do this to one of my students, but goodness I LOVE this picture!

Due to some sanctions, Ohio State won't be playing in post season games this year, so tomorrow's game is our bowl game.  I'm so proud of my Bucks and how they were able to overcome so much this year, so I'm having a special Beat Blue sale starting at 8:00 PM EST Friday and all day Saturday! :)

Click on the image above or {here} to head over to my store! :)   I'm working on a few Christmas goodies and they'll be on sale tomorrow as well. :)  

Go Bucks! **ch*g*n friends, I still LOVE you so much, it's just I really, really, really want my boys to win tomorrow! :)

Thankful For My Fellow Bloggers Linky Party

Well hello! Sorry it's been so long between my posts.  I've been battling a horrible sinus infection for the past few weeks that has totally drained my energy and my voice.  I'm finally on the up and up, and am so excited to link up with Stephanie's Thankful for Blogging Link Up!

I first discovered blogs last year when I changed grade levels unexpectedly.  I went from teaching third grade, my grade level home for my first four years of teaching, next door to one of my very best friends, Hey DD1! :), to being assigned to a new grade level/school a week before school started.

It was so hard, I mean SO HARD.  While my new grade level was great at sharing resources, they weren't always electronic and weren't always aligned with my teaching style.  The day I discovered Courtney's blog, I think I literally squealed! :)
   
Not only did she have some awesome packets aligned with Treasures, the reading series I use, she offers tons of freebies on her blog that saved me time and time again last year during my year in second grade. 

Also, a life saver during my year in second grade with her awesome math products and fantastic freebies? 

 This year I'm in a new grade level again and it's been so much easier adapting with the help of these lovely ladies. :)
 

Blogging has also opened the door for some really awesome friendships for me.  I've developed some wonderful relationships with so many wonderful bloggers who have send me sweet emails when I've been absent for awhile, have shared their newest products with me to use with my kiddos, or have just lent a listening ear for any personal/professional rants I might have. It's hard to single out my wonderful blogging buds, but these three ladies are so special to me! :)
Blogging and TpT have transformed my teaching and my classroom, and I'm just so so so thankful for all you who share their ideas and talents so freely! I know my classroom is greatly enriched because of all of you!  

I'm off to cuddle on the couch with my sweet pup and finalize my plans for tomorrow! :)  If you are already off, lucky, if not...we're so close! :)