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! 

Apples to Apples

Ever played the game Apples to Apples? Is it not the funnest game ever!? I LOVE playing at home with my family. I LOVE it so much I have four different versions of Apples to Apples. Yes you read right, FOUR. Apples to Apples Original. Apples to Apples Junior. Rotten Apples to Apples. and Disney Apples to Apples. Best games ever.

Last year I tried to play Apples to Apples Junior with my second graders. It worked...ish. I sat all 15 of my second graders around in a circle, dealt out cards and explained the game. Played a practice round and then went on with the game just like you would at home, except with fifteen people. Well...I didn't think about my second graders not being able to read or understand the cards so there was a LOT of management on my part and reading and explaining cards, which then in turn meant everyone knew who's card was who's. The kids were tired and bored by the end of round one. Needless to say we never played again...in second grade.

However in FIFTH GRADE...

I changed the way we played. We played in teams. I grouped my kids by their tables groups, dealt out 7-8 red cards and then I drew the green cards and had them play to me. Each time me picking the winner of the green card. They loved it! However I was doing all the work. They begged me to play again so we did...
The second time we played I let them pick their own teammates. Each group still had 7-8 red cards. But I played the first green card and picked a winner and then the groups rotated clockwise so that each group got to choose a winner of their green card. Playing in groups can be tricky because agreeing on one thing is not always easy. But the kids loved it even better this way. They were also explaining why they were picking certain cards to match or not match the green card. It was awesome and all I had to do was listen to their awesome brains and watch their teamwork and excitement.

Now a small group of them plays at recess. I did have to explain that in "real life" you don't have to play in teams, we just do in class to make it easier and move quicker. But they LOVE it. If you have 4 graders and older get Apples to Apples Junior and try it out. It is an awesome comparison game. Not to mention it used nouns and adjectives. (in case you didn't know the read cards are all nouns and the green cards are all adjectives)

I have thought of all kinds of cool ideas to use a follow ups to playing the game.

*with the green cards you have won, write a story using the winning green cards to describe the nouns you have left in your hand
*with the green cards you have won, write a story using the winning green cards to describe any characters
*with the green cards you have won, write a synonym or antonym for the word on the card
*with the remaining red cards you have write a story about these people, places or things

Just things like that so that the kids are using the parts of speech more.

I have thought about trying to add a "blue deck" that has verbs to it. And having the kids decide whether to pull a green or blue card and that blue cards would be worth 2 points or something like that. But it was just an idea.

I am Thankful for...

This year I wanted to have my kids write about what they are thankful for. Obviously it is Thanksgiving time! I wanted them to think about side the box a little though so I created this organizer for them to think about what they are thankful for at home, at school, in Pensacola, in the USA and in the world. I thought that if they had to think outside their comfort zones home and school it would be interesting to see what they were really thankful for. Pensacola has some unique things that no where else has, we in the United States have things that we take for granted that no other country has and then a world view, what are you thankful for in the world is a tough question that requires some thinking.

I modeled this organizer on the board and then sent them off thinking. I then collected the organizers and passed them out again the second day. I asked the kids to read through what they were thankful for and either add to it or take away if they needed to. Some of my kids struggled with what they were thankful for in Pensacola, the USA and the world.
They are now working on writing an essay, one paragraph for what they are thankful for at home, one for what they are thankful for at school, one paragraph for what they are thankful for in Pensacola, one for what they are thankful for in the USA and one for what they are thankful for in the world, they should also have a introduction paragraph and a closing paragraph. It is a long writing assignment but I think it gets them thinking and sharing about what they are thankful for.

While doing this activity a curious thing happened, a student asked if she could be thankful for God. I gave her a puzzled look and said "Yes, why couldn't you be thankful for God?" She then explained that she wasn't sure if that was okay since it was a school paper and she didn't want to get in trouble for it. I guess I never thought about that and gave her another curious look because she kept on explaining that she was told that she wasn't allowed to at one point but she wasn't sure why and she knew that at school you kept church stuff to yourself, etc etc. I did like her explanation of things but did eventually stop her and I explained my response to her and the rest of the class "Yes you are writing at school but you are writing about what you are thankful for, and you can be thankful for whatever you want. I am not going to be evaluating what you are thankful for but how you wrote about it. If you are thankful for left shoes and she is thankful for her dog I can't say that one is more valuable than the other because they are what you value."

I thought it was sweet and yet concerning that a fifth grader would be concerned about writing about God in class. I know that church and state are separate but it still seemed strange that she was so worried about being in trouble for writing about it. Is that really what we are teaching our kids? I mean I am not super religious but I would never tell my kids they couldn't write about their beliefs if it fit the topic or genre we were writing about. Right?

So what are you thankful for?? When it is closer to Thanksgiving I will post my "essay" of all the things I am thankful for!

Symphony Field Trip

So since I have started using Facebook I am noticing that I am posting more but want to continue to post on my actual blog as well. I will hopfully find a balance soon. Thanks for sticking with me as I begin my blogging journey!

Today we went on our second field trip of the year to see the Pensacola Symphony. Our first musical trip was to a local music store to have an instrument petting zoo. Also a totally awesome trip. I'm super thankful for our music teacher and the energy she has to stimulate our music program and get the kids interested in music. 

The Symphony though! What an experience for the kids. We asked them to dress up since typically when attending a symphony you would dress up.  Most of my kids looked so beautiful/handsome  (proud teacher moment). 

The theme was American music or music that was written/composed in the United States. The Conductor told the kids about each song and composer and talked about the instruments in the symphony orchestra. Towards the end of the performance (the last two songs actually) were compositions that were in movies. 

And wouldn't you know they played two songs from Frozen  (Let it Go and For the First time in Forever). The kids went NuTS! It was so cool to hear them all singing along! 

The final and most famous movie composition of all was the Star Wars theme. (Even cooler that they announced the newest movie title today as well and my force and motion lessons in science have been star wars themed)! So my students in particular went crazy when they started this song! 


Where do you take your students on field trips? Is there a limit to how many trips you can take? Do your trips have to meet/apply to your states standards? 


Happy teaching Friends,
Cynnamon

Literary Pumpkins

For Halloween every year my previous school and now my new school (thanks to me!) do a Literary Pumpkin Patch activity to display in the library. The kids LOVE dressing up the pumpkin and then getting to vote on the best one for the school! This year my class won Librarian's choice award for grades 3-5! It was my first year winning an award for our pumpkin!

My first year in Second Grade we made Nate the Great.

My second year in Second Grade we made Bunnicula.

This year my fifth graders and I had just finished our Native American unit and my kids loved the book we read about the Native Americans of the Northwest, so we made Raven Child from Raven a tale of a trickster. Librarian's Choice Winner for grades 3-5!

 Does your school do anything for Halloween that incorporates literacy?

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Update: Constitution Week

I have previously been given resources to teach about the Constitution but have never had the time to really teach anything. Not to mention I was teaching in 2nd grade and thought it was a little over my kids heads. Well this year...Constitution week is required in Florida, I was teaching fifth graders so I thought I would give it a shot! And I LOVED IT! So did my kids!
I made an awesome smartboard lesson with tons of videos and information about the Constitution and the Preamble. Florida Department of Education gave us TONS of resources.

One of the resources I used in my classroom was this close reading activity. It was easy to use in reading groups as it had leveled passages. Fifth in the Middle posts awesome resources head over and check her out! 

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Constitution-Day-Close-Reading-Nonfiction-Texts-for-Upper-Elementary-Freebie-1385078

I also used the Preamble Match from Hooty's Homeroom! My kids LOVED this preamble match!

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Preamble-Match-863607