Strawberry Salad-Also an informational writing

Holiday traditions are very important to me, but somehow the last couple of years I have let this one slide past me. (and a couple more....as this year my family and I will be celebrating Christmas on board a cruise ship.However, we are celebrating Christmas with my sister and her family BEFORE our trip, as well as celebrating Christmas with my husband's family BEFORE our trip. SO the tradition of my family being together on Christmas will still pass as tradition--RIGHT?)

I have decided to join the LINKY PARTY at TBA for a favorite holiday recipe. My mamaw would make this Strawberry Salad each year for the holidays--Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas and when I was younger my family would gather for Labor Day too. We always had this as a "sweet" treat. I guess that is what makes it a TRADITION!



Anyway back to my post-This year after Thanksgiving my class was studying about informational writing. We had already written about someone that we wanted to honor during our Susan B. Anthony study and made a coin. We had written informational pieces about how to play games. AND of course-informational writing is NOT complete without writing a recipe. I wanted to write an easy recipe. I did not even have one idea of what I was going to use until the morning of the lesson. I had thought about making a sandwich, chicken casserole, or a smoothie, but then I remembered....I had brought Strawberry Salad for lunch and this was something I could present as somewhat healthy (since it has cottage cheese). I started by asking yes/no questions and having the students raise their thumb up for yes and down for no.

Do you like cottage cheese? (No-Yuck! I don't. My thumb was down. Most of the students' thumbs were too.)

Do you like strawberries?

Do you like cool whip?

Do you like pineapple?

Do you like pecans?

(Most of the thumbs were raised for the remaining questions. The students were out of their seats. Some were licking their lips and saying yummy.)

Then, I proceeded to write the recipe and we discussed the information needed for recipes. What was awesome about this lesson was that several students remembered the recipe and made it at home (one even brought to school for lunch). I brought Strawberry Salad too for the next couple of days. They all tried it and loved it. I remember one student saying, "Where is the lettuce? You said it was a salad."  We started another discussion. Anyway here is the recipe:

Strawberry Salad

You will need:

1 large container of low curd cottage cheese

1 package frozen strawberries in juice (thawed)

1 container of cool whip

1 pkg of strawberry jello (do not make this--you are going to use this for the sugary, strawberry flavor)

1 small jar pineapple, drained

1 cup pecans

Procedure:

1. Combine the package of strawberry jello, cottage cheese, and cool whip in a large bowl. Stir.

2. Add the frozen strawberries, pineapple, and pecans. Stir.

3. Place in the refrigerator or serve immediately.

4. ENJOY! YUMMY!



I'm Ecstatic! Thank you!

I am ecstatic! I have received an award from Keri at Teach Play Smile. Thanks, Keri I really needed a self-esteem boost.

The Sunshine Award rules are:
1. Thank the person who gave this award and write a post about it.
2. Answer the following questions below.
3. And pass the award to 10~12 fabulous bloggers, link their blogs and let them know you awarded them.

* Favorite Color? 

My favorite color is green.  I love green (all shades)!

* Favorite Animal?

I really do not have a favorite animal so...I will choose an alligator because at a previous school the firsties and myself all had a jungle/safari team and chose an animal that went with our last name. I chose alligators. Therefore, I refer to my students as Allen's Awesome Alligators. I have acquired lots of alligators.

* Favorite Number? 

My favorite number is

* Favorite Drink? 

I really do not drink a lot of caffeine, but when I do I prefer Mountain Dew.

I also love 100% Ocean Spray Cranberry Juices.

On cold winter nights, I love homemade hot chocolate.

* Facebook or Twitter?

I am a member of both, but I only FB.

* Your Passion? 

My passion is my family. I love my hubby and three children. They are my world.

* Giving or Getting Presents?

Well--Honestly, I love both!

* Favorite day? My most favorite day of the year is Christmas.

* Favorite flowers? 

My most favorite flowers are lillies and hygrandeas.

 

Choosing my favorite blogs was difficult...I love most all teacher ones! Here are a few:

First Grade A La Carte My inspiration for beginning to blog and a great friend! Check out her games!

Pitner's Potpourri Check out her games!

3rd Grade Gridiron A Georgia Buddy

A Special Kind of Class

Yearn to Learn

Extra Special Teaching

Life in 4B I love her lessons! Very Inspiring!

Our Cool School

Ashleigh's Education Journey Another Georgia Buddy

Teach Play Smile

Check out all these blogs and the others on my blogroll too!

I'm Thankful Linky

I have many things to be thankful. Each day on my personal facebook, I have dedicated a post to the Thirty Days of Thankfulness in November. Here are a few:

Day 1- I am thankful for Christ my savior.

Day 2-I am thankful for my husband, my soulmate, and the wonderful father to our adorable children.

Day 3-I am thankful for my sister. We are sisters by birth; friends by choice.

Day 4-I am thankful for my sweetpea daughter-bright and ambitious girl.

Day 5- I an thankful for my first son. He has taught me not to take the little things in life for granted. Awesome kid!

Day 6-(This would have also been my mom's 60th birthday.) I am thankful to have had a loving,caring, AWESOME mother. She is my guardian angel.

Day 7- I am thankful for my baby boy-a pistol, full of energy. He definitely keeps me young.

Day 8- I am thankful for the right to vote (voting day)

Day 9- I am thankful for everlasting friends.

Day 10-I am thankful for a roof over my head, a place that my family and I can call home. A House is made of sticks, bricks, and stone BUT a home is made from love alone.

Day 11-I am thankful for the all the Veterans.

Day 12-I am thankful for Twizzlers candy. I like the cherry flavor.

Day 13-I am thankful that Chris and I have a job in this terrible economy.

Day 14-I am thankful for Coke.

(This was a crazy week. I hardly ever drink coke anymore. This week I posted two sugary treats.)

Day 15- I am thankful for my children's caring pediatrians. (Dylan had to go to the doctor.)

Day 16-I am thankful for my mother and father in-law. They always strive to treat me at their daughter.

Day 17-I am thankful for a warm home to rest my head at night. (BRRRR-cold night here is GA.)

Day 18-I am thankful for fries on "Fry" day. (Each Friday, we get fries from Chick-fil-a.)

Day 19- I am thankful for good friends and fun times.

Day 20-I am thankful for good neighbor (at school and in my neighborhood).

Day 21- I am thankful to have a week off to spend with my family.

Thanksgiving Fun

Now that I am on Thanksgiving Break, I have some time to blog. I have been so busy teaching, learning, and growing with my students. I wanted to tell about a super fun activity.

On Friday, my class and two first grade classes celebrated Thanksgiving "Charlie Brown" style. It was so fun. While the students watched Charlie Brown's Thanksgiving for video storytime, they also enjoyed a little feast. The students enjoyed eating toast, popcorn, pretzel sticks, and jelly beans just like Charlie Brown and his friends.

BTW-I can not wait until we return to school. It will be "the most wonderful time of the year." I love the Gingerbread series I have created.

Thanksgiving Giveaway

If you are thankful for ANYTHING (and I know all of us are), then you need to head on over to First Grade A la Carte because Kathy is having a giveaway that you do NOT want to miss.

Some pics of Ancient Greece and a Freebie

We have been so busy growing and learning AND adapting to third grade. Needless to say, I have been working my "tail off". I have not posted as often or as much as I would like, but maybe since the second nine weeks is about to begin and there is now the students are beginning to learn a sense of repsponsibility, independence, and "third grade life"....I will get to posts more often and share in our classroom fun.

First quarter in social studies has been quite exciting. We have learned about Ancient Greece and its relationship to the United States Roots of Democracy. (This is only one small portion, but we created masks to portray the theater in Greece, created blueprints and built new buildings (remembering the three Greek Columns).  Here are some pictures:

Parent/Teacher Conferences begin this week for my school. I have created a "talking" sheet to help me stay on track during Parent/Teacher Conferences this week. It is a word document so that you can change and/or insert your information.

Click here!
Enjoy-come back and I will hopefully have a post tomorrow.

Ancient Greece Part 2

We are finishing our study on Ancient Greece this week and moving to Roots of Democracy and American Government. However, I wanted to share an awesome website that I found in regards to Ancient Greece. So click HERE. It is filled with awesome PowerPoint Presentations. (Of course, you will need to  have viewed them previously before showing to your students due to Greek statues and art.) We finished reading Hour of the Olympics and my students were amazed with the story's ending. They truly understand Greek life. They created are going to create Venn Diagrams and use the charts to show me their understanding in how their life is similar, yet different than that of Ancient Greek boys and/or girls. We are wrapping up our studying with Greek Architecture and its importance. We are even making our own buildings. Look for them as well as our masks soon. Lastly, we are having an "Ancient Greek Olympic Day". We are going to run footraces, throw the discus (frisbee), javelin (broomstick), and I have not quite figured out how to portray chariot races, but make let try human wheelbarrow races. All this tomorrow and Wednesday along with CoGAT testing. Pics by Thursday.

Ancient Greece

We have started our study on Ancient Greece and are leading to the Roots of Democracy in America as well as Government. Yes, that is ALOT to cover in third grade and that is only the first quarter along with Map Skills and the contributions and who is Paul Revere.
Enough rambling and to my beginning--I am using Hour of the Olympics a book in the Magic Tree House collection by Mary Pope Osborne to guide my students and myself (for fun) in the Ancient Greece.

I am also using this awesome website find---Hour of the Olympic Lesson Plan Ideas.
Last Thursday, we read and discussed the Prologue, Chapter 1, and Chapter 2. I had my girls create Olive Branch "halos" and the boys created masks to be used for drama. However, I used a different spin. I wanted my students to understand that men and boys portrayed men, women, boys, and girls in the theater. I made small slips of paper with the gender-male or female-and a feeling word. I will post pics. On Friday, we discussed Patriots Day. Today we found out Where in the World is Greece? Where in Europe is Greece? and Look at Greece. I will also scan and post these maps tomorrow (as I am doing this-I should really be doing sub plans because my babysitter was in a car accident and will not be able to watch my little one tomorrow. Daddy took of couple weeks ago. So now it is mommy's turn. I guess I will do that next.)
Come back tomorrow for pics and maps.

Proud to Be An American

  




 On the eve of the tenth anniversary of 9-11, I sit and reflect of what I was doing on that tragic day----and as Lee Greenwood's song, I am Proud to Be an American  runs through my mind.
On 9-11 ten years ago, I was teaching a class of first graders. I can vividly remember the school's administrative assistant coming by my classroom to tell me to not turn on the television. I was like why--why would I turn on the television, I never do (She could even testify to that herself having been my teacher assistant the previous year.) . Little did I know all the chaos happening in the world, I was in the moment of teaching. Quite frankly, I am glad I did not see all the news coverage until later in the day and for many days to come. I can remember, however, thinking will my own little girl see her first birthday, does this mean war in America on America soil? Well, there has been a war--a war on terrorism and yes, my little girl did see her first birthday two months later. Tonight I think about those first graders, I am proud to say that I kept them safe and away from the media at that moment. I am proud to say that I am an American. I am proud to say that I will wave and raise the red, white, and blue all day anyday. I am proud to say for Christmas when I was four years old, my one Christmas gift that I wanted most was an American Flag. I proudly sing those words in the song sang by Lee Greenword and even Bruce Springsteen, Born in the U.S.A.
     Friday, I was speaking with my class and we were discussing the defintion of a patriot, a loyalists, and a citizen. We made (are making) windsocks to show our appreciation for our country. I believe on Monday we will have an even better discussion as we continue our study on the Roots of Democracy. I think I will even use the brainpop video on 9-11 (to help those that were not even born) for better understanding.

I'm still here----

I am still here-----breathing! I have so busy the first two weeks of school. I feel like I am drowning , and now I am coming to the top for some air. So don't give up on me. I will begin posting regularly soon.

Getting to Know Me

Not many people will know that I have not posted or have been MIA, but for my followers and for those who have me on their blogrolls BIG THANKS and here is my newest post.

Last week was the first week of school with the students. I literally planned each day the night before (as I am changing grade levels from first to third) based on "teachable moments" and what I learned from my students each day (I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE what I call "teachable moments". This means I can vear away from my lesson plans (however, still following curriculum and standards) and teach MY students according to their needs (academically, socially, and emotionally). BTW-MY STUDENTS ARE THE BEST THIRD GRADERS!!!

Anyway onto my post--

Last week we did the usual rules, procedures, and beginning to learn routines. I used the week as a getting to know me week. The students and I learned about each other in various ways. Here are just a few:

• We discussed places to read and used an easy graphic organizer web.
• We discussed what we like to read about and the students created word splashes. (I can not wait to introduce Wordle to them.)
• We began reading How to Be Cool in Third Grade by Betsy Duffey. We are creating an easy story map and making text to self connections.
• Students (and myself) brought in 3-5 items about ourselves and shared them in front of the class (no one freaked out!).
• We made Venn Diagrams similiar to those found at Third Grade Thinkers. However, I could not get her link to work at the time (She has fixed it now!) so I had to create my own table. I added some items. The students had an awesome time and conversation was amazing. I had to join because I have an odd number of students in my room. I will post pics.

This week-I hope to continue learning about ourselves and incorporating teamwork.
What do you do to encourage teamwork?

And the Winners are....Thank you for following my blog, Learn with ME in and Kathy's blog, First Grade A La Carte. A BIG THANK YOU TO KATHY for helping me in the giveaway..



I am so sorry that I did not post the winners last night, but being BUSY has doubled as pre-planning began this week. I have been swamped----

Drumroll please.................

And the Winners are

Brain is fried! I can not even remember the steps that got me this, but I have the image for comment of number 13.

SO if

polkadotowl  and  kathleen3 would comment an email address, I will send games and I will get help from a friend to help clear my scattered and stressed brain. Since I took an extra day and and one-fourth, winners will have until Friday at midnight EST.  I will post all like all the pros do, but I want the winners to know that they have won. Thank you for your patience. Thank you all for entering. Tomorrow I get to meet the students for Registration. Night--Night.

 

Don't forget about my 100+ follower giveaway!

Head over to My Games Giveaway! Featuring these games. Click on the giveaway link to find out all the rules and regulations!

HIP, HIP HOORAY----It's my FIRST Giveaway!

I am SO excited to announce my first giveaway. I have a surprise that I know ALL of you will LOVE. Kathy at First Grade A La Carte has agreed to TEAM with me on this 100 followers giveaway!

Kathy has created computation practice games. She has recently posted these at her Teachers Pay Teachers Store. These sets include 11 game boards to practice addition facts 0-9. She has ALSO created Multiplication versions of BOTH games. All you need to do is add a 10-sided die or playing cards, game markers, and a friend to play.

THE GIVEAWAY WILL GIVE TWO WINNERS THEIR CHOICE OF ADDITION OR MULTIPLICATION GAMES!

All you need to do to enter this giveaway is:

* For one chance, you need to become a FOLLOWER of MY BLOG (or leave a comment that you are a follower already) AND a FOLLOWER of First Grade A La Carte . You must follow BOTH and comment that you are a follower of  BOTH.

* For a second chance, you will need to ADD Learn with ME in Grade Three to your Blog Roll AND leave a comment.

Winners will be RANDOMLY selected.

GIVEAWAY will end at 7:00 p.m. EST on Tuesday, August 2, 2011.

Celebrate

I have to blog about this giveaway before my last summer getaway with my family. I return to school for pre-planning on Monday. My family has had an AWESOME summer. I am not ready for it to end. We have been to Orlando visiting Mickey Mouse and his friends at the Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios. We also visited Shamu at Sea World. Then, we went for a 5 night cruise to the Bahamas with Mickey and his crew on the Disney Dream. We were lucky to cruise with my sister and her family too. We had a MAGICAL time!  We have been to the lake and ridden our boat several times. We have had weekend getaways camping (and this weekend is going to be our last for a couple of weeks). We have been to the pool, ridden our golf cart around the neighborhood, shopped, watched television and hung out eating popcorn and snacks in our newly finished basement. And, of course, we have slept late and gone to bed late----BUT next week we have to get back to a routine.----SO until Sunday evening, I am out of here!

YIPPEE! Kathy over at First Grade a la Carte is doing it AGAIN! She is celebrating 700 followers! WOW! This time she is having a give away on Math Games and YOU can choose addition or multiplication. You could be one of the FIVE lucky winners! Her games are awesome! She creates them with standards and students in mind. They are great for centers, Guided Math rotations, or just plain fun while learning. Head on over to First Grade A la Carte because time is running out!

Give Away-Don't Miss IT

You need to head over to Farley's Give Away at Oh' Boy 4th Grade!!!!!
She has hooked up with some AWESOME clipartists and is having a giveaway that is worth $850.00
Hurry over and check it out! You will not want to miss out!