Get Ready for Summer Reading and Writing

It's time to get ready for summer! In my classroom, we are working on our memory books and I'm keeping the little rascals motivated to keep working with some end of the year writing activities. I am so proud of their ability to stay focused (while I dream of sleeping in and taking long bike rides with my family).

Here is the link to my memory book. You can find it in my Tpt store by clicking on the image below. It is also in my Teachers Notebook shop.

I also made a packet last year which is specifically designed to help me keep my students writing (busy) during the last few weeks of school. Most of the activities could also be used as summer writing/drawing activities. You can click on the image below if you'd like to check it out.

And...if you need a packet to send home for kids to work on over the summer. I also have Summer Reading and Writing for Home pack in both shops. It includes a summer reading log, lots of reading response pages and writing activities that will (hopefully) motivate your students to keep writing during the summer months. You can click on the image below to check it out.

Need Book Recommendations for 3rd/4th grade Girls

Well...44 lacrosse games down and one to go and my coaching season will come to an end. Then I can focus on taking my mom duties back from my fabulous husband, enjoy the last couple weeks of school and get back to my bloggin' best...after a few naps.

 Looking ahead to summer, I'm planning a summer book club for my daughter and a few of her friends. The girls are finishing up 3rd grade and heading off to 4th. We are going to do some journaling, discussing and crafty stuff during our book club meetings. Just a small problem... selecting books for 3rd and 4th graders is out of area of expertise (ha! I said that like I have one).

 I'm hoping some of you can help. The girls are all strong readers (their moms and some of their dads are all teachers). Seriously, who plans a book club without books? And...I can't exactly admit to the other parents (teachers) that I can't seem to think of a good book for the girls.

 Any suggestions for good books and/or series for me to check into? I'd be super grateful for any recommendations...help please!

Desk Fairy Freebie

The desk fairy is going to make a visit to my room tomorrow! She has stopped by a few other times this year. On Friday, I spent a few minutes after school "peeking" in a few desks (bad idea). It's definitely time for the desk fairy to visit again. Each year, I read Second Grade Rules, Amber Brown by Paula Danziger to my class. In the story, Deskarina, is the desk fairy who visits Amber Brown's class. She is the cousin of Denatlina (the tooth fairy). My students always love the story and it's a great way to get them excited about keeping their desks clean.

When Deskarina visits my room, she always leaves a "note" for each of the students with a clean desk. Sometimes she even leaves them an eraser or a special pencil grip. I don't have a prize box or a "move your clip" system in my room. I generally just expect the children to behave and spend lots of time reinforcing how important it is to do the "right" thing.

But...I do break my own rule from time to time and give out a little prize for a clean desk. There are 2 reasons that I feel like it is ok to break my own rule...
1. I never give out prizes, so they are never suspicious about my connection to the desk fairy.
2. My desk is such a mess that I never get a prize from the desk fairy, so if anyone cries about not getting a "note/prize", I reassure them that we'll have to work "together" to try to keep our desks clean for the next visit from Deskarina.

I have a few different versions of my desk fairy note to share with you.  You can click on the picture below to download them if you choose. 

 I'd like to thank everyone who helped the first day of the sale at my Tpt store and my Teachers Notebook shop be a success. I appreciate your business (and teachers in general). The sale at my Tpt store (10% off) will continue through May 8. You can also use the code TAD12 for an additional discount from Tpt. All of the items in my Teachers Notebook shop are also 10% off and that sale will continue until May 11. There are links to both of my shops on my sidebar. 

Enjoy your Monday (that doesn't sound quite right - but I'm sure gonna try)! 

A Freebie and a Sale!

Yippee! It's time to start teacher appreciation week! Ok, so I'm a little behind on the Earth Day post. But, I'm sure Earth Day will roll around again next year. Have you ever been so busy that you actually have to go to your school to take a break...the same place where you barely have time to pee, never sit down for more than the length of time it takes to read a picture book and don't ever finish your "list"??? Well, it's been a busy crazy spring, but I've been having all kinds of fun with my students!

Two of my students favorite Earth Day activities include:

an Earth Day mobile

The shape of the Earth is just made of 2 construction paper circles.  Each student rolled tiny balls of green tissue paper to make the landforms.  We added the animals with the animal group labels since we were finishing up our animal research projects. 


My students also did a survey for Earth Day.  Each student surveyed an adult at home to collect information about the things they do at home to help the Earth.  Once all the surveys were turned in, we graphed the information from the whole class and wrote a report about our findings.  You can click on the image below to download my survey and the graph.  The fonts that I used are from KevinandAmanda.com and the clipart is from ScrappinDoodles.com.

 

I'm having a sale in my Tpt store (sale from May 6 - 8th) and at my Teachers Notebook shop (sale from May 5 - May 11th) for Teacher Appreciation Week! Everything in my Tpt store and my Teachers Notebook Shop will be 10% off.  Use the promo code TAD12 during the Tpt sale to get an even bigger discount!

Time to sleep...

May Currently

It's time for Farley's May Currently! And good golly Miss Molly do I need to catch up with all of my favorite bloggers! This whole teaching full time and coaching at the same time is a bit much. Plus it automatically knocks me out of all of the mom of the year contests. Thank goodness for my fabulous husband! Here is what is happening "currently" for me...

Next week is teacher appreciation week! I'll be having sales in my online shops at Tpt and Teachers Notebook to celebrate. I'll also be giving away a couple freebies. Now...head on over to Oh Boy, Fourth Grade to visit Farley to read about what is currently happening with everyone else!