Preposition FREEBIE

When I was in 4th grade, my teacher MADE us memorize the entire list of prepositions.  I thought she was so mean!  Well guess what?  I still remember them and I happen to also LOVE grammar!  I guess teachers are right after all....  :)

I recently created a preposition list for students and teachers and you can find it here.  It's free and ready for you to download and use!  The link will take you to my little new store on TPT.  Don't you just LOVE that site?  I sure do!

Divisibility Rules

Well, it's my last day off.  Not really, because I have the weekend, but on Monday, it's back to school.  I'm excited, but I do like lounging around with my coffee and slippers in the mornings.

I created a student cheat sheet for divisibility rules today.  You can find it in my TPT (teachers pay teachers) store here.  

I am using student notebooks in math class and this will make a great entry for them.  My students love using their student notebooks to remind them how to complete different math operations.  I happen to be a HUGE believer in anchor charts (documenting learning in general) having a crutch  place to remind yourself how to do things, etc.  The student notebooks came from Runde's Room and you can find it on her TPT page here.  I have tweaked some of the entries to fit the needs of my students, but the product came from her!

Have a great day!  :)

Book Nook

Time to organize my library! I purchased some super cute teacher labels from Vista Print.  Their shipping is ridiculous, but each package of 420 was around $5.00.  Don't you just love that adorable hedgehog?

I have almost a thousand books.  Yes, it's an addiction.  I want my students to be surrounded by books and WANT to read them.  Know a better way to help them become better readers?  :)  Here's sampling of what I have to organize:

I have more than that, but you get the idea....!  Next stop will be the Dollar store for some cute book bins.  I've been all over Teachers Pay Teachers for some book bin labels.  I don't want something fussy, too young, or boring.  When I find them, I'll print each tag twice so I can put one tag on my bin and one tag on the shelf it belongs.  That will help the kids (and me) know where each bin belongs!

I also made a sign.  I decided to call it my "book nook". 

Yikes.  So much to do, and so little time.....!!  If I were so fortunate as to live by the beach, I'd get even less done!

Measurement and ME

Our class is taking a wonderfullly refreshing break from regular math.  I can still hear the cheers from the students.  We are embarking on a measurement journey and enjoying ourselves immensely!  On day one, students wandered about the room with their partner, a measuring worksheet, a ruler, and a pencil.  They had the freedom to measure anything they wanted except for the area around the teacher's desks (I had visions of computers flying, papers scattering, and general chaos!).  The students were fabulously behaved and their feedback was very positive.  Hands on activities are so neat, aren't they?

Anyhow, here are the anchor charts I created for our unit.  We refer to them every day!

Gallon Man is very effective.  We can easily tell how many cups are in a pint or quart, how many quarts are in a gallon, and we are even talking about how many pints are in a half gallon!  Thank you, Gallon Man!  I got this idea from Pinterest and simply tweaked it to fit our needs.

We are also memorizing this information!  Up next: metric measurement!  This topic has always confused me, so you can be sure an anchor chart will be made to help cement our knowledge!

Phonics Anchor Chart

I cannot tell a lie  - I love anchor charts.  No, I REALLY love anchor charts.  I am a visual person, and I think most kids like to see their learning on display as well.   Anchor charts also help me look good, because they remind me of what's what! 

It was actually fun (really?) to study vowel pairs, vowel digraphs, and diphthongs.  I'm not kidding!  I combed through their book to make this chart in order to put all of the information onto one chart.  We had this chart up for 2 weeks and referred to it during each lesson.  One day, we had to identify the long a sound in words and the kiddos were thrown for a loop when there were no vowel pair words.  I pointed to the chart and asked them which sound also makes the long a sound?  The lightbulbs went off in their little brains when they looked at the "ei" vowel digraph.  Gotta love those charts!!!!!  And bonus: they all performed excellently on their phonics test!  :)