Today was a full day. Yard work in the wonderful sun. Kids riding bicycles and scooters. An early Easter get together with family. A birthday celebration for my godson. Decorating Easter eggs with NEON food-coloring. It was an enjoyable day.
NEON food-coloring, we found, ROCKS!! We got beautiful colors like royal blue, coral, and teal......just looking at them made us smile. It was a nerve-racking time at some points as the kids would slosh the dye around and drop their eggs into it <KERSPLASH all over the table>, but to hear the ooohhhs and ahhhhs when the eggs came out was wonderful. I am not so sure about the waxy crayon the kids HAD to use on every egg just because they thought 'being invisible' was cool, but we dyed all 48 eggs with only one problem!
Below is a picture of some of the cards that are used...this particular set is aligned with an editing standard from the Common Core which focuses on proper nouns.
Here is one of the 'get down and dirty' cards for the spring activity. No froo froo stuff....just simply pick A or B. They either no it, or they don't and I'll be able to tell who has been faking it pretty easily.
As I prepare to go back to school on Monday, two things will be weighing heavily on my mind: Our state test is only 2 weeks away and I need to figure out the Common Core pretty quickly because I only have from April to July to really get my mind and my activities ready. For any of you that know me, you know that I am an avid reader of professional books and I have my picks. But, I have to tell you, when it comes to Common Core, I am really perplexed. The teachers at my school were introduce to a Common Core book with a curriculum map that we were all set on using and were told that 'everybody' would be using it. Then, this past week I found out that there is a new book with a DIFFERENT curriculum map from another company that has been published that promises to explain how the standard were developed, what we are supposed to infer as teachers, and what we should use to carry them out. To me, this book sounds REALLY good. So, as a teacher, I am just not sure what to do. If any of you are familiar with both books, please let me know what you think!!! I want to do the best job possible for my kids at school!
Here is the recommended book that I already have.
Here is the new book that is sounding REALLY good to me!
NEON food-coloring, we found, ROCKS!! We got beautiful colors like royal blue, coral, and teal......just looking at them made us smile. It was a nerve-racking time at some points as the kids would slosh the dye around and drop their eggs into it <KERSPLASH all over the table>, but to hear the ooohhhs and ahhhhs when the eggs came out was wonderful. I am not so sure about the waxy crayon the kids HAD to use on every egg just because they thought 'being invisible' was cool, but we dyed all 48 eggs with only one problem!
One turned out to be an alien egg! We saved it for Grammy, who had come to help with the festivities. Grammy, my mother-in-law, is the kind of woman that will scream at anything she finds abnormal. Mouse? She screams! Honor Roll by the grandkids? She screams! Spill water? She screams! At sale at Walgreens? She screams!
So, my sister-in-law (the holiday art director) and I stacked the deck a little When we found that poor little alien egg, we sat it aside so that we could slip it in with the other eggs and could make sure she was the one that picked it up. Our strategy worked. She picked up the alien egg and sure enough, she screamed! Of course that sent my sister-in-law and me into a fit of giggles, so it was all downhill from there! The alien egg was dubbed as 'the alien baby that didn't hatch all the way'. Alien's have to be green, so we dunked into the green dye for just a second.
I am still laughing as I finish this story. The poor alien baby got put on the table. Whenever I could I slipped it over close to my mother-in-law with the alien side pointed towards the table. She must have picked it up and screamed at least 10 times. Hilarious! Maybe you had to be there for it to be funny....but if you can just imagine the screamer in your family almost having a heart attack every time something unnerves them, then you will understand a little of what I am writing about.
Anyhoo...this past week <Spring Break for me> was full of errands, kids, shopping, appointments, and lunch out in a restaurant everyday this week cashing in all of the Internet coupons I am sent or mail-outs <the goal was no cooking!> and just enjoying each other.
By Wednesday, I could finally settle down to write and create some curriculum. I had a blast creating curriculum with my friend Leanne over at Teacher Tales, Brian over at Hoppin Hopkins' Blog (don't go over there though because I am trying to get more page visits than him and that might never happen, Michelle over at Teach-123, Arlene at LMN Tree, Heather over at HoJo's, Yvonne at Mindbender, and probably another 20 or so blogger friends. One would think that we would all be competitive and not share our 'secrets', but the blogging world isn't like that. We advise each other on graphics, text, pictures, ideas, and Common Core edu-babble. Where else can a teacher work with a teacher in Maryland, South Dakota, Florida, and FRANCE all within one hour!!! I really believe that is why the blogging world is so successful in education. We really have to have each other to thrive and be successful. We cheer when a dear friend is successful, even if we aren't, because we are all in this together for one reason---making education better while having a little bit of fun! I couldn't do it without my 100 or so blogger friends. We each complete a different part of the education puzzle. I honestly believe that we are helping to direct the path that education is taking.
As the week went on, I was able to get more and more finished. I finished 3 new activities on teacherspayteachers.com. I have to say that I am sort of proud of myself. Before starting to share the activities I created, I was VERY anti-graphics. After all, graphics took up SPACE and USED UP MY INK, so I didn't bother with them. So, anything to do with graphics is new to me. And, I am learning to REALLY like them. In face, in the last month, I have spent about $35 on graphics for my activities (PULEEEZE do not tell my husband!) to make them more appealing. I call it 'adding eye candy'!!! So, without further ado, here are my new activities. In no particular order:
Camp Sort-A-Vowel--kids can be 'transported' to Camp Sort-A-Vowel where they have to get the correct card to the correct campsite. There are 10 different vowel mats and about 60 word cards. I put all of the graphics (from Digi Web and Scrappin Doodles) together with the help of my 7 year old, so I know these will catch the eyes of my 2nd graders. So, below are some pictures of the 'camp sites' that my little guy and I put together! This activity is aligned with a Common Core standard which focuses on distinguishing short vowels from long vowels which is still a big issue with my second graders.
Camping Capitalization--The picture below is the cover to another one of the activities that I will unveil this coming week. I am excited about it because I can use them as task cards in a center for the week and then on Friday, I will take them out of the center and play Scoot with them. If you haven't ever played scoot, you need to get into the loop! My students love it! BEWARE! The game is infectious and has been passed on to almost all of the classrooms in my building. This coming week and the week after are tedious review weeks before our state testing. I know that at least 10 teachers in my building plan to play scoot as part of their test review.
Below is a picture of some of the cards that are used...this particular set is aligned with an editing standard from the Common Core which focuses on proper nouns.
Spring-Themed Singular-Plural Scoot--Below is an activity which focuses simply on identifying singular or plural nouns <also aligned with Common Core>. I plan to use this as a down and dirty assessment to review and assess my students. I haven't quite decided how I will use it...it can be used as task cards, as a Scoot game, and it can also be put up on a white board and used as a quiz. I figure I'll decide as the week goes on how to present it.
Here is one of the 'get down and dirty' cards for the spring activity. No froo froo stuff....just simply pick A or B. They either no it, or they don't and I'll be able to tell who has been faking it pretty easily.
Now, the good part.....all of the sets I told you about all have number cards which allow you to mix and match the order of questions so that the answers can't be memorized if I use them as both a set of task cards and a quiz on the white board or as Scoot. So, every time I use them in my classroom they become a little different. I figured out this week how to make my own borders <I know, I know, my fellow blogging friends--most of you learned this a long time ago. Just remember I am in the remedial graphics class!!!> Anyway, because I was so pleased with myself for learning how to do this, I decided to make these a freebie. I think the butterfly set is the most beautiful. The butterfly used in the border is different than the one on the cover. Don't forget to download your freebie!!
Here is the recommended book that I already have.
Here is the new book that is sounding REALLY good to me!
I pray blessings upon you and yours and appreciate you reading this blog post. Remember, Jesus IS the reason for this season. It isn't all about bunnies, chicks, and eggs. Praise God!
