First 12 in the last of 12 Linky Party!!

I am linking up with Fabulous Fourth Grade Froggies for her First 12 in the Last 12 Linky Party!

The goal is to reflect on the first 12 posts of 2012. I am a newbie when it comes to blogging...I didn't start my blog until August of 2012 so my first 12 posts not just of 2012 but ever were.....
1. 8/12/12 It's Official
2. 8/13/12 First Day Back!
3. 8/14/12 Backpack Night
4. 8/16/12 Back to School Activities
5. 8/17/12 Place Value Activities
6. 8/18/12 Worm Freebie
7. 8/20/12 Kidblog
8. 8/29/12 Giveaway
9. 9/8/12 Daily 5
10. 9/12/12 Who Loves Giveaways
11. 9/21/12 Fun Friday: Edible Earth Rounds
12. 9/29/12 Fun Friday: Habitat Project

Well there they are! What were your first 12 posts of 2012?? How will you be ringing in the New Year?!

CC Language Vocab Task Cards/Possible Freebie!

Well it's cold outside and I don't feel like leaving the house.....so I decided to make some task cards! I am trying really hard to hit all of the vocabulary from the Common Core Standards and as you all know there is a TON! I made checklists for the students to put in their notebooks to add to as we learned new words throughout the year, but I wanted a quick assessment to see if they are remembering any of them. So I made some task cards to go along with the language part of the standards. I will make cards to go along with each of the categories this is just the first set! Hopefully these will be of some help. Some of the cards just give definitions that need to be matched up with the correct word and some give examples of the vocab words. They are all multiple choice and I have included an answer document if you wanted to use this as a scoot game! There is also a key for a quick check! These are aligned with the 4th grade standards but could easily be adapted for other grades, as many of the words carry over. If you are interested, check them out at my TPT store or click the picture below! Be the first to comment and I'll send you a free copy!

HAPPY 2013 GIVEAWAY!

It's hard to believe that Christmas was here and has passed already, and now we are awaiting the New Year! I have enjoyed reading everyone's blogs on their New Year's resolutions, many of which are very similar to mine....maybe this will be the year I stick to them :) My number 1 teaching goal this year is to really focus on teaching math using the Common Core method. Luckily with all of the great blogs I follow, I have come across some great ideas. My goal is to create some units to go along with each of the standards. With this whole next week off, maybe I'll get started.....wishful thinking anyways!

I also wanted to share with you a great giveway put on by The Peanut Gallery! What better way to celebrate the new year than with a gift card giveway!!

Teaching Reading

At my school we use the Literacy by Design reading series. It has a lot of good components, but I am finding I have had to create and supplement a lot! The series has great comprehension organizers and end of the theme test, but that it is really all it has in terms of assessments. I have been making vocabulary and story assessments to go along with it, but I still feel like I need more. With having to meet Common Core, MAP, AND our State Standards, it is a lot to keep up with. How do you teach reading? Do you have a reading series you use, do you use novels, do you do Daily 5, do you create your own units? I would love to hear what works for you!!

If you happen to use LBD and are interesting in the assessments I created, you can check them out at my TPT store.

I hope everyone had a very, merry Christmas!!

Winter Sale!

Winter sale and linky party with Second Grade Math Maniac and many more! Come enjoy 20% off at many TPT stores, including mine! Just click on the picture below! Head over to Second Grade Math Maniac to see who else is joining in on the fun!

One More Day and Possible Freebie!

One more day of school, I can hardly wait! The kids are checked out and I'm about at that point too! I have had at least 5 kids out everyday this week with the flu, so it has been impossible to do ANYTHING! This has pretty much been a week of completing work together and lots of review. So to go along with that, I created some Root Word Task Cards. I will give the first two people who comment and leave their email a  free copy! Otherwise you can check it out at my TPT store by clicking on the picture below!

Christmas Activities/Crafts!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I have spent majority of the morning searching for Christmas activities, so I thought I would share some of the activities that I found with all of you!

1. Santa's Stuck Writing Craftvity. I found this super cute writing activity on All Student's Can Shine's blog. It is geared toward younger students but I am going to adapt it towards my 4th graders. We have working on  how to use dialogue in our writing so here is the perfect opportunity to use it in an actual writing piece! Click on the picture below to check it out it is a freebie!!

2. Christmas Wreath Craft: Click on the picture below for directions on how to make a cute Christmas wreath!

 

3. Snow Globe Craft: What the Teacher Wants has a fun snow globe craft on her blog.

 





4. Paper Plate Christmas Tree Garland: Love this!!

5. Reindeer Card Using a Peanut Shell!

What Christmas crafts/activities do you do?? I would love some ideas for parent gifts!!

Thankful Writing

I actually thought about not doing the traditional Thanksgiving thankful writing this year, but it just didn't seem right so I checked out Laura Candler's website ( I looooove her ideas!) and she had a GREAT writing lesson that is really well laid out. It has an organizer, draft template, and final copy paper. So if you are looking for a quick and easy Thanksgiving writing, check it out. She also has some other great Thanksgiving freebies that are worth checking out too! http://www.lauracandler.com/filecabinet/seasonal.php

Giveaway!!

I found a new blog through my daily blog stalking!! Yay! Annnddd she is having an awesome giveway. Go check out Pencils, Books, and Dirty Looks! She has lots of great ideas and is giving away tons of giftcards and items from her store!

Monday Made It November!

I can't believe it's already November, but you know what that means...time to link up with Tara at 4th Grade Frolics for Monday Made It!

So the first and most exciting thing I made just  so happens to be the one thing I can't figure out how to put a picture up of...go figure! Oh well...I'll just tell you about it. We are starting to work on the regions of the U.S. and learning the states and capitals so I made a Smart Notebook presentation for each of the regions that quizzes the students on the location of each of the states and then on the state's capital. I was fortunate enough to get a set of Smart response remotes and it works perfectly with those, or you can just put it up on the Smartboard as a whole class review! You can check it out at my TPT store if you're interested...the Southwest region is a freebie!

Item number 2 that I made is a set of homophone task cards! There is a set of homophones at the top and two sentences that students must figure out which word goes with which sentence! Quick, easy review that could be used as a center, during word work time, or as a scoot activity!

Item number 3 is Thanksgiving/Fall themed math task cards. Common Core is hugggge on problem solving, so I made some story problem task cards for the month.

I had big plans to make some cute fall wreath for my front door... but that was a flop! Maybe next month I'll have one for winter....probably not though :)

Homophone Task Cards-Possible Freebie!

We have been working with homophones this week so I made some task cards to go along with this topic. The first two people to leave me a comment will receive a set for free, just leave your email! Otherwise you can check them out at my TPT store. Click the picture below.

Government

A couple weeks ago the "Parade" listed a website for kids with activities on the government. I finally checked it out and it is full of valuable resources and the best part is it's all FREE! There are games for the students to play and lessonsplans for the teachers. There is also stuff on the upcoming election. It is definitely worth checking out!

                                                            http://www.icivics.org/


November Task Cards

Story problems always seem to be a challenge for students and I don't think we do enough of them. So... I created some story problems for the month of November that are fall/Thanksgiving themed. I figure I can use these to start each math lesson or use them as a scoot type game! Check them out at my TPT store if you're interested!

Halloween Craft

I have been a terrible teacher and haven't done any art projects with my students, so I decided today was the day to change that! I found a super cute idea on Pinterest (where else?) and decided to give it a try. I gave the students a piece of yellow and black paper, got out the paper scrap's box, showed them the example I found on Pinterest, and let 'em go. I was a little nervous at first since I didn't give them much direction, but they turned out great! Here are just a few of my favorites!

A Wise Owl:Giveaway!!

Through my daily blog hopping (sad, I know), I found my way over at The Wise Owl who is having a huge giveway. Lots of TPT items and a TPT giftcard!!

Spelling Contract Freebie

Every year I seem to do spelling differently. This year students can work on spelling activities during our Daily 5 word work time. I created a spelling contract that students use to pick their activities, and I am posting it for FREE on my TPT site!

Fourth Grade Flipper Giveaway

I think I can officially admit that I am addicted to entering teacher blog giveaways....maybe someday I'll actually win :) So here is another great giveaway to enter!

ScootPad

Have you heard of ScootPad? This is an excellent site for your students to practice math and reading skills aligned with Common Core. It is free and super easy to set up. It literally took me 5 minutes to sign all of of my students up. The site has a place where you can look at student reports. You can look at individual student results or whole class results. I also just figured out that you can add rewards for the students! As the students answer questions correctly, they can earn coins which can be used on items you set up! Check it out, my students love, love, love it!

Surviving in the Environment Flipbook

I love flipbooks! This next week we will be starting a new science chapter and we will be creating a flipbook to help remember all of the terms. The terms that are in the flipbook are camouflage, migration, hibernation, symbiosis, extinct, and fossils. Here is a picture of a completed flipbook!

If you would like to create a flipbook too, check it out on my TPT page. I also created posters to go along with each of the terms.

Government I Have, Who Has

This is the first year that the 4th grade is teaching government at my school. I'm not sure why we haven't taught it in the past, but we were told we need to add it to the curriculm this year. Let me just say I'm not too excited about teaching it. I think the government is hard for 4th grade. Luckily,  I have found some good resources on TPT to get me through it! Ashleigh created an awesome packet full of very helpful activities that I purchased and can't wait to use. Check it out, I highly recommend it! And...I created an I have, who has government game of course, since my students beg to play them! What activities do you use to make the government a little easier to understand? I would love any suggestions!!

Monday Made It-I Have, Who Has Game!

I made the mistake at the beginning of the year of introducing my students to the I have, who has game and now they want to play it for every subject. They just don't realize that it takes TIME to create the games, which we as teachers just don't seem to have. So as a reward for my student's good behavior last week I created an I have, who has game to go along with our science topic; ecosystems. I posted it over on TPT if you are interested!

Fun Friday Habitat Project

I am linking up with Teaching Fourth's Fun Friday again this week!

This week we worked on a great project to learn about ecosystems. I combined two activity sets that I purchased on teacherspayteaches and created biome flipbooks. The idea and templates for the booklet came from Hope King's My Biome Book and I used the graphic organizers from Nicole Shelby's Food Chain Packet to first research each of the ecosystems. We used this website http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/world_biomes.htm to look up information. Nicole's packet also had some great ideas for food chain and food web activities that I plan on trying this coming week! Below is a picture of a finished project!

If you are learning about animals and need a review, I posted an Animal Jeopardy game that reviews the different groups of vertebrates on teacherspayteachers. You must have SMART Notebook to play the game though.

Fun Friday-Edible Earth Rounds

We did a super fun activity this week that was found on Laura Candler's website. The hands-on activity represented how only a small portion of our planet is actually inhabitable and that our resources are very limited. My students had a great time building their earth round and an even better time eating them after! And...I think they even learned a little something! I had every intention of taking pictures, but of course I forgot to bring my camera! So check out the activity here: Edible Earth Rounds

Who Loves Giveaways!!??

I was doing my daily blog reading today and found a new blog full of great ideas and a giveaway!Head on over to Peacocks and Penguins to check it out and sign up for her giveaway!!

Daily 5

I decided on trying Daily 5 and CAFE this year. Practically EVERY blog I read talks about the Daily 5, so I decided it must be pretty good! We have been in school four weeks now and both the students and I LOVE Daily 5. I will say it took a lot of training, but it was well worth it and things are now running very smoothly. The principal came in the other day and was very impressed at how everyone was on task and working quietly. I was over at Runde's Room reading her post on Daily 5 and she had some great ideas that I can't wait to use! She showed pictures of her student's reading journals where they keep track of each of the strategies taught in CAFE and also where they will write reflections on the strategies they use. She also shared a powerpoint that introduces Daily 5, which I will definitely use next year! Another great idea was her Comprehension Question Fans which has questions to ask about the different strategies that are studied in CAFE. I would love to use these when I work with small groups and have the students write answers in their journals. Do you use Daily 5 and/or CAFE? How does it work for you? I would love to hear your ideas!

Giveaway!!

I suggest everyone head on over to Tonya's Treats for Teachers....she is having a huuuuuge giveaway! Who doesn't love free stuff!!

Kidblog

Somewhere on someone's blog I read a post on Kidblog.org and decided it sounded too cool not to check out! So I checked it out and immediately opened up an account for my class. It was soooo easy and my students are super excited about it. You as a teacher open up a class blog, but then each student is able to post to the class blog and their own blog. The nice thing about it is that it is super safe. The only people that can look at it are our classmates, and the teacher has to approve each comment before it is posted for other students to see. I had everything all set up and ready for us to try it out for the first time when we went to the computer lab today, and when we got to the lab, only 1 of the 30 computers had Internet...ugh!!!! Anyways, I decided to just give the kids the details and told them they could try it out at home. I just got home and checked the blog and I already have students that have posted comments!!!!

Worm Freebie

Monday we are starting our unit on animals and the students will be working in groups to observe earthworms. Here is a worksheet I made to record observations.

Worm Observation

Place Value Activities

We are already back into the swing of things! We started with place value in math today and I'm excited to try some fun activities I found over the summer!

-I found the idea for "Place Value People" over at 4th Grade Frolics. It was a great review and the kids LOVED it!
-On Monday, I plan on playing "Place Value Musical Chairs", which I found at E is for Explore.
-Also next week I want to try two activities from Cindy Calenti that I found on teacherspayteachers.com. They are both Scoot type activities.

What activities do you use to practice place value?

Back to School Activities!

Have I mentioned that I LOVE teacherspayteachers.com??? Cause I do!! I have found so many great activities including some for the first couple days of school.

Cooking Up a Great School Year is an activity I am working on now. It is a great way to start the year off on a good note and set expectations for the year. 

My students are also working on an interview a friend project, which they are having a lot of fun with. This activity is part of a bunch of beginning of the school year activities found in Fabulous Back to School Fun.

We also had a blast playing Drama Circle-Back to School. Do you have any other activities that you suggest for the first couple days of school??

Backpack Night!

Tonight all of the students and parents came to unpack backpacks! Fourth grade is the first grade at our school so many of the students are nervous about coming to a new school. Allowing them to come in the night before school starts to unpack and tour the school really seems to help with nerves on the first day! It is always fun to meet the parents and see the kids for the first time! They were sooooo excited to be there! One students brought me a medal that she had taped on a picture she made of me and another student brought me an Olympic torch she made....gotta love gifts on the first day :)

First Day Back!

Today was our first of two institute days and then the kids come Wednesday! I think my room is finally ready! Here are a few pictures of some new things I added this year!

P.S. Hope you were all able to snag some great stuff from teacherspayteachers at their back to school sale! I think I ended up buying EVERYTHING from my wishlist...yikes!!

It's Official!

I have spent my whole summer reading teacher blogs and gathering awesome ideas to use this school year so I have decided to officially start my own blog! Hopefully I will have some ideas to share that others can use!