3rd Grade Christmas Wishes

My 3rd grade students make me laugh. They make me cheer. I frequently groan. Occasionally they make me wish for Tylenol. And, once in a while, they make me cry. That's what happened when I gave my kiddos the chance to write down their Christmas wishes. I had to share. As you read their wishes, please remember that each child that I teach has a parent serving in the military- this changes their world perspective. 

Joseph:   I would like to have world peace. So then our soldiers don't have to die.

Ryan:  My Christmas wish is for all the people like in California that been killed. I also wish for the guys that dies in the crash (helicopter crash). I wish for the homeless people to be safe. And all people that are at war. I wish for God's people to listen- you may hear God talking to you. I wish we (can) stay safe. God will save us!

Olivia:  My Christmas wish is that my mom and dad stop fighting. I also wish that everybody in the world a good Christmas and I wish that everybody has a happy year.

Aaliyah: I wish for my family not running all over the place. 

Dylan:  I want world peace.

Aiden:  I wish for Christmas that I can talk different languages, and have better looking hair and peace.

Alezair: I wish for my family to spend time with each other and have fun with each other and be happy.

Lucille: My wish is for people to believe in Jesus and animals to be in the wild. I want for kids with autism to get better.

Ariana: I will like for people that don't have homes to have homes and food.

Jeremiah:  I want this for Christmas, Jesus to come back from heaven. I want wars to stop so people won't have to risk their lives.

Piper O: I want for homeless people to have homes on Christmas. I want for all of the people to have homes. So I want for those people to have more money or more food or a good home so they can be warm. I want those people to be like me with a home and more clothes and food.

Piper S: My Christmas wish is for my dad to stay home.

Lucas: I want my dad to stay with me for Christmas.

Jared: Please give me cheese balls.

Prenalynn: I wish for the world to have a better future. I wished for that because robberies happen.


What is your Christmas wish?

Sunday Scoop {11/29/15}

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. If this is your first time linking up, check out all the details on our Sunday Scoop page, then link up below!

Here's the Scoop on my week...

Can you tell I'm in a holiday frame of mind? Thanks to Angela Watson's 40 Hour Teacher Workweek, I have ZERO school work to do this weekend, and my focus is all on family today!

Link up below and share your Scoop!

An InLinkz Link-up

Sunday Scoop {10.11.15}

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. If this is your first time linking up, check out all the details on our Sunday Scoop page, then link up below!

Here's the Scoop on my week...

Have to Do:
* We spent yesterday sheet-rocking (spelling? verb?) our garage. It looks great, we only have a few small spots to finish up and then clean up! We got a doggie door in so now our main man (Crosby) can go in and out as he pleases... he is one happy kid!

* I am so excited to teach about Christopher Columbus this week. We have only a three day week (no school on Thursday or Friday) so we are taking a break from our reading series. Instead, we will be focusing on Christopher Columbus and the truth behind the explorer that he was. I will be doing a few different things including reading a picture book that is written from the point of view of a Taino Indian, the first group of people that Columbus encountered after landing on the island of San Salvador. The picture book shows the truth behind Columbus and teaches students about how his arrival caused destruction to the people and culture.

After reading a the picture book, we are going to use a bunch of activities from Beth's {Adventure of a Schoolmarm} amazing Columbus Day Unit. Beth literally thought of everything for this unit. She included a reader's theater play, non-fiction text passages with comprehension questions, KWL charts,  full color vocabulary posters, and SO MUCH more. Here are some pics of her unit:

* So with all of that excitement happening in just three days... Today I will relax. :)

Hope to Do:
* I have a group of about 5 students that are consistently finishing their work earlier than the rest of the class. It can be as much as 10 minutes early! They are seriously some speedy little devils. I have a few challenge activities that they work on but I need some more for them to choose from... so that is on my hope-to-do list today.
* I got a few (errr... 5) new packs of scrapbooking paper the other day and now I desperately need to clean up my scrapbooking paper stash.

Happy to Do:
* The hubs is home all day with no plans to go anywhere... so that means he GETS to spend the whole day with me. Lucky him!! ;)

Happy Sunday Friends. Can't wait to hear what you have going on this week or today! Grab the images and link up below.

An InLinkz Link-up

Top 10 Reasons Teachers Love Christmas

10.  I get to decorate my Christmas tree for free with teacher ornaments.

9.  I can wear Santa hats, reindeer ears, and elf ears at work without getting funny looks.

8.  I can create math problems that start like this... If Santa's sleigh weighed 500 pounds and was traveling at 80 miles per hour ...

7.  Tacky sweaters and shirts are ALL the rage - kids love them!

6.  I get to add to my collection of teacher mugs.

5.  My favorite Christmas movies can become lesson plans!

4.  My countdown to Christmas ends on the last day of school when I pull out of the parking lot!

3.  I get the privilege of hosting a Christmas party with 25 hyped up kids. Who wouldn't want to do that?

2.  I can answer the phone, "Buddy the Elf, what's your favorite color?" And no one thinks I'm crazy. Okay, maybe they think I am still a little crazy…

AND the TOP reason that teachers love Christmas….. drum roll please….. 

1.  I can tell my class, "You know, Santa calls teachers.”

Merry Christmas!

Making Holiday Ornaments

Can you say PROCRASTINATION?! Last year, my class made their parent gifts way back at the beginning of December. Here it is, almost time for break... and we just started them! Oops. At least the craft that we make is super easy... I have included lots of pics to make it easy for you to follow if you are interested in making these too! I really wish you could smell the "goodness" of these ornaments through the computer... they are delicious. As we were making them we had at least 4 staff members stop in our room because they could smell them from the hallway!! Oh and did I mention... they are super cheap!? A teacher's dream right?

You will first need to gather your materials. You can make the dough ahead of time and store in an airtight container so it doesn't dry out. I made all of the dough at home the night before so it was easier clean-up. Plus, then you don't have to haul everything in to the school. You will need: flour, salt, cinnamon and water. Yep. That's it!

To make the ornaments at school you will also need a variety of cookie cutters, a rolling pin (if you don't have one- the kids can just squish the dough down with their hands) and a spatula. If you mix the dough at school you will also need a measuring cup, a bowl and a spoon.

The recipe is super simple:

1 cup flour

1/2 cup salt

1/2 cup cinnamon

3/4 cup very warm water

As you can see in my picture above, I went totally generic and cheap with the ingredients. I have found that buying quality products doesn't give me any different of a result... so cheap it is!

Add all of your ingredients together in a bowl and mix well. If the dough seems sticky, add a little flour. If the dough seems crumby or hard, add a little water. The consistency should be like play-doh. After mixing it a bit with the spoon, you might have to just dig in and mix with your hands!

Sprinkle some flour on your work surface so the dough doesn't stick and roll out a chunk of it. I would give students a chunk about the size of a tangerine (weird comparison?). Have them roll it so it is between 1/2" and 1/4" thick. If they get too thin... they can easily break. If you go thicker... they will take a little while longer to dry. 

Use the cookie cutters to cut the shapes. Here are a few pictures of my kids working on cutting them.

If the dough is stuck to the counter, use the spatula to gently scoop it off. Use a straw to put a hole in the top of the ornament so that a string/ribbon can be tied through it. Make sure the piece of dough is completely removed from the hole. (Note: if the hole is too close to the edge, the ornament will probably break.)

I had my students place their ornaments on a tray that was covered in wax paper. They put their names on a post it note and stuck it near them so when they were dry we could easily hand them back out. They take between 24-36 hours to dry. After they are dry, I always write the student's name on the back and the school year.

As you can see in the picture, as the dough starts to dry it turns into a lighter tan color. Now the choice is yours. You can either leave them the color they are and put a ribbon on them or you can have your kiddos paint them. We painted ours using regular acrylic paints. (Don't laugh at my example. I painted it under the document camera and it is UGLY...)

Allow some time for the acrylic paint to dry, tie a ribbon or string through the hole and BOOM you are done! The kids absolutely love making these ornaments and each one is so unique. Each one of my kiddos makes two ornaments (unless they have what we call in my classroom a "perfect situation" which means they have more parents to make ornaments for). We wrap them up and make some cards to send home with them. So simple and they smell SO GOOD! If you are procrastinating with parent gifts this year... try making these! :)

Five for Friday (11/21/14)

Happy Friday! I'm linking up with Doodlebugs for one of my favorite linky parties...

In honor of the last Friday before Thanksgiving, I am writing about some of the random things I am thankful for.  

Okay, before we get started on the random, these are the not-random 5 things I am thankful for: my Lord and Savior, my son and daughter, my family, my friends, and my job.  

Now to the random....

Soccer and Volleyball

Soccer and Volleyball are so much more than sports to me.  They are opportunities.  Opportunities to connect with my children.  Opportunities to bond and bridge the gap between mother and child. Opportunities to nurture and encourage. Opportunities to cheer and yell.  Opportunities to give to my children the most important possessions I have... my time, my attention, my support, and my love.

Smart Phones

What a cool time we live in!  I can call anyone, anywhere in the world from any place in my life- my car (most often), my classroom, my backyard, my shopping trips to Wal-mart.  What a way to stay connected!  And the amazing things the phones can do.  They are not just phones anymore; they are computers- AT OUR FINGERTIPS that we carry in our PURSE or POCKET.  

The Walking Dead

TV has come a long way, baby, and I am enjoying the ride.  It is seriously like going to the movies each week. Enough said.

Crayons

How many pictures have I seen over the years made from crayons? My son and daughter colored more beautiful creations than I can ever count.  Priceless works of art each and every one of them. My students use them in the classroom to depict everything from their wildest dreams to a math problem to friendly notes. How would the world look without them? Plain. Bland. Boring. Colorless.

Cameras

Digital, Polaroid, 35 mm, smart phone cameras, and video cameras all capture a little piece of history in an instant.  A moment frozen in time.  A fragment of the past grasped forever to cherish. Snippets of fun and happy.  Pieces of sad and tragic.  Fractions of proud and monumental.  A scrap of time to treasure instead of forget.

So those are my 5 random thankful for's.  What are yours?

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!