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I love linking up with Farley for her monthly Currently- so much fun! So I love Hallmark movies- I watch all of the Christmas ones and am currently loving the ones they are running leading up to Valentine's Day- I DVR and then binge watch them on the weekends! I am thrilled to report that I have cut down to 1 Pibb Zero each day. I don't drink coffee, but have been a popaholic for my entire adult life. I started cutting back when we went back to school in January and for the last 3 weeks I have been down to 1! I am drinking loads of water and... (knock on wood) I haven't had a migraine since Thanksgiving. I usually have them every 4-6 weeks- don't know if there is any correlation, but I am super thankful I haven't had one! Can't wait for spring to get here! We have had some unseasonably warm weather here in the midwest and it has given me a bad case of SPRING FEVER! My youngest daughter's college softball season starts this week! She is a freshman and this

Last week we took some time to learn about Author's Purpose. My kids had some background knowledge, but needed a refresher course. We also needed to go a little deeper in understanding what it meant to persuade. We created a class anchor chart together and had a good discussion of the big 3- persuade, inform, and entertain. Of course, I used the acronym P.I.E. to help them remember. Here is the chart we created... After our great discussion I was ready to send them off with a task. Last year I had purchased a great set of task cards from Rachel Lynette-   Author's Purpose Task Cards: 24 Cards: Persuade, Inform & Entertain   (If you haven't used any of her task card sets before you are missing out- they are fantastic!) The students group work centered around the task card set- but I used this set of cards in a little different way- they lent themselves really well to a sorting activity. I put my students in groups of three and sent each group off with:  *a set of the 24

We are learning about the Revolutionary War- such a fun, engaging unit for my third graders and one of my very favorite to teach.  This is such a high interest topic and my kids always really get into it. Earlier this year I had read one of the Alvin Ho books and in it the kids play Revolutionary War at recess, so of course I have even had some fellas playing Revolutionary War at recess- it is pretty amusing to say the least. So, I knew that this super simple activity would be a big hit! As we got ready for Social Studies time I asked the 4 kiddos in my classroom that were wearing red to step out into the hallway a minute. After I got them into the hallway I closed the door and told them that we were going to have a little fun and that since they had redshirts on they got to be the British soldiers that were collecting taxes from the colonists. When they came in the room I wanted one of them to shout out something like "I'm here collecting your taxes".  Then I left the Br

Today in class we learned about Martin Luther King, Jr. We watched a video on Discovery Education of the book  Martin's Big Words  by Doreen Rappaport. The book is read aloud by Michael Clarke Duncan and is just beautiful- the illustrations, background music, and his deep voice come together to make a vivid impact on anyone who watches. After watching the video, we had a great discussion. If you don't have access to Discovery Education, then you could just read the book aloud- it is a great read aloud! After reading, we incorporated some art with the facts that we learned. I gave each student a blank white piece of copy paper to begin. I drew one step at a time on an anchor chart, and the students drew on their papers.  Here are the steps that I break the drawing into- but if you chose to do this project you could break it into as many steps as you wanted to. For most kids- if I asked them to draw Martin Luther King, Jr.- they would tell me they couldn't do it, or that it d

This month I am linking up with Laurah J at The ESOL Odyssey for the January Recipe Round-Up. Cooking is one of my very favorite things to do- and I love to use my crock pot.  How wonderful is it to come home from a long day at work, and when you open the door the smell of a home cooked meal greets you! That's what crock pot cooking is all about for me! When I have something in the crock pot, I look forward to it all day... especially if it is one of the two dinners I want to share with you.... My favorite food blogger is Kristin at Iowa Girl Eats . She is actually the very first person (blog) I ever started following. I have fixed countless recipes of hers and am always pleased with the results (and so is my family!).  First up are  Crock Pot Italian Beef Sandwiches - super easy and super flavorful is how I would describe this recipe! Click on the link to get this tasty recipe. Next is Crock Pot Ranchero Chicken - this recipe takes a smidge more time to prepare, but oh so worth i

Today was the kids first day back to school after winter break. (Teachers were back for work on Monday and Tuesday this week.)  Our third quarter writing focus is opinion writing. I LOVE to teach this unit to my kiddos. It is so fun, and I get to know them even better as I read their opinions on so many different topics. So... to launch our learning today I had a last minute brainstorm. I have always started our unit with an anchor chat with a piece of my own opinion writing, Last year I think I wrote about the best flavor ice cream... but this year I decided to write about something with a little more punch! I pulled the kids to the floor and told them that I wanted them to read what I was writing silently, and that we would not talk about it until I was done. I could have written it ahead of time, but I wanted to build the suspense and really get their attention... And boy- did I get their attention! My first sentence was... I think kids should go to school on Saturdays and Sundays.

I love books! Loved them as a kid, loved reading them to my own children, and I love sharing my favorites and discovering new ones with my class. My goal this year is to try to share as many of my favorites through this blog as I can.  I have been a fan of the Skippijon Jones books for several years. I am always excited to see a new one come out- and my class loves to listen to them. Of course, they clap and chant along to the familiar parts! When I ran across another book by Judy Schachner, I couldn't wait to read it. This is  The Grannyman ! Oh, my! While Skippijon tickles the funny bone, this book tugs at your heart strings. What a warm and tender lesson your students can learn from this book!   I forgot to mention how beautiful the illustrations are, too! Simon is a very old cat who is nearing the end of his days...   ...and then his family brings home a little kitten and gives Simon a purpose- he has to teach the kitten how to be a good cat. My students were so in love with t

Happy New Year! I am not usually one to get too excited over New Year's Day, but this year I was really ready to turn the page on 2014 and start fresh in 2015. We had a very rough 2014- so bring on 2015! I am linking up with Farley at Oh' Boy Fourth Grade for her monthly Currently Linky Party! Here goes... 1.) I am "currently" obsessed with HGTV. Love, love, love Fixer Upper, the Property Brothers, and all versions of House Hunters.  2.) Boy, did I get a surprise on Christmas morning... my family- mom and dad, husband, and my two girls got me the farmhouse table I have been wanting from IKEA. Then my husband and I used a gift card my mom and uncle gave us to purchase the chairs to go with it! I love it so much!!!! Here's a pic of my pretty new table! 3.) I have really enjoyed my winter break- my youngest daughter has been home from college since December 12th- she goes back on January 6th- and my oldest daughter and her fiancé were here for five days over Christm