Wordless Wednesday Fuzz Girls

I'm joining Miss DeCarbo for her weekly...

I love to share stories about my two sweet mischievous fuzz girls, Daisy Mae and Lulie. My kiddos beg me to see pictures and videos and to tell stories about the girls.

Do you tell stories about your pets to your class?

Tuesday Writing PAWs FREEBIE

You might be wondering why I spelled "pause" as "PAWs". PAW stand for Paragraph a Week, a yearly writing program that a group of fifth and sixth grade teachers called the 5-6Connection began developing back in 1997. We were a group of fifth and sixth grade teachers from all around the world, chiefly the US and Canada. We began by discovering each other on keypal groups and newly created listservs. We originally communicated via email by grouping addresses and sending a bulk message to each other. Remember this was in the days before blogs, and internet bulletin boards were still a novelty!

Paragraph a Week began as a "Hey, I remember a writing assignment a colleague used to do when I first started teaching" kind of idea turned project. Originally called Friday English (the assignments were due on Friday) I changed the name to Paragraph a Week since I had the assignments due on Thursday (sometimes Friday) instead.

The premise of the program was that students would be given a specific topic each week on Monday, brainstorm, draft, revise, proofread (obtain the signature of their editor), rewrite, and publish a text throughout the week, turning in the final product on the due date. They would be practicing the writing process while honing writing skills. It worked GREAT! I have students who are now in their late twenties/early thirties who claim this routine activity helped them develop strong writing habits.SCORE!

I housed the archive of over one hundred topics, formatted into an instruction sheet, at a website called The Teacher's Desk until I shut down the site in late 2012 and turned to blogging instead. It was always my intent to develop Paragraph a Week into a product that I could offer on Teachers Pay Teachers. That's a story I'll continue some other time.However, I have about fifteen pages completed and want to share them.

I have decided instead to post a PAW topic and instruction sheet each Tuesday as a Writing PAWs. This week I'm starting with a story like topic that gives students a bit of a choice. You can download the instruction sheet HERE or by clicking on the pic below.

Other PAW FREEBIES currently available can be downloaded below.
St. Patrick's Day Leprechauns
Earth Day
Mother's Day

Topics soon to appear:
Evaluation Sheet (then and now)
Parent Introductory Letter
Journey of a Snowflake
Valentine Memory

Mind-Boggling Monday (task cards and game board)

According to Mirriam-Webster Dictionary, the word "mind-boggling" means having a very powerful or overwhelming effect on the mind. Well, I boggled the minds of my fifth graders this past week. Poor honeys, I'm not sure if they were upset with me or actually loved what I (really two sixth grade girls) did to them.

Task cards are a staple in my classroom. Whether it be for a round of Scoot or Scatter or just in a literacy center, I use task cards with all my classes at least once a week. Scatter seems to be the task card activity that my kiddos enjoy the most. They like being able to walk about the room while doing their work.

New Year's Nouns Task Cards in action!

I normally hide, or scatter, the cards around the classroom. However, I was a bit behind with morning tasks last Wednesday morning so I asked two sixth grade girls to place the cards around the room in preparation for fifth grade language arts next period. Of course, the girls were delighted to do the deed! They found some interesting places to perch the task cards. Two cards in particular confounded and boggled the minds of the fifth graders.

This task card is barely peeking out from behind the TV.

This card was camouflaged as part of a New Year's mobile made by my sixth graders.
Only two fifth grade girls initially found this one! LOL!

All ended well with the fifth graders completing the round of Scatter, checking their work, and getting prepared for an evaluation tomorrow.

Guess who is going to hide the task cards next time?

Speaking of mind-boggling? Here's this week's FREE Classroom Boggle board for you to use with your students. Just download the image and project it on a whiteboard, Smartboard, or television. You can follow the traditional rules for Boggle or create your own. Just have fun while practicing word skills.

If you like playing Boggle with your students but would like to select your own letters, please check out this set of editable Boggle Boards with background themes suitable throughout the school year. Included are 15 boards that are "user friendly" in that they contain no specific holiday clip art only colors and textures suitable for various seasons and holidays. There's even a blank board that you can program both background and letters. You can read more about the packet HERE or by clicking on the pic.

Throwback Thursday Returns 1.15.15

Welcome Back to...

What is Throwback Thursday? How does it work, you might ask? Simply look through your PURR-fect Previous Posts, perhaps a particular favorite of yours, and re-post it! Then add the TBT badge to your post and include your link below! Purr-fectly easy and simple! Your post doesn't have to be from LOOOONNNGGG ago; it can be from last month or even earlier this week. And if you don't have a post to share, perhaps an old photo or two from WAY BACK will do! Even a favorite pin is PURR-fect! Just join in the Throwback fun!

This week I'm celebrating the return of Throwback Thursday. It's been on hiatus for a few weeks over the holiday break. My students have been somewhat on hiatus as well, and I've had to be a bit more attentive to classroom management techniques since we've returned. This week's TBT post is about one of my favorite management items. This post first appeared on The Teacher's Desk 6 on Nov. 8, 2014.

It's sometimes a chore to figure out how to place students in cooperative groups. Do you, the teacher, do the exclusive grouping? Do you allow your students to make their own choices? Or do you simply randomly select groups?

I like to use all three techniques depending on the project, time frame, and general mood of the class (or me). When it comes to random grouping,  I use several different methods: software program, apps, slips of paper, popsicle sticks, and grouping cards. This last method is my current crop of sixers' favorite way to form their cooperative groups. I'm not sure what the attraction is, but it's evident from their faces and behavior that they really enjoy the activitiy. They especially LOVE to group themselves in silence while using the cards. Silence and a class of 28 sixth graders all moving about their classroom usually do not go hand-in-hand!


In the above video you see my sixers using a set of Halloween grouping cards. They have also used a set in celebration of Back to School, a set to form Literature Circles, a set with Biblical characters, and one decorated with images of cute zombies (yep, cute!). I like to change the cards with the seasons and holidays to keep them interested and spark their motivation. If you haven't tried grouping cards with your class yet, you might want to grab a set to implement in your own classroom.

I can't wait to share my newest set with my class this coming week.

The newest set of grouping cards has been a HUGE hit with my sixers! They are fanatical about all things zombie (as is their teacher... yes, I do admit this!) Recently I came across another cute set of zombie clipart, snowman crafted by Teaches Third in Georgia. They were perfect for a wintry set of grouping cards, bringing smiles and giggles to a mundane task. What do you think?

You can grab this set to use in your classroom from my TpT Store for only a buck. Just click HERE to read more about the cards and see a few other pics.

Now it's your turn for a Throwback.

An InLinkz Link-up

Tried It Tuesday (NTR?)

This is sort of related to teaching...

I'm not one for cooking... much! I hate the discipline involved: planning what to eat, collecting supplies, following a recipe, watching the time, taking care to stir, etc. AND the last thing that I want to do after teaching all day is cook! I have fallen into the bad habit of surfing through a drive-through on my way home, tsk, tsk, tsk! So for me to be posting about cooking and sharing a recipe- YIKES, check to see if the trumpet for judgement day has sounded!

However, I found the PERFECT recipe for busy teachers like me and I TRIED IT so I'm sharing it on TUESDAY for Holly's monthly linky over at Fourth Grade Flipper...

You may have seen this recipe on Pinterest. I did and pinned it a LONG time ago (remember what I said about me and cooking).

I was intrigued by the "mini"ness of the pot pie, the few ingredients, and the fact that it only took a half hour from prep to table. However, remember, I am not a cook! I promptly forgot the pin until this weekend when two things happened. First a former student of mine posted on his Facebook page a photo of a delicious, quick and easy dish that he had cooked after coming home late from work, and ...

I was rummaging around through the library on my Kindle (there are over 1200 books in my library) and I found this. This recipe was in there.

It's FREE on Kindle. Just click HERE.

This was the impetus I needed! I happened to have a tube of Grands biscuits in the refrigerator, a can of cream of chicken soup in the cupboard, some left-over chicken, and a half bag of frozen veggies in the freezer- all the ingredients that I needed. It was a good thing, too, since there was no way I was heading to the store in sub zero temps and snowfall rates of an inch an hour. I skipped the cheese since I didn't have any.

It took all of 5 minutes to prepare. Simply line a muffin tin with a biscuit and spoon in a mixture of soup, veggies, and chicken that I had folded together in a bowl. Furthermore, it was finished baking in just 22 minutes. It looked great, and...

... tasted even better! The best part was that I had more than one meal out of a single prep/bake. The mini pot pies reheat beautifully in the oven and tasted even better since the flavors had time to mesh well. Now that's my kind of recipe. If you like recipes that are quick, easy, and bother free, give this dish a try. Don't wait like me!

Sunday Scoop 1.11.15

It seems as if I just sat down to write the first Sunday Scoop of the year, yet it was an entire week ago. It might feel this was since my week was cut short by inclement weather. I actually only spent two days in the classroom; the other three days were spent cooped up in my house, keeping warm in subzero chills. Anyway, it's time for the Teaching Trio's weekly linky.

Before I head off to do those three things that I HAVE to do, here's a little FREEBIE for you to grab. I've begun doing a weekly Boggle game with my sixers. We call it Mind Boggling Monday.  Every Monday morning I greet my sixers with a Boggle board projected onto the Smartboard. They have until after attendance, lunch count, prayer, pledge, etc to find as many words as possible. We then do a process of elimination, similar to the original Boggle rules, and determine a winner who gets to make a pick from my prize jar (pencils, erasers, brag tags, candy...) It's a fun way to get the week started well, not to mention all the impromptu spelling/vocabulary practice! 

Here's this Monday's board. Words are poppin' up all over it! Just right click on the image for PC users (not sure how Mac users save an image, sorry) and save to your device for later projection for your class.

If you'd like to make some of your own boards for use in your classroom, I've created a set of editable boards for each month of the year. You can see them and read more about them HERE or you can even try editing one of your own HERE.

Finally, before you go just a little reminder... If you haven't yet entered my Triple Nickel giveaway you still have a few hours left. I'll be selecting the winners this evening. Right now there will be FOUR winners, but there can easily be more. Hop on over to this blog post to read about and enter my giveaway. GOOD LUCK!

Five for Friday 1.9.15

This was a QUICK week! Friday's here already so you know what that means...

The biggest news this week...

Not 1, Not 2, but THREE Snow days!

During the two days of classes that we did have, we had great fun getting back into the swing of things after Christmas break.

We shared our Minions that we finished on the day before break. SO CUTE!

There's a Minion Reasons... fun activity by Fancy Free in 4th.

... and we made fun resolution mobiles.

I reached a fun, little milestone in my TpT Store. If you haven't entered the fun, little giveaway I'm hosting in celebration you still have a few days. Just click HERE for details.

With all the time off this week, I have had time to make some brand new teaching items. These are two of the newest. Just click on the pics to read and see more about each. The Valentine Zombies are just adorable and are Sarah O'Shea's of Educlips more recent creation.

I always enjoy reading (and hopefully getting to reply to) blog comments. Every once in a while you receive an EXTRA SPECIAL comment. 

Fern Smith was one of the first bloggers that I began following several years ago and one who inspired me to move from the website world into the blogging universe, so to have her leave me a comment, let alone one like this... I actually did a little squeal and a hop when I read this. THANKS, Fern! You made my day! You can read the blog post that contains Fern's comment HERE.

Don't forget to stop by Doodle Bugs Teaching to read more Five for Fridays! It's a great way to keep up with all that is happening in the teaching blogging world.

Triple Nickel Giveaway

Recently I hit a fun, little milestone in my TpT Store...

TRIPLE NICKEL Followers!

Let's have a fun, little giveaway that will last FIVE days in celebration!

1. Visit my TpT Store and pick out a product(s) that you'd like to own.
2. Return to this page and leave a comment (one per product) below that includes

• The name and address of the product
• The reason why you chose this product
• An email address to which I may send the product if you are the winner

3. In FIVE days on Jan. 13, 2015 in the evening, I will select a winner(s) at random to receive your chosen product.

NOW, here's where the FUN comes in.

4. Spread the word about my TRIPLE NICKEL giveaway... the more comments, the more winners. For every five comments I will pick a winner. If there are 15 comments, then there will be 3 winners. For 50 comments, there will be ten winners.

GET READY... GET SET... GO!!!!

UPDATE 1.11.15 And the winners are...

Thanks for participating and
CONGRATULATIONS!

Next Thursday, Jan. 15, 2015, marks the return of Throwback Thursday so get your purr-fect previous posts ready to go!

Wordless Wednesday and Hump Day Highlight

I'm joining Miss DeCarbo from Sugar and Spice AND Jessica Ann from Mrs. Stanford's Class for two super Wednesday linkies.

The first day or so after a break is often a difficult adjustment for students and teachers alike. Do you jump into lessons immediately? Do you take time to celebrate being together? Do you review old skills? Each year my decisions fluctuate depending on my class and its needs.

This year I decided to celebrate the New Year with my classes: a spelling list filled with New Year related words, a close reading passage about New Year's Superstitions and Traditions, and fun resolution writing activities.

Here you see my sixers creating resolution mobiles, a freebie from Created by Mr. Hughes.

What kinds of activities do you do when you return after a break?