First Snow Day of the Year

Happy Friday friends!

Today was our first snow day of the year! I am so thankful, especially since I caught a bug and have 100+ fever. (Yuck!) I'm thoroughly enjoying the time to be cozy and comfy while being productive.

To celebrate the snow day, I'm being (somewhat) productive and linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for my very first Five for Friday!

I have been loving all the New Year's products out there, and it was hard to find the right resolution writing to do with my kiddos. I loved how focused they were on their resolutions, too. We talked about goal-setting and why it's important to set an attainable resolution (Although visiting Mars is a wonderful idea, is it really attainable this year?) They came up with some fabulous resolutions. Aren't these little party noise makers adorable? I got the idea from Linda Kamp - she has a wonderful New Year's pack on TpT!

I love how the resolutions roll up - it makes a perfect way for students to
write more personal resolutions without fear!

The Boxcar Children might be my favorite series ever! I'm still working on
completing my collection. Yes, you may call me a book worm!

Lots of books for science - we will be finishing our environmental unit in the next few weeks and starting our space unit. These nonfiction books were perfect for my book focus wall!

Half Price Books was having a SALE over the break, and I just couldn't pass up books! My kiddos are doing a 30 book challenge due in March, and I just love getting "new" books for them to read! I also found two boxes of books (each book under a dollar!!) from my local library book sale. Let me tell you, out of the one box that I brought to school yesterday, I only have about three books that are left. There is nothing more rewarding as a teacher than seeing students' faces light up about literacy. Both the students and I have the same reaction to new books: 

My favorite Christmas gift from my parents - indoor snowball fight material! Does this make me a kid at heart? I'm so excited to use these in my classroom. It's a container full of big pom-pom snowballs. What's more fun than having a snowball fight to review for a test? My mom found this glorious bucket at Hallmark.

In order to meet my own personal New Year's resolution, I started making a set of Figurative Language Posters as a FREEBIE for new followers of my blog! One of my goals this year is to be more tech savvy with the blog world, so I've been having fun making some projects that I will be using in my class over the next few weeks. Head on over to my new TpT store to check them out! 

Since we are still learning about our environmental unit, this is a supplemental activity that we did to go along with our biome boxes. In five groups, each group became an expert on their biome after doing research from various books, sites, and videos. In particular, each group watched the video from this fabulous site PBS Kids EEkoWorld, which discussed the climate, ecosystem, and environmental issues associated with each biome. After taking notes on the video, each group made a postcard to detail their biome. They designed the front cover, and then wrote about their "visit" to the biome on the back. Then, individually, students wrote a persuasive essay about the different ways that people can take action to save their biome. These are also available for FREE (for a limited time) in my TpT store - so head on to grab your copy!

Our major project in our last section was to make our biome-in-a-box. I remember making these in undergrad, and I had so much fun with it - and my kids loved this project this year, too!

Now, I'm off to enjoy the rest of this snow day with some R&R to knock out this little fever of mine! Have a wonderful weekend!

Currently January...Already?!

Doesn't it feel like December was only yesterday? It feels like 2013 went by in the blink of an eye! I couldn't have asked for a better year, though. I student taught with a wonderful fourth grade class, earned my undergrad degree, and got my permanent substitute position with my fourth grade kiddos.

I'm more than ready for a wonderful 2014! I have a good feeling about this year...

I had to start the year off right and link up with Farley for her January Currently! Head on over to check out some amazing blogs and link up with what you're currently up to!

I have to admit, I'm really loving getting to see other bloggers through these linky parties. Once you start looking at other blogs, it's hard to stop! I keep trying to tell myself that I'm lesson planning for the week as I search for ideas. There are some truly amazing blogs out there, and I just love learning from them. So far, I guess all the blog hopping I'm doing is helping me to hold true to this little resolution of mine...

I'm off to a good start by posting on the first day of January, right? Any suggestions for how I can become a better blogger? I'd love to hear your thoughts and advice!

A New Year!

In 2014, I resolve to be more involved with blogging! Starting this blog has been such a rewarding experience, and I look forward to being inspired by even more educators in the new year. To start, I'm linking up with Jennifer from Simply Kinder for a teaching blog linky party! Head on over to find some fabulous teaching blogs!

Another resolution I have is to start putting more of the resources I create and use on TpT. I've been using that site since student teaching to find ideas, and now I'm ready to give back some ideas! I'm starting my resolution today (a little early, I know). Enjoy this New Years freebie activity with your class! Students can brainstorm their resolutions, and write a letter to their future self stating what they resolve to do in 2014. 

To grab a copy, head over to my new TpT shop!

I've been looking everywhere for a great activity for the first day back, and found several ideas on Pinterest. Make sure to check out my New Year's board for ideas!

Elfcapades

Hi friends, how were your holidays? My Christmas was fantastic. I'll admit, I did a lot of last minute shopping, which is very unusual for me. But in the end, it all turned out wonderfully, and enjoyed the time with family and friends. After all, that's what the holidays are about, right?

Amidst all the holiday hoopla, I've been meaning to link up with Michelle from Apples and ABC's and Mel from Seusstastic to share what shenanigans our little classroom elf has been up to lately! Here are a few snapshots of Tinsel from this passed week...

On the third day, he R.A.C.K.'ed our class, leaving us little elf erasers, and left us a note asking that we pass on the kind gestures to others in our school.  He even left me a "How to RACK" note - what a little helper! The kiddos LOVED this! Right away, we brainstormed ideas for who and when we could deliver little acts of kindness. We started with a fourth grade class down the hall; each student wrote an inspirational post-it note and as soon as their class left for lunch, we tip-toed into their room, and left these little surprises on their desks! Each day we surprised another room, and spread the holiday cheer!

I'll admit, I was a LITTLE annoyed that Tinsel sprayed the window for this subtle hint. 

Isn't he so creative? The kids immediately tweeted about how they would spread cheer on our classroom Twitter. 

On Thursday he was feeling "On Top of the World" with our elf-tastic behavior! 

On Friday, he told us that he had "SNOW much fun" in our classroom and left each one of us a little treat to say thank you for his time with us. We were sad to see him go, but we loved having him!

Tinsel really was so much fun for our class - I couldn't have asked the North Pole to send a more well-suited elf for the job! It was so fun waiting for someone to spot Tinsel each morning, I'll definitely miss it when we go back in January. 

I'll leave you with a little motivation...

Only a few more days until 2014! I'll be back in a few days to share a recap of our last week before break, a freebie, and some planning ideas to celebrate the new year! Can't wait!

Currently December

With December being such a short month, our class is going to be jam-packed with activities galore for the next two weeks! I came in early over the break and decorated the room - it even snowed! (Well... it's fake snow, from a can, that doesn't melt!) While decorating, I had a neat idea for December. Why not ask Santa for a classroom Elf on the Shelf? So, I wrote a letter to the Elf Boss asking for the best behaved, well-trained, elf for our classroom to help monitor our students during this busy time of year. I addressed the letter to the North Pole, and hoped for the best. Wouldn't you know, this week, we had a special announcement that a package had arrived! It was Tinsel, our unique classroom elf, assigned from the Elf Boss at the North Pole to watch over our class. It was too perfect! Tinsel is making a great addition to our classroom. So far, he's really enjoyed "hangin' out" 

Unfortunately, in the chaos of the first day, one of my kiddos grabbed him from the box. Panic spread around the room - the story goes that you can't touch an elf, because they will lose their magic powers and won't be able to return to the North Pole each night to report back to Santa. Even though we were discouraged all day, we were greeted by Tinsel the next morning as he "hung out" under our whiteboard with a little note explaining that his boss was kind enough to provide him a second chance with some magic. (we could even see he was covered with sparkles - must have been his elf magic!) We are hoping for Tinsel to have an enjoyable stay with us for the rest of the month of December! I just hope he stays out of trouble!

I'm linking up with a fellow fourth grade blogger, Farley from Oh Boy Fourth Grade for this month's currently:

 

  

Have a splendid week!

Miss S.