Monday Made Its for October!

I chiming in with a couple things for Monday Made It again for the first time in a while! Check in with 4th Grade Frolics to see some more!

First up are these Conversation Journals! I'm super proud that I got to use my mitre saw again! I bought it for all the home renovation we've been doing to get the house ready for a baby, and once the renovation was done figured I'd never get a chance to use it again! But it was perfect for cutting these composition books in half. I made up some labels, and that was that.

The kids are going to write to me, and I'll write back to them. So, I have a confession... I made these for one kiddo who really likes to share at all the wrong times. But I didn't want just him to have one and stand out, so I'm introducing it as a new thing that we all do! I think it'll be a great way to get to know my kids better. 

Second is an upcycle, of sorts! Last year I bought myself a fancy Erin Condren Teacher Planner. It was cool, and I was definitely the envy of the faculty lounge...but I found that I never really used the planning pages that much because I plan in Google Docs, and the calendar annoyed me because I had to write in my own dates. So this year I went with a much cheaper calendar book from Target.

But I kept seeing my pretty EC planner sitting in my classroom, and I figured it was kind of a waste to let it just gather dust...and I didn't want to just throw it away... So I went through it page by page and salvaged all the quotes and empty note pages, etc. I put a sheet of colorful paper on the reverse side of the quotes and laminated them together with my home laminator. Now I've got a bunch of sturdy teacher-y bookmarks to share with friends. I laminated the full page quotes as well, and once trimmed I'll have a couple posters to hang in the hall outside my room. I felt much better throwing away the ravaged skeleton of my planner after turning it into some useful things!

And finally, I'm going to share a new TpT product I just added to my store. If you've seen my Monster Math Battles, then maybe you'll be interested to see these!

Now introducing Ninja vs. Samurai Math Battles! These are mini versions of my math battle concept, with 5 battles taking place in each mini-tournament. The battle's victor is determined by who wins the most rounds, with each round being decided by the answer to two math problems. Highest answer wins. 

My kids completed my Monster Math Battles last year, so when I walked to the front of the room at the beginning of math and put the big "Vs." on the board they actually started cheering! Haha. The kids LOVE doing these. They don't even realize that I'll be tricking them into doing 100 multi-digit multiplication problems and 50 long division problems by the time we're done. Each of the tournaments are available in my store for $2.50! Or, buy both tournaments together for $4.00 in a bundle!

And SPEAKING of bundles...if you haven't seen the amazing bundle my buddies put together to help support our adoption journey...check out my last post for lots of details, or head on over to my store and check out the preview! It's a great deal for a great cause!

The Julian Chapter - MMI!

I am super excited to be sharing my Monday Made It from 4th Grade Frolics with all of you! 

Anyone who knows me, knows that I am obsessed with the book Wonder by RJ Palacio. It's amazing, and if you haven't taken the time to read it yet...what are you waiting for?!

If you're not obsessed like me, then you might not be aware that RJ Palacio has written a companion novel titled The Julian Chapter. It's available pretty cheaply and only as ebook or an audiobook. It is definitely worth the read. 

If you're familiar with Wonder, then you know that Julian's perspective was missing from the original storyline. Now Julian has his chance to tell his side of the story. Even better than that, Julian's story continues past the ending of Wonder and gives us a chance to see what happens next! I don't want to ruin anything, but I'll leave it at saying that you have to read this wonderful redemption story.

And...OF COURSE I had to make a novel unit for it too! I spent a lot of time giving this book my usual detailed treatment, and in the process fell back in love with all of the characters from Wonder...this time that includes Julian. The Julian Chapters Novel Study Unit includes my usual chapter by chapter break downs, and also 7 more activities to use with this book and Wonder. I just put the finishing touches on it, and I hope you'll grab it up in my store for just $3.00!  A steal, right?!

I also took this as an opportunity to freshen up my original Wonder by RJ Palacio Novel Study Unit. I added the Symbolism with Wonder Activity and my Picture Vocabulary Sheets, so now this 174 page unit is even more of a steal!

My lovely wife took lots of pictures
while we visited Sapelo Island.

So grabbing up my new unit would certainly help motivate me during my second Monday Made It. I guess this one would have to be considered a work in progress at the moment because I am currently doing it. Killer B and I have been in GA vacationing and visiting family for the summer. 

But it is finally time to make the long drive home. 14 hours to be exact! Visiting with family has been nice, but It'll be great to get home and start focusing on getting things ready for next school year, getting my home improvement projects done, etc. 

So, wish me luck on my long drive with a cranky-while-driving wife and two very restless German Shepherds! I'll be counting down the miles!

Monday Made It - Capitalization poster freebie!

Just a quick post today to link up for Monday Made It!

When I taught primary I felt like I must have gone over the rules for capitalization a bajillion times. Then when I got to 5th grade and realized all my efforts were in vain for about half those kids, I nearly lost it.  So, now that I'm in 3rd/4th I figure I may as well make a last ditch effort to get as many kids on board with correct capitalization as possible so that at least half have it before they get to 5th!   ;)

It's great to just be able to say the word "Mints!" to serve as a helpful hint to students that they might need to edit for capitalization. This isn't my idea, and honestly I'm not sure where I saw it originally because one version or another of this poster has been up in my room for years, but since I made a new matchy poster for my classroom I figured I'd share it with all of you in case you can use it! It's a forever freebie (as are ALL of my freebies) and positive feedback is all the payment I'll ever request for it! Click the link to grab your copy! Enjoy! 

I know that was a quickie...but can you believe that it was my 100th post?! Thanks so much for reading!

A Few Made Its! One of which is a Freebie!

So, I'm linking up with 4th Grade Frolics for another Monday Made It! I forgot that the summer weekly link ups are over! Boohoo! Oh well!

I've been crazy working on things for my own classroom, and one of them has turned into a freebie for those of you who stick around to the end! No skipping ahead! 

So I changed my classroom theme and color scheme in a big way this year. I've been working on a lot of things to make them matchy-matchy in my room. One of things I made I thought other teachers might be able to use. It's these popular clock minute numbers to help kids tell time. I think telling time is just one of those skills you have to practice and see over and over again. This is a great visual to help kids associate the minute values with the numbers on the clock. You can grab the file from my store for a mere DOLLAR.

My next Made It is kind of embarrassing. Mainly because I've been seeing and coveting other people's Teacher ToolBoxes for literally years and have just been too darn lazy to make my own. I even made labels once, then decided I didn't like them. Then made different labels, and still didn't make it.

Finally, I made some labels that I LOVE, and put together the little toolbox on the right. Pretty much as soon as I finished the first one I realized that I still had lots and lots of little things that needed homes. So I went to the store and bought a bigger one with just big drawers. Before you knew it, my desk was super organized and I now have the power of a multitude of office supplies at my fingertips in a moment's notice!

So, this is a scheduled post because today I am attending the opening ceremony where the mentors in my district welcome our year-long PDS interns and do some icebreakers and professional development together. Then my actual in-service preplanning days begin on Tuesday, and school with kids starts the following Tuesday! 

In preparation for all the planning that this new year will entail I made myself a handy little lesson planning bookmark. Click here to get your own copy! It has a nice list of things to keep in mind while planning to help make sure that your lessons are as engaging as possible! I try to do these things as much as possible already, but reading Teach Like A Pirate made me want to make something to keep in my plan book to look at while planning as a reminder.

Check out all of the other cool Monday Made Its! Every week I see something new to put on my to do list!

Monday Made It - Classroom Crafts

I'm linking up with 4th Grade Frolics for another Monday Made It! I've been pretty busy working on a few projects for my classroom, and some of them even got completed! 

I'm starting to feel the crunch now that I'm spending this entire week in a workshop about teaching about energy. I mean, it's nice money, and I'm sure I'll learn some cool things, but it lasts from 8am to 5pm, and two nights it goes til 8:00 pm. By the time the workshop ends I'll only have one week of summer left before I go back for inservice. And I'll be spending most of that week in my classroom!

Anyway! Here are my finished projects!

The first was a simple one, but something I should have done years ago. It's funny because I didn't even realize I HAD this problem until I saw something on the internet a few week ago.

 I've always had a box for kids to drop Box Tops in, but kids are always coming up to me with little things that they've found that need to be put away. Lost dice, legos, a stray pattern block, etc. It's never convenient to put them away, so they inevitably build up into a stack on my desk that has to be dealt with. Now I've got a box that kids can just drop it into, no interruptions needed, and the "class cleaners" can empty the box when they have time.

And it seems like I give a band-aid to someone every other day! And usually it's when I'm needing to get something started. Why have I been storing them in an out of reach cabinet above the sink for the last 12 years?! No more! Why can't kids just get themselves a band-aid? They cost like a penny each.

Next up! I saw a cute "NOISE" level tracker on Looking from Third to Fourth's blog the other day, and had to have one that matched up with my classroom colors. It's hard to tell, but it's yellow and green. I'm using all the colors from my blog in my room this year! If you haven't seen the "NOISE level tracker," The letters are magnetic and you basically take a letter off the board until there is just "No" left. Then kids know that there is NO more talking.

Speaking of magnets: I'm pretty much sick of them. I just finished attaching magnetic tape to the back of my CAFE and VOICES strategies to put up on my boards this year. I decided to make all new CAFE cards to match my theme...should have just used my old ones!

Handy tip: I write the letter on the back of the strategy that matches its place. It makes them way easier to find later when you're sorting through them to find the strategy you need.

Finally, I made one of these!

When it comes to pencils I have gone through phases. The going green advocate in me shudders at the thought that my classes in the last 12 years have probably gone through a forest worth of pencils. 

But I decided last year not to fight it anymore and just had a constant supply of pencils at the ready. I'm done fighting. I'm still going to try out Ladybug's Teacher Files' Pencil Challenge, but for those who lose their pencil...just come and grab a pre-sharpened one from the dispenser! And of course, it was an excuse to use my washi tape.

I suppose my other projects are for another Monday!

Now, don't forget to pop on over to the giveaway on Jivey's Facebook page!

Monday Made its!

I'm linking up for the 4th Grade Frolics' last Monday Made it for July. I can't believe July is practically over! Sigh! So much to do, so little time.

My first Made it is pretty simple. I did some of the ever popular mod podged clipboards. I had paper that fit almost perfectly, but left a stripe at the top and bottom that was perfect for washi tape. So I taped that part and mod podged over it too. It worked well! And not having to line up two sheets of paper or put ribbon in the middle made it easier.

I've also been working on a lot of decor items for my classroom. I made up these new daily schedule cards and nameplates to match the rest of my classroom's new color scheme. 

I made them in two styles, one with stripes and one with chevron pattern. They're fully editable! And they're just $2.00 in my store! 

This is my October template!

A while back I put together a new set of monthly newsletter templates for this upcoming year as well. I made a custom clip art image to go along with each month.

I went ahead and made them in both color and black and white. One of the first things I do is set up an e-mail list for my parents, because I send most of my correspondence that way now, including the newsletter. Every once in a while there is a parent who wants hard copies, so I just copy and paste the text onto the black and white version for easy printing. The set is just $4.00!

In other news, have you heard about the 8 great days that are coming over on Jivey's facebook page? Between July 31st and August 7th, Jivey will be hosting a giveaway a day! That's a lot of chances to win something from some of my favorite bloggers!  While you're on facebook, hop on over and follow my page as well!

Also, be sure to come back on Wednesday because we're having a Freebie Blog Hop hosted by the PA bloggers that met up recently! 

Monday Made Its, and a 350+ Follower Giveaway!

I have three Monday Made Its today! One for home, one for blogging, and one for school! Then there's a giveaway at the end!

First, home: So, I read a thousand million infinity blogs and I see twice as many good ideas on them. Some are easy because I can just go to the store and buy them. Some I love, but are too intimidating. Many are in my "to-do queue." But this one jumped to the front of the line when I saw it on a crafting blog a while back. 

Killer B and I have the same discussion every single night...

B: "So, what's for dinner?" 
Me: "I don't know...food?" 
B: "What kind of food?" 
Me: "Um...good food?" 
B: "What's good food?" 
Me: "Food you can eat."
B: "Ugh, seriously, what's for dinner?"
Me: "Um...food?"

So I showed her the blog post, she said, "We should make one," and we DID! 

Now, I am the Craft/Hobby King, and could spend hours in Joanne Fabrics, Michael's, Hobby Lobby, etc. Killer B on the other hand has the attention span of a very young child when it comes to all things crafty. So it is a miracle that we actually went to the store and took the time to choose fabric and ribbon that worked well for our kitchen. 

Throw in some hot glue, clothespins, some washi tape, a few drops of super glue, a staple gun and some card stock and there you go! It's our brand new Menu Board! I added a clip for coupons up at the top. It's nice to be able to add new meals to our rotation and not forget about them. The ingredients for the meal are written on the back of the meal cards, which are stored in the little attached box. Here's hoping that our dinner choice problems are solved! I guess we'll see!

Second, for blogging: If you look in my right column, you'll see that my Freebie Stuff Label is updated and actually useful now! I've included links to all of my freebies. Some are free on TpT and some are googledocs. I know...you don't get TpT credits for rating freebies...but you DO get my undying adoration and thanks! So if you like one of my TpT freebies, then please rate it! And if you don't like it...hmmm..I wonder about people like you sometimes...

Yep, too cold for recess that day.

Third, for school: If you're like me you almost certainly dread one thing about teaching more than any other...that's right, I'm talking about the dreaded INDOOR RECESS! Up here in the great state of PA, we have quite a few days of the year where it is just too cold or rainy to go outside. Now, if you're also like me then you definitely have kids in your class who are "fast finishers." And I bet we also have in common that we love the idea of "brain breaks" for kids, right?!

Those three things were what got the gears turning in my brain about my newest TpT product. I call it "My Book of Awesome Tasks" and I am super proud of it.

I've been doing these activities with my kiddos for years, but I've never taken the time to compile them into one handy book until now. I'm in love with the idea of my kids having this book in their mailboxes that they can pull out and "work" in whenever they finish early, or if I think they need a brain break, or even as an option during indoor recess. 

The activities include everything from making and deciphering secret codes, to creating artwork in unique ways, to writing stories, etc. Each activity is unique and includes simple directions.

I love that these activities are educational, call upon their creative sides, and don't seem like work. The activities can be finished simply by younger kids, but allow for more depth and effort to be put in by older kids. To be honest, I already printed a copy for myself to do for fun. 

There are a total of 45 different activities for the kids to do. Of course, pages of math facts, etc. could easily be slipped into the book before stapling it together too! I'm working on a second book that the really industrious kids can get when they finish the first one. The book is in my store for a mere $5.00!  

What?! You can't even get 2 cappuccinos at Starbucks for that, people! And those are gone in less than an hour...this lasts at least 45 days a year for the rest of your teaching career! 

Now, pin it to win it! Just leave a comment with your link and I'll let Killer B pick a number to decide the winner!

Now to the other good stuff...

When I started this blog earlier this year, I have to be honest and say that I was kind of afraid that no one would ever actually be interested enough to read it or talk to me about my thoughts. But instead it has become a way for me to interact with some truly awesome teachers out there in the world that I might not have met before starting this blog. And looking at my stats the other day, I noticed that a few of my posts have over 500 views! It really makes me happy to know that others are interested in reading about my ideas, sharing their ideas with me, helping me with issues I encounter, and just get to know me as a person.

So, all that to say...it's time to celebrate with a 350+ Bloglovin' Follower Giveaway! I have to be frank...I was a smidge overwhelmed with my 100 follower giveaway, and things are about to get real with school prep...so I hope you'll forgive me that I didn't reach out to all my TpT friends out there for help. I promise I will next time! I hope the potential to get some prizes from my store will still be worth your while though! I'll select 3 winners!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thanks so much to everyone who has read this little blog of mine, left comments, found something useful here, or participated in a linky with me. You guys rock!

A freebie sandwich during my looong drive ahead!

 

Killer B took this photo of the Atlanta skyline!

So, my long vacation with Killer B to visit family in Georgia is finally at end. Time to head back home, which means a 14 hour drive that will potentially be ended with me coming home to a flooded basement...let's all keep those fingers crossed! 

Despite it being my vacation, I have been SUPER busy working nights on some ongoing projects for my own classroom and TpT store! I love that TpT kind of makes me prettify my stuff. I think the kids benefit because it's more engaging when it's cute. My Monday Made it is my freebie sandwich!

So, what's a freebie sandwich?! If you bear with me, there's a freebie, some jibber-jabber, a deal, and another freebie for you at the end! (Don't skip ahead! I won't know you cheated, but God will!)    ;)

First, a freebie. Before I even have my kids write their first word in  my writing workshop, I have them think and think some more about a nice list of things that they could write about. I don't want to be writing about "Small moments" like Lucy Caulkins says, and the kiddo can't even think about a big topic to get them started! So I usually start by having my kids brainstorm a list of things they love. I made this sheet to put in the front of their writing folders next year. It's "50 things I love..." Of course, I don't expect them to fill out the whole sheet at once, but I wanted them to have space to add things throughout the year. It would be a fun beginning of year activity too! If you download it and like it, I'd love for you to rate it!

Now for the jibber-jabber. I want to show you something I'm proud of. I have been working on this for a while now. I read this book and did these activities with my students this past year and we loved it. Tom Angleberger is the genius behind Origami Yoda. One of his newest books is Fake Mustache. It's all about this kid who has a friend named Casper that buys a fake mustache that has hypnotic powers. Casper eventually uses the power of the mustache to become president of the United States, but is thwarted by the two protagonists of the story, Lenny Flem Jr. and Jodie O'Rodeo. The book is great fun, and presents a lot of learning opportunities.

I especially like that it is really light hearted...which makes a great follow up to one of our more serious read-alouds like Wonder. (Check out my 170 page novel unit on that wonderful book!)

I prepared a lot of activities for Fake Mustache, including a lapbook that students can make and work on while reading the book. I wrote both comprehension and inferring questions for every chapter of the book. This unit also contains some of my more popular reading group activities, including my Theme Defense activity and my Teach Plot Three Ways graphic organizers, which can be used with any book. So you're really getting a deal when you buy the unit! I've got the entire Fake Mustache Novel Unit marked down to just $5 for the whole month of July! That's just 8 cents a page. Spread out over a 30 year teaching career...that's just .2777 of a cent per page! A steal, right?!

If your kids are anything like mine, they are probably obsessed with anything with a mustache on it. Aw, who am I kidding? So am I! So in honor of finishing my fake mustache unit, I made this cute little clip art collection of mustaches, in rainbow colors! I've been working on these for a while now too, and I was happy to finish them just as I wrapped up on my novel unit! Just $5 for all 156 images! (3 cents a mustache! Come on, people!)

Finally, I finished working on this fun little pack of worksheets. I've had my kids do this before, and they loved it. It makes a great math center, morning work activity, or fast finisher activity. I've even had kids ask to do it when we have to do indoor recess! 

Basically, the student rolls dice and then adds or multiplies (depending on the sheet, both are included!) to determine how many body parts their monster should have. Sometimes the things that come out of their minds when they draw are just awesome. Like this little guy in the picture here! 

So here's the deal. I have a 14 hour drive ahead of me. A cha-ching here and there would definitely make that drive more bearable! So, anyone who buys the Fake Mustache Novel Unit between now and when I get home around 8am Monday morning, (and e-mails me to let me know you saw this post!) can have their choice of the Mustaches Clip Art or the Roll and Draw a Monster sheets for free!

Not good enough, you say? Well, just for bearing with me this long, you can head on over to my facebook page and grab up your Fan Freebie for liking my page! Just click on the "Fan Freebie" tab to get your very own copy of my version of the "In Our Class" poster! I don't like the ones that say "We do kindness. We do edit.We do questions. etc." So, I made my own, more grammatically-pleasing-to-my-ears version! Here's what it looks like!

Thanks for taking part in my freebie sandwich! I hope you found something worthwhile! Please come back on Tuesday for info on my first linky ever...Tunes Tuesday! I'd love it if we had a lot of participation!