Let's Get Acquainted AND Tried It Tuesday!!

I'm linking up with Latoya from Flying Into First Grade for her weekly "Let's Get Acquainted" linky party! This week's topic... Stranded on an island- What three things would you have with you? Fun!! If I were stranded on Key West, I'd be a happy camper... not sure about being stranded anywhere else though. Gilligan's Island didn't look too terrible!=)

First up is my family. I couldn't live without them! 

Next is a fishing pole. I'd rather fish for food than hunt for it. 

Finally, I'd need some sunscreen. Although I do tan pretty well, I also burn really easily if I don't use some kind of protection. 

Make sure you check out Flying Into First Grade's linky to see what other bloggers would bring with them! 

I'm also linking up with our friend Holly from Fourth Grade Flipper for her "Tried It Tuesday" linky! 

So, it's no secret {at least in my house} that I'm NOT the greatest cook. I really don't enjoy cooking, at all. Unfortunately, my husband works a lot of nights so I'm left to cook for Makenzie and myself a LOT. Ugh... what's a girl to do? Fortunately, I have a Pinterest board with LOTS of different yummy recipes!! Here are two of my favorites that I've "tried" a whole bunch of times. They're both super easy, and even not so gifted chefs, such as myself can easily make them!! =) 

click the pic to find the recipe

These ham and cheese sliders are TO DIE FOR!! I made them the other night {for the millionth time}, and I had a few leftover, so I'm going to reheat them for dinner tonight! I LOVE the poppy seed- mustard sauce that's drizzled over the top, and the melted Swiss cheese inside is soooooo stringy and yummy!! This recipe calls for 24 white dinner rolls, but for a family of three it's a bit much, so we just buy 8 potato rolls {hamburger buns}, use less ham, and less Swiss cheese, and it works just as great. I also don't use miracle whip... I just stick to plain mayonnaise. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this recipe!!  You have to check out this super cute food blog {The Girl Who Ate Everything} while you're looking at this recipe too... she has SOOOOOO many delicious recipes!! 

click the pic to find the recipe

My next awesome Pinterest find is this chicken, broccoli, cheese, and stuffing foil-pack dinner.  You wrap all of the ingredients up in a tin foil packet and bake! That's it!! It's super easy to make and even easier to clean up! I follow the exact recipe and it's delicious!! Makenzie even eats it, and she's wicked picky! I have to go food shopping tomorrow, so this stuff is definitely on my list of things to buy!! 

Not too much teachery stuff going on in this post, but everyone needs a teacher break now and then. Make sure you link up with Holly and Latoya!! 

Mentor Text Linky- June 29, 1999 {Making Inferences}

Happy Sunday!
I'm linking up with Amanda and Stacia from Collaboration Cuties for their new mentor text linky party! I love that they're having this linky each week to highlight amazing books and authors that many teachers might not know about. I must admit that mentor texts are not my strong suit, so this definitely going to be a learning experience for me, I'm really excited about it! =)  Head on over to Collaboration Cuties to share your best mentor texts!

I really like the book June 29, 1999 by David Wiesner! I've used it for the past few years to review making inferences, alliteration and vocabulary development. I also tie it into our planting unit during Spring time. =) In this story, Holly Evans launches vegetable seedlings into the sky in order to study extraterrestrial effects on the growth and development of those seedlings. On June 29, 1999 HUGE vegetables start appearing all over the United States! After a few days of news stories about these vegetables, Holly concludes that these vegetables could not be hers because she did not have arugula seeds in her experiment. She wonders where these vegetables could be coming from? It's not until the end that the hilarious and unexpected twist happens! David Wiesner uses humor, minimal text, amazing illustrations, and alliteration to tell this fabulous story!  I've used this book in 1st and 2nd grades, but I think it would work for any elementary grade. =) 

click the image to find this book on Amazon.com

I'm off to enjoy this awesome Florida Spring weather, but you should Head on over to Collaboration Cuties to check out some other great mentor texts for Language Arts!!

Spark Student Motivation Saturdays... Homework Club!

I'm linking up with one of our BBBs, Joanne from Head Over Heels for Teaching, for her very first linky party ever! It's called "Spark Student Motivation Saturdays"! I LOVE this concept, especially toward the end of the year when "Spring Fever" sets in! Make sure you head on over to her linky to check out what other amazing bloggers have to say about keeping student's motivated until the end of school! How cute is this button?? I love the sparkle!!

Over the past few years I haven't had any issues about students not completing their homework or turning it in on time until this year. I couldn't believe how much it was like pulling teeth to get assignments back from a certain few students. I was kind of at my wits end until I saw this pin one day... 

The very fabulous Molly from Lessons with Laughter blogged about her homework club and how her students are rewarded at the end of each month for completing all of their homework assignments. I thought this was a brilliant idea and I immediately started it with my students. Guess what? It's a HUGE success!! All of my students LOVE being in the homework club, so they're motivated each month to complete all of their assignments and turn them in on time. We eat together on the final Friday of each month . As an extra special  treat, my daughter Makenzie and my husband come and eat with us too. My kiddos LOVE eating with Makenzie! She makes them laugh. It's too cute! 

 If your students are struggling to complete their homework, this may do the trick. =)  Here's a picture of my homework club located on my front white board. 

Be sure to check out Head Over Heels for Teaching for this way cool linky party!! 

Five For Friday

I'm linking up Kacey from Doodle Bugs Teaching for her weekly linky, Five For Friday! Head on over to Doodle Bugs Teaching to link up, too!

This week was a pretty busy week back from Spring Break. I'm so excited that there are only 8.5 more weeks to go!

1. I've noticed that my students aren't too secure with contractions {almost all of them... yikes!}, so I retaught it and did lots of practice work with them. I thought they needed a good visual, so I did some "contraction surgery" and produced this anchor chart. Sarah from the Fabulous First Grade blogged all about it {here} and has a great freebie you can find {here}. The band-aids really made my kids think about exactly where the apostrophe goes. They did their own surgery during word work time, but I was too busy working with my groups to take pics. :-(.

2. We're in a pretty severe drought here in Orlando right now, so we welcomed the rain these past few days!  We wrote all about what we do on rainy days. They had a choice of writing from an expository prompt: Tell about what you like to do on a rainy day, or a narrative prompt: Tell a story about a rainy day. I would say, it was pretty much 50/50 which is surprising. Most of my kids tend to write expository because it's a bit easier, but it was nice to see the kids actually writing stories!! =) They produced their writing using one of  "craftivities" that I've been using for years... even before I knew what a craftivity was! =) They came out really cute! 

3. On Thursday morning our Principal called us down for a quick meeting. He gave out the Teacher of the Month award... we won it back in December, so it wasn't us this time. But... he also gave out service pins! These pins go to employees who have been with the county for 10, 20, and 30 years. Well... they are about a year or so behind, so I finally got my pin for 10 years service! =) I can't believe I'm almost done with my 12th year already! I seriously feel like I just finished college. 

4. Every Friday I do fluency checks with a handful of students who need more oral reading fluency practice. I like to use the passages from Reading A-Z. I like them because they're leveled and there are a few passages for each level. My kids take a folder home each Monday. Their homework for the week is to practice it a few times each night and then bring it back to me on Friday. I then listen to how they're reading and give them some pointers for how they can improve. I also time them, but I stress to them that the point is not to be the quickest, but it's to be accurate, use punctuation correctly, and have inflection and expression in their voices as they read. They've improved so much since beginning these folders in November. =) If you've never checked out the Reading A-Z website, it's a must see. There are so many resources there... it's definitely worth the subscription! The picture below shows my binder {I have to make it a lot cuter!}, an example of a fluency sheet, the crate that I keep all of my reading passages in, and my students' fluency folder. This is definitely my tried and true method for improving oral reading fluency each year. 

5. Today is a sad day for my sister and I. Two years ago today, we lost our favorite teacher, Dr. Salvatore Fiore. We called him "Doc".  He passed from a heart attack in his sleep. He was only 57 years old. He was the most amazingly talented teacher that I have ever known. Not only was he a teacher, but he was a tremendously accomplished musician, composer, and conductor. My sister and I were so blessed to have been his students in high school. A few weeks back I posted about being in a show choir. Doc was the director, as well as the director of our 150 person high school choir and 40 person select chamber singers group. The best part of his teaching and directing style was that he tough, but kind. He set huge expectations for everyone to rise to, and we did. Each time we performed, it was magical. He always believed in us, and knew we could be anything we wanted to be. Without his support, encouragement, and amazing singing groups, high school would have stunk. Our 27 person show choir, Vocal Motion, performed and competed all over the country and each year performed at Disney World {starting the year after me}. The pictures below are of my sister's Vocal Motion group, and "Doc" in one of his conductor pictures {got the pic from Facebook}. The picture on the bottom is of one of the "end poses" during her show at Downtown Disney. The top left picture is from one of her Winter concerts. I wish I had pictures and videos of me when I was in the group, but unfortunately I don't. It was pre-digital camera age. I don't know why someone in my family didn't have a regular camera though?? Too bad. I'm saying my prayers for his family who lost this wonderful man far too soon.  RIP Doc, we will always keep you in our hearts and prayers.  

Make sure you link up with Kacey for her fun linky!! =) 

PS... The cute papers are from Glitter Meets Glue Designs and the stars on my kids faces are from Ashley Hughes ! 

These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things... Let's Get Acquainted!

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens... these are a few of my favorite things! That's one of my all time favorite musical movies. =)

I'm linking up with Latoya from Flying Into Fist Grade for her fun "Let's Get Acquainted" Linky Party  to share a few of my favorite things!  =) I'm a little late this week, but as the saying goes... better late than never! =)
Make sure you link up with Latoya if you haven't already!

Here a few of my favorite things...

I love target! It's a one stop shopping experience!! In my opinion {at least here in Orlando}, it's so much more pleasant and MUCH cleaner than those other one stop shopping places that have the word "mart" in them. I love that most of them in the area have a Starbucks so I can walk around with a Peppermint Mocha Frappucino! I also love the dollar spot! I <3 Target!

So... I know this isn't a "show", but I can't narrow down my favorite show on this network since I love so many of them! On the weekends, I've got HGTV on almost all day long! A few of my favs are Property Brothers and Income Property. I also like House Hunters even though it's staged. 

By far, the Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Sundae from Friendly's is my ALL TIME favorite sweet treat! I grew up loving it, and when I first moved to Florida I was a server at Friendly's and would indulge in them every once in a while. Haven't had one in a while though... I may have to head over to I Drive, to find the only Friendly's left in Orlando and get my sweet treat fix. 

 I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE authentic NY Pizza from my hometown, or probably most "real" pizza places from Long Island. The pizza here in Florida is just OK. It's not great, but I'll eat it. I'm pretty much a self proclaimed pizza snob. I will not buy pizza from those "chains", unless they have a really good deal for multiple pies for my class pizza parties. I'm such a snob. ;-)

I love the Cheesecake Factory. Their food is delicious, and their Adam's Peanut Butter Fudge Ripple cheesecake is to die for! Luckily, we have a Cheesecake Factory pretty close to our house! =) 

Make sure you link up with Flying Into First Grade to share some of your favs!!  

{Thanks to Ashley Hughes for the CUTE paper and Stars!}

Check out Keeping It Kool in Kinderland's amazing 375+ giveaway!! It's super Kool!! 

Tried It Tuesday!

I'm linking up with our awesome friend, Holly from Fourth Grade Flipper for her weekly linky party, Tried It Tuesday. This week I'm going to share something I tried with my four year old daughter, Makenzie. She really really loves it!



A few weeks ago I laying on the couch pinning away {I do that when I'm bored} when I came across this pin about sight word songs. I was pretty interested since Makenzie just started working on sight words in her pre-k class and at home for homework.  What I found were these pretty cool sight word videos on YouTube created by Have Fun Teaching. These videos teach the word by showing the word, repeating it, spelling it, using it in context, and then typing the word on a keyboard. I really like the repetition, and the tunes are pretty catchy too! There are only 18 sight word videos, but Have Fun Teaching also has letters and sound videos, counting songs, and other songs appropriate for kinders. These videos would be great for any beginning reader. Makenzie has about 10/18 words down and she's excited for more! Check it out!!



Make sure you link up with Fourth Grade Flipper and share something that you've tried!

Currently!

Holy Moly! I can't believe how many "Currently" early birds there are out there! It's amazingly awesome how much Farley's currently has grown and how hugely popular it is!  I love it... I look forward to it each month! =) If I was still on Spring Break, I would have jumped on it hours ago. This gal had to go back to the daily classroom grind though, so no early blogging fun for me. =(.  I'm excited to be linking up again with Farley for "Currently" this month. You should link up too... everyone's doing it. Peer pressure... come on! 

Listening:I love Jeopardy. I watch it every night. I really like when the kids are on. I feel really smart then. I don't love when it's tournament of champions. I don't feel as smart. =) **Makenzie just got her first jeopardy question correct! The answer was "What is Peter Pan"... she totally got it, all by herself!!** =)

Loving: Boy, that Easter Bunny really knows which kinds of candies Mommy loves! I LOVE me some chocolate!! =)

Thinking: The countdown to the last day has begun! I feel like there's still SO much to teach! It's crunch time!! Ahhhhh.

Wanting: We just upgraded my Microsoft office, so now I want a new version of an adobe product. I'd LOVE my own version of Photoshop. Probably won't happen though. If you know of any good deals on Adobe, please let me know! =)

Needing: I have to get Makenzie's registration stuff all together for "Kindergarten Round Up" on Wednesday. I still can't believe my baby is going to be a Kindergartner! She's growing up too quickly!

Advice:  Blogging Advice: It's so awesome to make blogging connections and friends in this fabulous blogging community. As you're checking everyone's posts, leave some love, fill some buckets, and let the people you follow know that you like what they have to say. As a blogger, respond back either right under their comment, or in a personal email. Be patient... you're not going to have a ton of followers right away, so make those connections!!!
TPT Advice: We're still pretty new at this, but our philosophy has been to make products that we will use in our classrooms or in our products. We make things that we know our kids will enjoy. Be true to yourself and don't copy other people. Set milestones for yourself and CELEBRATE your success! We just accomplished two milestones in this past week and we are PUMPED!! Be patient...  you're not going to make a million over night, so celebrate what you do accomplish!
HAVE FUN and do it because you enjoy it!! If this becomes a chore and a burden, is it really worth it?

Make sure you link up with Farley!! Click below to link up!! =)

Five for Friday, A Freebie, and a Sale!

It's Friday which means just two and a half short days left of my Spring break... waaaaaahhhhh. I wish it was longer! The upside of going back to school is that the last marking period always FLIES by! I'll definitely miss this bunch of sweeties though...they are an awesome class.

I'm linking up with Kacey from Doodle Bugs Teaching for her weekly Five for Friday linky!

We've also got a freebie for you, so we're also linking up with Teaching Blog Addict's Freebie Friday!! 

1. Since it's Spring Break, there wasn't any exciting classroom stuff going on this week, but I want to share something fun that we did a few days before spring break started. I didn 't get a chance to talk about it last week, so I thought I'd share today. On the Wednesday before spring break, I was formally observed by my principal. I decided to teach math instead of reading because I wanted some really good feedback about how I can improve my math teaching skills. I wanted to teach something that wasn't in our EnVision math series, yet a required Common Core skill so I decided to create my own graphing mini unit for my whole group and small groups. I made a prezi presentation to go along with my lesson. I also used fabulous centers during my independent math time created by Reagan Tunstall of Tunstall's Teaching Tidbits and Jamie Pink of Bright Concepts 4 Teachers.  My kids were awesome during the whole thing, and they really impressed me! Overall, I think my observation was a success. I haven't had my post observation conference with my principal yet, but in passing he informally said it was great. Phew!! Thank goodness it's OVER!! =) For obvious reasons, I did not take pictures of my kiddos engaged in their learning, but I did take pics of some of work that they produced.

This is a picture of the mini-unit that I created. It's kind of budget, so this summer I'll work on beautifying it and putting it up for sale in our store. 

This is a picture of work my students did during center time using Jamie Pink's Graphing Through The Year packet. My students LOVED it. There are SO many graphs to pick from, it's common core aligned and it's completely differentiated for all ability levels. I also used some of her graphs for homework that night as well. If you click {HERE} you can find her post about how she uses the packet in her classroom. =) If you click the picture below, you'll be taken right to Jamie's Bright Concepts 4 Teachers product page in her TPT store where you can purchase the packet for yourself. I LOVED using it!! Thanks, Jamie!!   =) 

During center time, I also used a super cute center called Spring Spin Tally Add created by Reagan Tunstall from her awesome Spring Centers pack which I won through a Facebook giveaway!! My kids loved the graphics and had tons of fun spinning their paperclip spinner, tallying and adding it up! I wish I could have taken pictures of them. If you click {Here} you can see how Reagan uses these centers in here class {she's got a freebie there for you too!}. If you click the picture below, you'll be taken to Reagan's product page in her TPT store where you can purchase these fabulous centers... they're for literacy AND math! Thank you for the terrific centers, Reagan... I'm looking forward to using the rest them after our break! 

2. Have you ever used a prezi presentation? OMG. Once you use it, you'll never want to do a presentation using plain old power point again!! Check them out: prezi.com!There are so many to chose from, or you could be super creative and create your own!!  I LOVE Prezi!! Here's a picture  from my observation lesson presentation... I was also able to add Jamie's anchor charts found in her Graphing Through the Year pack to this presentation! Thanks again, Jamie!!! 

3. If you read yesterday's High/Low post, you'd know that I lost my wedding ring, :-( GOOD NEWS!! I found it!! I searched my car again {really well this time} and found it under my seat! Hallelujah! It was pretty far back there and the first time I checked it must have been just out of my reach. Thank you SOOOO much for your St. Anthony prayers!! They really work! =) I'm a happy girl... and my hubby's a happy guy 'cause he doesn't have to buy me a new one! =) 

4. Check out the pretty new Vera Bradley phone case I got this week! I LOVE it!! If you know me, you know that I am a little bit OBSESSED with  ANYTHING Vera!! My purse, wallet, teacher bag, makeup case, lunch box, and a few other purses are all Vera {lots of different patterns, I don't discriminate}. It's about time my phone was Vera too. I accidentally {I swear} dropped phone with my old case last week and cracked it right in half {not an intentional break!}. So this was the perfect opportunity to buy the Vera case that I've wanted since they came out with them last Summer! Now I need a purse to match my phone... maybe some sunglasses too. Just saying.=) 

5. Here's a freebie for you!! We worked on a new digital paper pack this week just in time for your Spring creations, and wanted to give you a couple pages from it as well as a couple more frames from our Spring Swirly Frame Set! Click the picture below to find the freebie in our store.

 Click the pictures below to find both packs in our store. They're both 20% off this weekend!! =) 

On that note... you should "chick" out our store this weekend!! EVERYTHING is 20% off!! It's time to stock up and do some FUN spring cleaning of your wishlists!!!  

Thanks to Ashley Hughes for the pretty paper, Clipart Cuties for the super cute chicks and eggs, and The Enlightened Elephant for the cute frame!! 

I've blogged every day this week... it's definitely a record, so I may or may not take the weekend off! If I do, have a beautiful Easter filled with lots of love, blessings, and family! xoxo

High/Low linky

I'm linking up with Katie from Teacher to the Core for her monthly High Low linky party. I've seen this linky the past few months, but never had the time to jump on the "linky wagon". I do now! =) Gotta love Spring Break!!

click to find this linky

I'm going to start with my lows so I can end on a positive note! =) 

I lost my wedding ring! I can't find it anywhere! I am so distraught right now. It's not like it was super expensive or anything, but it's the sentiment that means the most to me. I don't wear my rings while i'm hanging around at home, so I usually just put them on my watch band. Yesterday we went out to Target and I remember placing them in my pocket as I left the house. I remember taking the rings and watch out of my pocket and putting them on in the car. The next time I actually looked at my hand I had my blue topaz ring and my engagement ring on my left ring finger, but no wedding ring.  It wasn't on my right ring finger either. I checked my car, but it's not in there. The only thing I can think of is that it might have fallen on my lap and as I got out of the car, it fell on the floor. I went back today, and checked the ground, but no ring. I'm hoping it's in a crevice of my car that I overlooked. I think it's time for some St. Anthony prayers. Please say one for me. =) ***Update: 3/29/13: I found it!! I searched my car again {really well this time} and found it under my seat! Hallelujah! It was pretty far back there and the first time I checked it must have been just out of my reach. Thank you SOOOO much for your St. Anthony prayers!! They really work! =) I'm a happy girl... and my hubby's a happy guy 'cause he doesn't have to buy me a new one! =)***

Another low is that our refrigerator kicked the bucket the other day too. We were able to save some stuff in our cooler, but not everything. Bummer. I'm waiting for a new one to be delivered right now, so my low is looking up! =) 

One of my highs was going to see Wicked at the beginning of the month. It was AWESOME!! It was so much fun to watch my lil girl enjoy her first musical. I also loved spending time with my sis and my Mom. =) 

Another high was some more family fun time with my hubby, Makenzie, Dad, Step-mom Elaine, my sis, and her boyfriend at the Arnold Palmer Invitational golf tournament last Sunday. It was Makenzie's first time at a golf tournament. I was kind of nervous as to how she'd behave, but she was fabulous and amazingly quiet when she needed to be. =)

 We had a great time walking around and watching lots of golfers play the first hole. We were there for a few hours before we had a crazy thunder storm with 80 MPH winds. Other than that, it was a great family weekend! We have to get lots of time in with my Dad and Elaine before they migrate back to NY. Can't wait to see them again on Sunday! =)

Link up with Katie to tell about your highs and lows of March!! =)