Five for Friday: 7/18

I'm so excited to have time to link up with Kacey for Five for Friday! :) 

Last time I had a chance to post on the ole blog, I was talking about my summer plans/goals. Sadly, summer is quickly dwindling down to about a month left. :( I'm not quite sure what happened, this summer has gone by faster than any other summer I can remember. 

One of the reasons this summer has flown by is graduate school.  I took an education administration class this summer, which is a core requirement for my masters degrees in reading. The only grades in the course were two tests and four outside readings on leadership. So, I really need to stay on top of course material since the tests were 90% of our final grade. The class ended yesterday, so I spent a lot of time studying this week. 

I don't particularly enjoy being a graduate student, I've only had one class that I truly feel helped me grow as an educator.  So even though I don't enjoy graduate school, I know getting my masters degree is important, so enrolled in another class for the fall yesterday.  

I'm an avid menu planner. Having a plan for the week keeps us away from take out/eating out and thus saves us a lot of money.  However, lately I've been in a menu planning rut.  Even though I have hundreds of food related pins, it would take forever for me pick out recipes for our weekly menu. Last week, I stumbled on a new to me blog, Peanut Blossom.  The author, Tiffany, shared that she gives each day of the week a theme and it allowed her to come up with a meal plan for the week in minutes.  

I tried it this week and loved it.  I gave each week a theme and creating this week's menu was a breeze! :)

Certainly I have more time to cook in the summer, but I do feel that this system is easy enough for me keep going during the school year.  If you are looking for recipe ideas, I'd love for you to follow me on Pinterest.  

This summer I've been doing weekly Wish List Wednesday deals.  Every Wednesday, I put one of the most wish listed products in my store on sale.  :) This week my spelling contracts are 30% off. :)  I announce the deals on Facebook and Instagram mostly, so make sure you follow Fourth and Ten on Facebook and Instagram. :) 

Spelling Contracts Throughout the Year on TpT.

You can see how I use these contracts with my class, here. 

I've been sneaking away a few minutes here and there to work on a new project that I'm so excited about, warm ups for my guided reading groups.

 These quick warm ups are short activities that spiral review CCSS standards, or skills like PQA that I feel are important for success with the CCSS. They are perfect for the first few minutes of guided reading, while I'm scanning the room to make sure everyone else is doing what they are supposed to be doing.  

I've mapped out the first set of warm ups and hope to have them ready for you next week.  

This past week, I finally tried Jamberry for the first time.  I would not consider myself to be super girly and never do anything with my nails because when I paint them, it looks like a two year old did it.  I tried Jamberry because even though I'm awful at painting my nails, I do how nice they look when I get the occasional manicure. 

I will be the first to admit that your first application is a true learning experience, but I was so happy with the final product that I decided to join Jamberry as a consultant.  My blog will always remain dedicated to my teaching adventures but if you see a picture of a manicure here or there on Instagram, that's why.  If you've never tried Jamberry, you can check out my consultant page here.  

10 Things I Want To Do This Summer

Hello friends! Oh how I have missed this space on the internet.  Like most of you, the end of the school year was extremely busy for me.  Filled with EOY assessments, field trips, field days, awards days, and a party to send our fourth graders on to fifth grade in style. 

We have been out of school for about a week now and I am finally ready to plan out my summer to do list.  I always take the first week of summer vacation off from anything teaching related. My summer classes haven't started yet, and I've enjoyed just relaxing this week.  We had a big cookout for my 30th birthday, I've taken the dogs on big walks every day, and we've tackled some home improvement projects. It's been great for recharging my batteries!

Since I've had time to clear of my head of all things teaching related, I thought I'd link up with Deanna Jump for my Summer Top Ten List. :) I've really enjoyed reading everyone's lists!

One: READ
One of my favorite things about summer is the chance to read.  I have a mix of professional and fun books that I am excited to read this summer. :)  Below is a list of books I plan on reading:
The One and Only
Word Nerds
The MatchMaker
Daily Five: Second Edition

Two: COOK
I certainly do my fair share of cooking during the school year, it's a great stress relief for me.  However, this summer I hope to cook more than I have in previous summers.  My husband works in restaurant management and can have crazy hours.  So sometimes, I just feel it's easier to pick up something rather than cook dinner for myself.  My goal is two is try to only eat out twice each month.  Cooking at home is typically better for me, and it's cheaper too! 

Three: DWELL 
My one little word spiritually this summer is DWELL.  I yearn to just spend sweet time with the Lord.  Whether it be doing a bible study, praying, or journaling.  I just want to dwell in his presence this summer. 

Four: SERVE
My husband and I recently started attending a new church together. We both hope to get more involved by serving our church community this summer.

Five: FOLLOW A SCHEDULE
While I certainly love the flexibility of summer, I have a hard time with it as well.  If I don't follow some type of schedule; I end up doing things like wasting the day on Instagram, watching the entire series of The Little Couple on Netflix, or napping the day away.  Which are all good things, in moderation. I try to get all my school/blog/TpT work done by five, so I can enjoy the rest of the evening with my husband and pups.  This also helps me to be more balanced, as I'm not doing school stuff all day, every day. 

Six: BE ACTIVE
A few summers ago, I fell prey to the blogger but. I sat on my but and blogged and created for TpT.  It was fun BUT it created a lot of bad habits.  This summer, I just want to to be active every day. Whether that be a walk with the dogs, a run, or a workout I have saved on Pinterest, I just want to get moving. 

Seven: CREATE
This summer, I have a new product line up my sleeve that I'm excited about. :) Something I really struggle with is getting in all the language usage CCSS standards in during my writing block.  So let's just say it addresses that need and hopefully it will help you out too! :)

Eight: PLAN 
This summer, I really want to look at our curriculum map and unit assessments and be purposeful with my preplanning of the school year and really make sure to dig deep in our standards.  I have lots of resources that I have created or purchased and I want to make sure to fill them purposefully in my curriculum map.  I also want to strengthen my writing calendar/map this year as well. :)

Nine: DECORATE
This is our second summer in our house and things are finally really coming together.  Which makes my wallet really happy! We really just need to finish up our gallery wall in our loft, add some personal touches to our master bedroom, and fill an awkward space in our kitchen at the moment.  :) Then it's on to finishing our basement....the list never stops with my handy hubs!

Our gallery wall will go behind the couch! :)

Ten: LOVE
This summer marks five years that I've been with my hubby and four years since we've been married.  We've been through a lot during that time and I'm so blessed to have him by my side.  We are hopeful that our family will grow soon and so I hope to cherish our time together, just the two of us, this summer. 

What are you up to this summer? :)  

TpT: Teachers Appreciation Sale :)

Hello! I hope that everyone had a great weekend. 
I'm cozied up with my pups trying to relax before our state assessments this week. I'm actually about to print off my testing motivational notes for my sweet kiddos. You can find them {here}.

I also wanted to drop you a line to let you know that TpT is having a Teachers Appreciate Sale. :)

You can check on my store {here}!

I LOVE the annual Teachers Appreciation Sale! It's the perfect time to stock up on goodies to finish the end of the year strong and on any materials you would like to prep over the summer for next year.  Last year, I bought my Focus Wall cards and spent a little bit of time each week prepping them and by the time school started, they were all done. :)

My store will be 20% during the sale and TpT will take an additional 10% off, for a total savings of 28%. :) What a bargain!

Here are some of the items I love using in my classroom at the end of the year. :) You can click on the pictures to check them on TpT. 

I LOVE these memory books because you can print two copies to a page. Perfect for the end of the year, when my copy clicks are low.  :)

I always use the following resources at the beginning of the year as well. :) I know some of you start real early. :)

I'll be back before the sale ends with a fun giveaway! :) Have a great week!

Mother's Day Fun for Bigger Kids

Hello! I hope everyone had a great Monday.  I'm a little tired today. :)  My husband was off last week to install our new patio and I've been up past my bedtime a few nights in a row enjoying our new fire pit.  

I can foresee us spending lots of nights by the fire this summer. :)  

My kiddos take the OAA next week, so it's time for us to get started on our Mother's Day gifts.  We always make a cookbook for our moms, grandmas, dads, etc. during the week of testing as a fun activity during a stressful week.  You can read a little bit more about them here.

Here are a few pictures of last year's cookbook!

I just LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the page the kids fill out about their mom, dad, etc.  They are so touching. :)  I've cried reading a few of them over the years.  

This cookbook is always a hit with my class.  I've had several families cook the entire cookbook together, and my husband and I have found a few of our favorite dinner recipes in them.  

Since I teach two sections of ELA this year, I'm modifying our cookbook this year to conserve/save some of my copy clicks.  This year, I am having my students choose the recipes they want to include in their Mother's Day Cookbook using the following form. 

Each student will include their own recipe and nine others. This will make each cookbook around ten pages.  I will use their choice form above to figure out how many copies I need to make of each recipe. I will give each student back their choice sheet to assist them in creating their cookbook. 

You can check out We Love Our Momma's Meals on TpT by clicking {here} or on the picture below! :) 

Have a great night friends, I'm off to grade homework packets! :)

Egg-stra Special Savings

Hello! I just wanted to let my fabulous followers know I'm having an "egg-stra" special sale this weekend.  A select number of my products are on sale, but it's like an Easter Egg Hunt; you'll have to hunt/hop around my TpT Store to figure out which ones they are! :) You can visit my store via this link or by clicking on the picture below!

I'm currently editing pictures for a post that will be up for you soon on how I'm using my CCSS review packets and what've been up to in fourth grade. I've been sidelined by a sinus infection and wait for it....pink eye this week.  Enjoy your weekend!

Bright Ideas Link Up: Keeping Student Desks Together

It's one of my favorite times of the month again, time for myself and a few hundred of my blogging buddies are sharing tried and true ideas from our classrooms. 

My bright idea is one I wish I had thought of years ago.  I have always had desks in my classroom that I have always grouped into tables for easy partner work and collaboration. However, those silly desks ALWAYS moved around.  Always. Halfway through the day, we were always rearranging our tables, and there was always one kid who managed to push his desk into another child's.  Always.  Before blogs and Pinterest, I searched message boards, AtoZTeacher stuff anyone?, to try and find a solution. I tried taping the desks together, using bungee cords, ropes, etc. to keep them together.  Nothing worked. 

Then one day a colleague of mine suggested old coffee cans, which I thought was brilliant, but I didn't have six coffee cans just sitting around the house. So I went to Home Depot and bought some one quart mixing containers.  You can find them online {here}. 

I put the container in middle of where I wanted each table to be and put one leg from each chair inside. Problem instantly solved!

Their desks still move a little bit, but not nearly as much as they did before.  Only one or two tables need readjusted throughout the day instead of all of the. Additionally, since all of the desks are connected, it's so much easier to slide them into to place when needed.

If you enjoyed this bright idea, please consider 
joining me on Facebook, Instagram, or my Teachers Pay Teachers store for more great ideas. 

To keep searching for even more bright ideas from 150 different bloggers, please browse through the link-up below and choose a topic/grade level that 
interests you. Thanks for visiting! 

An InLinkz Link-up

Wordless Wednesday: Book Club Organization

One of my favorite things about blogging is communicating with other teachers around the world.  I certainly love when other teachers comment on my blog, IG photos, FB page, etc.  I also love leaving them some love too, so I can't wait to hit publish on this post and link up with my dear friend, Christina at Sugar and Spice, for Wordless Wednesday.  

We just started book clubs this past week and I've finally found an organizational system that works for me! 

The yellow baskets are for my morning class and the green ones for my afternoon class.

So my question to you is this, how do you organize your students' materials for book clubs/book studies?  Tell me in a comment below! 

Visit all the blogs participating in this fun link up by going to Christina's blog via {this} link.  :)