Five for Friday

 I'm linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching. One of these days I will have my post ready for Five for Friday...but not this week.

Valentines Day is coming this week! I love this read aloud...

Somebody Loves You, Mr. Hatch is available on Storyline Online. It will be the perfect ending for our valentine exchange...and gives me a few minutes to pull things together for dismissal. We will listen to the story on Tuesday...and then use the book throughout the week.

I'm putting together a few review activities for stations on Monday. We will review math properties and put together a valentine bag. 

This is a freebie...

Have a great week!

Five for Friday

I'm linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for Five for Friday!

We are finally working on fractions! The start of a new unit is always so exciting...for the kids and for me. We are incorporating the Rational Number Project, and my class loves making discoveries about fractions as they work through the lessons with a partner. This works great as a center.

I am sharing a flash freebie this weekend...hope it works for your class!

Have a great week, and thank you for stopping by Treetop Creations!

Five for Friday

I'm linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for Five for Friday!

We began working on division last week. The first day we showed what we knew about the topic in our notebooks. As the class was working, I selected students to add their ideas to the white board. We had a brief discussion and then moved on to showing examples of division with counters.

I knew from our work with multiplication that the class would be all over the place in terms of their understanding of division. But I am prepared! Over the break, I put together differentiated materials that will help all of my students be successful with this difficult concept.

Where is the snow? Yes, I am ready for a snow day! We did manage to get a few flakes during recess...and took a few minutes to make snowflakes to put in the window. It was quick, fun, and a sweet memory for several of my fourth graders who had never made a snowflake. 

Have a great weekend and thanks so much for visiting my blog!

Show and Tell

I am linking up with forever in 5th Grade for Show and Tell Tuesday!

This was a last minute read aloud last week. I always keep a stack of books on hand for those unexpected gaps in our schedule. My students really took to the message of Silver Packages by Cynthia Rylant. I will definitely do more with this book next year.

I sent my students home with a math packet and reading challenge. This packet could also work for snow days and a review the first week back.

I love holiday decorations and more specifically LIGHTS. Our first trees always had white lights and were decorated with red and silver. As the years progressed ornaments made by my sons took center stage. Now when I look at our tree...I have to laugh. My grandmother always decorated her tree with blinking colored lights...not my taste at the time. But now when I look at our tree I can't help but think of those tabletop artificial trees in my grandmother's living room. I always tell my boys when you think you have enough lights...put on one more set.

Have a great holiday!

Winter Break!

The tree is decorated minus the star.

 Thanks to...

My house is filling up with one more scheduled to come home on Tuesday! Love my Christmas memories...

I know many of you have a couple more days so I'm sharing a few ideas that helped me get through our final week. After completing quarterly tests, it was clear that we needed to work on word problems. This mixed set helped us practice problems using addition, subtraction, and multiplication. There are also 7 multi-step problems. These could also work for your first week back if you want to plan ahead.

Silver Packages by Cynthia Rylant was a last minute addition to my December read aloud list. It really captured the attention of my students and led to a great discussion. Love this book!

I sent each student home with a reading challenge from More than a Worksheet. I have used this FREEBIE for many years, and invite students that complete the challenge to hot cocoa after the break.

I put together a math packet challenge with an emphasis on multiplication. I printed all 26 pages, but you could also send a few pages home and complete the rest after the break. 

Thanks so much for visiting my blog! Merry Christmas!

Five for Friday

I am enjoying the day off and linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for Five for Friday.

First of all, I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving! It took crazy logistics and trains, planes, and automobiles to get my family home for the holiday. Wednesday was busy...1/2 day of teaching, 3 doctor's appointments, and picking up a rental car after a fender bender...but Thanksgiving did happen with my family of 14.

December is all about multiplication and division. I'm doing some prep to get ready for Monday. My students are all over the place in terms of how well they know their multiplication facts. My goal is for all to be able to create a multiplication table independently.

We definitely need more work on word problems. In addition to kiddos creating stories to go with equations like 6 x 7 = 42. I will pull out this set of mixed word problems with emphasis on 2 digit by 1 digit multiplication.

* 4 addition problems

* 4 subtraction problems

* 9 multiplication problems

* 7 multi-step problems

You won't catch me near the mall today...but I am checking the online sales and putting together gifts for my sweet students. Every year I give out goodie bags with a packet of cocoa, clementine, piece of candy, and a pair of magic gloves.

Enjoy the rest of your break, and thanks so much for visiting my blog. Be sure to check out all of the great ideas at Doodle Bugs Teaching.

Five for Friday

I am linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for Five for Friday Sunday.

This was my first view of the day...

I have always loved the feeling of living in the treetops even though we are just minutes away from major roads, subway stations, and shopping malls. Yes, this was part of the inspiration for my blog name, but it's not the whole story. I'll save that for another post.

With teenage boys my days of making costumes are over, but here are two of my favorites...

 

The truth is I've only made two costumes! My kids always liked the store bought costumes, but at least I have proof that I did try.

A few things to review this week...

Have a great week and thanks so much for visiting my blog!