A BIG THANK YOU TO FERN SMITH~my Holly Bloggy Santa!

I love it all...Flamingo Driveway Markers, Post-its, Cadbury Milk Chocolate (YUMMY!), and fineline Sharpies. I am one happy girl!

(Shh! Don't mention how "old" the girl is... ;)

Thanks to Caitlin and Sarah for hosting ! I enjoyed playing along. :)

Here are some of my other favorite things

about Christmas...

This is my favorite ornament...a reminder that even though Jesus was born with the shadow of the cross hanging over Him, He overcame and sits victoriously at the right hand of the Father, making intercession for me! Hallelujah! The pastor said this morning that we don't sing Happy Birthday to people who are dead, yet many folks sing Happy Birthday to Jesus every year. He's ALIVE! How's that for awesome?!

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Hot Chocolate...no egg nog for me!

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? He just sat them under the tree.

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? We have colored lights everywhere except on my "Praise Jesus!" tree. It has white lights with white and gold ornaments. 

 4. Do you hang mistletoe? I have in the past, but not for a few years now. 

5. When do you put your decorations up? I try to put up my decorations the weekend before Thanksgiving. The last couple of years, it's been the first or second weekend in December. :(

6. What is your favorite holiday dish? Homemade vegetable soup (with veggies frozen from our garden in the summer), mashed potatoes, and cornbread. Yum!

  

7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child? Taking something Santa brought to my Granny's house for Christmas Day Dinner. My mom was one of 8 children, so I have LOTS of cousins!

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? My best friend in second grade broke my heart! ;)

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? After my brother and I got older, we started opening all our Christmas gifts on Christmas Eve because we went to Granny's on Christmas Day. It's still a tradition.

 

10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree? I have a tree with crosses, nativities, gold balls, gold instruments, gold ribbon, and white lights in my music room. I also have a tree in my den that has colored lights along with all our ornaments from the beginning of our marriage, the ones my son made, and the ones students have given me over the years. I also have a kitchen tree with red lights, jalapeno pepper lights, and cowboy/Texas ornaments.

11. Snow! Love it or Dread it? I love it, but I always pray that the Lord will keep all the animals warm, safe, fed, and dry and that no one will be without food, heat, and a dry place to live. 

12. Can you ice skate? I roller skate, but never tried ice skating. My son can, so I think I could...

13. Do you remember your favorite gift? My first bike. I saw it reflecting the light from the bathroom when I needed to go at 1:00 a.m., so I got up REALLY early! :D

14. What’s the most important thing about the Holidays for you?  Celebrating Jesus, and visiting with my family.

 

15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert? Homemade chocolate cake (my Granny's recipe).

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? Worshipping Jesus by going to the church services with my family. :)

 

17. What tops your tree? A star made by my son in our den, an angel in the music room, a cowboy in the kitchen.

18. Which do you prefer: giving or receiving? I enjoy both, but I'd have to say I love giving because I shop for my family and friends beginning December 26! :)

 

19. Candy Canes: Yuck or Yum?  Yum, especially cherry flavored ones to stir some homemade hot chocolate.

20. Favorite Christmas show? I like most of them...can't say I have a favorite...yet!

21. Saddest Christmas Song? Christmas Shoes

22. What is your favorite Christmas song?  Do You Hear What I Hear

Merry Christmas!

"Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!"

     II Corinthians 9:15

Merry Christmas!

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Both. I use whatever fits. My hubby says I should wrap everything so it's more fun (ripping paper), but I do it all so I tell him he's welcome to wrap! ;)
2. Real tree or artificial? Artificial. I love the smell of a freshly cut pine tree, I'm just allergic... :(
3. When do you put up the tree? I like to put up the tree the weekend before Thanksgiving, but for the past couple of years it's been the weekend after.  
4. When do you take the tree down?  Last year, my hubby finally took down our trees in February, after Valentine's Day. I love to leave them up until February. This year, I'll take them down before January 1 to please darling hubby. :)
5. Do you like eggnog? No! We raise chickens (just a rooster and five or so hens) and I just can't!
6. Favorite gift received as a child? My first bicycle.
7. Do you have a nativity scene? LOTS! I have a huge one that sits on my porch. I also have some of the Willow Tree set and continue to collect. I put a tiny nativity in each room of my house...usually by the sinks in the bathroom and on the windowsill in bedrooms. :)
8. Hardest person to buy for? My daddy because he says he doesn't need anything! When asked what he wants, he'll say my two front teeth or a nickel's worth of five dollar bills (?!?). My son because he says he doesn't need anything, too. He is single, lives at home, and has his own money so he buys whatever he wants within his budget. I can't afford to buy him a Skyline from Japan (which he'd love).
9. Easiest person to buy for? My hubby's mom. I just listen to her all year and when she says she "needs" to buy something, I watch to see if she gets it. If she doesn't, we get it for her for Christmas or her birthday. She said,"I can't say I need anything around that Melanie or she just buys it! I really just wait and get it for her for her birthday or for Christmas. ;)
10. Mail or email Christmas cards? I love to mail Christmas cards. :)
11. Worst gift you ever received?  I don't know. I just forget about it if it's not a desired gift.
12. Favorite Christmas movie? I love Christmas, so I think all Christmas stories which show love and share Jesus are marvelous!
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? December 26!
14. Ever recycled a present?  Maybe...well, okay, yes! I receive some gifts that I know I'm never going to use them and if I think they'll please someone I love, I do recycle. I don't intend it to be mean or anything, just thinking of the person who I'm gifting. It's the thought that counts, right?
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas?  Homemade chocolate fudge like my Granny made and my Mommy makes!
16. Clear lights or colored lights on a tree?  Both 
17. Favorite Christmas song?  Do You Hear What I Hear?
18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Home. I hope one day my entire family will take a cruise together at Christmas, but I haven't been able to talk them into it yet. Plus, my hubby and son work for Publix and can't take off much around Christmas.
19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? Yes, want me to?
20. Angel or star on top of the tree?  Both! I have two trees. The "white" one (with white lights) in the Music room has white lights, white and gold ornaments...with lots of musical instruments and gold crosses. It's my "Praise Jesus!" tree.
21. Open the presents on Christmas Eve or Christmas morning? My hubby, son and I open gifts on Christmas Eve with my parents and extended family.
22. Most annoying thing about this time of year?  People who are rude and disrespectful to others...always!
23. Favorite ornament, theme, or color?  My favorite ornaments are those that point to Jesus as the reason for Christmas and all seasons!
24. What do you want for Christmas? I want everyone to come to know Jesus Christ on a personal level. I have so many personal experiences I could tell...I love Him!

Merry Christmas! Blessings and peace to you all!

Just a few things we've done and Jenga...

I like to play Jenga.  Fred's had wood towers (similar to Jenga, but miniature) for $1.00. I bought two. Here's my plan: write addition and subtraction facts up to 20 (or as far as I can go with 48 blocks) on both sides of one set, multiplication and division for the second set. How's that for differentiation? ;) My students love to play games and I think this will be a hit.

"The person that inspires me is Mrs. Stapler. Mrs. Stapler always pushes to work harder."  (tear) This was posted on the QUEST door by one of my students from last year. He is the student you wish you have at least ten more just like! :)

Here's a photo of our balloons. We used them to discuss solid, liquids, and gases. The balloon is a solid, the children use gas (their own hot air) to blow up the balloon, and their breath causes condensation on the inside of the balloon (liquid)--or at least that's what I told them. We also talked about water balloons.

Here's a sample of my colored rice for Synonym Search bottles I found on Denise's blog: Sunny Days in Second Grade . I colored 10 pounds of rice so far to make Synonym Searches #1 and #2 for myself and my buddy across the hall. I have another 10 pounds of rice to color for Antonym Searches. I also started saving the individual sized Tropicana bottles to make some addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division searches. I think I'll put the problem in the bottle and have the children copy the problem and write the answer in their Math journals. That way I'll have a record of work done while they're having fun!

The Following Directions (go here  to see it) worksheet was a bust. One student did exactly as he should. The students I thought might get it right began putting red circles, so I jumped the gun and stopped the entire class. Two students had not done anything (slower readers) and weren't finished, so I should have just waited a little longer to see what they did. Some students began doing what their podmates were doing rather than reading it for themselves. My one student who did this correctly is the child who is uber-intelligent and quite hyperactive. He masks his intelligence with all the movement and silliness. I was aware that he is a smart little guy, and this  clarified my suspicions. He's QUEST material...if we can get him focused enough to prove it. I know he can do whatever he needs to do; he has to choose to want to do it! After the break I am going to have a talk with him about QUEST, telling him that when he can settle himself and show what he's capable of doing (I know he picks up everything as easily as drinking water!), he'll make QUEST. Of course, I'm not sure he'll care...you know how the smart students are sometimes.... At any rate, he'll do well whatever he chooses to do with his life. He's just that with it! I love having students like this! Anyone have suggestions on how to get more students to that place? ;)

Here is one of our Nerds. We had Nerd Day ... too smart to do drugs... as part of our weeklong festivities to say NO!! to drugs. This is our Music teacher...I love, love, love her! She's the BEST ever!

This is our principal and one of our Kindergarten Parapros. Aren't they a hoot?

Here is the beginning of the USN section of our Veteran's Day parade around the school. My darling hubby is in the background in the hat. :) The blonde cutie with the smiley face was my student two years ago...dearly love this child! She is such an awesome witness to her fellow students. She sang a solo about Jesus to every single class while in second grade. We need more heros like her, too!

Snowmen--building, painting, globbing

Mary at Pitner's Potpourri is having a linky party and giving away an Amazon gift card! Come on over and join the "snowy" fun!

Erin over at Teaching with Love...in heels has a post about using shaving cream and glue to make a snowman, which prompted me to share this. In January in Georgia, we sometimes get snow. The children are always excited about snow. I  play it up big time by asking how they build snowmen when/if we have snow. For the past two years, we've had enough snow to have snow days. I hope for at least one snow day every year because it plays right in to my plans! I build snowmen whenever possible, so I take loads of pictures. I share those pictures with my students along with pictures and stories of snowmen, snowladies, and snowbabies past. At least one child usually always says s/he wishes s/he could spend the  snow day with me!

Then I usually bring out the paint and my students take about 3 days to finish all their painting. This year, I am going to use the shaving cream and glue Erin does. They can "glob" on Day 1, then add construction paper on Day 2 to finish their snowman. Painting with several colors always takes longer so they don't mix the colors too much. I'll put painting on hold this year.

Here's another example of a Shaving Cream Snowman at Oopsey Daisy.

For this project…

* Mix equal parts of shaving cream and Elmer’s glue.  The mixture dries puffy just like this.

* Use your fingers to spread the shaving cream mixture and create your snowmen on blue cardstock.

* Add cardstock pieces to form the eyes, nose, mouth, hat, and arms.  (I used ribbon for the scarf.)

I also found  Jen doing this Oil Pastel Snowman activity at Runde's Room. We'll do this one, too. I love oil pastels...have since I first used them in Art class when I was a fifth grader.

So to incorporate this into my curriculum, we will write about how to build a snowman, how to glob a snowman, and how to draw a snowman using oil pastels. Writing about snowmen and all the different ways to create them helps me get my children writing three or more paragraphs in preparation for third grade. I always make a HUGE deal out of the writing. We post these on the wall outside our classroom so that everyone can see our snowmen and our marvelous writing.
I also found the following recipe for which I will pick up the ingredients on my way home when they predict snow. I want to bring these in to my students after the snow so they have one more thing about which to write. I found this at Kathie Cooks.

Mixed-Up Snowman Snacks
Ingredients:

Pretzel Sticks
Junior Mints Candies

Orange Sprinkles (the long variety)
Fruit Roll-ups, cut into strips
Small Marshmallows
Mini Chocolate Chips

Sandwich Baggies

This will be our morning snack even though I never allow morning snacks with more than 7 grams of sugar! I'm sure the children will be so crazy wild excited anyway that a little extra sugar won't change things the first day after snow!

Finally, we'll have snowman cookies to celebrate completion of our writing whenever it is finally done displayed for all to see! Check these out at Crazy Domestic. I like the easy way she does them best of all. :)
You might also order one for $10.00 at Cookies for Ken to help raise money for his leukemia/bone marrow transplant treatment. It's an amazing story of love and friendship!

 

Happy Snow Days! </:~)

Holiday Recipe Share

Stickers
(passed down from my dad's family)
Nabisco Premium Saltines
Sharp Cheddar Cheese slices, quartered
Jet-Puffed Marshmallows

Preheat oven to 400*.
Line up crackers on cookie sheet. Put 1/4 slice cheese on cracker. Top with marshmallow and heat in 400* oven until toasty brown (as dark or light as you prefer).

I know this sounds like a YUKKY snack, but most people really like them. Eat them hot, straight off the pan (that's the way Daddy does!) and they aren't bad. My students usually are skeptical, but will try one to get a S'more later in the day. Probably 70% of my students decide they like Stickers better than S'mores.

I use this as a cooking/graphing hook to begin my graphing unit. We usually cook on the Friday before graphing begins or start graphing on a Friday. Referring back to Stickers & S'mores while creating a pictograph, vertical and horizontal bar graphs, and changing the key to show 2 students or 5 students keeps the students engaged.
I've even had students come to me from higher grades wanting to have a "class reunion" from our second (or third) grade class and mention making Stickers! ;)

I've created a unit with Stickers & S'mores. Download here ... Stickers & S'mores. Please leave a comment if you download. Thanks!

What can 15 minutes do?

Merry Christmas to my blogging peeps! It is sooo good to be out of school! I have time...now to compile my list and get busy reorganizing home, classroom, thoughts & ideas for January, and do better blogging. A friend said doing something only 15 minutes daily can totally change your life. I hope that 15 minutes each afternoon putting away various miscellaneous items at school, 15 minutes each afternoon at home doing little odd jobs, and 15 minutes walking the dogs each evening along with 15 minutes prepping for the next day's lunch/dinner will make life more manageable and I'll be calmer. That's only an hour, but broken into manageable chunks...I hope. Ha! We'll see, won't we? Keep me in your prayers... :D

Letter Writing

We use the picture of a child for the cover of our letter writing activity. I'll take a picture of it when I am at school over the holidays. We also use a little song that one of our student teachers (Jessica, I can't remember her last name) taught which also uses movement.

The "Friendly" Letter Song

sung to the tune of the Farmer in the Dell

The heading is the date,

The heading is the date,

Hi-ho the letter parts,

The heading is the date!

(tap head each repetition)

The greeting is the name,

The greeting is the name,

Hi-ho the letter parts,

The greeting is the name!

(touch mouth and move hand out from mouth

like "Thank You" in sign language)

The body is all the words,

The body is all the words,

Hi-ho the letter parts,

The body is all the words!

(rub stomach in circles)

The closing is Sincerely,

The closing is Sincerely,

Hi-ho the letter parts,

The closing is Sincerely!

(tap knees each repetition)

The signature is my name,

The signature is my name,

Hi-ho the letter parts,

The signature is my name!

(tap foot each repetition)

I tried this without tapping the foot and my students seemed confused. We have a small person like the friendly letter person seen at MJ's teaching in heels blog. So, we teach each part according to the song above so the children get in their mind where the letter part goes in the letter. The heading (head) goes at the top. The greeting goes near the mouth, the body is all the area of the body. The closing is around the knees, and the signature is at the very bottom...the feet! Hope this helps! :)

Following Directions, anyone?

A Lesson in Following Directions is something my teamies and I have been discussing for a couple of weeks now. Sometimes our second graders ask questions about their work simply because they have not slowed down to read the directions. They jump straight to number 1. I rememeber a lesson we had in college that had much to do if you didn't read the directions first. Our instructor reminded everyone to read the directions very carefully before beginning. There was something in her voice that prompted me to do just that. It was fun watching all the students complete that paper...those who did hear the instructor's voice, and those who didn't! Check this out and use or change it as you wish. Happy day

Today was awesome! Thanks to everyone who has offered Gingerbread activities. We have read The Gingerbread Man, The Gingerbread Boy, The Gingerbread Baby, and The Matzo Ball Boy. We will read The Gingerbread Girl and Stop That Pickle! when they arrive from the Bookmobile. We will read The Jalapeno Man, Gingerbread Pirates, and The Gingerbread Girl Goes Animal Crackers when they arrive. I have ordered them for my classroom to go along with all the wonderful activities compiled from blogging. We practiced synonyms, antonyms, sequencing, and a host of other activities today from blogs and the units I've bought. Thank you, thank you to everyone-for freebies and for sharing on TpT and Teachers Notebook. This has been a wonderful December day.... Yes, my students are seriously excited about the holidays, but that excitement fueled some fabulous learning experiences today for my students. I can't ask for anything more! :)  
Well...I will ask for one thing... Please help!! My DonorsChoose project expires in 4 days. Please help by donating and putting SPARK in as the match code when you check out and your donation will be matched dollar for dollar. Thanks and God bless!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving! Enjoy your loved ones today. I am very thankful for each one of you! Your influence on my teaching has been awe-inspiring. Blessings and peace!
Melly

What I'm Thankful For...

Thankful Linky Party at What the Teacher Wants... join in and show what you're thankful for this year! So, here goes...

1. What are you thankful for in your classroom?
     I am thankful for a terrific bestie with whom I collaborate all the time, an amazing team and an understanding administration! Teaching isn't easy by any means, but it is wonderful to work with a devoted group of educators!

2. What person are you most thankful for?
   The all-time person I am most thankful for is Jesus Christ, of course. The person in my life right under Jesus that I am most thankful for is my hubby. He loves me despite my idiosyncrasies and is very supportive of me as a teacher. He makes me think of the song "Wind beneath My Wing." He is the quiet, supportive one...I'm the extroverted, "HEY! Is everyone having fun?!?" busybody! I just want everyone to be engaged and learning all the time!!

3. What 3 blogs are you most thankful for?
     I'd have to say Pitner's Potpouri is one of the blogs for which I am most thankful. She always has something going on! Another one is Flamingo Fabulous in Second Grade (love reading her blogs about the birds!). I also love to check out 2nd Grade Rocks!


4. What pleasure are you most thankful for? I left out guilty. If it makes me feel guilty, it really isn't a pleasure. Pleasure...spending time with family immediate and extended (we live on our family "compound"...parents next door, brother 1/2 mile through the woods), reading, hiking with family and my furbabies, blogging, soaking up the sunshine...the list never ends!

5. What are you most thankful for? Hmmm...most thankful that I have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, first and foremost. Extremely thankful to be married to my sweetheart, blessed by our adult son, teaching...doing what I love to do!, I am so very blessed that this list should/could go on and on and on... 

Bloom's Taxonomy Bubbles

Bloom's Taxonomy Bubbles

Using Bloom's Taxonomy to teach to the top (which will also help the others) is something I am working to do better. So, I found some Bloom's Taxonomy questions (can't remember where so if you wrote these questions, thanks!!) and created speech and thought bubbles. I did not add color in the interest of the economy (ink costs!). I hope this helps someone else...please comment if you use this.

How to Disguise a Turkey

Technology Rocks. Seriously. has a writing form "How to Cook a Turkey" which I thought was super cute. I also thought some of my sweeties might be horrified at the thought of cooking a turkey. (One of my second graders a while back was horrified at the thought of her "chicken sandwich" coming from one of those cute, fuzzy chicks...so she stated that she'd just have to eat a hamburger. Of course, some other students had to enlighten her to the fact that hamburger came from cows. She decided that she'd be a vegetarian. It just doesn't seem as cute on paper...she was a little blue-eyed, blonde darling who would not hurt anyone!) Well, I decided to make my own writing form "How to Disguise a Turkey!"

How to Disguise a Turkey

I think I'll offer both Technology Rocks. Seriously.'s "How to Cook a Turkey" form and my "How to Disguise a Turkey" form next Thanksgiving to my sizzlers. Each child can choose one...or both! :)

Donors Choose

If you can or know of someone who can donate to my donors choose project, I would be most appreciative! I have 24 days left and so far have only $20.00 toward my project. I am hoping to get a camera for my second grade team to use together for various projects and field trips. Thanks for passing this along...

Sentence Recognition

I don't have a picture to go with this one, but it's fairly simple. I have a morning message board upon which I write a daily welcome. I write basically the same message for the first part of the year to familiarize students with some sight words, the date written out, etc. Here's how it looks:

Good morning!
     Today is Monday, November 14, 2011. Layla is our leader. Our exploratory class is at 9:50 a.m. Group 1 goes to Computer Lab, Group 2 goes to P.E., and Group 3 goes to Compass Lab. Remember to be responsible for your day. We are Mighty Titans!
                                 <3, Mrs. S.

This is the perfect place to put Happy Birthday to someone. I always draw music notes around Happy Birthday as if I'm singing (which I do as soon as the birthday child arrives). The reason I am sharing this is... forever and a day I wrote the sentences in two colors of dry erase marker. I didn't last year (can't figure out why I stopped), but started it back today. I am going to point out to the children that I change colors when I begin a new sentence. I also begin having students (who feel comfortable and ask to do this) write the morning message. They know it has to be approved by me before they go home or I will correct it myself.

I have found that sometimes they ignore my message if I don't draw attention to it. About three years ago (teaching third grade and putting more into the message than above), I realized my students weren't reading the message. I added in that the first student who came and told me I look beautiful today without mentioning the message board would receive a regular sized (no snack size for this!) Snickers bar. About 10:30 that morning, a fourth grade teacher walked by and read the message through our door. She came into class and told me I looked beautiful today! I cheered and told her to "Hold ON!! You win the prize!" The students acted like we were both crazy! I gave her the Snickers bar in front of the students. Needless to say, they never failed to read the board again. I didn't even have to spring for another Snickers bar, either! Shazam! :D

Fry Phrases

Jennifer over at First Grade Blue Skies has an awesome game called Banger! and another one called Banger2! on TpT and Teacher's Notebook. I bought both of them and created Banger! which uses the first 150 Fry Phrases.

I teach second grade, and have some students who are struggling with fluency yet. I googled and found the first 600 Fry Phrases which I thought pretty awesome since I can probably use them all with some of my developing readers.I typed all 600 making 2 columns on each page, similar to what Jennifer had done. To save money, I didn't put my fry phrases on popsicle sticks. I bought colored cardstock ($3.97 @ Wal*mart...savings of about $6.00) and used the yellow. I printed the Fry phrases on the yellow, but them apart, and laminated. We had some of those little "Go" cups from mini Oreos (back when we tallied Oreos) that I had saved, so I used them to store my new little yellow strips, 100 per container (they look like fries~and would even more so with "crinkly" cut scrapbooking scissors or pinking shears!). I have the first 100, the second 100, and so on. I intend to use the first 300 with my students reading around first grade level to hopefully speed them up. The second 300 (Fry Phrases 400-600) will be used with my students who are reading right around 2.0. I wanted to give a shout-out to Jennifer at First Grade Blue Skies for her awesome idea! I tweaked it a little for second and I'm thrilled! :) Thanks, Jennifer!

Ron Clark Linky Party Part 2

The Parent To-Do List on page 119...especially "Limit chaos in the mornings." Second graders need the routine just as much as first graders! Breakfast and a relaxed morning atmosphere at home are my recommendations. When students have a rough time in the morning, it sets the tone for their day. Sometimes I have asked my students to go back into the hall and compose themselves to "restart" their day. I have even met them in the hall and given hugs to get them in a better frame of mind. I had one little sweetie who would tell me she didn't get her hug from Mom that morning. We made a deal that she would come to me immediately upon arrival for her hug if she needed it. That settled her each morning and she had better days. It's amazing how something we think is so small does so much!
"Leave encouraging notes" is also a BIGTIME favorite. I sent notes in my son's lunchbox from PreK through high school. :) Even now (he's 22 and assistant manager in the local Publix bakery), he carries his lunch cooler from high school. In the lid, I wrote "Stephen, I love you! Mom." It's still there and I rewrote it recently because it was beginning to wear. I write notes to my husband and parents, too. I love, love, love getting notes! ;) My hubby writes notes to me, too.

  Last year, my uncle Curtis died. He lived in Texas and hadn't really been sick. We all knew he was getting older (81 years), but he had not been sick. On Friday & Saturday, he helped decorate a booth for the local Christmas extravaganza. He went to church on Sunday, out to lunch with friends, and had a marvelous weekend. He died on Monday morning. He was a very special uncle, so I went to Texas to his funeral. I was out of school six days. I sat down at my aunt's computer and wrote typed a note to every single one of my students after the funeral. My friend printed them out from the e-mail I sent her and gave each student his/her personal note from me. She said they were thrilled to get them and my sub said they were on their very best behavior because they were concerned. The power of an encouraging, personal note is amazing!

End of Molasses Classes

Check out Ron's message to TBA here. He is awesome and amazing! I have visited the Ron Clark Academy with my school (Thanks, former principal Mike Roberts, for taking us all there!) and am Slide Certified! I also visited Mike's new school about three weeks ago to see and hear Ron Clark again! He definitely tells it like it is with no apology!

In this picture, Ron was shaking hands with one of the students who performed. He made sure to make eye contact, but she was little shy at first. He quickly instructed her to make eye contact and she did! She had been told to hurry out of the cafeteria... 

This is the picture prior to the handshake. Ron went to meet the students, but they had been instructed to leave quickly so the meeting could get underway. He stopped the little girl just in front of him (seen in the previous picture) to shake hands.

Principal # 4~Uplift other adults who play a role in the lives of our children~is something I really try to do. I spent three years teaching adults and it really brought it home to me that many of my parents might not even be fluent readers themselves, yet we ask them to read with their children daily. I always try to offer assitance to my parents in such a way as not to embarrass them or make them have yet another bad experience with school. I realize that some of them had a really hard time in school and are not so excited about school even now. There's a fine line there and we must be supportive of both the parent and the student.

Principle # 19 is also something I strive to do. I know that some days must be spent following through on the big idea, activator, or whatever you call it at your school. We need some time to assimilate and accomodate what is taught so it will become real learning, but we can refer back to the fun stuff to get the students excited about even the dreary parts. Using every angle available to teach something, giving my students lots of different ways to practice the skills, and keeping my eyes open for exemplary work are ways I try to keep it magical. Blogging has really helped me with that, too!

Thanks, blogging friends! This is the best year (of my 23 years teaching) ever because of all I'm gathering in blogland! God bless you all 100-fold!

Still on place value, adding money to the mix...

We are using the "Pick Up Sticks" place value game (jumbo tongue depressors with 1 dot on one side and 10 dots on the other) to practice counting tens and ones. I also added some with a star instead of a dot. The stars represent hundreds, so the children can practice place value through hundreds. 

 Another thing we've done is copy 100s (from the base ten pages in our workbook) on different colors for our children to cut apart and use to create pictures.

We have wipe-off white 100s charts that came with a previous Math series. Leah calls out a number like 5 tens and 3 ones and has her students cover the number with transparent counters. I got some transparent counters today so my students can practice the same.

I gave directions to "find 5 tens and 8 ones. Now find that number less one ten. Find 9 tens and 5 ones. Now find the number 40 less." Most of my students did well with this one...it's ready to be an independent station! Yipee!!

Goldfish Scoot!

We're playing the "Trading Game" and practicing more while adding in money (with those children who aren't totally overwhelmed). I introduced two more games today, so the children have plenty of games to play for practice and I can pull small groups. We will be adding a Math vocabulary word each day to our Math journal as well. I'm thrilled with how well they are progressing. It seems they are "getting" it overnight. I tell them not to stress, just to rest! Their brains need time to work on the new information, so sleep on it and we'll go at it again tomorrow. That seems to have really helped my children. They know I have high expectations, we have SOOOO much to learn, and I'm not going to slack off, buuuuttttt...they also realize that I know they can only take so much. I understand when they're at the point of exasperation and tell them to take a rest. It's amazing how much new information children can grasp when we encourage them, exasperate them, encourage them, push... welll, you get the picture! Here are some more pix....

We had so much fun with the goldfish that I thought we could play Scoot with them. I made little goldfish, tossed some on each desk, and we played SCOOT! with our place value. It was very interesting... :) I saw very quickly who still struggles with place value! This was more of a teaching activity than a review this time...so, back to the old drawing, er, practice board. :)