Showing posts with label summer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label summer. Show all posts
Happy Summer Everyone!
It has been FOREVER since I have blogged...I'm not even sure I remember how! 😆 I was just sitting here on this summer morning and decided to refresh my memory on blogging and share what is on my mind.

I'm still teaching 3rd grade. I think I'm going into year 30...WHAT??😮 I'm not even believing that. No, I'm not retiring any time soon. Like most teachers I just can't afford to stay home. My husband is a teacher, too. We have two kids in high school...one will be in college next year. I'm not able to live a life of leisure just yet. Honestly, I think I would be bored especially when my kids are off to college. If I sit home I'll be crying all day missing them. I really do love the job of teaching...I'm not loving all the BS that goes along with it recently. It seems to get harder and harder each year. We get so much dumped on us and are expected to do more and more each year within the same amount of hours. I try to sift out what I think is unnecessary. I've seen a lot of this over the past 30 years. Same cycles. The district comes up with some great plan we are all required to follow. No real directions given. Everyone panics. By mid year it's all but forgotten and by the end of the year it's like it never existed. Better yet the district decides to change the plan that was so frantically rolled out. 😕 It just keeps happening over and over. I am trying hard not to get wrapped up in this "nonsense". I try to just use my common sense and do what I know is right by my students.

Some of the teaching practices I feel are best for students include a strong readers' workshop and a good guided math system. Giving students meaningful practice with time to practice new skills is key. I am a strong believer in the CAFE and DAILY 5 routine for reading and math...it works! Check it out if you are not familiar. I love it!

Here are a few of my favorite TpT products that I have made my main curriculum in reading and math:
Rooted in Reading by Amy Lemons
Math Curriculum by Amy Lemons
Guide Math by Simply Skilled in Second

These products are high quality, meet the standards, and give my a guide to teaching reading and math. They also fit in perfectly with Daily 5/CAFE. Check them out.

So that's it in a nutshell. I just wanted to give blogging a try again! Hope you are enjoying your summer!


Ahhhh! It's the first official day of summer vacation! I am so looking forward to the next 10 weeks off! It's the first summer in a very long time that I am not working!  I was so super busy the last few months that I just haven't had time to share...better late than never, right?!

Here are some things that happened in my classroom the last few weeks of school.







Even after you have collected reading books, students can continue practicing research and reading skills. I created these author study books and they are great for the end of the year. You can choose the author to study or assign different authors to individuals or groups of students. Be sure to gather books by the author(s) for students to read and reflect on. Find this product HERE in my TpT store.

If you are still in school and looking for some fun end of the year/summer activities, check out more of my products HERE.

My Travel Journal and Hobby Time are also perfect to use after textbooks have been collected, but you still want to keep an academic atmosphere.


Enjoy the rest of the school year or the start of your summer vacation!

Here we are for Worksheet Wednesday with The Teaching Tribune's Summer Linky!


I have two summer themed activities for you today. The first is my Words by Number game. I created these games to meet the needs of the various levels of my students. This game is perfect for a word work center and for spelling/vocabulary practice. Your students can work with their own "just right" list of words. If you like this game, check out my Words by Number pack with games for the entire year. I will have it on sale for the next 24 hours. 



The second worksheet I have for you is a calendar of activities your students can work on over the summer. Assign a specific number of days to complete and have students return it to you in the fall for a special treat. If you are already on break, be sure to download it for next year!

I hope you find these activities fun and educational for your students!!

It's Monday Meet Up time with The Teaching Tribune! I am so lovin' these weekly linkys!!

Today I am sharing 3 things you may not know about me. Please don't judge!

If you host a regular linky party PLEASE link up on my page, Linkys I Love.  Just trying to organize all the wonderful parties out there! Have a great Monday!
It's time to join up with Sugar and Spice for 


The last week of school the students participated in some fun getting-ready-for-summer activities. One day we made these adorable cupcakes. I had a parent send in vanilla cupcakes with blue frosting. We used Teddy Grahams, Fruit Roll-Ups, Gummy Lifesavers, graham cracker crumbs, swedish fish, and paper umbrellas. They came out so cute and the kids had fun!



The first weekend of vacation was Lily's recital. Recital time is exciting, but it's also crazy time. I have to become seamstress, makeup artist, and hair stylist. This year I also became dancer...or Diva Mom as we were named. Five brave moms practiced every Tuesday for the last 2 months. We ended up rockin' it out on stage! I was SO nervous, but in the end had a blast. We danced to a medley of movie/tv show songs: Pretty Woman, Laverne & Shirley, I Love Lucy, Bewitched, and I Dream of Jeannie. Our shirt had our child's name on the back. The front mimicked Laverne's with our initial. We had so much fun we asked to continue our Tuesday night class AND I'm taking a tap class starting tonight.
My Lily was beautiful in all of her dances and costumes! I love watching her!


The family! 
 Thanks for stopping by today!
One week from today I will be on summer vacation! WOOT! WOOT! I can not believe it! Someone pinch me! I am over-the-top excited for summer to be here. I mean I love my job and my little cuties, but summer is just soooooo nice!

To celebrate the beginning of summer time, Britney over at Tailor-Made Teaching has organized this summer hop!

As the school year comes to a close, I start to think about summer reading. While I love to read a good adult novel, I also enjoy reading young adult books or chapter books written for elementary students. There are some wonderful ones out there! I spend time reading these books because knowing about books helps me to motivate my readers and helps me help them find what interest them. I think it's vital to be up on what is NEW in children's literature.  I get it about "the classics" out there, BUT what kids want to read is what is new and popular, not old and tire. I'm talking about those books where the characters on the cover look like they walked out of the 70s. These are not appealing! Do you agree? So as you are packing up for the summer, take a run through your classroom library. If books on your shelves look old, yellow, or just plain unappealing...say goodbye! Over the summer, check out your local library or yard sales for book sales. Ask parents to donate gently used books to your classroom. Use up those Scholastic points you've been saving or go through your book shelves at home. Have your own kids do some summer cleaning. If the books aren't the right age for your classroom, share with other teachers.


Besides making kids read outdated stories, my other pet peeve is outdated summer reading lists! I don't send them home anymore and it drives me nuts when I see lists going out to kids with books I know are outdated. UGH! Drives me nuts! I like to encourage my kids to do what all good readers do to find books. Go to the library. Go to the bookstore. Talk with friends and get recommendations. Join Goodreads.com.  Check out the New York Times best sellers list. In Florida, we have the Sunshine State Young Reader's Award list and it always has a variety of levels and interests for elementary and middle school students. Find a series you love. Join a book club or start one with friends. Find a reading list online and see if there are books that interest you. I also encourage my parents to give their child the opportunity to self-select books. Teach them to find good books the same way YOU do!

Here are some of the books I will be reading and recommending this summer are:

Janitors, Book 1

Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library


A Tangle of Knots


Flora and Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures


Cinder: Book One of the Lunar Chronicles


I hope you found a book or two to read and/or recommend to a student.


I created a little Summer Time Fun Time Activity Calendar of 30 fun activities to give your kids as they head off for the summer.



Specify the number of activities for them to complete and have them return it to you in the fall for a special back to school treat.


Now hop on over to Sparkling in Second for some more summer time fun and freebies!

Find even more freebies here:

Classroom Freebies Manic Monday



Wow! I have not participated in a Currently in a really long time! I'm glad to get back to it today. Stop by and visit Farley at Oh Boy in 4th Grade and link up, too!

Here goes...

So...can you tell that I have summer on my mind?? IT. IS. TME. I know the kids are done and so am I. I still have some packing up to do, as well as report cards, filing, and other paper work to complete...which accounts for the need of a personal assistant.  The coming week is only 4 days for us (lovin' it!) with Thursday being an early release. Friday is a planning day and our end-of-year luncheon at Bone Fish Grill...YUMMY!! My third grade team has tons of fun planned for our kiddos. Monday is Autograph Day. We all gather outside and let the kids run around getting their friends' signatures on t-shirts, yearbooks, and notebooks. After autographs, students get to pick which movie they want to see on Wednesday. Each one of us will show a different movie in our classroom. The students get to choose which classroom they will visit...limit is 20 kids in each room. We hand out movie tickets with 3 kids in each of our classrooms getting a VIP ticket. Those kids get first pick. Movie Day will be on Wednesday. Tuesday is Game Day. We allow board games, cards, and electronics. On that day, we will also do some summer crafts and have a special treat. Wednesday is Movie Day (with popcorn). And Thursday is survive-until-noon day (that's for me LOL!).
Then it's SUMMER!! My plan is to be at the beach AT LEAST once a week and to put time aside for TpT/blogging/social media. I just found out I will be working as a trainer for my district most of the month of July. In between, I'm heading to NYC with my daughter and my BFF! I CAN NOT WAIT!! What are your summer plans? When does your vacay start??

Be sure to stop by tomorrow for a summer blog hop with some freebies along the way!


I'm linking up with Charity for Manic Monday   where you'll find LOTS of wonderful free activities to use right now in your classroom!!
Classroom Freebies Manic Monday

Looking for new Word Work activities? I created Words by Number game boards to work with ANY spelling or vocabulary list. I think they are the perfect way to differentiate spelling and vocabulary practice in your classroom. Every student can work with a different list of words and have fun! This summertime freebie  is for you to test out with your students. The directions are included! All you need is playing pieces and number cubes.

Check out my Five for Friday post to read more about my Words by Number pack.

Looking for a little spring time word work?
 Try 

You will find 3 activities that give kids a chance to work with words by categorizing them. Great thinking activities!

Enjoy your week and thanks for stopping by!!
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