Image Map

January 24, 2014

Woot! Woot! Five for Friday on a FRIDAY!

It's FRIDAY, yes, really FRIDAY and I am joining Doodle Bugs for her weekly linky party, Five for Friday, on a FRIDAY! WOOT! WOOT! I can not remember the last time I made it to the party on time!


First up, something none teaching... Check out this photo of my fur babies (Daisy, original cat, and Lulie, new kitty). If you've been following my blog you have read about my six week feline frenzy. This week, I am happy to say, the frenzy has fizzled a bit. The girls actually sat next to each other (sort of) in peace! AMEN (sung aloud). However, today the frenzy renewed a bit... sigh!


Next up, Ms. Murphy, my student teacher... I just LOVE her! She is so enthusiastic and wants so much to do well! She is bringing a new level of excitement to my classes, plus it is so nice to have an extra pair of hands in the room. We are getting sooooo many of those ho hum tasks (cutting out things, collecting necessary materials, grading papers, etc.) done in record time. She is spoiling me! And my kiddos!

It has been difficult, however, to sustain a schedule for her. We have missed five "cold" days since she began her student teaching time. It was this week she was to "pick-up" a second class to teach each day. She hadn't yet picked-up one to do all week and I was in the middle of developing some skills, particularly perfect tense verbs. Mother Nature has put a kink in our plans!

To help with our dilemma we got a bit creative... literally! I turned to my blogging buddy Deb Hanson of Crafting Connections and her AWESOME craftivities. I met Deb this past summer via a linky party and was intrigued by her products. She was offering a free craftivity for anyone willing to test it out in his/her classroom and the blog about it. I was in! I agreed to test-drive her genre craftivity (one of next week's posts provided Mother Nature cooperates) and she sent it to me pronto. Once I saw it, I was hooked and purchased NUMEROUS other craftivities, among them this one that I asked Ms. Murphy to share with my sixers as a review and practice for perfect tense verbs. The lesson was a success, my sixers loved it and worked hard on the skill portion. We were supposed to finish the craft portion today, but alas we are at home.
Ms. Murphy demonstrating the finished product.
Ms. Murphy modified the direction sheet for her purposes.
Students working on the craft portion.

This coming Monday, during Catholic Schools Week, we will hold our school Spelling Bee wherein we will select our representative for the County Spelling Bee. This is all part of the Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee competition, serious "stuff". My sixers will compete against the seventh and eighth graders... they are NERVOUS! So we practice, and practice, and practice. I am happy to say that we were able to select our sixth grade winner and five other representatives for the school bee. My eighth graders were not so fortunate; we were supposed to have done their class bee today... another casualty of the cold.

Ms. Murphy is conducting a practice round.

One of the lessons that has been interrupted repeatedly is our homophone lesson. We've gotten as far as discovering common English homophones, focusing on twenty of them, mastering their meaning and usage. I had a feeling we would be off of school today so I quickly whipped up this wordsearch for my kiddos to take home with them, hoping they would keep up with their practice and not lose more ground. If you'd like a copy, just click HERE or on the graphic.


Finally, in honor of all of my snow/cold days and the winter storm that is fast approaching (up to eight inches of snow is forecast by Sunday afternoon with more Sunday night... double sigh!), I am offering a frozen flash freebie! Just leave a WARM comment below and I'll send you a copy of my Snow Day ZAP!. If you are a "no reply blogger" don't forget to leave an email address to which I may send your freebie.

This freebie will end when the storm is over and we go back to school!



NOTE: The above FREEBIE has officially ended... We FINALLY went back to school on Thursday, Jan. 29, 2014. Our first make-up day for all these missed "cold" days is next week, Feb. 7th. We had an inservice scheduled but will opt to be "in school" instead!


Happy Teaching,
KEEP WARM,
Angela
The Teacher's Desk 6

Freebie Fridays

Classroom Freebies Manic Monday

17 comments:

  1. I'm off from school today as well in Houston. We actually have no snow, but it was supposedly icy this morning. But, tomorrow it will be back to almost 70 degrees! Sorry to hear that you have MORE snow coming! I'd love a copy of your game, we are covering synonyms and antonyms now. JessicaMGoodrow@gmail.com

    Jessica
    Literacy Spark

    ReplyDelete
  2. I LOVED reading about (not to mention seeing pictures of!) my Perfect Verb Tense craftivity being used in your classroom! I'm so glad to hear that your students -and student teacher- are finding it useful. I can't wait to see what you have to say about my genre craftivity! :) Thanks again for the shout-out!
    ~Deb
    Crafting Connections

    ReplyDelete
  3. Its was a "warm" 18 in nyc. Getting ready for more snow tmrw. I'd love a copy of your antonyms and synonyms game. Alewis725@msn.com

    ReplyDelete
  4. We had 5 days in a row of total indoor recess! All I can say is thank goodness it's the weekend! We have a kitten that joined our family of an older cat and a five-year old fur ball. The kitten thinks she can just run and lay on them whenever she likes. The older ones are not a fan of this. She still does it from time to time but much less frequently. And they all sleep on the bed together. Give them a bit more time. :-)
    -Lisa
    Grade 4 Buzz

    ReplyDelete
  5. Aren't cats funny? I think they have the most unique personalities! It's been very cold here in VA. The only day we worked this week was Monday. I've got cabin fever and I'm so ready to get back to school. Your synonym and antonym activity looks like some great practice! Enjoy the weekend!
    Courtney
    Polka Dot Lesson Plans

    ReplyDelete
  6. Looks like an activity for me. :)
    I have a student teacher as well. We have had 5 snow days so far!
    Thanks
    ugamler@boyertownasd.org

    ReplyDelete
  7. Love reading about your student teacher. I'm taking one on for the first time this semester. I, too, had an unexpected day off today, as the cold weather and wet roads made for ice issues areound town....Houston just isn't equipped for ice! :-)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Forgot to leave my email....kimvalera42@gmail.com. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  9. I've bought all your Zap games and we love them...so clever! Love your blog! I'm from Missouri so the cold is here all winter. Blah....
    karenerichau@yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete
  10. Hopefully this doesn't post twice! I've bought all your Zap games...love them, so clever. I live in Missouri and it's cold all winter long! Blah...

    ReplyDelete
  11. Up here in NW Ohio, we have used all 5 of our snow days. We went to school this last week with indoor recess all 4 days - UGH! We'll see what this week brings! Thanks for the ZAP game. Can't wait to use it, maybe during one of those indoor recesses!
    maxeysjl@defnet.com

    ReplyDelete
  12. We had our first two snow days of the year this week....and we've already made up one of them! Friday was supposed to be a teacher work day, but they sent the students in instead. It was a strange week. Monday - holiday, no school; Tuesday - school; Wednesday and Thursday - snow days; Friday - school; and now the weekend. Oh....and Monday is an early release day. How wacky! :) arenaissanceteacher@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  13. I'm stopping by from Manic Monday. Thank you for the homophone page.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Thank you for linking up this week at Classroom Freebie's Manic Monday'! This is just terrific!
    ~Fern
    Fern Smith's Classroom Ideas!
    Fern Smith's Pinterest Boards!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Wish I could send warm thoughts from Wisconsin but we're in the same boat as you.... so my warm up will be that it's 50ish days until spring!!!! We've go this! :) Hope you end up having a happy week.
    Ana
    Mrs. Bentin's Blackboard

    ReplyDelete
  16. Ms. Murphy is so lucky to have you as a cooperating teacher. My student teaching days weren't too many years ago and I remember how important it was to have a good teacher to help mentor me. It looks like she is doing a great job too! I love you Zap! game, you always have the neatest products and they always look so pretty too. I have got to learn how to do clipart for TPT products so I can add more things to my store. I hope your snow fades away soon. We got out early today for snow! This is our first of the year and I'll be fine if it is also the last!

    Jamie
    Sixth Grade Tales

    ReplyDelete
  17. Hopefully you are back to school. We have only missed one day for the cold. I consider us lucky. We are celebrating Catholic School Week this week. A full week but so meaningful.

    ReplyDelete

Leave a little message and let me know you've visited!