A post that has nothing to do with teaching.

First week back was really good. The kiddos settled in really well, we started our Snow and Winter unit and we did some great writing activities. I will post about them later next week!

The highlight of my week happened on our first day back. My friend Amy and I found a (very skinny) miniature Australian Shepherd during our plan time that was right near where the car riders were going to be picked up in like 15 minutes! So we took her in and put her in our closet for the last 30 minutes of the day to figure out what to do (and to keep her from getting hit by a car!) We also fed her some string cheese, which she loved. Poor baby had a collar but no tags :( I don't know if anyone knows this, but I have a mini Aussie of my own named Lulu so I fell in love instantly!! Now, Lulu is an "only child" and doesn't always like other dogs... so I was worried about bringing this one home. But Lulu LOVED her!! And they were HI-LARIOUS to watch play! Anyway... long story short, I kinda fell in love with "Lily," as my mom named her :) But in the back of our minds, hubby and I felt guilty about having someone's dog without at least trying to contact the owner. So I took her to the vet, no chip. Vet said she was a little too skinny, and her coat was not the best. We (or I) really struggled with what to do.

We were able to track down the owner (because some people at school ended up knowing the area she came from)... and they wanted her back. I guess I thought (or hoped) they would let us keep her because we would provide a really good home for her. I feel bad that this sweet baby may be going back to a home where she is left outside all the time and not fed enough. And hubby said they didn't seem all that excited about her when he dropped her off (and that she wasn't wagging her tail or excited like she was with us). So I am a little sad about this, and I just pray pray pray that she is taken care of. Sometimes doing the right thing sucks!

And the winner is....

Here are three of my winners for the Liebster Award! I am getting very irritated because blogger keeps freezing up on me, so I could only get to three blogs!!! Anyway, check 'em out :)

Little Learners

Life in the Lime

Stories From Second

Today I went up to school with my friend Amy to get stuff done. We left school pretty much as soon as the bell rang before break... meaning we did not clean up or plan anything :) We got our Snowman Unit planned out today, and I am really excited for all the fun stuff we will do! I have one more little day of freedom, and then back to my kiddos :) I wish everyone a wonderful week back!!

Happy (almost) New Year!

Sooo, I intended on posting about our Christmas Around the World unit and our Christmas party, but as I am sure you all can understand, time got away from me, and I just have felt like relaxing and not thinking about school on this (short!) break!!! I have also been very busy playing with my new toy!!

I. LOVE. IT. Enough said :)

In other news, I was awarded this! Thanks, Patricia!

I will be looking for some blogs to award this to as well! :)

Enjoy your last few days off! Have a HAPPY, FUN, and SAFE new year!

Gingerbread Week!

This week we spent time reading several versions of The Gingerbread Man! We read one book each day, and as a class we filled out a comparison anchor chart so that we could compare and contrast each story we read. The students then had their own journal to fill out each day! They did great!

We focused on characters, setting, the refrain and how the story ended. Below is our comparison anchor chart (excuse my handwriting!), and a sample of a journal page!

About a week before this unit, I sent home a blank gingerbread man for my students to disguise, because Mr. Fox was going to be lurking around the halls on Monday, looking for a treat! That day, my kiddos used this prompt, "I'm not a gingerbread man! I'm a ____!" and they proceeded to describe themselves vs. a gingerbread man. They were so stinkin' creative!

(don't you just love all the Christmas friends above??!)

We did a graphing activity. I gave each child a gingerbread cookie, and they took one bite. We graphed which part each child took a bite of! (head, left arm, right arm, left leg, right leg). Then on the back there were several graphing questions they had to answer.  

Then we did Abby's Gingerbread Science to find out what would happen if the Gingerbread Man fell into the river! The kids were so into this activity!

Here is what he looked like right when he fell in!

And after!

And to end our fun week, we made milk carton gingerbread houses! This is a VERY much anticipated activity and I don't know how many times I heard, "This is the best day EVER!" :) I always love seeing how different every house looks! And it's funny, because their houses tend to match their personalities :)

**I always use 2 milk cartons per child, and I send a note asking that each child bring 1 package of graham crackers, 1 large bag of candy, and 1 tub of icing**



I was one exhausted teacher after this activity, and I am sure my adult helpers were too! I recommend having several adults come to help for this activity! I have 6 table groups in my room, so I had one adult per table and it was fabulous! Thanks to all my helpers :)

8 more school days until break....

The Grinch!

Grinch Week was so fun!! I will definitely be doing it again next year, and it may even be a two week thing! Originally, I wanted to do a Grinch Day with my kiddos. I shared the ideas I had found through Cara  and Deanna  with my team and it turned into a whole week of fun! We decided we wanted to do a day where we all wore green and Santa hats, and the whole school wanted in on the action! It was great! Look at my sweet Assistant Principal, aka Cindy-Lou-Who!

She visited our class and was a special guest reader for our Grinch reader's theater! The kids were stoked! We practiced our reader's theater all week long, then got to share it with my friend Amy's class. They did great! This story is a great one to reinforce reading with expression!

After I read the story for the first time, I had the kids describe the Grinch. They also came up with adjectives to describe his heart at the beginning of the story, and his heart at the end.

Then they did some writing comparing the Grinch (and his heart) at the beginning and end of the story. They did an awesome job!

We talked a lot about how the Grinch had changed in the story, and what caused him to change. I was able to tie in antonyms with this. I gave each child half of a heart. On the left side of the heart was a word that described Grinch (and/or his heart) at the beginning, and on the right side of the heart was a word that described the Grinch at the end. The kids had to find a person who had the antonym to their word. They did great!

Then to assess them, I made up this antonym page. Nothin' fancy. Again, it went along with how the Grinch was at the beginning and at the end of the story. (Sorry it's a little blurry).

We worked on similies this week, too. I first read this cute book: 

Then we listened to the Grinch song. You hear a couple of similies in the song, like, "You're as cuddly as a cactus." So we brainstormed similies to describe the Grinch, and then similies to describe Cindy Lou-Who! The similies they came up with were darling!

We worked on fractions, too!

We also practiced measuring in inches and centimeters by measuring the Whos' presents! The kids worked with a buddy to measure the length and height of each gift.

At the end of the week, we ate "Grinch Grub" (basically rice krispy treats, but you use corn flakes instead, and you dye it green!), watched the cartoon Grinch movie, and made the Grinch grin!

I loved this week and can't wait to do it again next year! Off to plan our Gingerbread Week now :) Have a great weekend, friends!

Let the Christmas Countdown Begin!

17 school days left until Christmas break!!!

Thanksgiving break was fabulous! We spent a lot of time with family, the hubs and I braved Target at midnight on Black Friday, we put up Christmas decorations, I deep cleaned the house (it was long overdue!!) and we just RELAXED. It was a great break, but like always, it seemed to go by super fast :)

I am not gonna lie, it was a bit hard going in to work today, BUT I am super excited for the next three weeks! We started our Grinch Week today and I am so excited! I will be posting photos of our activities later this week :) I am also thinking of posting this mini unit on TpT, but I've got to look into it! Next week will be our Gingerbread week, then Christmas Around the World, then BREAK! This is my absolute FAVORITE time of the year! It is CRAZY busy, but so fun!

Hope everyone has a wonderful week, I cannot wait to see everyone's Christmas ideas :)

Turkeys, Turkeys Everywhere!

Happy Sunday, friends! I cannot tell you how ready I am for Thanksgiving break!! I am counting down the days until I get to chow down on my mom's awesome cooking! I sooo envy those of you who are already on your break! :)

This past week we focused more on turkeys and what we were thankful for. In our basal, we read A Turkey for Thanksgiving. It is such a cute story!! We read several other books about turkeys and Thanksgiving, including my FAVE, 'Twas the Night Before Thanksgiving! Soooo stinkin' cute!

If you haven't read these with your kiddos, do it! :) We did a quick writing prompt, "If I was a turkey on Thanksgiving..." They had some clever responses!

Well, I wanted to share just a few activities we did this week...

I always have my kids make Thankful Turkeys. They have to write about five things they are thankful for and why they are thankful for those things. They came up with the sweetest ideas!

Then we worked on sequencing in our writing. As a class, we wrote "How to Bake a Pumpkin Pie." After we did that, they had to write "How to Cook a Turkey." They came up with some funny directions!

It's always funny to see what temperature they think a turkey should be cooked at :)

Tomorrow and Tuesday we are going to focus solely on the Pilgrims and Wampanoags, and we will do this cute activity I found on Pinterest! We will also have our FEAST!

Hope everyone has a fabulous Thanksgiving! Enjoy time with your family, and eat a lot :)