FREEBIE AND LOTS OF EM'

This morning I woke up to an awesome email for Teaching Blog Addict about how they are celebrating their 2nd Birthday and are linking up with TONS of A+ teachers. The teachers are able to put up any freebie products they want! This will be a great event! 

I have decided to put up my Poet Tree Pack up as a Freebie! This is a BEST seller for me and I know if you do not have this yet you should snag it for free!

Click the link below to sign up for the give away!  

http://www.teachersnotebook.com/deals/giveaways/803

If you comment you get 1 extra entries
If you start following my blog you get 2 extra entries
If you feature my blog on your blog you get 3 extra entries! 

New Blog

For all of my followers I did want to let you know that I started a NEW blog. I felt like this blog talked too much about my life outside of school and not enough about my school life. So if you are interested please check out my cute new blog and my newest guilty pleasure...

http://blogging-with-bliss.blogspot.com
Please stop by--you might even get to know me a little better.

I will be posting again very soon here about some very exciting Greek and Latin Root ideas you can use in your room immediately!

Thanks for your support as always!

Excuses, Excuses, Excuses

But seriously...
I could give you all 20 excuses as to why I have been away but you know, and I am sure you understand. 

Lots going on in the home front--we are house hunting every free minute we get it seems. It is exciting and also oh so stressful. My husband loves every house we look at...and I am the terrible person who has to crush his dreams and tell him--heck no, or eh it is ok, or the ever popular I love the house but not the area. I am sure we will find something that we both love, it just hasn't happened yet. 


Reading Update:
I am currently reading 3 books...
-The Streetsweeper (I have only heard wonderful things about, but am really struggling getting into the story.) 
-Winter Garden (I thought it would be a fun book--it is totally depressing, but the story is at least entertaining.)
-Paris My Sweet (I am loving this book, it just makes me want to eat Chocolate all of the time and go to Paris.) 

On my Amazon wish list: 

Bossypants

The Literacy Cookbook 

The Book Whisperer

Thirteen Reasons Why 

It's Kind of a Funny Story

Now on to school news...

I am loving my grad classes this semester, I am taking a Greek and Latin Roots class that I can't get enough of. I admit that I am a nerd and have always loved learning and school but, I have never read a text book for pleasure. This class I do, it just is so interesting and makes so much sense to me! The class is all about how to teach Vocabulary, we all know that with the new Common Core we are going to have to do a better job at this. This class has just been such an eye-opener. Right now we are learning how to introduce and "Divide and Conquer" new words. My professor has explained that if we teach students what the most common prefixes, suffixes, roots, (e.g.  "form"(shape) )and their meanings they will be able to read vocabulary words and be able to pull them apart and know the meanings. It is so addicting once you get started. 

I started this last week with my third graders and they were really enjoying it. I found that they were actually interested in learning and thinking of more words. 
   -I started with just the basic prefix "re" and taught them that "re" meant again. We then came up with as many words with "re" as the prefix as we could. Then we broke the words apart and they were able to understand what they meant. They treated this like a game--but in reality they were really internalizing this information and I am sure will remember it tomorrow when we review. I am going to introduce "un" tomorrow and see if I get the same response. 

As the course progresses I plan on creating a unit for TPT. The kids have loved it so far and it is really a neat way for me to teach my kiddos some tricks to figure out those tricky vocabulary words that keep popping up. 

We have a short week at school this week. We do have conferences on Thursday night (Valentine's Day) which kind of sticks--BUT we get all of Friday off and then we have Monday off for President's Day so I am ok with the situation... :) 

I hope you all have a lovely Valentine's Day week!

What's new in 2013?

    Well I am back I totally took a break from all things school until this week...So that past few days I have been catching up! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season and enjoyed your break as much as I did. 

   We are back and ready to get serious for this last half of the year! I have worked hard the past few days creating poetry notebooks for my third graders. Yesterday we started reading It's Raining Pigs and Noodles and they loved it. Although I had them reading, searching for words, and defining words the activity totally proved that poetry can really help teach fluency. They read that poem probably 5 or 6 times out loud each taking a turn "performing" it for the group and the rest of us would follow and listen. No one complained and they can't wait to see what poem will be next! 
   
    I am sticking with using Jack Prelutsky poems for them for awhile and I am sure we will venture into other great poets later. 

    In second grade the fabulous teacher I work with and I are taking a co-teaching "training" together and we started something new for reading groups. Tuesdays and Thursdays we are each meeting with mixed ability groups, I am focusing on fluency with them, and she is focusing on the comprehension piece. Yesterday was our first shot at it and we were both really pleased with what we were seeing! 

  So in short lots of great things are happening in the classroom right now! 
  
  I start my grad classes again next week, and have decided to teach in the after school program until March. So I am going to tell you all now...I apologize in advance if you do not hear from me as often. I am really going to try to keep up...but yikes, I might have bit off more than I can chew... 

  Thanks to those of you who commented you did get my Arctic Explorers Unit, and it should be waiting in your email. I did finish The Book Thief and it was awesome--if your looking for a good book check this one out. I am still finishing House Rules but it is also great, and I have started to read The Street Sweeper now, which is honestly a bit slow right now...

   Well that is my update I hope you have a great week! 

A little bit of everything!

Well it has been quite a week. Monday I was still completely overwhelmed with emotion for everyone at Sandy Hook that I felt I could only hold it together while I was teaching. Every break I got I found myself watching the news and crying! Tuesday, Wednesday, and today I can tell I am coming down with something that involves a never ending headache and ridiculous cough. But I am trucking along...knowing tomorrow is the last day and I can have some time to re-cooperate! 

My third graders left for their adventure to the North Pole last week, and today we are finishing up and heading home, in time for Christmas. Today we will be doing some research about the Aurora Borealis, and the white stuff we are so ready to see start falling in Ohio! (Snow) An experiment will be taking place in our "lab" today as well. (Pictures will be posted later) 

Other than my North Pole unit, I find myself asking the third graders I work with what are you reading? I am constantly interested in what they choose to read in their own time, as they seem to be interested in what I read in my spare time.The books that I load my shelves with are books that are interesting to them, that they can read. Nothing makes me happier than handing a student a book that they are excited to read. I have found that I need a loan simply to buy children's literature! Or the gift cards to B&N that I get for Christmas each year will do I suppose! :) 

ANYWAYS (I digress...blame it on the cold meds...)

 I do not know about you but when I do not have to read out of a text book for school I LOVE to read! Right now I am reading two books; The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (which is amazing!!) and House Rules (equally entertaining) by Jodi Picoult. I decided that this year rather than making a New Years Resolution that is simply impossible to accomplish I am going to start a book list in hopes to read at least 2 books a month for a whole year...Thoughout the year I intend to keep the blogging world posted on the progress I am making with this "goal" and what books I am reading. If anyone is interested in doing this with me, it could make for an interesting blogging kind of book club! :)

So I need your help what is a good book that you have read recently? I will read anything as long as it is interesting. 

What are your favorite children's books as well that I should add to my student's library? 

Unit pictures will be posted- and my unit will be given away to a few people if you leave a comment about books on this post! 

Happy Thursday!

In memory of all the beautiful souls lost...

Linky Party--Arctic Explorers Unit!

 All you have to do is think back at your favorites in 2012 and add a few pictures. What a fun way to remember the year, huh!? You can use these prompts if you'd like, or just type up your 12 favorite things! 

12. Favorite movie you watched:

11. Favorite TV series:

10. Favorite restaurant:

9. Favorite new thing you tried:

8. Favorite gift you got:

7. Favorite thing you pinned:

6. Favorite blog post:

5. Best accomplishment:

4. Favorite picture:

3. Favorite memory:

2. Goal for 2013:

1. One Little Word:

How to link up:

Create a blog post sharing your favorite 12 things in 2012. Add the button to your post and link it to this blog post. Then link up below, making sure to link directly to your post, not just your blog

12. Favorite movie you watched:The Hunger Games. 

11. Favorite TV series: Castle or New Girl I love  them both equally!

10. Favorite restaurant: Panera Bread 

9. Favorite new thing you tried: Listening to audio books. I am truly obsessed! 

 

8. Favorite gift you got: My Ipad

7. Favorite thing you pinned: This funny little video!

6. Favorite blog post:

(19 comments was impressive)

5. Best accomplishment: Finished my first semester of Grad School

4. Favorite picture:

(New York for Thanksgiving)

3. Favorite memory: The spur of the moment Florida/Disney World Trip with my Mom this summer!

2. Goal for 2013: Find a great house to buy and move into with my husband! 

(dream home above!)

1. One Little Word: Joy

Now on to something about school and teaching! I do apologize for neglecting this little blog last week, it was finals week and I hope you understand. Anyways one semester down five more to go! 

I have been busy working on a non fiction unit for my third graders to work on with me in small group! My third graders have some how turned into great arctic explorers and are almost ready to go journey the North Pole/Arctic Ocean. We have spent a few days researching our destination to make sure that we are ready for the harsh conditions the arctic may bring. I have created a unit/virtual field trip using non fiction research, reading, and real videos for them to be involved in. They are responsible for finding and answering many questions in their journals, and once we get there they will be responsible for locating and finding even more information about animals, weather, arctic life, and the aurora borealis. There is also a craftivity involved. They certainly cannot get to the North Pole without their passports and explorer suitcases! This is one of my favorite units I have ever made and the students are really enjoying it! If you are interested in snagging this for free. Leave me a comment and make sure to link up to the linky party!