Di-no-mite!

wanna fit in some dino fun in these last days!? Check out my posts of the last 10 days of school themes-today-Dino Day! A nature walk, fossil cookies, and dino research filled the day!

with ONE roll of sugar cookie dough I found in the fridge at school

I did want to share a little about our nature walk resources. Each year our school orders free nature kits for summer kits from Modern Woodmen of the World. Have you heard of them? I hadn't until we began doing this. Each student gets binoculars, a field book, and a pencil. Teachers get a binder of resources for teaching. I had already gotten this year’s so I gave them out today. I love these!

here’s a link to the educational program and free materials 

Pay it Forward for Evan

This one is near and dear to my heart.  My community lost one of its gems, and we are all struggling.  My greatest struggle is trying to comprehend that there is nothing I can do to lessen the hurt his family is experiencing.  Please read Elementary Matters to learn more about Evan and why it is important to Pay it Forward.  Thanks so much!Sally
 

Yoga for Kids - Fun AND Beneficial!

Some of the teachers in my school are trying a Yoga for Children program.  Come on over to Elementary Matters to see how children benefit from Yoga in the Classroom!
Sally

Rockin' Teacher Materials: Back Among the Living & Memorial Day Sale!

Grandma settled and finally using her call button at the nursing home . . . check!


Report cards done . . . check!


Class video completed and all the copies burned . . . check!


Say good-bye to my little cuties-tears and all . . . check!


Last day of school . . . check!


2 youngest sons & an exchange student graduated . . . priceless!


So now, Here I am . . . back among the living . . . at least for the moment, so I decided to join in with some other awesome teachers for a Memorial Day sale. I went ahead and marked everything in my store 20% off.

I know some of you are still in school . . . I have some really cute memory books that my kids just loved . . . and they totally loved collecting signatures and phone numbers on our autograph day. Check out my blog post to find your grade . . . I have grades  1 - 6 available . . . and even 2 different versions for 2nd grade. 


Now that I am out of school, I'm really going to try to better about my posts . . . Hopefully I will have some things that will help you get yourself ready for next year!


Talk to you later friends! I've missed you!

Math Workshop Freebie

Hey Gang! I know it is very close to the end of the year and everyone is starting to think about getting things together for next year. I have been working on cleaning up my math stations and organizing all my units so that next year I will have more organization. I just finished creating center cards for my math workshop stations that I thought I would share. Head on over to my blog to read about how I do math workshop and to pick up a free copy of these cards!

Memorial Day, A Day to Remember

Patriotic holidays are important to me, in fact, one might say I'm passionate about my country, and helping children learn about their country.

Hop on over to Elementary Matters to see all the Memorial Day ideas, including a freebie for you!
Sally 

Go’in to a garden party lott-in-dah-dah-dah, lot-in-dah-dah-dah

Well, if last Friday wasn’t late enough to celebrate Mother’s Day, then I don’t know what is!
Or maybe you are in the midst of planning a school garden?

Come on over to my blog and see how our Garden Party went! We renovated my mother’s old school garden that’s now outside my classroom window!

Here’s a preview!

gravel delivery-wow! =)

spreading gravel on FRIDAY-and yes, in my garden party attire!

me and my mommy-can you tell!?

Calendar Time

Time is just flying by! As we wrap up this year, I have started planning for next year. 

Our Kindergarten team was in desperate need for patterning cards for calendar time.

Drop by and grab yours!

10 Strategies to Survive Until Summer

We don't get out of school until June 18th!  How am I ever going to survive? I do have 10 strategies so I can spend the next few weeks enjoying my kids rather than disciplining my kids!  Come on over to Elementary Matters to see how I'm going to survive the last month of school!

Sally

Super Dad!

Friends~I had a wonderful Mother's Day!  My kiddos were the sweetest and I totally enjoyed all of the pampering.  Especially my new Cricut machine!  I have been cutting like crazy!  My kiddos at school asked me what I got for Mother's Day and I showed them my Cricut.  I got an email later that day that one of my students went home and told his mom that Mr. Schroeder got me a giant pencil sharpener but it only sharpens paper.  (My kiddos at school crack me up!) 

Well, Mother's Day reminds me that Father's Day is right around the corner.  I have to admit that I often don't get to this at school.  There is so much going on in June that it gets brushed under the rug.  Well,  this year I have committed to make it happen for my Dads in 2nd grade!  I have created a Super Dad Unit!

 It is a 14 page download that includes a list of super powers Dads might have and a Super Dad collectible card template! You will find lots more plus I created another set of sheets for Grandpa too.  My plan is to take the collectible card template and have my students fill in the information. 

I am going to ask the Moms for pictures of the Dads so that I can drop their image into the box and my students can add capes.  I am going to take the super power list and mount it on the back.  Then I will zip them through the laminater, punch a hole, and add a ribbon to make a bookmark!  My Dads will also get their child's work in their It's a Bird...packet!   I am really looking forward to putting this project together. 

I would love to hear what you all are doing for Father's Day!

I also have a fun clip art give away going on over on The Schroeder Page.  Be sure to click my button below to get yourself entered! 

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Syllables... and Then Some

Teaching about syllables is important to help readers become fluent readers.  Being a fluent reader is important in comprehension.  Did you know there are 6 different kinds of syllables? Come on over to Elementary Matters and find how to teach students about syllables.  There are a couple of great links and a freebie for you!Sally

Wacky Wednesday

Happy Wacky Wednesday! It has been a whirlwind of a week! 

 Sunday was the Teacher's Appreciation Jackpot, and boy, do I feel appreciated! 

Monday I posted on Charity's Manic Monday at Classroom Freebies.

Tuesday I got nominated for a blog award.

Wednesday, well that's another post!

Stop on by and see what I have been up to!

Learning Math Facts With Cuisenaire Rods and a Freebie

Do your kids love blocks as much as mine do?  Cuisenaire Rods are a great tool for mathematics.  I've written some ideas on how to use Cuisenaire Rods in a center to help children learn basic addition and subtraction fact, and have included a freebie.  Come on over to Elementary Matters to check it out!

 Sally

Letters to next year's students

Last week, we started writing to the 1st graders, letting them know what to expect in 2nd grade.

Come on over to check it out!

Noun Freebie!

I just posted a noun review page at my blog.

I've been really into using poems for morning work, so we'll be reviewing nouns with this poetry activity:

Enjoy!

:)
Christina

Teacher Appreciation Sale Link Up!!

Hi everyone!!  It's finally here, TpT's Teacher Appreciation sale!!!

I'm offering 20% off in my shop from May 6th through 8th...

Enter code TAD12 for an extra 10% off!!!

Are you having a sale, too?? Stop by my blog and LINK UP your sale!!

Happy Shopping!!

A Few Thoughts About Fluency and a Freebie

There are many studies on fluency these days.  One of my favorite is that fluency is directly related to comprehension.

Here's a freebie to help kiddos become fluent with short and long a sounds.  They can use these pages as word sorts, or just practice reading each row to practice short and long vowel words.

There's a page of nonsense words and a page of real words.  The nonsense words are great for those readers who depend so much on their visual memory that they really haven't developed fluency on the skill of "sounding out".

I'm sure we all have a few of those!  (You can spot these kids by their spelling... if they spell birthday brithday or girl is gril.  They remember what the word looks like, but they don't listen to the sounds of the word in order!)  Enjoy your freebie!



Sally

Landform Matching Game

It's been a while since I've posted here... I am still alive and well!  :)

I've just shared a landform memory matching game over at my blog.  I hope you'll pop over and see how to get a copy!

:)
Christina

My Traditional Mother's Day Gift

Do you have one of those activities that you look forward to every year because it's great for everyone involved?  Come on over to Elementary Matters to see one of mine.  I call it a win-win-win.  The kids love it, the moms love, and I love it.  Plus, there's some real hands-on learning happening!
Sally

Teacher Appreciation Jackpot

Have you heard the exciting news? On Sunday, May 6th, more than 150 teacher-bloggers are going to have a huge JACKPOT of freebies! We are so appreciative of all the collaboration and sharing that has spurred up between teachers over the past year, 3 brilliant bloggers decided to show their appreciation by hosting the JACKPOT of freebies.

Last spring, I  had teacher burn-out and was generally depressed and frustrated with the teaching. Then I happen to stumble on Mrs. Jump's blog. I quickly became a regular blog-stalker and began to feel my passion for teaching come back to life. I have learned so much more from the teacher blogging community than any professional development class. I cannot say "thank you" enough to all the teachers who have helped me find my passion for teaching again. Being part of the JACKPOT is one way I can show my appreciation and thanks for all your wonderful and inspiring ideas!

Head on over to learn all about it!