Showing posts with label The Best Endings. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Best Endings. Show all posts

Book Blessings and chalkboard labels

Ok...I was commenting on a post, when my next teaching idea came to me.

I like to do something in my class each week...all week long.

Book Blessings.

They're not quite a book report, but it kind of gets them in the groove of it for later in their life...

What I have the kids do is sign up for a day of the week - I do Tuesday through Friday, because well...some of my kids have weird living arrangements and their weekends aren't all that consistent. So I like to remind them on Monday. They sign up on Friday, of the week before. I usually try to have the same amount of kids for each day.

Now, inevitably, you are going to have kids that are NOT ready on their day. Which, of course, ruins my whole "same number of kids each day to take the same amount of time each day" thought process....Sigh.... Oh well, just move them to another day.

You can have them focus on whatever you want. But for a long while, just to get them used to it, I just have them focus on why they liked the book: their favorite part, or illustration, or favorite line, or character. Whatever. Just so it's an advertisement to the rest of the class to get them to read more too! It's really just a 30 second blurb about the book.

Below is my sign up sheet - I use a "number" system, where every child has a number, and they just write their number in the day they want to sign up for. I'm not supposed to have more than 18 kids, but I broke it down to where we could have 5 kids each day.

Click the pic to grab a copy :)


Now, it might take some pulling teeth in the beginning, but eventually, I have kids that start asking if they can share their book even if they've already shared for the week, just because they want to tell everyone to go read the book! :)


Now, here's my craft I did the other day - 

Chalkboard Labels!!




This literally took me 2 minutes to do!!

All I used was the mailing label stickers, chalkboard paint (that I already had on hand), and the foam sponge paint brushes.

I painted the labels, let them dry, then I cut them all cutsie, and put them on my flour and sugar containers!

Now, the trick to chalkboard paint is that before you start writing with it, to scribble all over the surface with chalk, then wipe it off, and THEN you can write on it easily. :)



My Book Blessing
And go check out my book blessing (hehe) over at The Best Ending - click the picture of the book!


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Updates, more matter, and a book post

First off, here's today's photo of the day!

Baby B; wide eyed and taking in the world!



Also, WHY does everything come at once?!?!
Not only do we have hospital bills coming our way, but we also had to get new tires for my SUV, and hubby needs new tires for his truck, and now we need a new washer!! My washing machine is currently sitting in the garage in pieces...ah!! lol. So now, the question is....which kind to get?? Are you in love with your washing machine??? (yes, I get the irony of the question, because who ACTUALLY likes to do laundry?? Well, I like to do laundry, but I HATE folding it! lol)..
Ok, now, moving on to the updates....

Yesterday, I posted about  these Chinese lanterns...

Miss P (my sub/intern) did not find these on Pinterest - she made them up! She had them write what they would wish for when they release their lantern on the last day of the Chinese New Year...cute, huh??

And with these fortune cookies....
she just has them laying on my desk with some cgopsticks and in their "free time" they can go explore with them. Here is the Youtube video on how to make them.




And thanks, Reagan, for sending me to the rightful owner of these fabulous symmetry snowflakes! I KNEW I had seen them somewhere :)
These are from Cara over at First Grade Parade!


Now....for the State of Matter activity she did....


There's more to the book! For state of matter, they look for items in the sales ads that would fit that state, cut it out, and put it in their book! I love it!! Each day they do a different state of matter...
(she, of course, went through the ads first to cut out anything inappropriate for my little 2nd graders..lol!)





Love it!

Also, I finished my 2nd book!! 


Check out my post on The Best Endings!




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New blog and a linky!

Yes, I'm blogging again. haha...

Today was my first day home from the hospital (did you see my Introducing post??), and what is the first thing I did??? Ok, well, I went outside and played with my 2 year old because it was just SO GOSH DARN BEAUTIFUL outside!! 70 degrees and perfectly blue skies!! I was NOT going to waste another day cooped up inside!! (Yes, it is SO weird NOT to be in pain or tired or wanting to just sleep! All I want  to do is get up and going - SO not like my first birthing experience. I'm not sure if it'll hit me in a few days, or if I just got REALLY lucky this time??)

So, I guess the question should be, what was the 2nd thing I did when I got home?? CLEANED!!! lol!!! I'm NOT even lying! I came home and my house was a disaster (apparently, my OCD gene did NOT come from my mother - though I'm very thankful she was here to take care of Autumn while we were in the hospital, and that's all that matters, right?!). So, I couldn't take it and I started cleaning the kitchen and doing laundry, and throwing things away...WHAT is wrong with me??? lol!! I have to blame it on Brooklynn though...I think this was the easiest birth ever. In history. I feel like I could go ahead and start working out or running...but I won't. Not yet. lol.
And the 3rd thing I did??? Started looking through all my emails....OH EM GOSH!! This is going to take me FOR. EV. ER!! Seriously. I left for the hospital with 65 emails (all of which have been read, so I didn't even count them), but now I'm up to....hold please...217!!! WHAT??? I need to go through 150 emails! lol...most of which I sent myself while I was being OH SO BORED sitting in the 4x4 hospital room. bleh!

One of the emails I came across that I HAD to do tonight was about a new blog in town!

Yay!! I'm super excited about Erika's new blog! (someone put the title of their post about this as NBOTB - and I got totally excited because it made me think of NKOTB! lol...I don't remember who it was, but I DID send myself that post so I could comment on it!) ANYWAY, when Erika posted on her teacher blog,





I was instantly interested in being a contributor! 

She has created a new blog called

TheBestEnding
and has invited anyone to come contribute to it! It's like a book club, that you don't have to go to...lol.

I have been neglecting my reading  for a little while (can I blame it on doing National Boards, then getting married, and having a baby, and then doing my masters?? lol), but I have been collecting books (real and electronic) that I want to read during the whole "lull" so hopefully being home for a few months and this new blog will give me the motivation I need to pick it back up!
Head on over to see {my intro post} and check out all the other contributors as well!! There are TONS of great contributors!


I also wanted to link up with Clutter-Free Classroom....

Although, I  probably should wait on this, because TECHnically, WE have another WHOLE week left of vacation. Teachers here go back on the 6th, and that's even a "work where you want" day. And quite honestly, I have like 6 weeks left of my vacation..lol. 
But none the same, I wanted to link up so I can meet new friends :)
Our vacation just started, but we've done A LOT in our short time...
We've gone to Sea World and participated in their Christmas Celebration
LOVE this picture of Autumn with Santa.
And we've gone up to St. Augustine to see the Nights of Lights...


And we celebrated Christmas....at the beach!

where we built our annual "sand"men




And the best thing we've "done" so far is have our new daughter, Brooklynn!




We are now home, and I will be spending a lot of time figuring out how to juggle both my "needy" baby (not that she's needy, but you know how babies are- gosh I love them! I had forgotten how cute their movements and little sounds are) and daughter who LOVES her mommy! And I hope to be starting my workouts and running soon too...if not, then maybe my Kinect sports will help me out a little until I can get back in my routines :) And then of course I will be working on getting through all my emails (see above). ha!


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