Happy Easter and new Math games

I've been enjoying my Easter weekend thanks to the upswing in the weather around here. We finally broke into the high 40s and low 50s! That's Vespa weather!

Killer B and I will be visiting her elderly aunt later today for Easter dinner. And then I get tomorrow off due to having collected enough "trade hours!" I spent some time yesterday classing up and compiling three of my fun math games for my TpT store. Check them out!

These are "I have, who has" games for practicing the conversion of customary units of measure. I have a game for length, weight and capacity. I've also put all three into a bundle for $5.

The cards are fun because they play off of the kids' love of anything with a mustache on them. For example, "I have 3ft. I mustache(picture), who has 24 inches given in feet?" 

I've included some of my custom made mustache clip art to print off and use as pencil toppers. I have my kids write the basic conversions on the back of the mustaches and they can peek at them if they need to. I think making the activity fun and memorable with the mustaches helps them remember the conversions.

I've also bundled the games here!

In other TpT news, I was super excited to reach my goal yesterday! Woohoo! 

Check out my Peer Editing Freebie in last Friday's post if you haven't already! And we're on our way to a 50 Follower giveaway! Everyone have a great Easter!

Freebie Friday and High/Low

I'm joining up with Teacher to the Core's High-Low Linky. Here're mine for the month of March!

I'm also doing my first Freebie Friday!

My freebie is this simple, but effective, form for having kids peer edit each other's writing pieces. Just click the image below to download it from my TpT store! Enjoy!

In other news: I've decided to try out having a Facebook page for Sweet Rhyme - Pure Reason. Stop on by and give me a "Like" if you feel so inclined!

Today was nice because my conferences wrapped up well yesterday, and today was a day off to relax. Also, with the TpT quarter wrapping up in two days I'm happy to say that I am just $1.25 away from my (admittedly modest) goal, thanks to a couple sales that came in while I sipped coffee and enjoyed a sandwich at Panera this morning with my lovely wife! (Who I think is getting a little tired of me talking about all this!)

And now, it's time to watch an episode of Swamp People and eat some oatmeal cookies! Til next time!

Workshop Wednesday - Mentor Texts

I'm linking up to Ideas by Jivey's wonderful Workshop Wednesday linky. This week's topic is using mentor texts in writing.

As a fifth grade teacher with the heart and soul of a 1st and 2nd grade teacher, I just can't get away from using picture books. I teach writer's workshop in a typical mini-lesson then write/conference way, but that mini-lesson involves a picture book more often than not.

I'm sharing two by the same author today that I use to teach word choice. 

The first is Crickwing by Janell Cannon. Her writing is chock full of interesting words. I actually took this book and rewrote the first five pages using less detail and less interesting words. I don't tell the kids anything about it at first, I just start reading...

The kids quickly realize that this book is just dead boring. That's when I reveal that I made some changes and I go back and read the first couple pages to them with the good word choice. The kids are able to pinpoint that it is the good word choice that help make the story interesting. We talk about this briefly and then I have the kids look through their writing folder and find a work sample or two to "spice up."

The next book I use is Verdi by Janell Cannon. This book is another great example of word choice. There is a decent amount of dialogue in the book and the author clearly has heard the old "Said is Dead" motto. I have gone through the book and highlighted a few things. The first is her use of interesting and precise language, and the second is the way she uses "said" sparingly. Her characters grumble and chide and admonish and so on. We talk for a bit about how the kids could use more precise language than just "said" when they describe the way a character speaks. 

There's nothing better than reading my kiddos' reading response journals over the weekend and seeing them use this in their writing. 

In other news: First day of parent conferences went off without a hitch! It's so great to be able to fill parents in on all the great progress their kids have made this year. I love seeing how proud the kids are in front of their parents. 

As much as I want to have a normal day of school, I am totally looking forward to Friday and Monday. Friday is a day off for everyone. Monday is an in-service day for teachers.  I went to a workshop over the summer about deliberation in the classroom, so I have accrued enough "trade time" to get the day off! 

Then we have 3 normal school days next week (FINALLY!) and on Friday we're taking our 5th grade field trip to Philly. And that day promises to be the longest day of my life!

Be sure to check out the other Workshop Wednesday links if you haven't already. I saw some great ideas out there! Adios for now!

Earthworm Dissection for the Tried it Tuesday Linky and a 50 States Game

So I'm linking up to this cool new linky from Fourth Grade Flipper. The rules are simple, describe something new you've tried. Well, today we tried dissecting earthworms in my classroom. We study the plant and animal kingdoms and relate it back to animal classification and adaptations. The earthworm has a highly adapted body, yet has many analogous organs/systems to the human body (which is our next science unit). We use this as kind of a capstone experience for the unit. 

Censored for your benefit!

What went right: The kids really did learn a lot about animal adaptations and how the earthworm's body is compared to the human body! No one cut themselves. No one threw up (though one girl turned a few shades of yellow). A good discussion arose from the activity. Pretty good all in all.

What could have been better: Well...the teacher across the hall was absent, and her kids were supposed to do this today too, so we combined classes and taught all the kids in my room. That's a lot of kids in a little room. Also, I LOVE parent volunteers, but they were a little grossed out and a lot under-educated about the inner workings of the earthworm. I had to correct more than one parent when they told the kids at their center that "those white things are its hearts!" (The white things are its reproductive organs, for the record!)

Also, my classroom smelled like dead worms for like 2 hours afterwards...

In other news...

Congrats to Rosemary for winning the 250 Scholastic Book Points in my recent giveaway! I hope you'll let me know which books you get one you receive your prize! We're slowly climbing to 50!

Also, I was very productive during my ill-gotten snow day yesterday! I FINALLY finished custom making all 50 states worth of clip art and put it all together to make a new game I plan to use with my class and have added to my TpT store. Click the image below to check it out! (Just 3 clams! Practically a steal!)

I think it'll be a fun way to have the kids practice the states as a small group center later in the year once the big ugly tests are over. The same cards could easily be adapted to practice the state capitals as well! I also listed the clip art I made for this product on my store for anyone interested!

Tomorrow and Thursday we have parent conferences all day. In my old school system in GA we didn't get days like this for conferences, we just had to schedule them all for after school. There's nothing worse than scheduling a 5:00 conference just for the parent to no-show! I like the fact that we get to do them during the day, but I kind of wish I could just have a normal school day for a change. 

I'm super anxious to get some things done in my room with the kiddos. We're still loving Wonder, we're in the middle of our poetry unit, and we're about to begin our Westward Expansion Simulation! Not to mention all the math I need to cover. So much to do!

Now, everyone close your eyes and say a prayer for Spring to finally find its way to the northeast! I'll be back for the Workshop Wednesday Linky tomorrow!

Another Snow Day and Let's Get Acquainted

So, here it is 9:30 in the morning and I'm in my PJs lounging in my oversized chair sipping coffee, beginning another marathon of Scrubs on Netflix and writing a blog post...when I should be dissecting earthworms with my kiddos.

And I'd rather be dissecting the earthworms!

These snow days (and this snow in general) are really starting to get to me. Not only is my school year pushed one more day back into June, but another day before our big state tests has been stolen away. And I've been dying to continue our reading of Wonder. (The things the kids have been writing about it in their family message journals are awesome by the way!) Not to mention that this Wednesday and Thursday are Parent Conferences (which I still need to prepare for) and Friday and next Monday are days off of school already. So tomorrow will be our only day of school with students all week. Aargh!

Anyway, I'm linking up to Flying into First Grade's "Let's Get Acquainted" Linky.

This week is the Noun Game! So, without further ado:

Person: My Wife, or as I like to call her, Killer B!

I mean, who else would I pick?! She's my best friend and constant companion. No one else has the ability to make me as happy as she does.

Yes, her shirt says "I hate everything," and that's about right. :)

Place: Savannah, Ga/Tybee Island, GA

My wife and I have been married for 5 years and I think we've taken 7 vacations to Savannah together. Admittedly, I sometimes vote for vacationing somewhere else and then we end up going to Savannah because Killer B likes it so much there, but I have to admit I really do love it there too. Our families live in GA (where we both grew up), so it makes it easy to stop by Savannah while visiting them in the summer. I think one day we'll probably end up retiring to one of Georgia's coastal islands! Well, assuming our pensions aren't taken away before then.  ; P

Thing: Comic Books

I have been reading comic books since I was in elementary school. I used to sell candy to other kids in school to make money to buy them! Believe it or not I have read every and I do mean every (there are literally thousands) appearance of Spider-Man in a comic book. It's one of my claim to fames. I still read a ton of comics to this day. And I have a pretty decent collection of age appropriate graphic novels in my classroom library, which the kids love!

Animal: I suppose I should say my two German Shepherds...

But, considering the sable one on the left there just left his toy on the stairs yesterday, which I then tripped on, leading me to fall face first down the stairs knocking my head into a coffee table and seeing stars for about two minutes...

I'm gonna go with something else. My wife and I have always liked barred owls, and we've actually seen a lot of them together in the wild while hiking. They've become kind of like a symbol for us. 

In other news, I spent some time on Sunday trying my hand at making some digital paper/backgrounds. I actually think I did a pretty good job! I was impressed with myself considering I no longer have photoshop on my computer. I made these using GIMP. I've added all 20 to my TpT store for $4. Check them out!

Well, time to go adjust my lesson plans and try to somehow squeeze three days into one! 

"Wonder"ful activity, 2 Truths and a Lie reveal, and burst pipes!

As part of our class reading of Wonder, we have been really thinking about character traits and how we should think about and treat others.

So to help take advantage of the wonderful community building opportunities presented by this novel, we begin each reading by having one of the kids in the class sit in a chair in front of our marker board. The rest of the kids think about this person's positive character traits and write them around the head of the featured kiddo. You should see the smiles on the students' faces when they get to turn around and read what their classmates think about them. I make sure to e-mail the picture to the kiddo's parents that evening too. I pinned this idea on pinterest a long time ago and have been waiting for a reason to use it. 

Here's an example:

This is just one of the extension ideas I included in the novel unit I wrote for this awesome book. If you're planning to read this book with your kids, I hope you'll check out my 170 page unit on my TpT Store! Just 9 smackeroos for the rest of March!

So, earlier this week I played 2 Truths and a Lie as part of Flying into First Grade's "Let's get Acquainted" Linky party. Lots of people guessed my lie, so maybe I made it too easy!

1) I really did give up a full ride to West Point, as well as a few other colleges in order to become a teacher. 

2) I really am a double gold medalist in the Jr. Olympics. This ties directly into #1! My gold medals are in marksmanship, one team medal and one individual medal. My shooting ability is what almost determined my future. Luckily I received a number of academic scholarships to non-military colleges that allowed me to go that route, which is why I'm a teacher today and not a professional marksman! Whew! I really dodged a bullet there! :groan:  ;)

3) So that makes my lie that I've taught every elementary grade level. I have taught Pre-K, Kindergarten, 1st, 2nd, 1st/2nd multi-age, and 5th grade. I've never taught 3rd or 4th grade, though I would be interested in doing that one day!

Finally, I figured I'd share a "fun" event from today. We were in the middle of taking our spelling test when suddenly one of my kid's desks is soaking wet. Turns out there was a crack in the water pipes running through the ceiling above his desk. I love how my kids completely ignored the repairmen and just kept taking their test!

Creepy Crawlies and Giveaway reminder!

I thought I'd take today to introduce you all to the variety of pets in my classroom! I've had a lot of different class pets over the years, but never the traditional ones. Most of the pets I have now have been with me for anywhere from a year to 3 years. The kids (even the girls!) really love the pets and love helping to take care of them. Here they are:

First, we have Beatrix, the Golden Redrump Tarantula. This school year she's grown from a spiderling the size of a dime to the fine young lady she is today (about 2.5" long)! Female tarantulas can live up to 20 years! She might get to see me retire!

Next, there's Peter Parker, the Mexican Fireleg Tarantula. Two years ago he was the size of a dime too! Now he's a healthy 4.5" long! Unfortunately, males only make it around 5 years, so he's already middle-aged!

Here's the most shy member of our class. Augustus, the Emperor Scorpion, is about 5.5" long and loves to take a bath every day.

This is Lucian, our Black Orchid Betta. My kids love to educate people about the fact that he is indeed a betta and not a beta. Betta is the genus of this kind of fish! Not pictured is his tank mate, Linus the Zebra Nerite Snail.

This slick fellow is Weezer, the Crested Gecko. He's super lazy during the day, but he is crazy active at night! I had to prove it to the kids by taking a video of him one night when I went into school to do some work! 

This is just a little peek at the queen of the classroom, Nemesis the Corn Snake. She is very curious about the kids, and comes out to say hi anytime someone comes near her tank. She's about a foot and half long, and amazes the kids weekly with her ability to eat things bigger than her head.

The different pets in the room are fun to watch and take care of, but they actually do serve a purpose. In 5th grade in my district we study classification, animal adaptations, life cycles, etc. In the past I've also kept an "Animal Wonder Journal" near their habitats for kids to write questions or observations about the pets for us to research when we have time. 

Kids from all over the school often stop by to see them, and this helps build community. Some kids in the school with behavior challenges work to "earn" the privilege of visiting the pets. If noise levels ever get out of hand (like during the seemingly never ending indoor recess days of winter), it's not uncommon for one of my kiddos to pipe up with "Shhhh, everybody...we're going to scare Beatrix and Peter!"

Do any of you have class pets? What kind, and how do they contribute to your classroom?

If you haven't entered my giveaway for hitting 25 followers, then be sure to do so now! I'm giving away 250 Scholastic Book Points!

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