Five for Friday {2/27/15}

It's Five for Friday time, and I'm sharing a little peek at the past two weeks!

Last week, we had the entire week off for #snowpocalypse2015, which I know is completely hilarious to our northern friends {Cassie!} because we only had 7-ish inches of snow. Around here, though, no one is prepared for that much, and no one can drive in it! I thoroughly enjoyed my week off with my family! The county schools were actually out a week and a half! 

This past weekend was so much fun! I went to the EdExpo in Atlanta, where I met Cassie for the first time in real life. We hung out with some incredibly talented bloggers and teacher-authors on Friday & Saturday before heading to the expo on Sunday. There, we were able to see some of the latest and greatest education products. I even got to bring some goodies back to my class, and have already used them! I'll be posting on my Chalk & Apples blog very soon with some of my favorite new products! This one, by far, is my #1... You'll have to check out my blog post to learn more about it! 

Perhaps the worst possible time for a "Snow Week" is the week before your school's standardized tests are scheduled. This is the ONLY thing that kept me from completely relaxing during my unexpected time off. We delayed testing by two days, thank goodness! During those two days, I reviewed test-taking tips & prepared my students as best I could for the test. They absolutely loved the new "Smart Family" test-taking tips pack from Tech Crazy Teacher! Having used them for three years now (perks of working at her school!), I can attest that they really do stick with my students, and keep them focused on good testing habits.

One of my favorite things to do during test week is cover all of the educational materials on the walls... said no teacher ever! I make the best of it by leaving my kiddos an encouraging note. In huge print. Right on the wall. They love it! I like to think that it helps in some small way for them to know I believe in them.

No test season would be complete without some fun review games to make sure they haven't forgotten everything they've learned! Tired of the same old Jeopardy-style games, I headed to TPT in search of a better idea. What I found was perfect! The Bazinga review game and Love, War, & Lightning are both review games for any subject, so you just add your own questions to them. Both games involve some surprises that the kids absolutely love! In Bazinga, you might have to do the YMCA dance or stand on one leg to get your points. In Love, War, & Lightning, you sometimes earn points, but sometimes lose them, and occasionally, you get to trade points with another team! The variety of actions keeps my class engaged the entire time. Best of all, they are both FREE on TPT! 

     

Head over to DoodleBugs to check out what everyone else has been up to! 

Sunday Scoop {12/27/14}

The Sunday Scoop is based on the popular 3-2-1 graphic organizers so many of us use with our students. Tell us three things you HAVE to do, two things you HOPE to do, and one thing you're HAPPY to do (because these days, we could all use a little motivation to find something to be happy about every week!). It's a short and sweet way to connect with each other every Sunday (or Monday... the linky will stay open all week!)

Here's what to do:
1. Just save the image above, add your text to it (we use PowerPoint), and post! You don't even have to explain yourself any further if you don't want to.
2. Include the button above and a link to our  blog on your post.
3. Link our post up here on Sunday morning (or whenever :) )
4. Be a good blog reader, and leave some love for the two posts before yours!

I hope you're enjoying the rest of your winter break as much as I am. Link up your Sunday Scoops below! Have a great week!

   

    An InLinkz Link-up

   

Five for Friday + a Freebie!

Happy Friday! Today I'm linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for Five for Friday to share what we've been up to in my class this week.

This weekend, we officially had FALL at my house! Pumpkin carving for the hubs and I, and pumpkin-stick-in-the-Mickey-parts for our Little Apple. The Mickey pieces were perfect because little guy was able to participate right along with us without getting too close to the knives. I carved a Mickey because that's what he wanted... Hubs carved a traditional jack-o-lantern.

 

We started division this week by dividing up some candy corn for Halloween. 

I passed out a zip-lock bag of candy corn, a couple of napkins, and a couple of Halloween treat cups to each pair of students. Then, I put a number on the board and asked them to make equal groups using that number of candy corn pieces. (So for 42, they might make 6 groups of 7.) Once a group had a correct representation, I asked them if they could make a different number of groups. We did this over and over with different facts, writing all of the fact families we could make for each number into our math journals each time. Of course, the last time, I asked them to divide all of their candy corn evenly and snack away. This gave me a great chance to sneak in a mini-lesson on what remainders are too! The kiddos loved it, and it really helped cement their understanding of what we are actually doing when we divide.

Speaking of division, I gave a pretest on simple long division equations, and was surprised to learn that almost none of my students remembered anything about how to do long division from fourth grade. It's actually a blessing because last year, my class had a lot of exposure to it, thought they knew how to do it, but didn't. This way, I kind of get to start fresh!

I'm teaching them the partial quotient method (or the line method). If you want to learn more about it, and see a super embarrassing video I made last year, you can check out this post. I love that it focuses on the whole number rather than the usual "How many times can 4 go into 9?" that we all try so hard to avoid. To help  my friends learn this method, and to give them something to refer back to later on, I made a quick foldable for our notebooks. You can grab a FREE copy by clicking the image below! It doesn't include teacher notes, but if you watch the video in the other post, you'll know what to do.

I got to do a little crafting this week (finally!) So I'll be sharing details on a Monday Made It soon! Here's a sneak peek of "Project Menu Planning" - So far, it's going really well, so I can't wait to tell you about it!

Something special is coming to Teaching Trio soon! But you'll have to wait to find out what it is :) We are really excited though!

Five for Friday-July 18, 2014

 It's FRIDAY! Woo Hoo! Today I am linking up with Doodle Bugs for her awesome weekly linky party!

I have been sort of absent from all things blogging/teacher related this week. It has been a crazy, week for me. So here are some random things from this week to fill you in! 

I am still in Iowa visiting family, because my husband's deployment was extended. My sister and I decided to have some fun and go to World's of Fun in Kansas City. It was just the two of us and we had an amazing time. I am a big fan of roller coasters, so we made sure we hit up the biggest ones! 

Waiting to get on our first roller coaster of the day!

One of the scariest moments of my life happened this week. I have a very mobile, curious 14 month old. She gets into EVERYTHING. She doesn't sit still, she gets into places she shouldn't, she climbs, and climbs. Well, somehow she got a hold of a bottle of Unisom (it is a sleep aid). It obviously has a child-safe cap, but being the little girl she is, she managed to get it open and swallowed some (still not sure of the amount). This all happened in the span of about one minute when I was getting her brother's lunch set out for him. Terrifying. We rushed her to the Children's Hospital and she was admitted. I won't go into details of what I experienced with her, but I don't wish that on anyone. It was so scary. Please be mindful of where your (or anyone's) medication is, because little ones are like magicians when they want something. I am happy to report that she is back to her happy, inquisitive, busy little self. Thank God. 

Elle in the hospital. 

Back to her happy self! Precious girl!

I started reading The Book Whisperer this week. I have heard wonderful things about it. I will be sure to report my findings when I finish. 

On Sunday, my kids and I will be leaving Iowa after a month and a half. It will be back to reality for me. Sad to be leaving my family, but I am very excited to really start preparing for the upcoming school year. I have SO MUCH to do!

I am pretty sure that I will be moving to fourth grade this year. I haven't heard anything definite, but considering the numbers in fourth and fifth grade, it is looking likely that I will be moving. I will be so sad to leave my team; they are the best. On a positive note, I get to stay in my room and it really won't be a drastic change. 

Five For Friday! Plus a Free Font!

Today we are linking up with Doodlebugs Teaching for the 5 for Friday Linky!  One of our favorites!  We are also linking up with The Teaching Tribune for Free Font Friday!

My lovely daughter and I had a movie day.  We went and saw X-men Days of Future Past.  I love that my kiddos are now old enough to go rock out with the action movies with me.  Believe me when I say that I "have done my time"  with the cartoons and now really, REALLY, enjoy sitting next to my children in movies I love too.  And, yes, I, am the kind of gal that loves her sci-fi action. If you liked the other X-men movies, there is no reason why you won't like this one.  Oh, and by the way, Hugh Jackman, wow...I am just sayin....worth the price of the ticket....

When you sign your son up for soccer at 4 years of age and he plays soccer, well, forever, you BECOME a soccer mom.  You embrace a sport you may have never known.  You may not know anything about soccer when you start, and I do mean anything, but over the years, you learn.  You learn positions such as midfield and striker, what yellow and red cards are, what off-sides and set plays are, and what an own goal is.  Terms such as dribbling, hat tricks, juggling, crosses, and penalties take on new meanings for soccer moms.  You learn cheers such as, "Great Header!" "Attack!" "Defend!" "Pressure!" "Offsides!".  Most importantly you learn about the World Cup and how to watch  enjoy watching the matches with your son.  For 1 month every 4 years ESPN becomes your best friend.  Okay, we lost, but we fought valiantly AND escaped the claws of the the group of death.

Going to Missouri to visit my mom, dad, and sister!  I grew up in Southeast Missouri in the small town of Jackson.  Can't wait!

My favorite place to eat is a super small and is unique to the town.  It's a barbecue place called Wib's.  It started as a Jackson tradition way back in the 1940's.  My kids and I go there sometimes before we even go to my mom's.  Shhh. Don't tell.

This is the view from the front porch of my mom and dad's house.  Perfect peace for me every time.  And perfect weather: Sunny and 75!

The 4th of July!

July 4th means so much to the Teaching Trio!  Each of our children have a father who has served in the Army, who has laid his life on the line for our country, and who has left their families behind for multiple deployments to ensure that our independence and freedoms continue.  We are also 3 teachers who teach on a military installation to military dependents.  Our students deal with deployments, PTSD, moving, separations from family, and so much more.  We are 3 women who do not take our independence in our great nation for granted.  We know what is given daily to protect what we have in the United States of America!

Happy Independence Day!

We're also linking up with The Teaching Tribune for another Free Font Friday! 

Kristen has been making fonts all week, and wants to share this one with you as a flash freebie! This one is not normally free, so grab it over the weekend...it's back to being a paid font on Monday morning!

Thank you Kristen for the free font!  Have a great holiday weekend!