How to Create a Foldable

I had a few requests to show how I made the foldable for the geometric solids and nets.  I thought the best way to do this was to do a pictorial play-by-play, if you will.

I always learn best with pictures.  Isn't this why Pinterest is such a phenomenon?  By the way, I give you total permission to pin anything from my blog.  If you haven't seen the hoopla about pinning {I'm sure most of you have}, you need to read Laura Candler's post here.






I've added it to my sidebar so that you will always know I'm OK with you pinning to your little heart's content from my blog :)

OK- on with it.

Step One: Take 1 sheet of card stock (this is the material I prefer...it's sturdy) and cut it hamburger-style into three equal parts.

Step 2: Lay the three parts on top of each other so that you are making {what I tell the students} a staircase.  Oh, and yes, my 4th graders are trained to do this.  Oh, that sounds bad.  They aren't puppies.  Most days.

Step 3: Fold the stairs on top of themselves so that you double the amount of stairs.  {See, I told you that I'd need to show you pictures...'cause that makes absolutely no sense.}

Step 4: Flatten all six "stairs" and then staple at the top.

Wha-la!

I hope this helps.  If you are not already a follower of Mor over at A Teacher's Treasure, you need to be...she's got a great number of other foldables and pictures to help under her tab "FoldiFun Factory" {how stinkin' cute is that title?}.  Also, look into purchasing Dinah Zike's book, Notebook Foldables.

Have a great week, everyone.  Oh, and sorry for the 2 posts in one day blunder.  Blah.

Yikes...I Forgot to Thank...

I feel like one of those sorry actors/actresses who after getting off stage after receiving an Oscar remembers that they forgot to thank their mother.

That's me today.

Remember this honor...



I was able to find 10 more people to bestow the honor on, but neglected to thank the person who awarded me the honor in the first place.


Egg.
On.
My.
Face.

Sorry, Jenn from A Pirate's Life for Us!  I'm truly thankful.  Your blog is awesome and everyone should visit you today!

See, I'm making your button extra large so that everyone will see how cute your blog is....and then head on over. I hope this makes up for my blunder. Have a great day, folks.

An Award and Passing it on....

I've been in the bed most of the day feeling rather crummy...is it the weather? It's been dreary here all day.  Either that or I just needed a day of complete rest.

During all of my posting about my giveaway, I was awarded this:







I was thrilled to receive this one because the link back was to Teaching Blog Addict {who I LOVE...see this post}.

Anyway, my instructions are to give this to 10 bloggers who have not received the award yet.  I'll try.

First off, Amber:





She's always so quick to share and comment on my blog.  I just adore her.  You need to visit her blog and her TpT {and now TN} stores!!  She rocks.

Next, her real-life buddy, Elisabeth:





Elisabeth helped me out at the beginning of my blogging experience to let me know I had won a big prize. {I had not added my email.}  Wasn't she and isn't she sweet?  Her recent post about the Titanic is a must read!

Next, Cara:




 Let me tell you how totally awesome Cara is...I recently left her a comment on one of her posts about how I'd love for her to post about how to link your Facebook Page to your blog for the automatic FB updates.  Guess what?  She did THE VERY NEXT DAY.  I'm telling you.  She rocks!  This is WHY I love blogging.  Really.

Next, Mandy at Cooperative Learning 365:






Her most recent post on using a song for similes made me run straight to my phone to download the song from iTunes.  She's got terrific ideas {obviously} for cooperative learning.

Next, Jennifer:

Love her! She's so sweet.  She helped me realize I had a link wrong on my giveaway page.  Who takes the time to do that?  Someone as sweet as Jennifer!

Next, my very first follower, Melissa:

How can I forget the person who was the first to follow me and start this wonderful ride?  OK, just realized she has the award already, but she deserves it again.

Next up, Kim:

She's so honest in her writing and I love that about her.  Her post about Goat and More is hilarious.  Check it out.

Next, Lindsay:




<

She just blogged about using Dr. Seuss to use figurative language in her 5th grade class.  Justifies my using it, too.  You should check out her blog.

Next, Jen:

Even with so many followers, she still has the time to send an encouraging word.  I love her Cootie Catchers.  She's made learning fun {which I love}.  Also, her math journal Sunday edition is great!  I've used so many of her lesson ideas already.

And finally, Haley:






With a name like that, why wouldn't you follow her?

OK, I just suffered from a mini-meltdown.   When I got to the end of writing this post, my computer shut down on me.........

It was like this:
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Luckily, thanks to Blogger, the save button at the top of the page had saved me.  Thank the Lord!

OK, I'm going back to bed.

Have a terrific Sunday.

Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner

OK,
maybe there's no dinner involved.  Or, maybe you could buy this:

or this:

This stuff is actually pretty great.

 with your $25 gift card to Target!

Here's the random number generator:

Congratulations to Miss T. from Journey of a Substitute Teacher.  Here's what she had to say:

I'll be emailing you the gift certificate soon!

Erin Condren Rocks! (And last night for Giveaway)

OMG~
Look!

I have been waiting for, anticipating, stalking the UPS man all week.  

It was so bad that when my son got a package on his birthday, I was disappointed. 

What a terrible mother I am.

Oh well. You win some, you lose some in the mothering category.  Epic fail.

Finally, yesterday she arrived. 

I pulled into the driveway expecting to just dump my kids out and head to our local Mexican hang out to have chips and cheese with my Pod Peeps.  {fellow 4th grade teachers}

And when I mean chips and cheese, well, you know.

Anyway, I pull in the drive and the box is on my doorstep.  Even the box is beautiful, right?

Of course, I had to take a play-by-play photo of the unveiling.  I'm so weird.

Ah......even the packaging inside makes my giddy.

I love the pattern/colors/durability/stickers/free labels/zipper pouch/tabs.

E.V.E.R.Y.T.H.I.N.G about her.

Yes, she's a her.  Get over it.

Ain't she a beaut?


Told you I'm weird....is that why 124 of you are here?  Which leads me to the second half of this post.

OMG again!  124 followers?  Really?  I can't believe it.  I remember when I was uber excited when I had 9.

Tonight is the LAST night to enter my GIVEAWAY.  I'm picking a winner via random generator thing-a-ma-bog tonight at 10:00 pm EST. So click on the word "giveaway" to take you back to the post where you still need to comment to win!  Do it now...the winner could be you!

TBA on Pinterest

If you didn't know already, Teaching Blog Addict (one of the very FIRST blogs that I started stalking) has now created pin boards for all of us who are addicted to pinning, too.

I just love TBA!  One of my favorite features is their Freebie Friday posts.  Who doesn't love a freebie?

It is a great network of terrific bloggers and you really should check it out.






So, head on over and then follow them on Pinterest.

Click here to take you to their blog post about Pinterest.

You won't be sorry because you then have access to a wealth of information and great ideas!

Biography Poster Freebie...and enter Giveaway

{Shameless plug for my GIVEAWAY} Sorry!

But, here's a freebie for enduring it.

My team and I had to teach "Sequence in Research" last week.  Really? How do you do that?

Remember funny co-worker {the Gone With the Wind one}, she suggested that we complete research on famous African Americans for Black History month.  Then, we could use this to help them sequence their report.  Brilliant!

We began our research by going to several websites including Biography.com and Factmonster.com.  Both were very valuable resources.  Especially Factmonster.

This week, we are using the information we gathered to create a three paragraph biography.  The information has been great.

I wanted a culminating activity that we can hang in the room {and take down the Conversation Heart stories...those pieces of candy are starting to look gross...}.

So, this afternoon I created this poster so that my students can complete it while I'm gone {AGAIN} at another in-service tomorrow.

The document on TpT and TN does not have a gray background.  I only did that to be able to show you on here.  I took a screen capture of it. Is that the best way to do this? 

If you are loading documents, how do you load a picture?  Do you have another method?  I'd love advice, so comment below everyone!

Solids and Nets Freebie...and enter GIVEAWAY

What brought you in?  The solids and nets part of the title or the GIVEAWAY {imagine that in flashing neon lights}.

Either way, I'm glad you are here.

But, first, I'd like to back up a few days {and if you are interested, keep reading...otherwise...it's OK to scroll all the way to the bottom for the freebie...}

Wait!
No it's not.

You're gonna wanna hear this. {maybe}

So, remember last week when I told you we were going to go on a fabulous, highly educational field trip to see the reenacting of the Battle of Aiken?  I know. You were dying to know how it all went, right?
Well.

It's a pretty big deal {this wittle ol' battle}, at least for us that live here.  It's a battle from the Civil War, people.  We are deep here in the south.
Scratch that.  It's a big deal for the fourth grade teachers in this area 'cause it means:

FIELD TRIP!

And, one of the best, really.
Here's why...it's kinda like the releasing on the hounds.  Literally.
We divvy up our kiddos and have parent chaperones drive out there. The teachers wander around all day checking in on groups completely ignoring the fact that we are teachers throughout the day.  It's AWESOME.

Well, not this year. {sigh}

We got the kiddos all loaded up in about thirty or so cars...and off they went.  That is, we were on our way after my speech to the parents about how these extra students are like their own kids today and to keep them in line, not lose them, and have fun.  {By the way...I volunteered to be the speech giver again this year...I hate talking in front of a bunch of adults...what was I thinking?  I seem to always be the one that is stuck doing the talking....more on that later.}

Anyway-
Loaded up.
Check.
Drive out to the battle field.
Check.
Weather not looking good.
Dang.

The drive is about 45 minutes.
Oh, and the best part...the teachers all ride together in two different cars.  {I told you it was an AWESOME field trip}

We get there and what do we notice?  Cars going in the opposite direction.
OPPOSITE DIRECTION, people.
Dang.

Canceled!  Due to a tornado watch in the area.

Crap.
What are we going to do ALL day back at school?  We don't have anything planned.  Time to pull it out of thin air {or out of somewhere else...}.

Co-worker says from the back seat:
"Hey, I know...can't we just put in "Gone with the Wind"? It's from the Civil War, right?"

We must have laughed for 3 minutes straight.

If only, oh, if only :)

Instead, we find some streamline videos, have a picnic in the pod, and spend the rest of the day goofing off and cleaning the room.  The cat was away...not that she'd care, I think.

I cleaned out a whole cabinet/shelf area.  I'll be posting pictures later this week.  It looks pretty good.

OK- NOW FOR THE SOLIDS AND NETS part of my blog post.

We started geometrical solids and nets this week.  The solids, for the most part, are mastered by fourth grade.  It's the nets of these solids that's the kicker.

So, last night, after a wonderful weekend in Atlanta with family, I whipped up a foldable for my students to make to give them a reference guide.

It's free in my TpT AND my TN store...finally, something there, too :)

OH- and the second part of that title? GIVEAWAY {click and link to that post}

Dreamlike Magic Rocks! Come Take a Look :)

My plan tonight was to blog about my terrific horrible insane kinda productive day. 

Remember that field trip I spoke of yesterday- well, it didn't happen.  Nope, drove ALL THE WAY OUT THERE and it was canceled due to a tornado watch.

Well, I guess that's a safe thing to do with over 150 students in tow. Pleh.

Best part of it? The teachers drive separately from the students.  We have parents drive.  AWESOME.

But- too tired for that post.  That story is to long for tonight. Exhausted.

Instead- Do you like my new look?

I LOVE IT!

Alicia over at Dreamlike Magic rocks.  Seriously.  {Check her Esty store out here, too.}

She was so incredibly easy to work with; so if you are considering a new design, or want to add more to what you already have.  Consider her designs.  I love how cheerful they all are.


Don't forget to enter my GIVEAWAY!

It ends next Friday night.  And-oh lookie- 111 :)

100+ GIVEAWAY! Oh Yeah!

Sounds a little like the Kool-Aid man.

Is he really a man?

Anyway-
You are hear for the giveaway-so I won't delay {oh, oh...how's that for being Suessi-esk}

I thought and thought and thought some more and just couldn't come up with anything over the top creative.

Bummer.

So- how's this?

 

 That's a big, FAT Target gift card for $25!

It's yours for the taking if you win this super-duper giveaway!

Here's all you need to do: 
1. Follow my blog OR tell me that you are already a follower-one entry
 

2. Follow my TpT Store -one entry

3. Follow my TN Store -one entry- yes, there's still nothing in it yet, but there will be :)

4. Pin something from my blog onto Pinterest {leave comment telling me what you pinned}-2 chances so leave 2 comments 


5. Add my button to your blog-2 chances...so leave 2 comments
 
6. Blog about this  GIVEAWAY {include link in your comment}- 2 comments


Dang-that's 9 chances to win!

I will close this giveaway and use the handy-dandy random generator do-hickey next Friday night at 10:00 pm Eastern time right before I go to bed crash.


I'm off to a field trip tomorrow...the reenacting of the Battle of Aiken {I'm SURE you've heard of it}.

Tell me so in your comment...it will make me feel so special.

Good luck!

Teachers Notebook Open {But Empty}. Ha.

Hi everyone! 
It
was
a
super
LONG
day in my math in-service.  Like terribly long.

What I thought would be a day filled with information about incorporating the Common Core in math turned into a sales pitch for a {brand name} calculator.

Not what I expected.

Oh well.

But, what I'm here to declare is that I've added a Facebook Fan Page {I'm not 100% sure that I set that up correctly...please check it out and leave me a comment about whether or not you could get to it}.

and a Teachers Notebook store:

Yay ME.  I'm feeling so official.

Thanks to everyone for all of the encouragement over the last few months.  Totally love coming on here and hearing what you have to say on your own blogs and as incredibly sweet comments on my blog.
 

I'll be back in a day or two for that GIVEAWAY!  I'm now at 104...WOW!

Daily 5 Station Boards Freebie

I've been pulling my hair out all year plugging away at trying to implement the Daily 5 all year.  I've worked at creating a Reading Block that is kinda working for me now. 

Here's the breakdown:
We start with Daily Oral Language. Do any of you use this book? 

My grade level uses it to teach the basics of grammar and editing.  It's a great drill type of work.  I believe in it.  It works.  It's totally boring, but it works.

On Mondays {of a typical 5 day week}, I then teach a 20 minute lesson on the skill for the week.  {text structure, using graphic sources, plot, etc.}  On Mondays, we aren't doing "stations", but rather working independently on the previous week's rotations and getting all assignments completed in the reading notebooks.  I use this time to work with students individually or with maybe one small group. 

On Tuesday-Thursday, I give a small 5 minute mini-lesson and we spend the rest of the time going through 4 different stations.  More like a Reader Workshop method, I guess.  It's like I do am attempting with my math rotations.  I'm still working on a cute board with the acronym READ.  Hopefully, I can get to that this week and share it with you.  Fingers crossed!


The four different rotations are the following:
Read to Self- work on letter to me
Work with the Teacher- Small Group/Guided Reading
Station 1
Station 2

During this time, I am working with a small group and of course shouldn't be interrupted.  But, ahhhhhhhh, I usually am at least once.  The number one question {even though I've shown them where the materials are a gazillion times} is "Where can I find the cards for Read to Self?" {or some other station}

Basically, I have pockets glued to cabinet doors that "houses" all of the materials for each station. It's pretty organized to me.  Unfortunately, these pockets aren't labeled.  You'd think they can remember that red=read to self, blue= writing, etc.  Why am I the only one that can remember it?  Geesh.

One of my students told me on Friday, "Hey, you really need to label those."

Dang.
He's right.  So, today, after 2 days with NO COMPUTER, I finally sat down to make the signs. 

Here's a preview:

Maybe you can use them, too.

Hop on over to my TpT store to grab yours up.  While you are there, consider following me.  I know I only have one "for sale" item and all the rest are free, but it's my goal to start adding more stuff.  Pinky promise.

And.............

Hello

Looks like a giveaway soon.  I've been toying with lots of ideas.  I'll see you soon to let you know.

Have a great week everyone!

My Teacher Bag Revealed..and a tip on a SALE!

Scary.

Truly Scary.

You are lucky the picture didn't include any spilled coffee droplets.  Yes, really.

I'm linking up with The Clutter Free Classroom's "Let's See Your Teacher Bag" Linky Party. 

Great bag, terribly organized. 

Here's something special:

My class had a half hour of clean up time on Friday because I just couldn't take it anymore...and lo and behold...I found one of my CDs.  This album's pretty special.  I met Josh for the first time during his tour of this album. So, glad I found it {even though, of course, it's in my iTunes account}.

Those pencils?  Well, when cleaning out my pencil drawer, I realized I had enough Easter pencils for my whole class.  I just need to come up with some way to "gift" it to them.  I'll work on that tomorrow at least before Easter.

My favorite item in my bag:

I've spent a large part of the weekend finding great apps for it.  Any suggestions?

Maybe I should use them. 

Does this look better?

Let's see how long it lasts.  I give it until Wednesday.

OK~ If you made it this far, here's your tip. 

Are you dying to try the Erin Condren life planners?  After seeing so many bloggers rave about them and how they help with organization, I thought, "I'll look into it."  Well, I did...and guess what?  They are having a major sale on the 2012 life planners.  I guess it finally pays to be a procrastinator!  If you bundle the planner and a pack of gift labels...you save 40%!  Done.

Head on over and order yours now.  Do you have tomorrow off like me?  If so, what are your plans?  I {technically} have Tuesday off, too. I'm heading to a math in-service about incorporating the Common Core standards.  I am really excited about it, too.  Maybe I'll use my free time tomorrow to make some freebies!  Maybe.

Argh, Really? I'm Done.Pooped.Growl.

Did that catch your attention?  Probably just to see what I'm complaining about {again}.

This is the only thing I will say: Valentine's Day at school can be CRAZY!  I had all of these lofty ideas about what I wanted to do.  I did some, but fussed all day long.  I'm sure my kiddos were like, "Chill, lady."

I did get a chance to do this fabulous math activity with them from Amber at Adventures of a Third Grade Teacher.

It used the Conversation Hearts that we all love to use on Valentine's Day, but what I loved most was how it reviewed math skills we have covered this year.  There are 4 student pages in all. It should have been self-directed with very little teacher involvement since it was made for 3rd graders and I teach 4th.  But...put candy in front of my lovelies and they forget EVERYTHING. Phew.

I saw this from her this morning and threw that in, too.   We both saw it on Hope's blog, 2nd Grade Shenanigans. {Love that name, BTW} I figured out how to download Amber's word document to my Google Doc at the last minute that I could retrieve at school...as I can't get to any blogs at school because they are blocked {ARGH}.   I downloaded it from my iPhone to Google.  I can open Google...so wah-la! {How do you spell wah-la?}

This picture is from Hope's blog: 2nd Grade Shenanigans

This is the document I could get from Google Docs from school-Yippee!!!

I actually enjoyed this quite a bit.  Make sure you head over to both blogs and check them out if you haven't already.  They rock!

The stories my kids came up with are pretty funny.  Sadly, I was too exhausted to snap any pictures before leaving school. I'll post that later. 


I was feeling rather sorry for myself...and then I came home to the best Valentine's Day present
in
the
whole
wide
world:

A CLEAN HOUSE!!  My husband SO rocks.

He's still cleaning as I write this blog.  How lucky am I?

OK, enough.  Tomorrow {or at least later this week}, I promise to blog about something where I don't complain and also give you a freebie of my own.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Valentine Exchange and a FREEBIE!

Oh boy!  I was so excited when I got home on Friday and found that my Valentine Exchange package was in my mailbox:

Even the package was cute.

My gifts came from a sweet first year teacher, Kelly Pate.  She's not a blogger {yet}.

This is what I found inside:

She found just the right things for me!  I love, love, love everything.  I'm going to have to hide the Minnie Mouse water bottle from my daughter!

Now on to my freebie for you:

I made these a few weeks ago for my kiddos.

Since it was a Pinterest "Nailed It" {That's total sarcasm} I decided I needed to add a little extra somethin'.  My crew LOVES homework passes...it's not even like I give a ton of homework, either.

So, here you go!

Go to my TpT store to download for free!

Have a great Valentine's Week.