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Thursday, February 28, 2013

A Lion and Lamb FREEBIE for You!


Hello friends!  I’ve been absent for a few days.  No good excuse other than life got BUSY.  I’ll spare you the details {at least until my next Five for Friday post ;)}

Today is the last day of February!!!  Thank goodness.  Bring on Spring is what I say.
Starting tomorrow, my second graders will be learning about the ever popular saying, “In Like a Lion, Out Like a Lamb”.

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We’re going to learn about it’s meaning using this YouTube video.  Did you know that the saying “In Like a Lion, Out Like a Lamb” is actually rooted in astrology, not weather?  I didn’t either.  Until I viewed the YouTube video at least.




Then we’re going to brainstorm as a group words to describe “lion weather” and “lamb weather”.  I made mini-posters with some commonly used adjectives on them and I will display them in the front of my classroom after our little group think. 

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After that we’re going to make some predictions.  We loooooove making predictions in second grade.  I don’t know when that happened, or how I got them to looooooove making predictions, but it did and I did.

Then, during the whole month of March, we’ll be tallying our Lion and Lamb days.  {My little lambs probably don’t know this yet, but it’s looking like we’re going to get a snowstorm next week.  Yes!  Next week in MARCH.  I’m so mad.  But I also kind of like that it goes with this whole Lion and Lamb lesson}.


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At the end of the month we’ll graph our results and be thankful that it’s April and spring is officially here and we can go on Spring Break!  Yay!

If this whole lesson sounds like something you’d like to do, click any of the pictures to grab this FREEBIE from TpT.

Tomorrow’s Friday!  Have a great weekend!
~Halle

Sunday, February 24, 2013

St. Patty’s FREEBIE & Giveaways Galore!


Happy Sunday!  The sun is {finally} shining here and it’s above 45 degrees for the first time in a long time!  I’m about to go outside with Georgie and soak it all in, but I have a few things to cross of my To-Do List first.

Said To-Do List:
To Do List

First on my To-Do List is to show you my new St. Patty’s Day Math Centers!

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I’ve covered rounding, telling time, and counting coins with this one.
Oh, and number stories.  But that’s no surprise.  I always throw in number stories.  Who doesn’t need practice with number stories?!

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Lucky PREVIEW

All centers come with:
*Student Directions Sheet
*All Center Materials
*Recording Sheet
*Answer Keys


Each center also comes with an extension sheet that addresses the same skill as the center your students participated in.  Use it as a review sheet after they complete the center, in small group instruction before or after centers, or as homework.  They’re great to have on hand to see if students really “get” the center!

You can grab them from TpT by clicking any of the pictures above {or click here}.  If you want to win them, keep reading!

I also created a few FREEBIE math practice sheets with a St. Patty’s Day theme:

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{Click the picture to grab them for FREE from TpT}

Skills covered:
*Number Stories {I think I have a number story addiction!}
*Even & Odd
*Double Digit Mental Addition/Subtraction

Okay, that’s two things off my To-Do List!

Want to win my St. Patrick’s Day Math Centers?  It’s easy!  You just need to leave a comment on my Facebook Post! 

Start by liking me :) {On FB I mean!}

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{Click the picture to head to Facebook}

Once you’re a FB fan, leave a comment letting me know what you do to celebrate St. Patty’s Day with your class.

And last, but certainly not least…

My friend Rachel over at The Tattooed Teacher is having a 1,000 follower giveaway!  You can win some pretty amazing prizes, including $25 to spend over at TpT or my Spring Comprehension Sheets!  Yes please!!

Click the picture to head over and enter:

Enjoy what’s left of the weekend, friends and don’t forget to enter the FB Giveaway!

~Halle

Thursday, February 21, 2013

My Hall Pass





This is so exciting, this having a Hall Pass thing!!!  See, when I was in school, I was not a Hall Pass kind of girl.  I mean I would get one if I had to go to the bathroom or something, but I was a goody two shoes.  The 16 year old version of me was scared to death to abuse the power of a hall pass.  So if I get a little long winded during this post, you’ll have to forgive me…it’s finally my chance!!  13 years later!!!

P is for Product

Spring Comprehension Sheets

I second what Reagan said…my favorite product is usually my most current because it consumes my thoughts!  That being said, my comprehension passages are my favorite product.  I wrote every single one of the {now, combined, 24} stories in each unit, and all the questions to go with.  There were moments I saw it on my computer screen and had to walk away because I just wasn’t feeling it.  Writer’s block is NO JOKE {you know, now that I’m in the same league as Tomie dePaola or Cynthia Ryland I can say that ;)}.

But in all seriousness I love them because they are exactly what my students need, so they have helped me out immensely.  As Farley would say, I {puffy} heart them.  Grab them here and here.

A is for Area

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My favorite area in my classroom is our classroom library.  We don’t get the chance nearly as often as I would like to all curl up together for a read-aloud {I know, I know…I blame the basal}, but when we do I love it.  I love how the sun streams into that part of my room, I love how the shelves are arranged to create a little nook.  We also meet here for Writer’s Workshop and Morning Meeting, so it really is such a special place in our room where we get our creative on, our silly on, and our imagination on.  And I love knowing that it’s not only my favorite, it’s my students’ favorite as well!

S is for Signal

I am “Class!Yes” all the way.  This past summer, I got really into Whole Brain Teaching.  I started the year off strong, but many of the techniques have kind of filtered out.  Of course, I plan on reacquainting myself with WBT again this summer.  I still use {a modified version of the} Whole Brain Teaching rules, and our pack-up at the end of the day always involves a game of Teacher vs. Student, but I use “Class! Yes” everyday all day.

It’s easy.  I say “Class”, and my class drops everything, gives me their full-blown attention, and says, “Yes!”

I know.  It sounds boring.  But it’s totally not! You see, there are so many variations:

“Classy! Classy!”…"Yessy!  Yessy!”

“Class, class, class, class, claaaaaaaaaaaaaaass”…”Yes,  yes, yes, yes, yesssssssssssssssssssss!”
You get the point.  They have to mirror me exactly.  And we have SO MUCH FUN WITH IT!  I keep telling them we should be in the Talent Show with how good we are at “Class! Yes!”

Here’s a video of Chris Biffle of Whole Brain Teaching’s explanation of “Class! Yes!”

S is for Sane

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I have talked about my awesome grade level partners before. Jenna occasionally stops by for a blog post when she’s not living her super fabulous life in the city, and Erica is a wonderful teacher and mommy.  I adore them both for completely different reasons.  You can read more about how much I adore them here.

Also, {and I’m not trying to win any Sainthood awards, I swear}, but my students keep me sane {MOST OF THE TIME}!  When I think about what really gets me worked up as a teachers it’s almost never those little kids hanging out in my room.  Don’t get me wrong, I do get frustrated when they still haven’t mastered a skill or when they just.won’t.stop.talking, but believe me…there are a million other things I can think of about teaching that are more stressful!  You feel me?  The little guys and gals are usually the ones that make it all better!

Other things that keep me sane, in no particular order: My Husband {although he falls into the same category as my students!}, Georgie, a good glass of red wine, blogging, blogstalking, yoga, cheeseburgers, happy hour, the pool, summer, the beach, and my friends.

I hope you were able to learn a little more about what makes me tick!  Now I better go link up with this Hall Pass before I get in trouble!

Some things never change!

Halle

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Spring Comprehension Winners


Spring Giveaway Winners
Congrats Ladies!

I’ll be emailing you the Spring Comprehension sheets sometime tomorrow unless you email me to tell me you want St. Patty’s Day math centers instead…and Carrie…I need your email!

Thanks everyone for participating!  You can still grab these sheets while they are a dollar off, or the winter ones while they are 2 dollars off until tomorrow morning!

Have a great Wednesday everyone!!

Halle

Monday, February 18, 2013

Spring Comprehension Passages Are Here! {Giveaway}


Well, they’re finally here and boy have these puppies been a labor of love.  I had a lot little bit of writer’s block going on.

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Just like the Winter Passages {which I am still using, and plan on using through February...because after all, it is still winter!} there are 12 original stories written by me {9 fiction, 3 non-fiction}

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As you can see, all stories are spring related, and some are holiday related {St. Patrick’s Day, Easter, and Earth Day}.

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I’ve included a FREEBIE when you download the preview just in case you’re on the fence.
 
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Click any of the pictures above {or HERE} to grab them from TpT…


Now, on to the good stuff!

I’m giving away 3 copies of these passages, and you have two chances to enter:

1} Leave a blog post.  You can tell me why you’re most looking forward to spring, or anything else you want to tell me.  Just talk to me, people!
2} Share these passages anyway you’d like; on Facebook, Pinterest, or a blog post.  Leave a comment with the link to your share.

It’s that simple!

And just in case you can’t wait {or you never win anything, like me!}, this unit is on sale in my TpT shop until tomorrow only. Anddd….the Winter Edition is on sale for $4.00 now too!  That's $2.50 off...  You can definitely still get a lot of use out of them AND get them at a reduced rate to use ALL WINTER next year! Yay!

And for those of you who already bought the passages {man, you’re quick!!}, or for anyone who buys them and ends up winning after all, I will give you a copy of my March Math Centers instead!  {Shhhh...they’re not even in stores yet!}

Here’s a sneak peek:

Lucky Leprechaun Math Centers

Giveaway ends tomorrow night when I go to bed!  
This giveaway is now CLOSED!  Thank you to everyone for participating!

Okay, now get going!!! Good Luck everyone!!

Halle

Saturday, February 16, 2013

Five for Friday {on a Saturday :)}


Happy Friday Saturday!

I missed out on the last Five for Friday, so I had to get in on this one, even if it’s a day late!

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1} We celebrated our 100th Day on Tuesday!  We had a blast dressing up like our 100 year old selves.  This picture is actually very realistic, Jenna will definitely be rocking the leopard and pearls as an old lady, and my love for cardigans isn’t going away anytime soon!

100th day

2} We made a day of 100th day!  All afternoon the kids rotated from center to center.  The cup stacking center was the definite favorite, followed by the pattern block station.  I’ve had a lot of fun reading what a second grader thinks life as a 100 year old will be like!  We ended the day with 100 Day snack mix!  Fun, but exhausting!


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3} My husband surprised me with a night in the city for Valentine’s Day.  We stayed at the Sofitel.  And can I just say, their beds are perfection.  I would’ve been perfectly content to lay in their bed ALL DAY today!  We had fun bar hopping, and ate a delicious dinner at a restaurant called Twenty Manning.  It was a perfect way to spend our first married Valentine’s Day :) Love him!

Spring Comprehension Sheets

4} I’m thisclose to finishing this puppy up!  Honestly, these comprehension sheets have been so good to my students as far as improving their comprehension skills.  They’re getting so good at going back into the text to answer questions, they’re restating skills are improving as well.  Thank you so much to all of you who have purchased the Winter Edition, I promise the Spring Edition will be posted by the end of the long weekend! Yay!

Jalapeno, Bacon and Onion Jam by SimplyGourmet

5} On the very first day of our honeymoon, Dave and I ate at The Pacific Blues Café in Yountville {Napa Valley}.  We had the best burger there that came with this yummy jalapeño jam.  No kidding, I have been craving it off and on ever since.  I finally found a recipe for jalapeño, onion, and bacon jam that I think is worth trying…so that’s the plan for tonight.  Or maybe this afternoon…I’m starving!

That’s it!  Go link up with Doodlebugs so I have something to read this afternoon!

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Have a great weekend!

Halle

Thursday, February 14, 2013

A Little Valentine’s Day Love <3


Happy Valentine’s Day!

I am so pooped.  I feel like I blinked and today went by…it was so packed with fun.
To be honest, I think I’m still recovering from our 100th Day, which was the day before yesterday.  That was exhausting!

February is kicking my butt, you guys!

I’ve been a little M.I.A lately, so I wanted to make sure I popped in to share some Valentine’s Day fun!

We started the day with some fun Valentine’s math games:

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{Scoot game whipped up by me on Valentine’s Eve}

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{Forget Me Not Five in a Row by the wonderful Aimee…she offers up a FREE one every month!}

Do to our stinky unusual schedule, our morning flew by…math games plus our special plus lunch = one long afternoon.  We filled it by decorating our Valentine bags.  {Nothing fancy…just decorating white lunch bags}

After a few read-alouds {Mr. Hatch being the runaway favorite}, it was PARTY TIME!

My valentine for the kiddos was pretty “Bubblicious”

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My student teacher got in on the fun too!

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Too cute!

When it came time for party food, my head room mom hit it out of the park!  She organized everything  and my other room moms really came through.  We were so lucky!  Everything was so cute and so delicious!

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I forgot to snap a picture of our heart-shaped soft pretzels.  Yum!

Our room moms also provided us with a fun and delicious activity: Rice Crispy Conversation Hearts

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{I told them they had to be creative if they couldn’t find a letter they needed}

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{Elijah LL stands for Elijah loves lizards…duh!}

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{I’m obviously partial to this one…”I Love My Teacher”

We had such a fun {and super-tiring} Valentine’s Day!

My true valentine {the Mr.} and I made a delicious dinner, and are working on our second glass of wine.  Tomorrow he’s surprising me with a night in the city!  Can’t wait!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Halle

Sunday, February 10, 2013

Fonts…Fonts…Fonts, Fonts, Fonts!


I hear the title of this blog post sung to the “Shots” song by LMFAO.

DO NOT click that link unless you’re at a Las Vegas pool party.  

Don’t say I didn’t warn you!

So, does anyone else have cabin fever?!! I have it in the WORST way.  It has been so stinkin’ cold this winter, and the Mr. and I have been holed up inside because of it.  I HATE the cold, and I’m a pretty big baby when it comes to temps below, say, 50 degrees, so I usually sit on the couch and pout from January 1st to mid-March.  It’s a sad sight.

Anyhoo…all this time on the couch in front of the fireplace leads to a lot of time on the iPad, which leads to a lot of new fonts…

Remember this post?  I created my first font, and named it after one of my very favorite students: Bobby.

Here’s a visual reminder:
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Here’s a few more, named after some of my other favorites kiddos*. 

First Up: Gabby.  Gabby is in my reading group.  She's smart and funny.  I feel like she could be a character in a children's book.
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Nathaly is such a girly-girl and she loves her pink.  She wants to be a fashion designer when she grows up.
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Taylor is neat and responsible, but sweet.
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Jefferson is a genius.  He marches to the beat of his own drummer.

Just click any of the pictures above to download the fonts.  If you like them, please leave me a little note telling me so :)

If you use them in any of your products be sure to link back to our blog.

Thanks so much!  Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Halle
*Teachers don’t really have favorites ;)

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Mustache Mania {plus a FREEBIE}


I’ve mentioned before that I don’t LOVE Storytown.

However, I do LOVE Lesson 13 in Storytown.  I love Lesson 13 because that means we get to read “Big, Bushy Mustache”.  “Mustache” is a cute little story about a little boy who takes his mustache costume from school and loses it.  So, his dad does what any good dad would do…he shaves off his own mustache and gives it to his son so he still has a mustache for the class play.

I know.  It’s a little weird.  And I am supposed to teach my kiddos that this story is realistic fiction.  It’s a stretch.

But I’ll let you in on a secret.  The real reason I LOVE Lesson 13 is because we get to wear fake mustaches!!  I break them out the day we read the story, and we wear them on and off all week.

It’s safe to say we had…

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I know mustaches might have already had their moment, but please don’t tell my students that.  Or me.  I want mustaches to be in FOREVER!

I took a gazillion few pictures of my guys and gals, and I really, really wish I could show them to you.  I do have one to show you though. I wish you could see his whole face because it’s a.stink.dorable, but I had to put a Don’t Bar over his eyes {you know, the “don’t bars” from Glamour magazine?!!?}

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Omigosh.  I look at this picture every.single.day.

I highly recommend finding any excuse to wear mustaches in your classroom.

And since I recommend it, I am supplying you with a reason.

I whipped up the little ditty below  last week to review adjectives.  While we all had our mustaches on, we brainstormed adjectives about mustaches.  It turns our there are tons:
mustach poster


After we brainstormed all of our adjectives, I handed out this sheet, and students wrote specific adjectives to describe each mustache:

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{Click the picture to grab this freebie}

I forgot to take pictures, but all my kiddos did a really great job coming up with specific adjectives for each mustache.

I have to admit, it was hard coming back to school this week knowing we didn’t have any mustaches to get us by.  But…I’m going to surprise them on Friday with this totally cute, totally fun, totally stache-riffic, game from Amy over at Primarily Speaking.



I love it!  And I know they’re going to as well!

Hopefully I’ve convinced you to have a mustache day in your classroom.  If I have, here is where I get my mustaches.  You can’t beat the price, and as long as you don’t mind minor mustache shedding, these mustaches hold up really well!

Have a good night!

Halle