Sunday Scoop!

It's been awhile since I have blogged, but I have been very busy. We cleaned out our spare room in our apartment, and now I have plenty of room for my planning and classroom projects! I have also been trying my hand at baking using my new KitchenAid stand mixer. I love it! So far, I have made pumpkin muffins with cream cheese frosting and a banana bread. So with all of the busyness, I thought I would just drop in for a minute to give you my Sunday Scoop!

Have a great week! I hope to write soon about the sight word strategy that I use in my classroom!

Michelle

Theodore the Teddy and a Freebie!

I recently heard of this great writing idea from another teacher at my school. She sends home a stuffed animal dog and a notebook with her students on a rotating basis. For homework, the student with the dog must write what they did with the dog from the dog's perspective. I thought it was an amazing idea and one that could easily be done. So I went to Walmart and bought my materials.

A stuffed bear for $5.00

A composition notebook for 75 cents.

Then I set to work creating the journal. I came up with the name Theodore and then I made a cute cover and a direction page for the inside.

My plan is now to send home the bear with a different student every day. Then, either in the morning or during writing time, the student who took him home last would share what they did with him. Because we just finished talking about different types of sentences in language arts, this would be a great opportunity to demonstrate what they learned. It's also homework, without feeling like homework. I am also going to encourage students to take pictures with Theodore and they can bring them in to share as well. Or we can glue them in the notebook so we can see all of the fun things that he has done throughout the year.

If you would like to use this idea in your classroom, check out the FREEBIE in my store!

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Journal-Freebie-1435844

Michelle

Sunday Scoop - New Linky!

Aahh! I stumbled upon a new linky today and I am so excited! I love linkies! This one is called Sunday Scoop and every Sunday you can link up and write 3 things that you have to do, 3 things that you hope to do, and 1 thing that you're happy to do. I am very excited to do the first one!

Head on over to Teaching Trio and link up your own Sunday Scoop!

Michelle

My New Laminator!

Hello everyone! I am writing to you this evening about my latest and greatest purchase. A laminator!! I have hemmed and hawed about this purchase for a long time, but a few weeks ago, it was the Amazon deal of the day and I just HAD to go for it (plus some laminating sleeves) on the side.

The laminator arrived on Monday and just in time! I needed to laminate THAT NIGHT for a write the room activity for Tuesday. And oh my goodness. You would have thought it was Christmas. I oohed and aahed over the laminator and put all other chores aside so I could get the laminating done. Here are some pictures of what I laminated:

Here it is! Getting ready to warm up!

Here we go!

All finished!

Here is what I laminated! Cara Carroll's Goodbye Rhymes and a setting and character sort from Rulin' the Roost. You can find it here.

I can't say enough about this laminator. It's the Scotch Thermal Laminator and I bought it with 100 laminating pouches. I would highly recommend it. The laminating is perfect and I can use it anytime I want!

Now I'm off to find more things to laminate!

Michelle

September Currently

September is here and school is in session! I can't believe that I have already been in school for three weeks. Time has flown by with these new students of mine. It feels like just yesterday I was eagerly anticipating what my new students would be like and now they are here and we are knee-deep in our curriculum. Even though we are very busy, I still had time to sit down and complete September's Currently!

1. Listening - I am currently watching my favorite show Friends. I only have two seasons, courtesy of one of my good friends. Goal: get the other seasons ASAP!

2. August just ended and the sales have been tabulated. I just had my best month since I started selling on TPT! This was my first August and I am so pleased with the results. Thank you to everyone who supported my store in one way or another. I can't wait to see what the rest of the year brings!

3. I have taken a LOOOOONG break from creating products. Now that school is in session, I need to get going and create more fun and exciting activities for my students!

4. I now live in Texas and it is so HOT down here. Fall is starting soon and I wish I could be back home and experience the crisp fall weather and go apple picking and have bonfires and s'mores and go to pumpkin farms, all while wearing scarves and boots. But I don't think I will be having those experiences this year. I guess I will have to start some new fall traditions down here in Texas.

5. Now that school has started and because I live in a different climate than before, I am realizing that I need some new clothes for work. I recently ordered my first box from Stitchfix, which should be arriving next week. I can't wait!

6. I have three places that I would like to visit someday: Spain, Tuscany, and Ireland. Spain has always been on my list. I was all set to study abroad in Seville, Spain in college, but then decided against it. Every since then, I have wanted to visit Spain. I also studied the language for 8 years and it would be nice to go and see all of the places and try all of the things that I learned about in my classes. Tuscany is another place that I would like to visit someday, mostly because of how it looks in movies. It looks so romantic with its winding roads and vineyards and cute little houses. It would just be so beautiful. I would also like to visit Ireland. My brother studied abroad there a few years ago and it would be nice to visit and see what it's like. It's also in a lot of movies and the views look absolutely breathtaking.

That's all for this month! Don't forget to check out the other blogs who linked up over at Oh Boy 4th Grade.

Have a great Tuesday!

Michelle

Five for Friday...Better Late Than Never!

Hello there! It's been a long time since I have visited my blog. I have been so busy with moving, setting up my classroom, and school starting that I just have not had the time to dedicate to my blog or my TPT store. With that being said, I am now going to try to blog more frequently now that things have settled down and we are in the swing of things at school. So here we go!

I recently ordered a Scotch Thermal Laminator when it was the Amazon deal of the day. It was quite a steal, if you ask me. It finally came in the mail! But I'm still waiting on the laminating pouches...

In  my classroom, we were reading some Splat the Cat books. These books are so funny and the students really enjoyed them! I decided to read Secret Agent Splat in order to discuss main idea and details. I then found this item on TPT...

And it was perfect! My students loved making the duck craft to go along with all of Splat's ducks. They made their "Missing" poster to go along with it. I then hung them in the hallway (sorry, no pictures). It was great to see the different ways that they decorated their ducks and it was great to see because I love ducks! They're my favorite!

Have you ever heard of Stitch Fix?!? I recently placed my first order with this website and I am super excited! It is like having a personal shopper and you don't even have to leave your house! You get to choose the styles and types of clothing that you like, place your order, and voila! The clothes come right to your door and you can also return them for free. I placed an order for my first five items and they should arrive on September 10. I will post about what I got when it gets here!

I have recently become a board game fanatic, courtesy of my husband. Among other games, our newest favorite is Power Grid. This game has many different rules, but changes each time the game is played, which makes it more fun and interesting. Even when we're only playing with each other, we can always end up with a different end result. I love games that challenge the mind, and this one definitely makes me think!

Check out the description here on Amazon! I highly recommend it!

http://www.amazon.com/Rio-Grande-Games-RGG240-Power/dp/B0007YDBLE

Stay tuned for a blog post about my new sight word strategy!!!

Have a great long weekend!

Michelle

August Currently!

Where did the summer go?! Suffice it to say I did not get anything accomplished that I wanted to over the summer as far as work goes. I wanted to spend a lot of time creating TPT products. Now I did make a few things, but not as much as I would have liked. I also joined many giveaways, which helped build my store and Facebook following, so I'm not complaining there. I guess I was at least successful in getting my store name out there.

And now, it's back to school again. I'm starting in a new school and a new grade this year so I definitely have a lot of planning to do. I am feeling nervous about all that needs to get done in the 10 days that I have before the kids come. Yikes!

Anyways, despite all of the planning and decorating that is going on in my head, I always have time for a linky party. I am linking up with Farley at Oh Boy 4th Grade for the August Currently.

And here it is!

Listening - There really isn't much to listen to when you are just sitting at home working. So a little white noise is always nice too.

Loving - I recently moved into a new apartment and it is so much nicer and bigger than the one I had before!

Thinking - As I mentioned above I only have 10 days left to work on my classroom and I have a lot of resources that I want to print and laminate and cut and hang up. Phew!

Wanting - Summer went by way too fast. I had a relatively short summer this year. I ended school in the first week of June and am starting now mid-August, which is the shortest amount of summer I have ever had. I'm excited to go back, but would love a little more time to myself first.

Needing - I have SO MUCH to do in my classroom. Enough said.

Also, this year is the most amount of professional development that I will have prior to school starting. In my old position, we only had one teacher work day before school started. Now I have 5. It will be nice though to learn all the ins and outs of my new school.

How was your summer? Too fast? Too slow? Just right?

Don't forget to link up with Farley!

Michelle