Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Once again, saw this on pinterest: The Sweet Life of Third Grade so I had to make my own!
I used PowerPoint, google searched images, sharpies, and a glue stick and came up with this rendition.



We have LOTS of co-curriculars. I am so glad they all fit on the page :). I laminated it and hot glued a bow on the ribbon. It has been a great job for the Line Leader to be in charge of doing before we leave the room.

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Pumpkin Patch Mice

I found this adorable pin on Pinterest of mice made out of shapes. I knew a math explorations was coming up with shapes so I could incorporate it into the curriculum. They turned out so well I wanted to use them on my bulletin board. So I incorporated a writing aspect. I gave the students the writing prompt "A mouse was walking in a pumpkin patch at night and saw...". They did a great job incorporating seasonal words in their stories!


















Thankfully my assistant cut out almost all the shapes for them and they just arranged the mom the page and glued them down. They had to cut their own arms, legs, and tails. It was great for me to see if any students had spacial issues.

Today we had conferences and I am ready for the weekend (and a beverage!) Have a good one everyone!

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Math Monsters


My class made math monster using a chart I made, dice, and tally marks. This was a fun way to incorporate math with a seasonal art project. They all turned out so well! I am thinking of adapting this same chart with other holidays, like a turkey for Thanksgiving or a Christmas tree (we are at an Episcopal school so I can talk about Christmas!)











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Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Pumpkin Glyphs

I am getting into the Halloween spirit! It's probably my favorite time of year.
As a part of our Halloween unit we made jack-o-lantern glyphs. Each part of the child's jack-o-lantern represented them. I forgot to write that for how ever many years they are old the drew a rib line. They all laughed when I attempted to fit all the rib lines on mine. I did fit them!








Once I put the bulletin board up the class suggested I put some stars, moons, and bats in the sky. They have such a good eye!


Happy fall, y'all!
-Libby

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Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Good Writer's Checklist

I created this little poster to help my students remember questions to ask themselves when writing in their journals. I know it is not an "Earth shattering" idea but it's important! The poster really has helped not only with journal writing but it's been a great visual for the students when we brainstorm about a topic; I can point to it and ask them questions to get them thinking.



I got this cutsie font from that Fonts for Peas ;they have lots of cute, fun, and FREE fonts! Totally life changing. :)

Hope everyone had a great Columbus Day weekend! I have enjoyed pouring my teaching thoughts into this blog. Looking forward to sharing more thoughts and ideas.
-Libby

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Saturday, October 8, 2011

Christopher Columbus

This year I really wanted to make Christopher Columbus day more fun and interesting. After showing a Brain Pop Jr. (one of the most wonderful resources I use!) we brainstormed key facts on the white board. I made sure to stress that Christopher Columbus did not discover America; he really found a route from the Old World to the New World. I drew a ship and photocopied it so each child had their own. I also had a big, paper ship up on the bulletin board for inspiration. They wrote any 3 facts on the sails and colored the background. Turned out very cute! I will scan the original ship and see if I can figure out how to post it to be downloaded.










Saturday football is calling my name. Happy Columbus Day weekend, everyone!

-Libby
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Friday, October 7, 2011

Fun with math

After seeing a cutie clock on Pinterest I decided my clock needed a facelift. So Kate, my assistant, die cut the star bursts and I already had those cute-to-death apples. I hope this will help my kiddos with telling time!


So we just started our money unit. When talking about coins and then about pennies I realized they had a hard time telling the difference between the wordage. I made this little money word wall with photos so they can see the difference.


We also introduced addition number models. Each student got 2 pizza slices with a number written on each. They also had a page of toppings. They made different combinations of numbers to equal the number (the sum) on the pizza. Then they colored them and glued them on paper plates.





It made a super cute bulletin board, too!






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All about me!

I am so very excited to be starting this teaching blog. I have been blogging for over a year now on Yummy Love on a Budget recording meals my husband and I make. Just recently I got on to Pinterest... And if you don't know what this is you've got to try it out! I discovered a whole world of teaching blogs that I never knew existed! As well as so many DIY crafts... which are a small obsession of mine. I love painting and have a little side business of sign making. Here is a little bit of my work: My Paintings. I have been in the classroom (specifically First Grade! Woop woop!) for 5 years; this is my 3rd year as a lead teacher. I will say I love teaching and the creativity allowed with the job. Finding these blogs have literally changed my life! I have seen such creative and innovative teaching methods and such CUTSIE things to make your classroom feel like your own home. I mean we spend more time in our classrooms than at home on a given day! Anyways... there have been many teachers out in blog world who have inspired me to really rock it. So thank you to all those teacher bloggers out there! Especially to Babbling Abby at The Inspired Apple! I have literally been blog stalking her. It's a little bit ridic.

Here are a few things I got from Babbling Abby @ The Inspired Apple.




After doing a whole group lesson describing a bag each of my student's tables had an individual bag to describe. My assistant used to work at Swoozies so she has lots of cute gift bags on hand!





The kids used crayon colors to describe their drawings! We had so much fun discussing the crayon names.




And of couuuurse I had to do the Pop Rocks activity! I went all over creation trying to find them. FYI The Dollar Tree always carries them... and their headquarters is in DUNWOODY (my home town)! Thankfully Kenny (my hubs) called around and found out the hook up.

The class loved eating the Pop Rocks and describing them. I did have them rewrite their work since many of the pages were sticky and covered with Pop Rocks. Pretty sure the majority of the class went home with Pop Rocks in their hair, down their backs, and all over their uniforms. But getting messy is the fun part, right?



My calendar has been upgraded. I totally copied the cutsie pig! And finally got to use my adorable owl border.












And so have my Daily 5 anchor charts! Sorry for the horrible light... I'll work on my photo taking skills! I found this so cute blog with FREE handwriting fonts!! Obsessed. Go check out Kevin and Amanda's awesome site!

I will follow up with a few original ideas. And I will say all my co-workers are... "entertained" with my new found obsession in teacher blogs. I just can't contain myself... I love it!!

-Libby

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