50% Off Teacher's Notebook Teacher's Appreciation Sale

My Teacher Appreciation Sale at Teachers Notebook May 4th - May 10th! Posted: 03 May 2013 12:00 PM PDT Best sale in a while!  I'm not one to 'hawk my wears' much but this is a pretty good sale.  A long one, too!  Enjoy it!

Kidspiration Review by a Mystery Blogger!!!

Hello everyone,

Nicole here, from Today, in Second Grade! Jenn has so graciously invited me to guest blog and I couldn't be happier! I am also beyond excited to share some great resources with you. My school just recently purchased Kidspiration and I have been having a blast playing around with it and discovering all the wonderful things it has to offer. 

If you are not familiar with the software, it is a program that is geared towards grades K-5 and serves as a great visual tool for those students who may need a little extra something, but can also be used with all students. My kiddies looooooooove it! 

It is mostly known for its great story/idea mapping but you can also create all kinds of fun and engaging activities for language arts, math, science, and even social studies! 

Many students can map out their ideas for a story and then click on “outline mode." This  drafts out their story for them.

 

Then, they simply copy and paste to a word document, remove the headings if they so wish, and VOILA! An instant story for them to share. This is great for those reluctant writers and even those who feel overwhelmed by a blank page. Once they map out their ideas and copy them to a document, they get to see how much they actually have to say about a topic. It’s a great tool!

I decided to try out the math component with my students last week. We are working on Data Management and I was looking to create a meaningful, fun, and engaging lesson on Venn Diagrams. 

I figured, it’s never too soon to try out Kidspiration and took a go at it. It was extremely user friendly and saved me quite a lot of time.

This is our completed diagram. My students really enjoyed sorting all the objects in the correct place. Some of the graphics are even animated! They got a real kick out of that. For an added challenge, I asked one of my enriched students to create a Venn Diagram problem for us on the computer (while others reviewed the concept again) and then we completed it on the SmartBoard. 

Once we returned to our seats, the students were expected to complete a Venn Diagram of their own. I created a small package with various Venn Diagram activities.

                           

First, they sorted the object cards on a Venn Diagram. Then, they drew the objects on their own diagram and finally, they colored it.

They learned a lot and had great fun doing it. The amazing thing about Kidspiration is that you can try it out for FREE! Check out their website and download a free trial. If you like it, you might want to ask your school to purchase the full program. 

  

It’s well worth it!

Click HERE to learn more about Kidspiration.

Click on the picture below to grab yourself a free copy of my Venn Diagram Fun.

Have fun exploring!

Nicole 

Hope you enjoyed Nicole's visit!!

Survival Suggestions (When Testing)

It is that time of the year.....testing begins for us tomorrow.  I'm just going to count down the days!  But, I thought I would share some of the things that we will be doing in order to survive!  To be honest....Amazon is my biggest survival technique because I HATE SHOPPING because I always get things I don't need.  So, I actually save money by paying a little shipping.  Everything that you see below is linked to Amazon to make this shopping expedition (if you want some of this wonderful stuff) is even faster for you!

First on the list is

because everyone needs a little fun in a pouch!  Besides that, it is my favorite candy.  Plus, everyone wants to be in on the fun.

Next on my list is 

This helps them work away their fidgets during the test and reminds them to bubble in those circles the right way!

Next, there is

I didn't really buy this but thought it was funny that you could get it on Amazon!!!  =)

I read this to my kids to prepare them for the big test

and I read

And since there is a lot of walking around, I needed some slippers that were appropriate for the classroom, so I got these.  Only 1 is in the picture, but I swear I got 2 of them when I ordered them.  =)

And of course, every day I will deserve a treat.....just need a little salt and lime.

What the hey....I may even use this sucker with the kids (without the salt and lime)!!!  I may have to go looking for some of those nifty umbrellas for our drinks!!

And I am SERIOUSLY thinking about getting this (I can get 2 day shipping you know) for Friday when the test is all over....

So now you have it....these are my survival suggestions for surviving THE TEST.  And...since this test is 35% of my evaluation (thank you State Board of Education), some of these survival techniques will be used more than others!!

For those of you that are finished testing, I am so happy for you.  For those of you that are testing now, good luck!!

End of the Year Tool Box Items: Outpost by Auroric Dreams

Every year, as the end approaches, I look for items or tricks of the trade that will help me keep my kids excited about learning and on the less rowdy.  So...this year.....here is something from my toolbox that I am REALLY excited about!

This weekend I talked with my cousin Tony Gerber, on Facebook.  He and I have spent years working on our family's genealogy together and love to trade stories.  He lives in Nashville, so he is very involved in the music scene there.  But, you won't connect Tony with the Grand Ole Opry....he has his own brand of music!  

This is what allmusic.com says about him:
Musician, visual artist, and record-label entrepreneur -- Tony Gerber has proven to be the Renaissance man of Nashville's music underground. Prolifically creative, Gerber has helped broaden Music City's artistic palette. As a member of the trailblazing electronic music band Spacecraft and as the owner of the Internet-based Space for Music record label, Gerber has helped popularize space music both across the United States and in Europe.

When we were talking, he filled me in on one of his latest musical adventures, Outpost. All of his music is VERY relaxing, so I grabbed it to use in my classroom while my kids are working.  Tony uses electronic equipment and has a variety of friends with different talents and they all work together to create 'space music'.  I'm not sure what the definition of 'space music' is, but I love the soothing tones and rhythms of the music!!   

You can click on the link under the album cover/button to find out more about Tony's music and even download it from iTunes.  I HIGHLY recommend it <not just because Tony and I are family> but because it is such a good classroom management tool at this time of the year!

                                                              Outpost - Auroric Dreams

Pin-o-vating Mother's Day Craft

This week we have been working on adjectives again as we are getting ready for our BIG test next week.  So, we decided to go ahead and work on a Mother's Day Activity that we adapted from Pinterest.  We did this same activity last year, also.

I have included the poem that we will be putting on the cone of the ice cream so that you can use it if you want to do the same activity.

Meanwhile, here is a  picture of one of our ice cream cone! All we have left to do is cut out the triangle poem and glue it on the cone!

Best Book Ever: Reading Without Limits

This had been the most enjoyable and useful book that I have seen in quite a while.  It takes information from all of the other reading gurus out there, mixes it with some new ideas (like mild texts, medium texts, and spicy texts for friendly-kid reading) and makes you REALLY want to read it!!!

What surprised me most was that 25% of Americans didn't read a book last year.  And we wonder why our educational system if falling behind that of other countries!  Do you have those kids in your classroom that only read when you make them?  Well, I have tried several of the techniques in this book and now I have kids who CHOOSE to read because they can read about Avatar or Ninjago (I am still not sure what those are, but the parents are buying them, so I am letting them read them and do reading responses with them!).  

The thoughts and strategies behind Maddie Witter's 'program' were used in the #1 school in Manhattan...which happened to be in Harlem.  How can you beat that?  All of the chapters are great, but sense it 'tis the season, Chapter 12 has been my lifeline for the past few weeks.  This chapter centers on standardized test prep and how to do it the right way.  I plan to go page by page and get my kidlins ready for a SCARY test.  Not so much scary for them, but scary for me because I have so much riding on these scores.  So, enough of that before I give myself a migraine over the worry....I have to have faith!  

Go ahead and enter and I will send you two brand new copies!!   You saw that there are two pictures of the book up their right?  You wouldn't want me to share mine...it is written in, highlighted, and dog-eared!  So...I figured it was SO good that you would not want to read this alone....you would want to read it and discuss it with a friend!  Boo Yah!!  Don't you love brand new books?

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Bubble In That Test!

It is that time...for some reason our testing window is a lot later than usual and I have been BUSY working on explaining examples of test items.  Not necessarily the content, but the format of the questions.  One simple thing I've done is give students a chance to make up their own 'test' for finding the word with the same <insert beginning sound, medial vowel, etc. here>.  It was an easy way to see if they understood the concept of the test and the skill.  I did this on my school laptop as a whole group also and didn't think to take a screen shot, but I whipped up a little example to show you.  After I went over it with the group, I would let the person that answered the question pick what color the answer would be.

Now it is time for my favorite part....sharing the literature and practice books that I love!  If you want to go check something out, just click on the cover!

I love this book.....Sarah Jane Hartwell <the main character from First Day Jitters> is at it again!  I just love her!  I plan to read this book to my kids next week!  It talks about test procedures and test anxiety.  The kids love it and find it easy to relate to the other students!

This book is also one of my favorites and I will be using it in the coming weeks!

This is a new book I am adding this year...it deals with anxiety in general, not just during test taking.  I have a couple of kids in my class that worry over everything, so I thought it would be a great addition.

I am also using these books to teach the timing aspect of bubbling and moving on.  Bubbling is sort of hard for some second graders and is a definite challenged for kids in K and 1. (Yes we are testing kids in K and 1 this year and it is tied to our evaluations.) 

Scoring High books are available for any grade level!  You can click here and find any version you like!

Spectrum Test Prep is always a good resource.  Again, you can click on this cover and find any grade level that you want!

Here is a little freebie for you...just some butterfly-themed number cards that I use.  When I am asking questions sometimes I will let them 'draw' a number so that they can be ready to answer when it is there turn.

click here

Posters for Editing Strategies

Here are some posters that will help you with teaching tricks to editing.  Quick and easy.  Click here to download!  When you go download, be sure to follow my store!

Enjoy!

Winner and Winnings....Top That!

Hello, DEBBIE PIERCE!!!  You are the winner of the 10-Minute Inservice!!  I hope that you enjoy it!  Look for an email from me!

I am also the winner of a contest from Denise at Sunny Days.  Take a look at this.  I hit the motherlode of contest winnings....24 books!  If you want to go to the Carson Dellosa site and take a look at them, I HIGHLY suggest it!  You can click on the pic to go there, if you want!  These came in the mail on Saturday (just one more reason to have Saturday mail service, right!) and my whole family climbed up on my bed to take a look at these books.  My husband's first choice was one about volcanoes while my son went for the book with the big eyeball below!!!

If you didn't get a chance to check out my blog on the Moro Reflex, please do.  It will make you a better teacher!  I promise!