This Little Piggy is Guest Blogging!

This Little Piggy is Guest Blogging on Tonya's Treats for Teachers for a Friday Freebie!  I'm super psyched because I've NEVER done a guest blog post before.  My Freebie is digital backgrounds (cute) and a video about how to create TpT cover pages!

BTW, thought I'd share this with "ya'll" because I figured you might run into the same issues.  Our district requires Technology PD Training every summer.  I looked at the offerings today and "Apps" was one class.  Okay, I don't have a tablet in my classroom or available on my campus...so how will I use this class?  I figure it will go something like this...
Presenter: These are great apps you can use to engage students in the classroom.
Me: I don't have a tablet on my campus available to me or my students.  Are we getting them this year?
Presenter: Um...that's not my decision.  Maybe you could buy a tablet for your students to use.

PLEASE TELL ME I'M NOT ALONE!

This Little Piggy hopes that you'll stop by Tonya's Treats for Teachers for your Friday Freebie!

Late Night 5 for {Freebie} Friday

Can I ever post a blog-post before midnight?

It's Friday and I actually have things to talk about so I'm going to link up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for the Five for Friday Linky Party.  

#1) Nashville has been re-runs lately, so I'm getting my drama-fix from Dallas.  Woow, it's great right now.  To begin, I'm from Dallas, so it has a special place in my heart.  

Second, I have the slightest crush on Bobby Ewing....

and now, John Ross Ewing (yummy).  

#2)  I got my April Scholastic Flyers today.  I saw a book I cannot wait to get!

It's a poetry book about dog names...I L-O-V-E names!  

And I really need help teaching poetry.  I hope I can find some PD this summer on poetry. 

#3)  I got an iPad over Spring Break, but I can barely use it because My Girl has it in her hands about 80% of the time!  On the upside...she's reading some word families now:)

#4) I WANT TO SLEEP IN TOMORROW (yes I'm yelling in a whiney voice)...but I have to teach Saturday School:(  

*Sorry I cannot get this Pic to Rotate*

 

#5) Today, my kiddos played 2 Games - first, prefix/suffix baseball (I'm sure all of you play baseball at some point or another so I won't bore you with it).  Second, we played "Who's My Character?'  This is a higher level thinking game where students draw conclusion and implement their questioning skills.  Students first generate questions about who their character is.  I put a character from a well known book, tv show or kid-friendly movie on a label and put it on their back.  Then, they walk around and ask their classmates questions.  Finally, they draw a conclusion about who their character is.

Here is my Freebie Recording Document.

 

I found SCENTOS and Sunday Dinner

Sorry, I can't get the pic to rotate.

I had to buy printer paper today so I made a quick run to Wal-Mart.  While I was there, I decided to look around for Scentos Markers.  I found them!  They had singles for $1!  I've seen a few blogger posts about them and thought they sounded pretty cool.  I know testing season is upon me and that means STAAR passages BOOTCAMP at my school. Well, I figure a passing score written in smelly marker might motivate some students!  Of course, I also grabbed some Spring and Eastery items while I was there.

My homeroom needs a lot of re-direction for "talking".  So, for the rest of the month, every day they end on "green" or better on my clipchart, they get to pick an egg out of my basket.  Inside the eggs are assorted items - candy, erasers, the stretchy bunnies and even some cute fuzzy bunny stickers.

Update: June 2013

I really wanted to do a Linky Party this summer called Sunday Dinner because I cook pretty much every night during the summer.  Well, Teaching Tales Along the Yellow Brick Road started this foodie linky and today I'm going back to link up my Aunt Glenda's Crock-Pot Roast.

SUNDAY DINNER

Do you ever need a quick recipe that you can throw together in a crock pot and it tastes great by the time you get home from work?  I've got one for you!  DISCLAIMER: This recipe does include beer, but the alcohol cooks out.  I make it atleast once a month.

Aunt Glenda's Crock-Pot Roast 
Ingredients:
Au Jus Dip
Onion Soup Mix
1 Beer per 1.5lbs. (if I make a 2.3lb. roast then I put 2 cans in)
1 Can of Water per 1.5 lbs.
Baby Carrots
6 Potatoes (cut into 1/4's)
1.5 - 3lb. Roast (I normally buy a 3lb. roast so we can have roast sandwiches the next day)

First, Put the Au Jus, Onion Soup, Beer and Water inside the Crock Pot and Stir until the Powder Dissolves.

Next, add Potatoes, Carrots and (unfrozen) Roast.

Finally, cook 4 hours on High and 4-6 hours on low.  

I forgot to take a pic of the final roast:((  But it was YUMMY!  The sandwiches the next day were even BETTER!!

A Little Nervous

This is my first post onto 3-6 Free Resources and I'm a little nervous.  If I mess up on my blog...I just edit my mistake.  However, if I mess up on a collaborative board, now that's embarassing!!  Cross your fingers...

I'm not sure why, but my students are really struggling with prefixes and suffixes this year.  So, I've got to make some adjustments before April, a.k.a. testing month.  I made these cute free bookmarks that students can color and fill in their own example.  Either click the pic below or if you'd like to download and save it, click the pink pic below to go to my store & download the preview.

If your kiddos are struggling too or if you need a new literacy station - take a look at the whole pack (TEKS aligned)!  It includes 2 different bookmarks, classroom posters (2 to a page), a game with recording sheets and a quick assessment/exit ticket (STAAR STYLE).

This Little Piggy is getting an iPad - Squeal!

Main Idea, Differentiation, Freebie - pic heavy

I thought I'd show you some pics of my Organization Mission.

A while back I showed you a horrible pic of my listening station.  This is my updated "organized" pic.  I bought a mini-laundry basket and put all of my headphones in it and I zip-tied the cords together.  I HATE cords!!!

Next up was my Station Cart.  This is my "organized" station cart.  

I added a new station called the "Hot Spot" where students work on standards that are i.d.'s in our school as "Hot Spots".  This is basically where students 3rd - 5th seem to continuously struggle on standardized tests.

Doesn't this activity look fun?  Shhhhh....It's just a worksheet I cut up! 

 

This is one of my products in my TpT store.  My kiddos LOVE it.  It includes a recording sheet.  It's going to be on sale Sunday & Monday for under $1.50.  If you're interested click on either pic above.  

This week we worked on Main Idea and Supporting Details.  Here are some pics.  

It was a spiral activity that my students didn't get the 1st time, so I started from the ground up.  

I found this on pintrest from a K/1 Blog, but cannot find it.  If it's yours let me know.  It made so much sense to me and I'm trying to focus more on letting my students organize their thoughts with graphic organizers and thinking maps.  

We began by talking about Main Idea and I made this anchor chart.  Okay, I'm not the best artist.  

We read Penguin Chick this week and my students LOVED it.  We did a schema/prior knowledge chart using a penguin my husband free-hand drew for me.  Now, he's a great artist:)

 

Each Group worked on my "Which Detail Doesn't Support the Main Idea?" Center.  I gave each group a baggie with their MI and Details.  Students had to discuss, decide and justify which statement didn't support the main idea. It's going to be on sale at TPT Sunday and Monday for under $1.50 (don't worry, I included a quick reference answer sheet). Click either pic above and it will take you there.

Throughout the week, we worked on a hand-made main idea/detail packet.  My principal came in and co-taught with me (per my request b/c I cannot get my last class of the day to get anything FINISHED).  

She did this awesome differentiation activity.  I think I'm sticking with it for a while.  Let me show you!

 

My Above Level students had a STAR on their paper corner.  Their activity this week was guided, but their group worked alone at their own pace.   I had an extension activity with their packet.  

 If you want it, it's yours FREE!  Click Here for my Penguin Poem

  

I had a mix of on level and high-approaching students and their paper had a triangle on it.  They had the option to do an acrostic poem if they got finished with their packet.  But it was not required.

Since I have 3 classes with a mix of levels, I put the shapes onto sticky notes and moved them to different groups for different classes depending on how many chairs I needed.  

At the beginning of the week, they worked only with other people with the same shape on their paper but on Thursday we do STAAR Practice and have STAAR Buddies.  The STAAR Buddies are mixed ability levels. Star-Triangle, Triangle-Circle.  I have a few Circle-Circle and those work with me.  Students are assigned shapes based on my most recent data, so it's flexible grouping.

This Little Piggy is planning on loading up on clipart! 

100 Days for Big Kids

At our school we normally celebrate the 100 Days of School by having a PK/Kinder/1st Grade Parade.  The littles bring in posters with 10 groups of 10 or they make 100 day glasses or hats and one year (when I taught Kinder) our theme was $100 dollars...so we put our faces onto big 100 dollar bills and decided how we would spend $100 and who we would give $100 to.

But our big kids don't do much.  So in the middle of the night...I woke up and thought Cootie Catchers!!! I'm working on some vocab cootie catchers and I thought...why not make a 100 day activity with them????  Great idea!

I am putting my combo pack into my TpT Store.  It has the freebie opinions/self-reflection Q's and it also has a math version that includes estimation, multiplication and division.  I also included a time saving answer sheet.

This Little Piggy loves 100 Days of School!

I made Math Clipart and a Piggy Freebie!

PLEASE ignore my 2nd post.  

Do you have a person at school who's that "go to person".  Well, I've kind of become that person.  Not for EVERYTHING, but sometimes I am shocked what people think I know or can do!  Word has spread that I have a lil' teaching blog and a TpT store.  Okay, okay, it's my fault!  When I sold $20 on TpT, I was so psyched and told everyone at our staff meeting (don't act like you don't check your TpT sales during staff meetings).

So a veteran teacher who hand-crafts math games and I were talking.  She mentioned wanting to sell her game/s.  I asked her why she didn't create digital versions and sell them on TpT.  Anyway, she asked me to set a blog up and teach her how to create digital products.  Yeah, sure I can do that. But, a lot of my blogging and creating came to me through trial and error and I was already fairly technically savvy.  Plus, I'm still a newbie at creating.  In the process I made some clipart...not top notch or anything, but pretty good for a newbie.

Click Here to Get it for $1.50

I went ahead and made a cute Little Piggy Freebie (did you expect something different?).  The best part is...she's got 2 cute little front teeth.  

Click Here to Get my Piggy for Free!

       

This Little Piggy is Proud of Herself!

Itchy Red Rash and Freebie

A couple of days ago I began using a new face wash by a well known and respected company. 

Today my face is red, itchy and swollen.  

I took kids benedryl and now my tounge and mouth is numb - weird huh?  Let's hope the benedryl doesn't knock me out...

I made a quick little "Happy Valentine's Day" pennant/bunting for your home or classroom.  I actually made 2, one is a pennant shape and one is heart shape that says "Happy Heart Day". You can grab it from my TPT store if you'd like or a google doc.   

  

I'm going to link up with TBA's Freebie Friday. 

This Little Piggy is Itchy!

Sorry for the 2nd Post, It's a Freebie

I'm home sick today and after watching hours of Sandy Hook Elementary Coverage, I had to turn it off.  Each little girl reminds me of my own.  I just cannot imagine the heartache these parents are experiencing.

I took meds, took a nap and then I woke up and couldn't go back to sleep.  Since I only have a few days left, I'm thinking about what I plan to do when I get back to school after the break.  I started thinking about Valentine's Day and all of the cute activities that go along with it.  I actually like Valentine's Day, probably because of the candy;)  When I taught Kinder, I gave each student a baggie full of hearts and showed them how to make different animals using the hearts.  Then, they made heart animals and we graphed the number of hearts on each animal.  Students then attached them to card stock and made a card for a classmate. This year in 3rd grade, I don't teach math and I doubt I will be able to use a lot of instruction time to make a craft, So, I made these cute pencil toppers/cards/lollipop cards that I am going to give my students as pencil toppers.  Click above and download them for FREE or visit my TPT Store and you can download for FREE!

 

Link up with Manic Monday