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Friday, September 25, 2015

Five for Friday!

So it's Friday, and I'm back again this week with more Five for Friday! I'm linking up again with Doodle Bugs Teaching for another fabulous Friday!

So I am a shop all year, not last minute, Christmas gift shopper.  And my husband has been looking for a particular clock for our recently finished (I'm talking cement walls and floor to drywall and carpet a la husband) basement. All of the clocks that he has found that he really has liked have been running about $150...outrageous!  So earlier this week, I spent a little time on amazon and found an amazing clock present at an amazing price (60% less than all the other clocks we've found!!) plus free shipping. So of course I had to buy it. Well it arrived a day before it was scheduled to arrive, bonus! And I couldn't keep the secret.  Usually I have no problem holding onto gifts until their intended gifting date.  But this one was just too much to hold onto for three months.  So I early gifted the MR. last night!

Teaching Kinder last year, we made an alphabet interactive notebook and both the kids and I loved putting them together and referencing back to them when possible.  But my love for interactive notebooks grew immensely this year when I was switched to fourth grade and came across the WONDERFUL interactive notebooks that Christina Bainbridge from Bunting, Books, and Bright Ideas has in her store...I LOVE THEM! And, to make them even better, my kids love them just as much, if not more, than I do! We are using her grammar, reading, and writing interactive notebooks. Love them!

We've been really focusing on rounding in math. It's been a little bit of a struggle for my kids to remember how to know whether to round up or round down.  And then I came across a wonderful anchor chart on Pinterest (here).  I left a little bit of what I felt was extra and would have made my chart seem cluttered off and the kids loved it!  It was a great tool for the kids and they loved the idea of a roller coaster since most of them have been to Michigan Adventure!


After we had a better grasp on rounding skills, we busted out my newest classroom quest...Is It Round? Of course, I forgot to get pictures of it in action...what can I say, it was Thursday afternoon and we were all a bit tired!  But the kids loved that they got to go around the room and hunt out the questions instead of just sitting at their desk and answering a sheet of rounding questions.  They also really liked the bonus at the bottom! It definitely sold me on making more Quests for my fourth graders.  I already have some Quests in my store with a few lower level topics. Which leads me to...

So yesterday I blogged about an upcoming giveaway...and here it is! I am giving away one of my Classroom Quests...winner's choice, of course! Check out my store and definitely check out this giveaway!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Happy Friday and good luck! The giveaway runs through the weekend with the winner named Monday!

Thursday, September 24, 2015

Be on the Lookout...

I just wanted to pop on here and prove that I still do know how to blog! The beginning of the year is always so hard for me to make sure that I'm blogging.  Although I'll be the first to call myself out on the inconsistent blogging of last school year.  But let's chalk that up to wedding planning, thanks!

I have some new fourth grade products that I am working to finalize and get posted in my store.  And, I've got a giveaway coming your way VERY soon.  So, be on the lookout!

Friday, September 18, 2015

Five for Friday!

It's Friday and I actually remembered to link up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for Five for Friday! Yay me! Here's a peek at my week...
I had a super productive day on Sunday! I got my lesson plans finalized, decorated my house with some fall decor, and canned the rest of my tomatoes...world's yummiest pasta sauce with no extra junk!

We kicked off our mini unit about the scientific method by completing The Bouncing Corn experiment. The kids adored this experiment and were so engaged!

Open House took place the night before I received eight, yes eight, new students!

After receiving eight new kids, we started over on our expectations (of course) and used Save Fred as a way to help our new kids feel a part of our classroom community which a wonderful place to be. My kids have a ton of buy-in towards our "everyone feels safe, no bullying" classroom community! Loving how this year has started out!

Earlier this month, I placed my first order with NAEIR. Today, my package arrived. Here are all my classroom goodies! Super excited that this stuff came today!

So that is how my week played out. I hope you had a great week and can do something relaxing for you this weekend!