Turkey Twisters - A Thanksgiving Fluency Game

I can't believe I haven't blogged since September. Yikes, where does the time go?  

I created a fluency game last year for Halloween and several people have asked about other fluency games so I created one for Thanksgiving. You can check out the Halloween one here and check out the Thanksgiving one at teacherspayteachers. The Thanksgiving one is similar to the Halloween one but instead of reading poetry the kids have to read Turkey (tongue) Twisters. My kids played it today and enjoyed it. Though I always have to laugh at some of their voices. One boy was supposed to use his monster voice and for someone he was speaking with an English accent. It's also interesting to see their interpretations of the voices (some third graders are completely unable to sound grumpy!). 

I hope everyone has a great November, I'm afraid Thanksgiving will be here in no time!

Mr. President Goes to School

I love this book! I shared it with the other teachers in my building as part of a back-to-school ice breaker. I haven't read it to my kids yet, but I will soon. It has a great message for kids and teachers. Mr. President is having a bad day so he sneaks off and goes back to his Kindergarten room (and teacher). It's amazing how he is able to use the things he learns in the classroom at the White House. The illustrations are a hoot! If you haven't seen it yet, check it out!  Click on the cover below for a link to Amazon.

 

Flip Snack

Have you heard of Flip Snack? It's amazing!!! 

Flip Snack is a website where you upload a PDF and it converts it into a flipping book to view on the web. It's so easy to use! I started by creating a Powerpoint with the pages (slides) I wanted. Then I did a "save as" and converted the Powerpoint into a PDF. Next I went to Flip Snack, browsed to the PDF, clicked open, and a few minutes (if that long) later a book was born. You can then click on edit and change the cover, make it flip automatically, etc. I created one to show at open house and on the first day of school to show some of the things we do in third grade. You can check it out here.

I also created one after the first day of school and sent the link to parents which they LOVED!  Click here to view that one.    

If you are interested in checking out Flip Snack, click here.
  

Happy flipping!

New Beginnings

I have to say that time right before school starts is my second favorite time of year (second only to Christmas).  I love tracking down back-to-school bargains. I love decorating and reimagining my classroom. I love seeing my teacher friends again. I love the anticipation of meeting the kids. I love planning and creating learning opportunities for them. I love the possibilities. And I love that every school year is a new beginning. After listening to my overworked siblings this summer I have a new appreciation for the fact that we get to start fresh every fall. Awesome!!!!

I want to wish you all a great school year. I didn't blog at all over the summer, but I have lots of ideas to share so I hope you'll check back often.  

I'm going to start with a couple of back-to-school ideas. First, I have a Get to Know You Smart Board activity at teacherspayteachers for free. It serves two purposes. One is to help the kids get acquainted with each other. It also acquaints them with features of the Smart Board.  You can check it out by clicking here.  

The second is an Ask and Swap get-to-know you activity. It's based on the Kagan activity Quiz, Quiz, Trade. Each child has a card, partners up with another student, and asks the question on his/her card. Each partner asks and answers and then they swap cards and partner up with someone new. Click here to access the goggledoc.

Have a great year!

Minute Olympics

We have three days to go!  Unbelievable!  Where does the time go? It's not easy to keep engagement high the last few days of schools so this year we are going to end the year with a mini mini-unit on the Olympics. I think the kids will enjoy it and it will allow us to review lots of skills and concepts! One of the activities I have planned is Minute Olympics. The activity is designed for six kids in a group to complete six different one minute activities. When they are done with the activities, they will figure out the range, median, and mode for each activity. Since they are figuring out the median, I want them to have an odd number of data. With six kids in a group, they will take turns acting as the activity leader. The activity leader will hand out materials, give directions, and act as the time keeper. S/he will not participate in that activity so the kids will end up with 5 points of data at each activity. If you would like to download the activity which includes two record sheets for the kids (the second sheet includes mean for older kids) and two different types of activity signs (half page signs to post or signs to fold and set on a table), please click here to go to teacherspayteachers. I posted the activity there for free. If you have other ideas for minute activities, please leave a comment!

Teacher Appreciation

Wow! Long time, no blog!  I didn't know realize I hadn't blogged since the beginning of March! I've been out of commission due to sickness, state assessment, and just plain old busy! I figured today, being the beginning of Teacher Appreciation Week, would be a good day to start again. 


First of all I wanted everyone to know I'm joining the sale at Teachers Pay Teachers. Hope on over and check out my products. Several are free and those that aren't are on sale for 20% off (and TPT adds to that discount if you put in the promo code TAD12).  Click here to go my TPT's store. 


Second, I haven't read any blogs in two months either so I missed out on joining the Teacher Appreciation Jackpot. However, I just finished hopping to all 42 participating 3-6 blogs and downloaded a ton of great material! I did hit the jackpot! And my kids will be the winners in the end! If you haven't checked it out yet, click here for Jackpot Headquarters. It's worth the time - but hurry - offers are only good through today (May 6).


And lastly, I want to wish all my teacher friends out there a happy Teacher Appreciation Week. We all work so hard during the school day helping our students in their life journey. Then we come home and spend more time devoted to our students making lesson plans, grading papers, and coming up with activities for our kids. We read blogs combing for ideas to use in our classrooms. These blogs are written by some outstanding teachers who want nothing more than to share their ideas. I feel so blessed to be a member of the blogging community where I am frequently moved to tears as fellow teachers share both their heartaches and triumphs. I find great comfort knowing I'm not alone because, even though we interact with kids all day, teaching can be an isolated endeavor. I find great motivation here on days when I'm tired - finding an idea that excites me and makes me anxious to return to school and share it with my kids. I find great inspiration here as well. So I want to extend a special thank you to all the bloggers out there who do so much for me. They make me a better teacher and impact students beyond the ones they teach; and they do so because they love what they do. Thank you!


I hope every one feels some extra appreciation this week from your students!

Recess Queens and Kings

I have a great group of kids this year so when the b word (bully) came up at conferences I was surprised. After thinking about the issues, I wondered if perhaps some of the stronger personalities were being a little overbearing and being perceived as bullies. I decided to read The Recess Queen by Alexis O'Neill and have a discussion. As I listened to the discussion about problems on our playground, I became more sure that no one was intentionally bullying anyone, but there was definitely a problem with some of the kids being bossy. I had the kids fill out a paper marking recess queen/king or respectful friend behavior at recess (which you can download by clicking here). 

We then talked about the behaviors on the sheet and what kind of things recess queens and kinds do. Finally, I asked them to be honest and reflect on their own recess queen and king behavior on the lines at the bottom of the sheet. The responses I got were very honest. I loved the one that said she would really like to be a recess queen but keeps her “inner queen” under control. Too funny! I then suggested that we come up with a signal or phrase to let our friends know when they are acting like a queen or king. The kids brainstormed several different ideas. I would like to tell you the kids decided on “take off the crown” or “step off the throne” which were my favorites, but we’re dealing with third graders and they voted for “get off the stage.” So now everyone is equipped with a way to stand up for themselves and let those with strong personalities know they are trying to take control and be in charge.

I would love to know how you handle issues like this or how you help kids stand up for themselves. Leave a comment and let me know! 

State Assessments Survival Kit for Kids

As February winds down it means it's time to gear up for state assessments. My dear little third graders will have three days of testing before spring break and then three more days after spring break. Lucky for me, they have an positive attitude about the testing since it is there first time. However, they still need all the encouragement they can get. One of the things I do is to give them a testing survival kit. I'll give it to them the day before we test. I talk about the significance of each item and then ask them to leave the kits in their cubbies for later use. 

We will then use an item from the survival kits after our first three testing sessions. After the first day of testing we chew the gum and write directions for blowing bubbles and put them on the bulletin board.  There's some great ideas about this at Lesson Plan SOS.  After the second session we use the red balloons. We put a hexagon washer into each balloon, blow up the balloons, tie them, and them swirl them. They make a fun sound - almost like magic! And of course, we talk about why they are making the sound (if you do this, have a few extra balloons, if the washers have any rough spots, the balloons will break). And then we use the bubbles after our final reading test to celebrate being done (well, sort of - we still have tests after spring break!).
If you'd like a copy of the survival kit page click here.  I'd love some new ideas! How do you encourage your students to do their best on their state assessments?

Valentine Multiplication Freebie

Gosh, can you believe it's almost the middle of February? We have big Valentine's plans in my classroom thanks to the blogging world and Pinterest. The freebie I'm sharing was inspired by Dana at 3rd Grade Gridiron who was sharing ideas created by Denise at Sunny Days in Third Grade. The freebie is a Valentine's Day multiplication hidden picture activity. There are 91 multiplication problems on the paper. I focused on the facts up to five (and tens), but threw in a few hard ones.  The kids have to decide if the answer for the problem is correct or incorrect. If the answer is correct, they color in the square. When they are done it should look like this:

I have colored it in myself and then colored it on the computer. I believe it is mistake free - but this is just the kind of activity where I'll find a renegade correct answer. I sure hope not!  


I hope you can use it!  Click here for the googledoc.

Valarooni

My kids loved our Christmas elf so much that I decided we needed a Valentine's version.  I bought a cute stuff animal at Target who will visit our classroom everyday starting today until Valentine's Day. I call him Valarooni.

Later today he will bring the kids bookmarks that I bought at Hobby Lobby.  Other things he will bring are a  Valentine's pencil, eraser, glow stick, and special Valentine's treat on the big day. I left a note on my board this morning for the kids from our elf as a hint and they are so curious. I love that about third graders! 

Press Here for Cause and Effect

True confessions . . . my name is Debbie and I'm a bookaholic. My three favorite past times are buying books, reading books, and organizing books for my classroom. In fact, when someone new comes into my room they always say, "You have a lot of books." And indeed I do. So it won't surprise you  to hear that last fall when I was blog stalking and somebody (I'm sorry I don't remember who) mentioned the book Press Here by Herve Tullet I hopped onto amazon and bought it. 

The person didn't even say much about but I knew from the description I had to have it. It has since sat in my classroom waiting for the right moment and that moment happened Friday. I was getting ready to introduce cause and effect, I scooped up the book on my way to the carpet, and magic happened! My kids LOVED the book. Now if you're unfamiliar with it let me summarize. It starts with one dot that you press. When you turn the page the dot has doubled. There are many actions for the reader to take from pressing, to shaking, to tilting the book. When the reader turns the page the dots have multiplied, changed, or shifted in some way. My kids were begging to do the actions - there was 100% engagement! They were also making predictions about what would happen next faster than I could call on them.  And all the while I was saying things like, "We caused the dots to go the the left hand side by tilting the book. The cause was tilting and the effect was the dots moving to the left." It was a great way to introduce cause and effect. Of course, my kids now want to make their own version and I certainly wouldn't want to prevent that! I can't wait to see what they come up with! So if you too are a bookaholic, I highly recommend this book. It was more engaging to my third graders than I would ever have thought! And thank you to the blogger who introduced the book to me! Happy reading!

More Ideas for the Hundredth Day

Today is our 100th day of school.  Third graders love celebrations so they were looking forward to today's events. Several of them made projects at home including 3 of my girls who took 100 pictures and used Movie Maker to complete their project. It was great! And the rest of the kids LOVED seeing the pictures of themselves! One of my artistic girls loves horses so she drew a horse using 100.  Here's a picture of her project:

Several of them dressed up like they were 100 and enjoyed being in character. Seeing these energetic people shuffle around was hysterical! 


Between my teaching partner and I we had 16 centers. I created a 100s Chart Challenge for them to do as one of the centers. If they color in the numbers correctly they create a design that looks like the number 100.  I am sharing it below.  I'm also sharing their favorite center which is You Nerd. They have to count how many Nerds in the box (I buy the small boxes which I found 2 for $5 this week) filling out information about the number of Nerds in the box. I am sharing that below as well. If you click on the picture you will end up at my tpt store where you can download the activities for free. 

I would love to hear how you celebrate the 100th day. I'm always interested in new ideas!     

Yes, Virginia, the 100th Day of School is for Third Graders

At my school, third grade is the last year that the 100th day of school is a big thing. Since we started school in the middle of August we are gearing up for our 100th day next week. There are lots of third grade appropriate things to do on the 100th day. Today I'm sharing a booklet that my kids will complete. You can run it off as a booklet or run off half sheets for the activities you want. Check back again soon as I will be posting a few other 100th Day things!  Click on the picture below to download:

Symmetry

I taught a lesson on symmetry this week and used a great website. The website teaches the concept so much better than I could do alone and there were parts that were challenging even for my most math capable kids. I created "follow along" work and an assignment which you can get by clicking on the picture below.  The website is from Links Learning and can be found here.

 

New Year - New Blog Design

It's a new year and I decided I needed to lighten up (my blog design that is). I think I like this one. I'm sure it has nothing to do with being ready for spring!

Happy New Year Freebie

Wow 2012!!!  How did that happen?  It really doesn't seem all that long ago we were facing our Y2K fears and now it's 12 years later. Amazing! Happy New Year! The new year also brings that sad reality that my relaxing break is almost over and it's time to gear up for the second semester. I made a worksheet for my third graders to work on when we return. I wanted to talk about leap year (which my brother, the English major, assures me should not be capitalized) and give the kids a chance to work with a calendar, so I created the worksheet for them to complete with a partner. The work includes a place to make New Year's resolutions for home and school. I hope someone else can use it. There's also a one page 2012 calendar to print. Click on the picture for the googledoc.

But wait! After previewing the googledoc I'm not very happy - it's kinda fuzzy. I posted both the PDF (which is much clearer and easier to read) and the original Word doc at TeachersPayTeachers.  Click here to download the better versions for free.


Enjoy the final days of your break!  I certainly am!

Fun Computer Site

One of my kids' favorite on-line Christmas games is called Snow Line. At the end of the year last year during our computer time I allowed the kids to revisit any site they liked and everyone of the kids went back to Snow Line. It was actually kinda funny to hear Christmas music in May! I think it is a great problem solving game - they have to be patient and determined and willing to rethink and revise their plan. There are several places on the internet to access the game, but our district's filter system usually blocks sites with the word game in the url. I found this link that my district allows and thought I would share.  Hope your kids enjoy it as much as mine do!  Click here for Snow Line.  

Number Snow-How Freebie

I created a game for my kids to practice some place value skills.  As I was getting ready to share it I decided it wouldn't be that hard to make 3 versions so as a holiday gift to you I made a version that with numbers in the hundreds, one for thousands, and the one I used with my kids which has numbers in the ten thousands.  It's a wintery theme so it could be used between now and Christmas or after the beginning of the year. Hope you can use it and your kids enjoy it!  

Click here for hundreds game.

Click here for the thousands game.

Click here for the version with numbers in the ten thousands. 

Synonym Stockings

Gosh, it's December...how did that happen?  It seems like just yesterday the hot summer days would never end, school had just started, and I had a long fall season ahead of me and just like that it's December! I'm sure time is speeding up with every passing year and this December has arrived quicker than ever before.  Anyone else feel that way?

During our WIN (Tier 2) we are concentrating on context clues and I have chosen to weave synonyms into that study since many context clues the kids miss consist of synonyms. I created a board game for the kids to practice synonyms and am sharing it below. The cute graphics come from KPM Doodles (you can check out her Esty Shop by clicking here). I'd love a comment if you try it out!

100 Followers and a Freebie

Wow! 100 followers - who knew? I know there are bloggers out there with thousands of followers but I never expected to reach 100. I am so humbled by that. I feel so blessed to have a place to go and get creative materials I didn't have to toil over myself. I am honored to be a part of the amazing, giving, creative blogging community. Thank you followers - you have really touched my heart! It's a nice way to end my weekend!

Now on to the good stuff - a freebie.

Next week we're going to focus on Context Clues during WIN (my name for Tier 2 - couldn't bring myself to call it Tier 2 so WIN stands for What I Need and the kids have some choice in where they go each day).  I will be working with the Click or Clunk word strategy during my small group time and developed a bookmark to give the kids to keep. It's not fancy because I wanted them focused on the steps. Hope someone can make good us of it!