Did Someone Say Back to School Sale?

I just LOVE a good sale and Teachers Pay Teachers is hosting their Back-to-School Sale today and tomorrow, August 18th and 19^th.

Like many other sellers, all of my resources are on sale for 20%.  Use code BTS13 at check out to receive an extra 10% discount!

Thank you Krista from Creative Clips for the button!

I wanted to share some of the most wish listed resources in my store.

Biography Research Report

Common Core Aligned

This product includes everything a student will need to write a research report on a person. You will only need to print the pages, provide the students with the resources to find the information, and have students bind the pages into a book. If possible, copy the cover page and final page on white cardstock to make the book sturdier.

I have my students complete all pages before binding the book together. I suggest punching four holes in the book and having students tie the book with ribbon.

This product includes the following:
• four prewriting web graphic organizers
• student cover page
• early life page
• middle life page
• late life page
• accomplishments
• character traits
• timeline
• interesting facts page
• inspiration page
• bibliography page
• editing/writing checklist
• grading rubric

Animal Research Report

This resource is much like the biography report and includes the following pages:

• five prewriting web graphic organizers
• student cover page
• physical description page
• diagram page
• senses page
• what they eat page
• habitat page
• family page
• enemies page
• interesting facts page
• bibliography page
• editing/writing checklist
• grading rubric

If you are interested in purchasing both of them, I have them available in a bundle here.

Grammar Interactive Notebook Flaps

Prefixes and Suffixes - Two Student Books, Match and Word Cards

Here are the two resources separate Prefixes and Suffixes.

9 Place Value Task Card Sets for Upper Grades 

I have many items in my cart just waiting for checkout!

Stop by Teachers Pay Teachers and pick up some great resources.

Until next time!

Hope and Dreams

Students return to my school on Monday, August 26^th and one of many things I do with them the first week of school is help them to develop their hopes and dreams for the school year.

Yesterday, I spent time in my classroom library selecting the books that have characters that are working on making their hopes and dreams come true.

During the first week of school, I am going to read the following five books. 

Brave Irene 
By William Steig 


Despite a raging snowstorm, Irene, a dressmaker's daughter, offers to deliver the duchess' newly finished ball gown . . . With sure writing and well-composed, riveting art, Steig keeps readers with Irene every step of the long way.

 

 

 

More Than Anything Else    By Marie Bradby and Chris K. Soentpiet  

Nine-year-old Booker works with his father and brother at the saltworks but dreams of the day when he'll be able to read.

 

 

 

 

 

Miss Rumphius   By Barbara Cooney  

Alice Rumphius wanted to travel the world when she grew up, and then to live by the sea–just as her grandfather had done. But there is one more thing, he tells her: she must do something to make the world more beautiful. Young Alice does not yet know what that will be.

Tar Beach   By Faith Ringgold  

Inspired by people who have overcome adversity, Faith Ringgold creates picture books for children that celebrate freedom, courage, and peace. In Tar Beach, through her dreams and her ability to fly, Cassie makes things better for her family during the Great Depression. "Ringgold recounts the dream adventure of eight-year-old Cassie Louise Lightfoot, who flies above her apartment-building rooftop, the 'tar beach' of the title, looking down on 1939 Harlem.

Uncle Jed'sBarbershop   By Margaree King Mitchell and James Ransome

Sarah Jean's Uncle Jed, the only black barber in the county, overcomes many setbacks, including the Great Depression of the 1930's, as he works to save enough money to open his own barber shop.

 

 

At the end of the week, I will have my students write their hopes and dreams for the school year.  They will also set goals for the first quarter of school.  At the end of each quarter they will write a reflection of that quarter’s goals and write their new goals for the next quarter.

I am always on the lookout for new books!  What books do you share with your students that focus on hopes and dreams?

Until next time!

Monday Made It and Two Small Giveaways!

It is time for Tara’s Monday Made It Linky! 

I give it my all to link up each week, but I often fall short of that goal.  I do, however, take time throughout the week to look at all the wonderful things that bloggers have created.

This week I am cheating a bit and my Monday Made Its are "Made By My Mom Monday Made Its".  She made them for me, so doesn’t that count?

My mother is very talented and makes half of the items in my classroom.  If it is to be sewn, sawed, painted, hot glued, or built she did some all of the work!  I thought I better be honest… she may be reading this.

I can’t stand clutter!  I need everything in a place and little things I want hidden.  Decorated paint cans are perfect for that!  They are the perfect size, stackable, and sturdy.  My mom has decorated two of them each year over the last four years. 

Here is the picture of the cans fresh from the shelves of Lowes.

 

Here are pictures of the two new cans after my mother’s creativity and hard work has kicked into gear.

 

 

Don’t you LOVE them?  Every year I end up with a new favorite. 

My current paint cans hold pencils, erasers, peppermints, dry erase markers, stickers, marbles, lollipops, and desk fairy coupons.

I haven’t even decided what will go in these two cuties, but I know it won’t take me long to fill them up.

Remember how I said I love hidden storage… well next up is a bench.  I have four benches in my classroom (You can see them here.) and needed wanted one more to hold recess games.  Plus the benches are a great place for my students to have a comfy place to sit.

Here are some before pictures of a bench my mother picked up for me at a yard sale.

 

Here it is after she sanded and painted it.  She also made a pillow to make it more comfortable for sitting.

 

It definitely looks better and will fit just right into my classroom décor.

Now before you click over to Tara’s blog, 4th Grade Frolics, to see all the marvelous treasures that were created this week…I thought it would be nice to have a quick giveaway. 

I have two products in my store that have are being purchased quite a bit lately.  Tomorrow night, August 13^th, I will select two numbers from the comments below. (I would still love to read and respond to your comments even if you aren't interested in winning one of the two products!) 

The first randomly chosen number will receive a copy of my Grammar Interactive Notebook Flaps, which can be found here.

 

The second randomly drawn number will receive a copy of my Nine Sets of Place Value Task Cards for Older Students.  They can be found here.

 

Until next time!

Must Read Mentor Text - Math Poetry

Hello!

I am linking up with Amanda and Stacia at Collaboration Cuties for their Must Have Mentor Text Linky.

The book I am linking up this week isn’t exactly a book that can be read directly to students, but it does have math poems that are read to the class.  Please forgive me this time, but it really is a book that should be shared!

 

Math Poetry:  Linking Language and Math in a Fresh Way written by Betsy Franco has become a must have resource in my classroom and is now one of my go to books for several math skills.

 

Here is a description from Amazon:

Cat + mouse = scared mouse! That's a "mathematickle," a word game using the conventions of math in a way that's so surprising, poetic, and delightful that this book of 20 activity ideas won a 2009 Teachers' Choice Award. Clear instructions, reproducible handouts, and a table matching lessons to math and language arts standards ease the way into activities that both gifted and ELL students will enjoy. Math topics covered include number sense, estimation, measurement, money, addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, fractions, inverse operations, geometry, algebra, and graphing.

 

I wish I had remembered to bring my book home or had taken some pictures of the inside, but I forgot.  Click here, and it will take you to Amazon's website where you can get an inside view of the book.

With crystal clear instructions, easy-to-use activities and templates, Math Poetry provides an innovative way to teach both math and writing. Students generally have trouble with math word problems. When they write their own word problems in the form of poems, they learn the vocabulary and concepts. You'll be amazed by their creativity.

Now, it is time to visit Collaboration Cuties to find more must read mentor texts!

On a side note:  Today and tomorrow I am having 20% off sale at my Teacher's Notebook Store.  They are holding their Back-to-School Sale.  They have bundles available that you can purchase at an 80% discount.   I have a math resource in Bundle #23.  This bundle has 20 resources for $20.90 which is a savings of $83.60!

I will be back tomorrow for Monday Made It!