A Week of Giving Thanks: Day 4

It's day 4 of Blog Hoppin's Week of Giving Thanks, and today is the letter N. This one's my favorite, and it worked out perfectly that it happens to be on Thanksgiving Day

I'm SUPER thankful to announce that our little family is growing!

It's true! Keagan will be a big brother (actually in early June, but possibly May), and our family will be blessed with one more little cutie! I've been chomping at the bit to share this since early October, but I wanted to wait until I had another good check-up. I'm 12 1/2 weeks along now and doing just fine. Keagan has been cute. He's starting to talk to the baby and wants to know its name. Now I'm just anxiously awaiting when I can find out the gender to really start preparing for this baby.

And this may have been part of the reason that I've been so MIA here recently. Between just being exhausted and not being able to share my most exciting news, I just couldn't come up with anything else to write. Hopefully now that the cat's out of the bag, I'll be able to share a little better!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

A Week of Giving Thanks: Day 3

It's day 3 of Blog Hoppin's Week of Giving Thanks, and today is the letter A.

When I first moved to Richmond almost 9 years ago, it wasn't so amazing for me. Moving hours away from all of my family and friends was difficult because I had so many strong relationships. Steven's family is awesome and immediately made me feel like I was a part of them (to the point that we joke who they like more), but friendships were tough. I wasn't surrounded by many people my age that I felt like I could share common interests with. Honestly, it took me about 5 or 6 years just to start feeling like I fit in.

Now that we've started going to Remnant (our church) and gotten plugged into a community group there, I can truly say that they are awesome people. I could call them up to hang out whenever, and we genuinely enjoy getting together to talk, eat, or just do whatever. Monday night was our Thanksgiving dinner, which I almost missed because I had Title I night. When I got there late, I was immediately calm and relaxed. I've missed that.

A Week of Giving Thanks: Day 2

It's day 2 of Blog Hoppin's Week of Giving Thanks, and today is the letter H.

I'll be honest. When I looked at the number of students I would have this year, I had a few panic attacks. I have 30 children in the 4th grade alone. And this is supposed to be small group services - 52 kids in three grades does not equal small group. At least not well.

However, I have to say that for the most part the students have been working hard and trying their best. We have our days, obviously, and we have a long way to go, but I've actually been enjoying my crazy schedule and the amount of work that these students have been putting in. Hopefully the momentum will continue through Christmas and the Spring semester!

Oh, and I'm obviously also thankful that my Thanksgiving break has officially begun!

A Week of Giving Thanks: Day 1

Can you believe I'm already posting again? I ran across this cute little linky from Blog Hoppin' and decided it was perfect, simple, and sweet. Every day for the rest of the week, I will try to do an acrostic with the word THANKS, adding something that I'm thankful for each day. Today is T.

I love my school and teaching, but we haven't had a break since Labor Day, and I'm just a little worn out. Tonight is actually our Title I Night (I know, I probably should have scheduled for something different, but this was the best we could do in the time we had), so I will be at school until around 8 (hence one of the reasons I actually have time to blog). BUT I can handle all of that because Wednesday is a break, and I can enjoy family time! Plus our Title I Night is an author visit, so most of my work has been beforehand. Now I just have to lend a helping hand to the author and make sure she gets paid. I can do that.

What are you thankful for?

Eek!! It's Friday?! Well, not anymore...

I've been enjoying my first vacation from school so fully that I didn't actually realize that it was Friday (with only 3 minutes left to go, so I probably won't finish in time). This will be quick because I need to get to bed soon. Not that I have anywhere to go, but you know...

It's gotten REALLY cold here, so we had to pull out the big coats. Keagan isn't exactly a fan of them, but he cracks me up with it! He'll keep saying "I tuck, I tuck" and try to get it off. Sunday morning, we looked in the back and saw this precious face! He never said anything, just gave us his grumpy old man pout. Bud, I'm right with you...winter is not my favorite time of year!

We did have some school this week: Monday and Tuesday for us. I spent time with two of my groups finishing up our Turkeys on Strike writing activity that I blogged about earlier this week. If you want to read more, click on the picture.

Steven's brother and his family live in TN, so we don't get to see them as often. They got into town Wednesday afternoon, and Keagan really enjoyed spending time with his cousins. I think he actually wore them out!

Can you tell I'm loving the Beautiful Mess app that's FINALLY on Android?!

Thursday morning, we had to start the day with the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Keagan LOVED all of the music and bright colors. It will definitely continue as a Thanksgiving tradition! Later we went over to Steven's parents' for a fantastic meal and more time with the cousins. We were all worn out and slept in this morning.

How many of you went out shopping this morning? We didn't start until 10, but I did most of my shopping online this year (especially with Ebates and how I can get cash back on purchases)! I'm sure you've already heard, but TPT is having a HUGE Cyber Monday (and Tuesday) sale. Be sure to enter the code "CYBER" at checkout! And since I haven't been home to set up any sales, everything in my store will be 20% off all day tomorrow (well, actually today) for Small Business Saturday. Sorry, no graphic. If you want to go ahead and get some planning done, this is a great opportunity to catch some early deals while you have time to relax a little more!

Tried-It Tuesday: Writing

I'm actually linking up with Holly again for Tried-It Tuesday (as I dump some pictures from my phone)! Today was my last day before Thanksgiving break, and I know a lot of you have been off since Friday, but I still wanted to share this particular activity. Maybe you can add it to your list of things for next year!

Obviously I've done writing in my class before, but I will admit that I'm not very good at teaching it. Now that I'm in a Title I reading room, we do even less because we focus more on reading. However, I really wanted to get my kids to do my Turkeys on Strike craft to go with my door. Let me say that it has been a mess, but I'm fairly pleased with the final products overall.

Here's my journey:

I originally figured this would be something fun for my 3rd grade students, so I showed them my door and we talked about what it meant to go on strike. Then we brainstormed a few examples, and I let them choose the one they liked most. Surely that was enough to write five focused sentences, right?

Umm...no. The writing was atrocious! And not only was it bad for my third grade students, it was terrible all the way up to 5th. So I tried to meet with the kids and discuss how they could stay focused on one topic. It just wasn't coming with my third grade kids, at all. We ended up switching to "My favorite food for Thanksgiving", where they mostly saw success and could give me five sentences on one topic.

For my fourth graders, I had them write it in a main idea graphic organizer. They chose their topic and then gave three examples. Then I showed them how easy it was to convert those into sentences. It was basically all done except for their closing sentence, and they were very excited!

With fifth grade, we stepped it up a notch. They had the same Main idea/Detail graphic organizer (just a simple big box with three columns underneath), but then they had to give three details under each detail. For instance, if they said that turkey was disgusting, they had to come up with three things proving how disgusting turkey was. I didn't make them write a whole introductory paragraph this time, so they just wrote a topic sentence and three paragraphs. But the writing was leaps and bounds better than the first! And once again, the kids felt successful and were excited that all of the work was done. A few mentioned that they wanted to use my format for essays in class.

We just finished today, so they won't get to stay on the wall for long. Still I'm proud of where they are. Could they be better? Absolutely! But these are kids who are terrified of writing, and this is a step in the right direction. I'll take it! Here are some pics of the final products (sorry for the poor quality):

What have you tried recently?

Five for Friday with a Thanksgiving FLASH FREEBIE

Wow, it's been almost two weeks since I posted! Sorry for the absence. As usual, things have been very busy lately. I can't wait until Thanksgiving break so I can sit and catch my breath...at least for a day or two!

This weekend was really nice, so we actually headed down to the beach on Sunday after church. Keagan didn't understand that the water would still be cold, so he kept pulling me closer trying to get in. We did let him sit and throw sand for a while! 

I made a new Thanksgiving craft to go with my door theme:

Right now, the kids are still working on their writing (we're having a hard time focusing on one topic), but I hope to share them soon! This craft is FREE in my store until later tonight as a thank you to all of my wonderful friends and readers. I have guests coming for dinner, and I will be changing it to paid after they leave, so be sure to grab it. AND PLEASE LEAVE FEEDBACK!!!

Click on the image QUICK for your freebie!

I'm LOVING Erin's creations, especially with my 5th grade students! We are working on context clues right now, and I was thrilled to be able to use this freebie with them. Here's a sample of what's inside. It really is great for helping them realize the types of context clues, and there's another great activity that goes along with that.

She also has an awesome pack for Thanksgiving related activities that I may be purchasing to use next week. 

Last night, I was SO excited to finally meet two wonderful VA bloggers that I have become "virtual friends" with over the past year. Andrea (right) from Reading Toward the Stars has become a good friend of mine after I found her two summers ago when doing a "reading specialist" search on blogger. She lives across the state, and we've been trying to get together for over a year now. She and a co-worker (I can't remember her name, but she was SO sweet) came to Richmond for a conference yesterday, and we decided it was time! We also met up with Nikki (left) from Teaching in Progress. Nikki's a hoot, and we had a blast at Cheesecake Factory talking and hanging out! I think we could have stayed there all night if Andrea and her friend hadn't had a 3 hour ride back that night to get to school this morning. I just barely missed Courtney from Polka Dot Lesson Plans who made the SIX hour drive to Richmond, but she had to leave after the conference to see her sister. Next time, Courtney!

And finally, just a reminder that next Thursday is my monthly Teacher Fitness linky party! This month, we're going to share yummy "skinny" recipes that we can make during the holiday season. I know this is the toughest time to eat right, so I'm looking forward to some great options that won't bust my calorie goal for each day!

I'm Thankful for YOU!!

I'm a little late getting around to this, but I thought it would be appropriate to post on Thanksgiving anyway. Don't worry, most of this was already written a few days ago.

Thanks to Stephanie from Teaching in Room 6 for hosting this linky party! I started blogging back in March of last year at The Dalton Gang when the girls from my small group all had blogs. I don't remember exactly what teacher blog I first discovered, but I quickly began blogging more and more about my teacher stuff (although there was a lot about Keagan as well). Over the summer, I felt like it was time for me to separate my personal life from my teaching life in the blogging world, so this blog was born in September.

I am thankful for SO many bloggers! Here are a few of my favorites:

I discovered Andrea over the summer when I found out I was going to be switching positions to become a reading specialist. I searched blogger for other reading specialists and hit the jackpot with Andrea. Not only do we share positions, but she's a fellow Virginian! We have so much in common, and I hope to get to meet her soon!

Caitlyn found me, and I'm so glad she did! She teaches fourth grade (my true love) in Virginia, so we have a lot of common experiences. She's got a lot of great ideas, and her products are beautiful!

Farley is my role model! She's hilarious, and I want to be her friend! I love participating in her monthly currently party, and it really helps to build my following.

In other news, I WON Third Grade Tidbit's giveaway! I started getting all these emails yesterday while we were driving to GA. So excited!

Okay, I'm off to spend time with the family. Happy Thanksgiving!

Let's talk turkey and I've been featured!!

About a month ago, I heard from the wonderful Dana at Fun in 1st Grade asking if I would like to be featured on her blog, and of course I said yes! What a great opportunity to get my name out, and I was so flattered! Please go check it out, and if you're not already following her, please do!

And now, on to another linky I know...another one? But it's the last full week before Thanksgiving break, and I'm fried. Plus I have a really cute book  that I want to share! This linky is hosted by Gina at Beach Sand and Lesson Plans (I love that name!).

My favorite Thanksgiving book to use with the kids is one I just discovered this year: Thank You, Sarah by Laurie Halse Anderson.

If you're not already familiar with this book, it's about Sarah Hale, the woman responsible for making Thanksgiving a national holiday. She wrote letters to politicians and 5 consecutive presidents asking them to make it a holiday - waiting over 30 years - before becoming successful finally with Abraham Lincoln in 1863. The book is very funny and engaging for students of many ages.

I loved this book so much that I created a letter-writing unit to go along with it. I've been using that this week with grades 3-5. So far, the kids love it! You can click on the link below to get the unit for yourself!