It's a Sale

The best sale of the year is here!

New TPT products make going back to school all the more fun...and help make planning a breeze.

For the longest time I didn't realize that buyers earn credit just for leaving feedback on TPT purchases! TPT makes it easy...just sort by "needs feedback" on your purchases tab. You earn 1 credit for every $1 spent, and a $5 credit for every 100 credits. As a seller I realize how important it is to receive feedback from buyers...and those credits are a great incentive! 

Here are a couple of products that I will be using at the beginning of the year...

BACK TO SCHOOL NAME GLYPH

You can read more about how I use this product here.

24 TASK CARDS AND REVIEW SHEET

I usually use this Bar Graph Activity in February...but since it's an election year...I have decided to do this in November. Students use presidential birthday month data to make a bar graph. This no prep activity is also perfect for sub plans.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend...and happy shopping!

Five for Friday

It's Five for Friday with Doodle Bugs Teaching!

Summer school ended today...so I wanted to begin setting up my room...but that just didn't happen. I always have the best intentions!

I did grab copies of The Tale of Despereaux. This is for our first read aloud. The kiddos love the story, and I have enough copies for the entire class...yay! The timing works great for us to watch the movie around Thanksgiving.

My plan this year is to read Flora and Ulysses for our last read aloud. I thought it would be fun to begin and end the year with the same author.

Name Glyphs are so much fun! It's another way to get to know my new students, and it provides a colorful display for Back to School Night. 

My summer school students completed a name glyph on our first day. I usually pass out copies of the directions, but I decided to project the instructions one step at a time. After completing each letter, kiddos came to the carpet and held up their cards as I read off the choices. It gave each student a chance to share something about themselves before moving on to the next letter. It also gave the class a chance to move around and practice coming to our meeting place. We repeated the routine for each letter. At the end of the activity one of the students noticed that her name was colored exactly like another student...and that they had a lot in common! We also discussed how it was good for our "Team" that all of our names weren't colored exactly the same. So in one activity we got to know each other as well as work on transitions and following directions.

I am getting the hang of Instagram...I think!

Finally, the most important thing on my to do list is to get my precious two off to college...so many mixed emotions!

I hope you have a great week...and thanks so much for visiting my blog. Be sure to visit Doodle Bugs Teaching!

Monday Made It

Time for another Monday Made It with 4th Grade Frolics! I have 4 more days of summer school so I've just tackled one project this week.

I always start the year with a name glyph. They're fun, it's another way to get to know my new students, and it provides a colorful display for Back to School Night. 

My summer school students completed a name glyph on our first day. I usually pass out copies of the directions, but I decided to project the instructions one step at a time. After completing each letter, kiddos came to the carpet and held up their cards as I read off the choices. It gave each student a chance to share something about themselves before moving on to the next letter. It also gave the class a chance to move around and practice coming to our meeting place. We repeated the routine for each letter. At the end of the activity one of the students noticed that her name was colored exactly like another student...and that they had a lot in common! We also discussed how it was good for our "Team" that all of our names weren't colored exactly the same. So in one activity we got to know each other as well as work on transitions and following directions.

This worked so well that I made a Name Glyph Activity PowerPoint with a Back to School theme to use on the first day of school!

Well, that's all I've got for now. I have had so much fun reading all the great ideas over at 4th Grade Frolics, and have been compiling a list of things to do once this week is over!

Have a great week!

Show and Tell Tuesday

This is my first time linking up with forever in 5th Grade for Show and Tell Tuesday!

Summer school is in full swing...and we are having so much fun! Earlier in the week we made watershed models...you can read about that here. Today we had time to build bridges. The kids worked independently at first, and then had a chance to share ideas and work together.

Then they tested their designs...

When I'm not racing to the grocery store or cooking for my family of 7, I have been trying to complete and update products for my TPT store. This is my latest...station cards for rounding to the nearest ten or hundred with two activity sheets to use for review or as an assessment. It is on sale this week...$1. 

Thanks so much for visiting my blog...and enjoy the rest of July!

Monday Made It

It's already time for another Monday Made It with 4th Grade Frolics!

Most of my time the last couple of weeks has been devoted to teaching summer school and keeping things on track for my family of 7. So when Saturday hits I know it's time to make something to share. Last week I spent some time updating covers and this week I tackled updating a few products.

I use this decimal review activity early in the year so it seemed like a good place to start. The best thing about it is that it provides a review of several standards in our decimal unit...comparing, adding, and rounding. It includes 4 exit tickets and is free...just for today.

I always enjoy teaching summer school. It's relaxed, fun, and only 4 hours. While I am following a curriculum...there's an opportunity to try things that I want to implement with my new class in the fall. 

Today's activity was building a model of a watershed. I used a pbskids video as a guide. I liked the idea that this did not involve dirt or sand. I divided the kiddos up into groups of 4 so each group made a model. After they made the landforms out of plastic cups and containers, they covered everything with foil and pressed out streams, rivers, and lakes. 

The groups used pieces of paper for litter, and glitter for fertilizer. 

We used jello instead of food coloring for a final touch...this made the streams and rivers easier to follow. The kiddos took turns spraying the models with water and recording observations in their notebooks. We had a class discussion between each step, and then groups had the chance to look at the other models.

Tomorrow we will review what we learned with this interactive video...http://fergusonfoundation.org/hbf-kids-zone/ways-of-a-watershed/.

Have a great week!

Monday Made It

It's my second time linking up with 4th Grade Frolics for Monday Made It!

I have been updating products and oh my did I have a good laugh. I went back to one of the first products that I created...decimal station cards with a holiday theme. I remember being so proud of my work! The actual product was in pretty good shape (thankfully). But the cover...

Thanks to great advice on the Tpt Seller's Forum things have definitely improved. Here's the new look...

I have to give a shout out to all of the amazing sellers that share their talents. Thank you to Redpepper for the awesome retro holiday paper and to Cutesy Clickables by Collaboration Cuties for the adorable ornaments.

You can grab Decimal Cards for free...just for today. The set works great as a math station. Groups can use the 36 task cards to practice rounding to the nearest tenth (answer key included), and then play decimal war. Finally they can put the cards in order.

I created an Instagram Account! My sons have been telling me for months that this is an important tool and that I am missing out. To be honest, I'm not exactly sure what I'm doing...but I'll get the hang of it.

I'm off to teach summer school. I hope you have a great week, and be sure to check out all the fun at 4th Grade Frolics!

Monday Made It

This is my first Monday Made It! I am always so inspired by the great ideas at Fourth Grade Frolics. 

This week was busy with packing up my classroom and attending a class...so my "made it" list is short...really short!

I completed a project! My goal is to follow a schedule and develop products as I plan for the fall. We begin the year with patterns, so I put together a set of task cards to use with our first unit. And just for today...it is a FREEBIE! I would love feedback on this new product.

Hopefully I will have more to show next week!

Happy Fourth of July!

Pick 3 July Pinterest Finds

I woke up to rain so I'm linking up with Lisa at Pawsitively Teaching to share Pinterest finds.

Once my last box is packed...I start thinking about my new class! So my finds are all about incorporating new activities in the fall.

I love this article about STEM activities from Teach Outside the Box.

I plan on using this FREEBIE from Science and Math Doodles next week for my summer school class. It would also be a fun first day of school activity.

This will be perfect to include in our writing notebooks. I always do a heart map at the beginning of the year, but this FREEBIE from Elena Weiss will give my writers another resource to help them begin.

Visit my TPT store and instagram account for other back to school ideas.