Inference Makes Sense

The writing conference sheets are coming (that silly formatting thing is still getting to me-I think it's because anything I make on my school computer can not be converted into a pdf. Which makes it extremely difficult to upload to google docs to share with all of you.)

So instead of fun forms, I'll share an inferencing center I just made.

Click here & enjoy.

Report cards, new laptop, & under the knife..oh my!

Hey ladies (and possibly gents) sorry for the brief hiatus. I've been busy busy busy making a ton of new things for my classroom using my Lettering Delight fonts :)

I also had to invest in a new laptop. Awhile back ours went crazy & then all my pictures were saved & it was working ok & then the worst thing happened. It started denying me access to some of my favorite blogs!!!!!! No, I did not just make a typo. Something had to be done about this so away we went to the big city to upgrade!..yay for a new computer..boo to kissing my income tax goodbye for it!

We got it at the perfect time.....perfect time to do report cards. Blah yea that's where I'll be for the next 4 days straight so that I can enjoy what little break I have.

 Why such a short break you ask? It's really horrible, terrible, heart-wrenching news....

Wait for it...

I'm having knee surgery.

Can you tell how excited I am for this? Not only is it cold and winter like outside but now I'll be trapped on the couch for the entire break. I can't complain though since I have been dealing with the pain for almost 2 years and I'd say that it's about high time it gets taken care of. I'm hoping the surgery makes me a brand new lady. (I used to be a runner...can't run with a bum knee though) I say this now but I'm sure when M is only being a great husband who is trying to help me rehab quickly, I will not be so excited to run again.

(Note to readers*I don't like pain. Or therapy)

So anywho..that's what I have been up to lately and what I will be up to next week. I'm hoping to post some reading and writing conference sheets tomorrow. I struggled for a long time trying to find forms that work best for me...finally I just made my own.

Until then....Happy Monday.

Word Detectives

Another quick post today.

 My husband and I got some "God-timing" (also known as tough-timing for us) news and the night is going to be spent mapping out the next step in our lives. We know God has a plan for us and it's just a matter of trusting in Him to show us the way.

Sorry for sometimes sharing other parts of my life besides just teaching ideas, I should probably just start a personal blog.

But.

I nearly have time to manage 1, not sure if I could handle 2.

So for now I will just use this as my outlet---only for a minute then I'll always get right back to teacher things.

Next week we will continue working on base words and adding the inflectional endings ed & ing. (Is anyone else out there in Unit 5 Week 3 of your Basal? I'd love to chat with you and bounce center ideas around. Sometimes I have a tough time coming up with a center that will truly engage my firsties.)

Here's a center I made using the fabulous Lettering Delights graphics. Love them!

I will copy these sheets back to back & my reading push in teacher will do a quick review w/ the kiddos before letting them try on their own.

(this is the version I will use in my class, but since I can't share any Lettering Delight alphabet letters, I changed the one I loaded in google docs for you) *BIG HINT-head to Lettering Delights to buy some great fonts, alphabets, & graphics for only $1. Yes you read that right..it's dollar days!

Click here to download this activity

(I haven't mastered the whole direct link from the pictures yet)

Synonyms Part 2

As promised, here are the worksheets that go along with the synonym centers.

Synonym City

So Many Synonyms

Enjoy :)

Synonyms

How is the weekend almost over?

 Only 2 more weeks until spring break...yahhooooo!!!

Friday night the hubby and I rented some movies and vegged out on pizza rolls and ice cream :) Saturday I went to my sister's basketball tournament (her team took 3rd!!!) and then to dinner with all of my extended family in honor of my Grandma & Grandpa's wedding anniversary. By the time I made it home, the MR. was done with work and wanted to go do something...however the MRS. was asleep on the couch within 5 minutes! And today I'll be doing school work and enjoying the sunshine, while the hubby will be playing golf and enjoying the sunshine. (Speaking of today...I just got asked when I was going to put down the computer {aka blogs} and get ready for church. I"m goingggggg hunny)

So it will be a quick post...about synonyms. This week we will do a review. I created 2 games to be done during centers. They are similar to each other but will be done on different center rotation days. I apologize for the formatting too. In an earlier post, I mentioned I'm still figuring out how to format things so everything is pretty much in different files. SORRY!! Also...another apology. The worksheets to go along witht he centers are giving me some uploading trouble. I will figure out the issue and post later.

Synonym City:

Spread out the large word cards. Place the small word cards in a brown bag. Each student will pull out a small word and then have to place that word on the correct synonym. (Then write the match on the worksheet)

Synonym City-Large Word Cards

Synonym City-1st list of small word cards

Synonym City-2nd list of small word cards

So Many Synonyms:

Each child takes a mat. Place the word cards face down on the floor (like memory). One child will pick a card. If they can place it on their board, they get to keep it. If not, they must put the card back on the floor. The first person to fill their board, wins!

Synonym Center-5 word board-1

Synonym Center-5 word board-2

Synonym Center -5 word board-3

Synonym Center-5 word board-4

Synonym Center-5 word board-5

Synonym Center-word cards

Again.....so sorry for having to click on each file individually. I will figure this whole format issue out soon.

Have a great Sunday: )

p.s. I'll post the worksheets later

Lucky the Leprechaun

How great is today? I love a day that's all about my heritage! I rocked my green cardi & green skirt. Put a sticker on my cheek and had a ton o' fun at school.

Our friend Lucky the Leprechaun (aka me) came to visit today. It started on Tuesday when we wrote a friendly letter to Lucky asking if he would bring us gold and to please leave our room neat and clean. All week the kiddos have been so excited to see if Lucky would actually come. So of course he had to make a stop. I printed up these letters and left them on each desk this morning.

Of course I didn't actually put gold in their desks...yet. I knew it would be a huge distraction all day. I also started a letter on the board but made it look like Lucky had to stop writing abruptly. The morning work was to write in their journals why they thought the letter wasn't finished.

We went about our business as usual. Today was also our book buddy day where we meet up with the 5th grade class and read to each other. But instead of reading they made a cute hat craft (which I just realized I didn't take a picture of). We also chowed down on some green cupcakes, that were delicious!

I planned on having Lucky visit during lunch, however my principal was supposed to be coming in right after lunch to observe my math centers and that just would have been a huge disaster. My kiddos would have been off the wall. (side note: said principal did not come and asked to push the visit until next week)

Lucky finally made his appearance while the firsties were at gym watching the Irish Dancers that came and did an amazing job. I made sure my students saw me sitting there for awhile before I ducked out to go play Lucky. Although, that didn't stop them from badgering me about what I was doing while Lucky was ruining the class....and of course the few who just knew it had to have been me, they even went so far as to ask 2 other teachers if I was really sitting w/ them watching the dancers. Apparently I am teaching a classful of detectives:)

Needless to say, Lucky was a success.

This is looking in from the door. We had chairs tipped over, papers spilled, backpacks thrown around! (*the blue chair in the left corner is propped up on the easel where the Leprechaun had started writing his note in the morning and then finished it later...complete with green footprints on the chair)

That silly leprechaun even knocked all of the behavior cards over so Mrs. Edwards couldn't tell who had flipped their card today!

He walked on desks, tables, & the sink (yes I'm aware it looks like animal footprints...it didn't matter. The firsties just thought maybe Lucky has a dog)

It was a ton o' fun. And now I'm exhausted from all the hoop-la. The hubby took me out for some dinner and now I'm busy using my fantastic dollar day deals from Lettering Delights to whip up some fun centers! Seriously you must head over there and purchase...they are a-mazing.

Happy St. Patty's Day blog friends

My "Nest" & Jam-Packed Classroom

I figured I'd jump on the bandwagon and post pictures of my classroom. I'm linking up with Oh' Boy 3rd Grade and her Show Me Your Nest Linky Party to share my "nest" aka my desk area. (She is having a fabulous giveaway ... it's my favorite ... take a guess ... VERA BRADLEY!!!

 A-mazing :)

There she be. In all her sometimes organized glory. We just recently got laptops so I will admit to being happy about all the extra desktop space :)

This is pretty much command central. My colored bins were a fabulous purchase & always most of the time keep me organized.

I wish there was a way to make these 2 shelving units fit nicer in the corner behind my desk but they provide what I need so they'll have to do-akward and all.

That cute red and blue thing in front of my laptop is a fabulous rice pad that an adorable firsty made for me at Christmas. It is made out of Buffalo Bills pattern----> the best!

There's my "Nest". Did you hear me when I said I LOVE Vera Bradley?

Notice the bag, purse, & lunch pal resting nicely behind my nest :)

 Plus I'm linking up w/ Always First Grade to show off my classroom digs. I didn't get a chance to take any great pictures and now that I'm posting them I'm thinking of all the things I could have taken a picture of to share, but oh well. Such is the life of a teacher...never time for much.

This is a view from my door.

This a looking straight in from the door.

This is the computer station. I used to have 3 big honkin computers on a huge table that stuck out and always got in the way. When I got my laptop I had them put my old computer on a smaller table and voila I have a much more managable computer station.

OOOO Look what I got on Monday? Any guesses?? A rice table-rubbermaid tote thing. Now what am I to do with this? I don't have table space for it so it's currently living on the floor in front of my desk.

Our word wall. I admit it's looking pretty weak-we have been so busy I haven't had a chance to update it. I put magnet on the back of the words so the kiddos are able to take the word to their seat if they need to.

My guided reading table. You can't see it (& I forgot to snap a photo) but my chair was a $10 steal from Staples...it's got a cute flower pattern and it's definitely an upgrade from the hard chair I used to have.

The library. It took me forever to find a comfortable spot for my library. I honestly think it's been in about 5 different places this year. I really like where it's at now. I use a colored book mark system for my students to get a book. They take a matching bookmark to the color box or shelf they get a book from. That way they know where to return it to.

Hop into a Hoppy Morning area. Down the wall (hard to see in this photo) are the steps they have to do in the morning.

Our sink area. My leveled readers are also back here so that I can wheel my pink flower chair over to them when I'm doing my guided reading.

The writing center

The remains of my huge calendar wall. I started out with a giant calendar wall full of math fun and word fun.I quickly discovered that I never used it. Why? Because I have the fantastic item shown in the next picture. I finally decided to take most of it down and use the wall space for other things.

The carpet area. This is where I do whole group reading. It also is the listening center (bottom left corner) Notice how stacked full my easel is. I usually just write on a blank page in a SMARTboard file so my easel has become a catch-all. (I'll be upgrading that chair the next time Staples has a $10 sale!)

And finally.. this is the table I use for writing conferences & a whole bunch of other things.

My push in reading teacher runs her center here as well.

 

 

 

And there you have it. Don't forget to link up with Always First Grade & Oh' Boy 3rd Grade and show of your classroom.