What a Slacker... And a Valentine's Day Freebie!

I kinda cringe every time I look at the last time I posted... Geesh. My New Year's resolution was to be better about posting here, but alas, things get in the way!

I don't know about you all, but all these snow days and testing have left me feeling so behind at school! But we HAVE been doing some awesome work with the Civil Rights Movement, and we are venturing into studying slavery next. A couple years ago I started doing research projects on famous African-Americans, and those always turn out AMAZING! I'm excited to get those going in a week or two.

We studied Martin Luther King, Jr. and all the ways in which he's shaped how we live today.

We started out by making a schema map about MLK:

We completed the I Have a Dream craftivity by A Cupcake for the Teacher and they turned out awesome!

I just love the writing my students did to go along with their art:

We read about MLK, Rosa Parks, and Ruby Bridges, and created webs about them:

Tomorrow we are going to a theatre performance about MLK, Rosa, and Harriet Tubman. Can't wait!

We also got a few DonorsChoose projects funded... Amazing! This is the cover one of my kiddos made for our thank you letters:

(We had many hardcover copies of favorite books donated... Hence all the book characters. Can you tell my kiddos love Mo Willems?!)

And, if you're looking for something to use with your students for Valentine's Day, I have this freebie in my shop for you!

Just click the picture to grab it for yourself.

Happy Wednesday!

Five For Friday... On a Saturday, and May Currently!

So, I've been meaning to link up for Five for Friday for for.ev.er! But of course, time seems to slip away, and on Friday nights, after getting the kids to bed, this happens:

I know I can't be the only one this happens to. Right? RIGHT???

So, I'm a day late, but here goes!

1. We have FINALLY started getting some warm weather! First it was cold, then rainy, and finally this week, we hit the 70s!

We enjoyed a little time at the park. They both look so big in this picture!

2. We finished up our plant unit this week. This is the awesome work of one of my kiddos. (Check out that handwriting!)

If you're interested in this craftivity and the other experiments, reading responses, and other goodies from my unit, check it out by clicking below:

3. This week marked the beginning of our end of year testing. What?! We go until June 20 (gulp!) but we started testing our kids with BAS already.

Which, of course, necessitates lots and lots of this:

(Iced, french vanilla, cream and sugar... Yum...) 

And maybe this is a weird thing to notice, but on the cups in the ads, there's always like the flavor above the "coffee" (like where "iced" is on this cup), but that's never what it has at the store... Hmm...

4. I posted my Friday Folder comment sheets a few days ago, and came back to tell you a little more about them. First of all, a sweet reader notified me of a typo on the Spanish version, so I fixed it up and it's available to redownload on TpT.

 (Click the image above to download for FREE)

I was asked about how I used this form, so hopefully I can give a couple helpful hints!

For several years, I've used the communication folders from Nicky's Folders. They are awesome... I've used the same ones for about the past three years and I'll definitely be able to use them again next year. (Plus they're only about $1 a piece... Totally worth it.) They have a view pocket on the front, like a lot of binders do, and I slip the sheet inside. I print them on cardstock - it's easier to slide in and out that way.

I fill out the date, behavior and work habit codes, and make notes on them about any tests, things to work on at home, etc. Then, I fill the inside, which comes with printed labels on each pocket:

Any work that needs signed goes on the left, and other work to keep at home goes on the right.

My students bring the folders home on Fridays and back on Mondays, and it works like a charm!

5. Finally, I gotta brag on my own kiddos a bit... Check out my daughter's drawing (she'll be 3 in August):

(That's a face with hair, eyes, a circle nose, a smile - which is hard to see - and the straight line up is a tongue! Plus an A in the corner for Avery.)

And as an added bonus, in being even later than usual even for me, here's my May Currently!

I'm linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching and Oh' Boy Fourth Grade!

Plants Unit, Currently April, and a FREEBIE!

Well, spring break is over.

Sad.

On the bright side, we started new units in ALL subjects today... Holla! Well, I love our plant and Kevin Henkes units, which we began today, so I'm in a happy lesson planning place. :)

I worked away during my break to get my plants unit updated.

 

This is what the old unit looked like. It makes me want to throw up a little. So I did a little PowerPointing, and this is the result:

MUCH better! 

What's included in this unit:

- Unit planner for 10 days of lessons
- Suggested books to read aloud
- Instructions for all activities
- Plant life cycle mini book
- Labs including observing soaked bean seeds, fruits with various seed types, growing bean plants, and water transportation
- Root, fruit, and leaf sort
- Flower facts craftivity (NEW for April 2013 update)
- Original plant song
- Unit assessment (NEW for April 2013 update)

If you'd like to grab the unit, click on the picture above to take you to my TpT store!

We did the first activity today, a RAN (a form of a KWL that allows for misconceptions... Which we all know firsties can have a LOT of!):

(Those kiddos are inquisitive - our Post-Its of questions spilled into the misconceptions box! Gotta get smaller Post-Its!)

Tomorrow, we're going to start talking about the life cycle of a plant. I made this little freebie for you to snag:

Click the picture above to go to my TpT store to download the freebie. It is a short reading passage with a brief five question true/false quiz to check comprehension.

Also, I thought I'd post my Currently April. :)

It's about time to call it a night... I am in for a LONG day tomorrow!

FREEBIE for the New Year, a Giveaway, and My First Craftivity!

I've been on winter break for three glorious weeks (!), and sadly, it is coming to an end. Back to the real world on Monday.

One thing I'm going to be doing with my students on Monday is.... drum roll please... my very first craftivity! I've wanted to make one for some time, and I finally got to it! It is a dinosaur-themed craftivity with two dinosaur tracers (triceratops and T. rex) and lined response paper, along with a few graphic organizers to support research about dinosaurs.

To tie it in to our return after New Year's, I've created a {freebie} that can be used in conjunction with this craft!

I plan to use this to have students record New Year's resolutions, but it could also be used at the beginning of a new school year. Click the picture above to grab your freebie!

If you're interested in the dinosaur craftivity, just click the image below to grab your copy!

I'll give a free copy of this craftivity to the first two people to comment on this post with their email addresses.

And best of all, to help all of you transitioning back to school this week and next, I'm putting my entire TpT store on sale! Get 20% off all the items in my store today through Sunday!

Happy Friday!!!