Thanksgiving Break and a Cyber Sale

I hope you had a Happy Thanksgiving and a nice break from school. 

I spent the day Wednesday cooking and baking in preparation of hosting our families on Thursday. Thursday, of course, was filled with yummy food and time with family.

Friday morning started with basketball practice (I'm the assistant for MS girls) and some shopping (not necessarily for Christmas--my son is turning FIFTEEN this Wednesday and we hadn't found a gift yet). We ended up going in with him to get his first cell phone. He is pretty excited about it, and I can't believe he is growing up so fast. According to my daughter, "He is going to be halfway to 30!" ;-)

Saturday we (by we, I mean my husband and kids--they are awesome) worked on the stage for the upcoming Christmas concert a week from Monday. I'll be so thankful to have that finished! I had a nightmare about it being so bad my principal had to stop it after only two songs and I was going to get fired over it. I was going for a "winter wonderland." What do you think?

We went from there to basketball practice (again). We have a game tomorrow--toughest one yet! I really wish they wouldn't schedule games the day after breaks. It would be nice to be able to not worry about having practice. We actually have one scheduled the day BEFORE kids report back from Christmas break. Anyway, my daughter is the starting point guard and she is feeling sick tonight... I'm really hoping it is NOT the flu. She said she is not missing the game...we'll see...

Tomorrow is Cyber Monday and we are having sales in our TPT and TN stores. You can actually start shopping at Teacher's Notebook now if you want. Both sales are going on through December 2nd and everything in our stores is 20% off. Use the Promo Codes for even better prices!! 

     

Three weeks and I'll be talking Christmas break...crazy!

Week of Thanks-Shopping

Thanks for joining us again for our link with Blog Hoppin! 

 They are doing a week of giving Thanks!   

Today's thanks is for the letter S:

You will not see me standing in line to get a deal at a store.  I am not a shopper.  In fact, I really dislike shopping!  Although, I will say that I love getting gifts for others.  So, I am so thankful for online shopping because I can stay home and buy gifts online and don't have to go out and fight the crowds.  YAY!

Have a great day!

Week of Thanks-Kids

Thanks for joining us again for our link with Blog Hoppin!  They are doing a week of giving Thanks!   

Today's thanks is for the letter K:

I am so thankful for all the kids that I teach and get to be around each day.  Kids are so precious and that is exactly why I'm a teacher.  It's not about all the other things that go along with teaching....it is about the kids!

Have a great day!

Week of Thanks-Now

We have linked up for another day with Blog Hoppin!  They are doing a week of giving Thanks!   

Today's thanks is for the letter N:

I am thankful for right now.  I am often always thinking ahead and

 about what needs to get done etc. I worry about tomorrow, which I am not promised.  So, I think it is for the best to try live in the moment. The only time we have and are promised is NOW, so I am thankful that I can focus on now and enjoy those in my life.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Week of Thanks-All of my little Babies!

We have linked up for another day with Blog Hoppin!  They are doing a week of giving Thanks!   

Today's thanks is for the letter a:

My husband and I don't have kids, but we do have dogs and cats, which are like our kids.  They are part of our family and they are our babies.  I'm thankful to have each of them in my life!  They have brought a lot of joy to our lives!

Have a great day!

Week of Thanks-Hope

We have linked up today with Blog Hoppin!  They are doing a week of giving Thanks!   

Today's thanks is for the letter h:

I think the word says it all!  Without hope what are we left with?  I'm so thankful for the hope that I have!  

Have a great day!

A Week of Thanks-T is for True Friends

We have linked up today with Blog Hoppin!  They are doing a week of giving Thanks!   

Today's thanks is for the letter t:

I am so very thankful for all the true friends that I have in my life.  You know all those friends that you know that you can go to for anything and they will be there for you all the time.  I am truly blessed because of the true friends that I have in my life!

Make sure you head over and see what others are saying and join in the fun!

Number Lines and Action Verbs

Happy Friday!

This week we worked on creating number lines and plotting points on them. We had these rolls of paper given to us--kind of like bulletin board paper, but smaller--that worked great for our number lines. 

Take a look:

Shoulder buddies worked together and used meter sticks to create the number lines. They did a great job! 

It was so fun to see them working together.

On a sad note, the girl above with the star on her face moved away this week. :-(

I baked homemade chocolate chip cookies and we had a snowflake making party. She was beyond thrilled. We also made a card for her with all of our pictures and a little note goodbye.

I cried.

Moving on...because well, I just don't want to talk about it anymore. She is such a sweetie and we all miss her!

Do you use Kagan strategies in your classroom?

I have several favorites that I like use to get my kids interacting and to get them up and moving. I used Quiz, Quiz, Trade to introduce verbs for the week. The cards had an action verb on them. Students pair up, read the verbs and take turns acting them out. Then they trade cards and find a new partner. It was a hit!

Well, basketball is in full swing. I'm the assistant middle school coach again (my daughter's team), so I'm having to leave my classroom right after school. We had two games this week AND my son started basketball practice in high school this week.

And I thought I was busy before...

But hey, I'm "embracing the day!"

Have a great weekend!

Wisdom for Wednesday-Prayer and Patience

Welcome to this week's:

Have you ever prayed and wanted things to happen right away!  I have many times and sometimes wish that God would answer my prayers right away and make those answers be very clear to me.  Sometimes, I have to admit I get a little frustrated and I am pretty demanding about it.  But the truth of it all is that God does answer our prayers, but it may not be right away and it may not always be the answer that we want.  He does know what is best for us and there are times that we do just need to wait and be patient and realize that he has our best interest in mind and will answer our prayers when the time is right.

Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. Mathew 7: 7-8

Have a great day!

Germs! Germs! Germs!

We have been talking about germs and good hand washing habits in our classroom.  Today we had one of our parents who does things through 4-H come and do a lesson on hand washing and germs. First, they read a book to them and then they discussed germs and handwashing steps with them.  

The students then broke into groups and they gave them the lotion that had glitter on it and were able to look under a black light to see how dirty (germy) their hands were.  

All of the students of course said that they were the best at hand washing.  They went to the sinks and began washing.  After they thought that they had washed their hands really good, they went back and looked under the black light again to see if they had washed all of the germs off.  To their surprise, many of them had to take several trips to the sink to wash again.  They then began to realize that you really have to wash your hands good to get the germs off.  They had a blast with it and they all said that they were going to wash their hands really good from now on. 

This lesson came at the right time because we just had our first couple of inches of snow for this season over the weekend and it seems as though those germs are already spreading.  

Have a great day!

Writing About Science

It's Saturday! 

And I'm at home with no plans to leave!

Can you feel my excitement?

I have not spent a Saturday at home in almost two months, and if you've followed the blog very long you know how tough this has been on me. 

I confess, I'm a homebody!

I had big plans to celebrate this occasion by deep-cleaning the house, but it seems instead I will be running to the restroom every twenty minutes or so (sorry--TMI--but it is the truth). :-(

So I better get to it...

I use Lucy Calkins' (or Calkins's? I never remember which so I looked it up and apparently it is debatable and I prefer the first!) Units of Study for writing. This week we started writing like scientists!

We did a simple experiment using a toy car, ramp, and meter stick to find out if the car would go farther on the carpet or the gym floor. I loved it because we also got some practice measuring (which we have been working on in math). You just can't beat an activity that combines writing, science, and math!

Here's some pictures:

Here's hoping you are having a great Saturday (and that mine gets better soon)! :-)