100th Day of School

Today was our 100th day of school! Hard to believe it has already been 100 days of fifth grade, 100 days through my first year of common core and teaching in Florida! Yay!! 

Since Fifth grade is a little old to be doing some of the standard 100th day activities but I still love doing them we celebrated in our own "grown up" way. 

1. Using number die cuts we created a Space Colony scene and then wrote about it. The kids were asked to use the die cuts in their picture and then explain why they chose this new place for their space colony.

2. We had a 100 cup tower stack challenge. I split the kids into two groups and gave them 100 cups and told them to create the tallest tower they could using all 100 cups. One group just couldn't get the cups to stay standing. The other group built two towers! one was 29 inches tall and the second was 48 inches tall! They really seemed to enjoy this activity. They do need some help working together and talking to each other like a team rather than just yelling but we are working on it. 

Oreo Moon Phases!

While in our Space Unit we get to cover the 3rd and 4th grade material too for review and because unfortunately Science isn't tested in 3rd and 4th grade it isn't as much of a priority so we really focus on it in Fifth grade. (no one would admit to the above statement if you asked them of course all subjects are important and taught to their entirety based on the standards) :) 

So while reviewing I decided since I have never gotten to teach moon phases or space for that matter that I was going to do it up right this year. I LOVED making my space smartboards and find pictures and videos to help my kids better understand the standards. Space is truly amazing and beautiful. Seriously beautiful.

So while on Moon Phases I decided to do the Oreo Moon phases activity. I learned about this in college and our 3rd graders did it at my old school. My kids hadn't done it yet so it was even better for me! 
I prepackaged the kids with 4 oreos, a little tongue depressor (I can't think of the teacher words for these little wooden sticks is!) and a paper plate. We then drew the Earth in the middle of the plate. And drew the sun on the left hand side. After drawing these two on the plate we discussed which phases would be occurring and why based on the location of the Sun and Earth. I drew on the whiteboard while they wrote on their plates. First we just labeled the moon phases and then I let the kids go with their oreos. 

We did discuss the secret trick of twisting the oreos to get the icing on one side or the other of the oreo. Obviously New Moon and Full Moon were the easiest followed by the first and third quarter moons. Crescent moon were the trickiest for the kids. 
 
Another trick I discovered during my planning of these lessons was the difference of Waning and Waxing. Waxing means the light is growing and each phases should be growing with light to then get to Full Moon or full light, after full moon the light then wanes or decreases until it comes back to New Moon. I loved this idea having never had to learn the moon phases (that I can remember anyway) it totally helped me remember the phases. My kids even started saying "Wax on" more light..."Wax off" less light. Bahahahaha close but not quite! Still funny though. 


Enjoy checking out our pictures of the this awesome activity. Of course after I checked off their phases they got to eat their cookies. I didn't make them glue the cookies down or anything but you can!

Florida Literacy Week Day 2 and 3

Day two of Florida Literacy week was Reading is fun year 'round! Yes it is. My favorite time to read is on school breaks. I can usually finish 2-3 books at Christmas and Spring break and about 5-6 over the summer (depending on what else is going on)! I LOVE that I get to read for me!

I decided to wear my Merry Christmoose shirt that I found by total chance at the little thrift store near my school for $1! YES A DOLLAR!! (For those of you that don't know I LOVE moose! My house is decorated in moose decor and at Christmas time my house throws up Moose! I also happened to use my gingerbread coffee cup that we got from our Art fundraiser when the company sent us a duplicate set of the mugs! (Yay teacher gifts) 

But I am distracted...back to reading and literacy week!


My kids came dressed in various outfits ranging from Christmas outfits with little antlers and bells to halloween costumes, decked out in Mardi Gras beads, St. Patrick's day hats and Native American attire to represent Thanksgiving. It was great seeing all their holiday outfits!

Day #3: Put your thinking cap on and Read!
Tons of Hats today! Probably the easiest day of them all. Wearing hats to show your love of reading. Almost every kid in my class had a hat on. I wore a hat my grandmother gave me at Thanksgiving before she passed away. It was a hat she had when she was younger (I want to say high schoolish age range but could totally be wrong). The hat is a beautiful teal color and I happen to have a cute teal shirt to wear with it too! 

Tomorrow...Snuggle up with a good book! Wear slippers, bring blankets and stuffed animals to snuggle up with a book. We aren't allowed to wear our Pajamas though. Only our kindergarten class gets to wear their PJ's and they only wear them on the last day of school before winter break. So strange we don't get regular PJ days. It isn't my favorite dress up day but everyone else loves it, so I am totally on the bandwagon of complaining that we don't get it at my new school! Excited to see what my kids bring in tomorrow...guess what slippers I am wearing?? Yep my moose ones!! 

Happy Reading Y'all!

Florida's Literacy Week Day 1

Florida's Literacy Week: Day 1 Reading Ties Us Together

Today we got to wear a tie with any outfit. I wore one but didn't take a picture of me or my kids! 

Ahhh!! I did get to snag a picture of some awesome first grade teachers wearing their ties though!

 They are reppin' Tennessee, Florida State and the Patriots! - I will have to get a Dallas Tie for next year!

This was a great first day to literacy week because it really helped us think about why does reading tie us together? This was a great conversation to have with my kids. I think sometimes we forget that books are a link to many worlds including our own and that without them we may or even could lose track of ourselves and others. This theme for the day also worked well with our ELA review which asked use to discuss and explain the quote by Samuel Johnson "A writer only begins a book. A reader finishes it."

Ready for day 2! Reading is Fun All Year 'Round!

How do you celebrate reading year round? What would you wear as your favorite holiday outfit? 

I promise I will post pictures tomorrow! 

Martin's Big Words

Last week we read Martin's Big Words.

I was thinking this might be too "little kiddish" for my fifth graders, nope it was great! (And it is an Accelerated Reader book too!) 

I loved the great quotes that were bolded in the text. Made for an on the spot teaching moment about bolded words being important and how we knew they were important. How come these words would be bolded, how do you think that fits in with the title of the text...etc...It was great conversation. I decided that after reading it we would all trace our hands on card stock, trace the pencil outline in dark crayon or marker and then color our hands using Crayola's Multicultural Markers. 

If you have never seen these markers they are amazing. Coming from a school where most of my kids were Hispanic these markers were incredibly awesome because they were finally able to color kids that looked like them. My students here in Florida were just as mesmerized with this concept that they could color their hands to match their skin. Some of them were even coloring on their hands with the markers to find that perfect match, it was a great think to see. So while they were coloring their hands I was writing all the awesome quotes on sticky notes and then giving the kids colored card stock to write the quotes on. They were asked to write the quotes in big blocky letters and make them stand out. 

We discussed whether to put them on the windows that face the school yard (where the whole school passes to go to lunch) or put them on the windows that face the car rider line. The car rider line won! So we hung the hands up in the windows, some of them interlaced with other hands, some by themselves with the various quotes from the book. 
Then we took a field trip around the school building to see our art work. 

The result is pretty sweet! Hope you all enjoyed this activity we did in Fifth grade! Happy January!

These are a few of my Favorite things...Fourteen in '14

14. Favorite quote:

From Bones. Dr. Brennan and Booth talking in the car about their relationship. 

Brennan: “You’re upset. You know I’d never sleep with him.”

Booth: “Well, you did tell me once that you thought that monogamy was unnatural.”

Brennan: “Yes. That’s true. Before I realized that we’re symbiotic. Like a clown fish and a sea anemone.”

Booth: “What are you talking about? Nemo? That doesn’t sound very romantic.”

Brennan: “I disagree. You and I, we’re bound to one another. So much so that I don’t feel I could survive without you. You nurture me, you protect me. You’re my home. If I were to damage that by a meaningless dalliance, it would be like killing myself. Something I would never do.”

Booth: “That sounds a little better.”

Brennan: “I would never let anything compromise the life we share, Booth. I love you.”

Booth: “Okay, that’s romantic.”

Bones isn't my favorite show, I just happened to be watching it with my mom. I paused and rewound it so I could record this conversation and show it to my boyfriend. I thought it was so cute.

13. Favorite article of clothing:

Hoodies. I absolutely love Hoodies. and Jeans. I am most comfortable in jeans, a hoodie and flip flops!

12. Favorite movie you watched:

I haven't watched a lot of movies...I have a tendency to fall asleep. However we did have a girls day and watched Divergent and Sex Tape. I laughed so hard during Sex Tape. It was SO funny. So that one can be the winner. I also showed Prancer to my kids the last week before winter break and forgot what a great movie that is.

11. Favorite TV series:

Grimm.

10. Favorite restaurant:

I love Chevys. Sadly there isn't one anywhere near us. I think Orlando is the closest one. 

9. Favorite new thing you tried:

Stand Up PaddleBoarding. Since moving to FL my boyfriend wanted to buy one for himself so we thought we better try it before investing in a board. It was so HARD but so fun! We did NOT get to paddleboard with the Sea Manatees but I am hoping swimming with them is coming soon in 2015!!

8. Favorite gift you got:

My monogrammed necklace and our home Florida sign. Both birthday presents from my sometimes very thoughtful boyfriend.

7. Favorite thing you pinned:

I wanted to make a wreath for our door. I scoured pinterest for something I thought I could make without too much training and came across this cute little guy and decided I could do that. 

 However at the time I did not realize it was an ornament...I just looked the picture and made it. Mine is a little different but I think I NAILED IT!

6. Favorite blog post:

My good friend, amazing teacher and previously my coworker, Fourth Grade Lemonade! She encouraged me to start my own blog and I am constantly asking her what to write about, post, etc. If you don't follow her you need to! 

5. Best accomplishment:

Making the move to Florida. It was a big move for me, far away from my family, moving in with my boyfriend, as well as a new school, grade level and curriculum. Big steps in my life. But I feel really good about it all in the end. Happy Six Months in Florida to me!

4. Favorite picture:

Because it is ours. 

Our first Christmas tree, creating all our holiday traditions together has been a great experience. 

3. Favorite memory:

Feeding and kissing the baby zebra at the Fair! He was so soft and such a greedy little guy he wanted all the carrots!

2. Goal for 2015:

Actually put things in my TpT store. I have tons of things that I create but I get shy about sharing them with the world. So I will try and post at least one thing to my store and blog each month!

1. One Little Word:

Happy.

 

The Not So Elf on a Shelf

Elf on a Shelf is all the rage right now! While I think it is amazing that this little toy elf can make kids behave is awesome how it works is beyond me but hey it works and that's all that matters right?! 

I don't particularly care for the elf himself, nothing personal to elves but I am more partial to reindeer and other antlered animals of the woods, winter and Christmas. 

So this year I decided to break out my reindeer. I had some reservations about him because well I teach fifth grade and I wasn't sure fifth graders would buy into it (boy was I wrong) and my previous school didn't have time nor did they really support doing things like that because of our population (mostly Hispanic and lower income families). Several of my friends this year had Elves and so we all chatted about how the kids were reacting to their Christmasy creatures!

On to my reindeer!

Day 1: He appeared with a typed letter explaining he was here to watch over my class and report back to Santa and that he needed a name because he was a secret agent and he had forgotten his. The kids voted on a name, my kids came up with quite an array of names however ended with the choice between Mooski and Sven. Sven being the obvious winner. Sven also brought reindeer games, an awesome behavior system from Second Story Window that I came across while on the search for fun activities. Again wasn't sure how it would go over in fifth grade, but needless to say they also loved the reindeer games behavior system as much as they loved Sven! Every time they received all 9 reindeer they earned a candy cane point AND got to choose one of the reindeer games to play (these were quick, max of like 10-15 minutes). I HIGHLY recommend it!
Day 2. I had a sub (of course, Day 2 of my reindeer days I would have a sub half day!) well Sven brought them a candy cane kiss estimation jar and the kids kept up the great behavior!
Day 3: Sven coined #reindeerselfie after drawing a reindeer nose and antlers on the bathroom mirror. (picture to the left)
Day 4: Sven could be found curled up with his favorite stuffed reindeer, reading books and enjoying the scents of the North Pole! (My favorite winter smell from Yankee Candle Company!)
Day 5: Sven was doing such a good job of watching over the kids he was able to try out for the Sleigh Team! He could be found soaring over the kids practicing! This is when it really hit me that they LOVED Sven and really bought into him. The minute they walked in the room they would go searching for him without stopping to drop coats, backpacks, or breakfast etc. They even kept it a secret (well most of them) until everyone had found him. So heartwarming!
Day 6: UH OH! The kids were naughty on Day 5 while Sven was practiving for the sled team so some Elves came to check in on him and make sure that he was doing what he was supposed to be doing. The Elves said that if the kids didn't start behaving and earning their reindeer/candy cane points Sven would have to leave and would not be able to try out for the sled team. Some of my kids were DEVASTATED! My favorite was one of my girls who yelled "What they can't take the sled team away from him that is his dream!" I loved it! 

Day 7: Sven could stay and he was found taking a bath and soaking his hooves and nose after being tied up by the elves.
Day 8: Sven and his friends get caught playing the reindeer Hokey Pokey under our class Christmas Tree! The kids thought this was hysterical. They just kept giggling about it all day, especially since one little guy was doing it all wrong! (He's the one with his tail in rather than his antlers!)
Day 9: Sven threw out all the votes in the estimation jar because the kids were being naughty. Luckily the elves didn't take him away.
Day 10: Sven hid in the Dallas Cowboys helmet and wrote GO COWBOYS all over the whiteboard! We are afterall a COWBOYS classroom!
Day 11: Sven was playing "Don't let the Snowman melt!" with his friends. Only Five Days Left!!
Day 12: Sven brought the makings of Reindeer Food!
Day 13: Sven and his friends are caught playing Pictureka!
Day 14: One more day but First Prancer is on his way, we watched the movie Prancer. My kids LOVED this movie. So glad it is one of my favorites!
Day 15: Sven's last day. He brought us one last gift, Santa comes to FLORIDA! He helped me read it to the class after opening our class presents.

I am looking forward to Santa Coming to Florida! 

Hope you all enjoyed hearing about the adventures of Sven!