Veteran's Day

Do you use national events, holidays, and celebrations as teaching tools?

Tomorrow is November 11-Veteran's Day. Each year I use Veteran's Day as teachable moment. During this time of the year we focus on traditions and customs. Therefore, we discuss Veteran's Day during this time. This year my plan is to watch the video, Holiday Facts and Fun: Veteran's Day. This short video discusses the Responsibilities  of America's Armed Forces, the holiday's history, and how people observe Veteran's Day. I will also have students create Thank You posters, (I will display these on my next post.) use the word search and math practice from Kathy Law at First Grade a la Carte, and a Veteran's Day poem that I found at here. Of course, I found many fun activities on Pinterest, This is my favorite board.

Here are some posters created by the students:

Five for Friday-Linky Party July11, 2014

Another wonderful week of summer fun!  I love sitting in my sunroom, enjoying my Blueberry Clusters cereal, feeling the breeze from the fan, and reflecting on my week through blogging!

Family time is so fun. On Sunday, the weather was nice-not too hot or humid (and that is rare in the Charleston area in July). However, we took advantage of the weather and went downtown. Charleston has so much history. We went on our third zillion (is that a word?) carriage ride, visited the Provost Dungeon, and had our own walking tour. I should have used my new app MapMyWalk to see exactly how much we walked. Our boys even walked (most of the time). Daddy and sissy carried them only a small amount of time. 

We moved from Georgia to South Carolina My middle child loves sports. He loves the Georgia Bulldogs, and we love hearing him cheer, "GOOOOO DAWGS!" Well when we moved to Charleston we didn't realize their minor league team was the Riverdogs. It is so ironic. He can still cheer for dogs and shout, "Let's Go Dogs!" with the crowd. Love our family fun!

 My boys earned their Summer Reading Rewards! (My daughter has too, but she only realized this week that there were awards for her age group. She signed up this week and will definitely receive her prizes next week. She reads continuously-novels-thick novels.)

 Healthy eating is part of my family's lifestyle. This week I tried a grilled eggplant recipe from Pinterest and it was yummy! I also bought a bike (I have not got on a bike in probably 20+ years, but I got on and have been riding like a charm.) I use the app MapMy Ride and each night my hubby and I have ridden about 5-10 miles.  I love this beach cruiser. It does make you actually "workout" because I have to pedal the entire time, but its fun. It doesn't seem like a workout or exercise at all and that is what I like!

 I talked to my sister many times on the phone this week and my kids Facetime with her and their cousins often. They are definitely what I miss most about moving from Georgia. She and I have never been this far apart in our lives. She is my best friend-love that girl! (And she is coming to visit me in a couple of weeks, and then I'm going "home" too to visit.)

(Yes, I know soon I will have to begin placing my thoughts toward school and the end of summer break. Next week, I will feature some prep for next year.)

Don't forget to head on over to Doodlebugs Teaching and tell us about your fabulous five!

Have a great weekend!

Critical Thinking-Throwback Thursday

At the end of the school year, all the teachers at my school had to pack their classroom because the school is being reorganized. Our community is growing and portables are being added for next school year. Therefore, we are all anxiously awaiting late July to get back into our classrooms. I have been critically thinking of my new classroom arrangement and getting ready for the new school year. Therefore, I thought this post from August 1, 2013 was fitting for Thursday's Throwback post. 

Common Core is all about evidence (just at Bloom's Taxonomy and Marzano). In my classroom, you will hear me say--
"Show me"
"How do you know"
"Why do you think so"
"PROVE IT"

Here are some cool websites that can spark critical thinking:

Wonderopolis provides a wonder each day. Students can write, debate, discuss.....the possibilities are endless

Writing Prompts at Tumblr has a new writing prompt each day. There are even Common Core standards on the prompts. Again, the possibilities are endless.

Be sure to check out my Critical Thinking board on Pinterest.

I created Question Stems

Click the picture to grab your Freebie!

If you haven't check out Educator's Guide to Quick Critical Thinking List, I recommend taking a quick peek.

Don't forget to refer to the Depth of Knowledge Wheel

Happy Questioning!

Be sure to join in the fun over at Hope at Second Grade Shenanigans

July Currently

I can't believe it is July-Time Flies!

Listening

At home learning fun-each day my boys practice handwriting a letter, number, and their names. Then, we do a craft and other fun activities.

Loving

Each week my husband and I have a "date night" (just he and I). I think this is very important for relationships. It helps "get away" from the everyday routine in life.

Thinking

All the teachers were asked to pack their classrooms (except for those kindergarten teachers in rooms constructed for K). We are not allowed back into our school until July 25.

Wanting

My husband put some trim and crown molding in our dining room, foyer, and hall bathroom. My job is to putty and get ready for paint. Ugh!

Needing

I love summer snacks-tomatoes,cucumbers, cheese, celery, brownies, muffins, crackers, hummus, blueberries, strawberries, ..... 

4th plans

Riding in our boat with family and a picnic-Summer Fun at its best.  

Head on over to find out what everyone else is doing currently.

Manic Monday and Me Time

I have been loving my summer!

Relaxing-This picture shows the view from my patio.

Yummy snacks, breakfasts, lunches, and dinners.

Mommy time with my boys-Letter of the Day crafts and fun!

I have not done a Manic Monday freebie in such a while, but hey here I am again just in time to help you get ready for your 4th of July celebration. Simply print the pendant, cut it out, string along string, streamers, or mount on plates. Viola! 

Grab your freebie here!

Five for Friday-June 27, 2014

We have had a great week here in Charleston, SC, and I have had a lot of fun with my family. Here is a glimpse into the week:

1. Returning from seven days on vacation (just my husband and I) for our 20 year anniversary, I had to do some laundry. However, my wonderful daughter had done the laundry at home. (I am so lucky to have such a responsible, trustworthy daughter.) My father in law and niece were at my house the week we were out of town, but my daughter did a lot-cooked, cleaned, bathed and help take care of her brothers. 

2. At home learning fun-we started learning and keeping our brains sharp using letters and numbers. I stole this idea from my neighbor (with her permission-lol) and adapted to my kids, as well as, included practicing writing letters, numbers, and names. I brought home some things for my kids from school, but tried to take a more "parenting route" and not so much teacher.

3. Happy 5th Birthday to my baby! I can't believe he is 5 years old. It was a great day. Cupcakes for breakfast, cupcakes at lunch, cupcakes for snack, cupcakes before bed.

4. Library fun on Thursday. Check out yesterday's Throwback Thursday post to grab your freebie.

5. Baseball game at the hometown Minor League Baseball team, Charleston Riverdogs. We had an awesome suite (my husband got tickets from a local newspaper), but mainly sat in the seats outside. We had an awesome time! We are already planning our next visit in a couple of weeks.

Have a great weekend!

Throwback Thursday

Summer reading at its best! Today my crew and I went to the library. The above picture shows what we will be reading for the next week. We are also learning about letters and numbers, as well as, a craft each day. My boys are excited about dinosaurs; therefore, we got several non-fiction books about dinosaurs. My daughter got several fiction books, and I got a book about fun things to do in our new hometown. Since we are doing all this reading, and I am sure you are catching up on some personal (fun) reading and reading professionally too, my Throwback Thursday is a reading post. 

It is Manic Monday over at Classroom Freebies. If you haven't been there, then you better get over there and start discovering all the freebies.

No matter what you call your reading/language arts time, I bet your students read. I bet you teach your students about reading comprehension strategies to use BEFORE, DURING, and AFTER reader. I bet you instill in your students a love for listening to read alouds, reading independently, and wanting to learn more through reading. I have created some bookmarks to aide in encompassing the love and excitement, as well as, sneaking in using reading comprehension strategies.

I am super excited about these bookmarks. Click here for a sneak peek and a freebie at the first one in the series! If you like what you see, please consider following my blog.

Ideas on how to use:

You could print on colored paper to add Pizzazz and cut!

You could print front and back. Have the students fold and use for 6 weeks!

You could print and laminate. Allow students to use vis a vis and reuse!

The possibilities are endless.

Any other suggestions on how to use?

Enjoy!