More Snow and my Favorite Picture Books

I'm finally back at school today (although on a 2 hr delay) after more crazy Virginia weather.

Seriously, the temps on Monday reached 70 (at one point, I changed into shorts). Then it snowed the next day non-stop from 8-5ish. We ended up with about 5 inches of snow and our 8th/9th snow day for teachers (10th and 11th for kids). Eek!! I'm so grateful that our 5th grade students aren't taking the writing SOL until April because some schools have it next week. Yes, they should be prepared already, but it's a little stressful to be out unexpectedly right before a big test like that.

Anyway, I wanted to share about a few picture books that I've bought recently and can't wait to use!

The Wreck of the Zephyr by Chris Van Allsburg has been a book I've had my eye on for about 3 years now. When I was in my Master's program, one of our teachers did a lesson using this book, and I was mesmerized! It's great for predicting and questioning, and, as usual, the pictures are BEAUTIFUL! I've become a huge fan of his books, and this one may possibly be my favorite!

I laughed about this book because I found it through amazon suggestions and was drawn in by the description alone. Then just after I got it in the mail, Collaboration Cuties blogged about how they use the book during one of their Mentor Text linkies! I've already bought their resource and can't wait to use it. Redcoats and Petticoats is based on a true story about a family on Long Island who served as spies for the Revolutionary Army. VERY fun!

I've been reading about this book on SO many blogs and finally caved in. Too cute! I read it to Keagan, and he was completely taken in. Usually he gets really fidgety and wants to turn the pages before I finish. Not this one! He loved the beautiful pictures, and the language was perfect! I could see this being great for teaching a lesson on word choice in writing.

And for a little fun, go check out my friend, Courtney, and her blogiversary giveaway. Erin Condren? Yes, please!! I can't afford it on my own!

Snow Day Sale

Looks like a BIG storm is headed this way (like maybe 14 inches HERE in Richmond)...

...so a few of us Virginia bloggers (and more) decided to put together a little snow sale. We each chose two of our products to put on SALE, but it will only last through tomorrow night! Here are my two products:

A fun little mystery for post-snow inferences: this product is usually $4, but I've marked it down to $2! I use these mysteries to practice making inferences, and my kids love them. This one is more science related and would be great if you're teaching animal adaptations.

And for those of you who are last minute planners (like me), you can score this deal for $1 today! I know we're supposed to be in school for President's Day, so this fun little craft is on my schedule for Monday.

Have fun shopping, and stay warm! I'm crossing my fingers and all that jazz for a snow day tomorrow!

Tried-It Tuesday

I'm linking up with my friend Holly again (it's been a while) for a fun Tried-It Tuesday! For some background information, I spent most of my life in south Mississippi and coastal Georgia, so snow was something I dreamed of. Actually, I could count on one hand how many times I had seen snow (at all) before turning 21. And I may have even had fingers left over.

So even after being married and living in VA for almost 8 years now, there are still some snow "firsts" for me. This year, it was sledding.

It was probably too cold for us to go outside last Wednesday, but we had a 2 year old that wanted to play! He was too young to care last year when it snowed, and this was the first snow that stuck long enough to enjoy. So we bundled up and headed outside! One of our sweet neighbors let us borrow her sled, and we just went down a very tiny "hill" across the street from our house.

Every time Keagan got to the bottom, he would say "Fun!" and get ready to go again. He loved it!

I went down a few times, but I was the one with the camera, so this is the only proof. 

Hopefully the next snow will be accompanied by slightly warmer weather afterward (30s would be fine with me) so we can stay out more than a few minutes before feeling like we're going to die. The forecasts up here are calling for anything from a dusting to 8 inches (depending on which model you believe) tonight through tomorrow, so we may get that chance sooner rather than later. Unfortunately, we'll have to make all of these days up in June...

In on news, I'm thrilled to my helping my BBF Amy from Eclectic Educating with her 300 Follower Giveaway. She's SO sweet, and her blog is an amazing resource. You definitely will want to check it out! 

And finally, don't forget that my Pin It to Win It ends at midnight tonight for my brand new Olympic Literacy Centers. Visit yesterday's post for instructions on how to win!

Five for Friday: Winter Break?

I almost feel like this wasn't a work week because I only went to school for a half day this week.

ALL of the weather forecasts in the area were calling for about 3-6 inches of snow Tuesday. I was a little bummed because my school was one of the few that didn't close, but they did plan for us to have an early dismissal. Since some forecasts were calling for it to start around noon, I was a little nervous about getting home safely. However, the first part of the storm turned out to be exactly what they thought - not much.

I don't actually know who this kid is, but someone posted it to FB, and I cracked up! All the haters were coming out saying how stupid the meteorologists were and how we should have all gone to school. You know...

Well, the earlier snow had done its job of washing away any pre-treatment that VDOT had put on the roads the night before. And at 4:00, like clockwork for when the meteorologists actually said it would get back, it started coming down. Keagan and I both got really excited and started watching it cover the ground! After a few hours, we decided to be bad parents and took Keagan outside to play. Last year, he was too young to be interested, but that's not the case anymore. He was SO excited and kept saying "Snowing, snowing!"

Naturally, school was closed the next morning. And the next. AND the next. Why, you ask? Well, snow in Virginia creates a HUGE mess! It usually comes down as an icy mix that compacts and turns the roads into huge blocks of ice. Plows came through to clear the roads, but it really didn't do much of anything.

The only roads that were truly clear were the main ones that are traveled constantly. The county I work for is VERY rural, so that means almost no bus route would have been safe enough to run.  You're welcome for that little science lesson!

Instead, we had fun as a family. Granted, we only stayed outside four about 20 minutes because it was FRIGID!! One of our sweet neighbors let us borrow a sled, and we had a great time going down a very small hill across the street. Every time Keagan got to the bottom, he would say, "Fun!" I actually had to drag him back into the house kicking and screaming when it was time to go. Hopefully it will snow again later and not be quite so cold afterwards for us to really have fun playing in it!

Today my county made a very wise decision to have teachers either work from home OR come to school. We were supposed to have exams Thursday and Friday (for middle/high school) and then teacher workdays on Monday and Tuesday. Today gets to count as a workday, so we shouldn't have to make it up. Steven and I decided to stay home (especially since we had worked on some school stuff earlier in the week) and send Keagan to the sitter. I was able to finish my lesson plans and get some cleaning done around the house. Double perks!

Free News Articles for Kids and Grading Debate

I'm out for a SNOW day and taking advantage of this time to actually share some things I've been doing at school. Well, when I've actually been there.

First, I have to tell you about this amazing website I discovered through Catherine from The Brown Bag Teacher. By the way, she's AMAZING and I've been stealing so many of her ideas this year. Or at least pinning them and planning on doing them later. Seriously. Over Christmas break, I had about 4 of her posts that I wanted to look into more when I got back to school and kept saving on my bloglovin page.

Anyway, the website is called News ELA, and it's FREE!!

Free? Really? Yes. This broke teacher is very happy. And the best part is that they resources are not cheap. They take articles from different major newspapers across the country and reword them so they are more "kid friendly". Each article comes in about four different Lexile levels. Now, we don't use Lexile levels at school, but you can find TONS of cheat sheets online to sort-of correlate with whatever system you use and at least get close to your student's reading level. 

Instead of going on and on about the website, I'm going to link directly to Catherine's post about it so you can check it out for more information. I just want to share about one particular article I pulled last week for my 5th grade kids: Schools Change the Way Students Get Graded

I printed out the 700L (which is more of a 4th grade level), but I could have pulled the 530L and used it with my 3rd grade. I don't think they would have understood the content quite as well, though.

We read this together over the course of two days to make sure the students really understood what it was about. That meant we had a LOT of discussion. I think it was important for us to talk about it, though, because they rarely think about what they are reading. And they definitely don't think about how it relates to them. I was so impressed with their discussions! We even talked about how it may be nice to make honor roll, but it's better to be prepared for real life and make C's. I talked to them about my experience in Puerto Rico this summer. Steven definitely had a better education when it came to Spanish even though I got higher grades. I was doing good to understand the signs, but it was a lost cause to try and talk to ANYONE for me.

All we did in the way of "instruction" other than read the article was to write a quick explanation for each headline. There were only four in the entire article. They're used to writing headlines for every paragraph, so this was easy for them. We talked about how I just wanted them to make note of what each headline really meant so they had a quick summary of the whole article.

This article also comes with a quiz, and we were going to do it another day along with a short writing activity, but I was out last Wednesday for a committee meeting and then we had assemblies that interfered. We'll just leave it as is at this point because it's been over a week, and there's no telling when we'll be back in school from all of this snow/ice. The roads are terribly slippery, and it won't get above freezing for a few days. Plus my county happens to be VERY rural. Oh well, I'll just enjoy time with my little boy!

Snow, linky with matching writing activity, and a giveaway

Who else got a lot of snow today? I was working on a committee with the state and we HAD to continue today, so I was watching it very closely. They offered lodging to anyone who felt unsafe driving home, but I only live about 15 minutes from the meeting area. It's a mess here, though. Slushy and gross. My school had an early dismissal because of it, and I'm still hoping we at least get a delay tomorrow. Instead, we got a call letting us know that "due to incliment weather, schools MIGHT be closed" and to "please stand by for more updates". Fantastic. As if I couldn't look outside and know that schools might delay. Those calls are such a let down.

***Uh oh! Power just flickered 3 times!! I hate wet, nasty snow!***

I will say that after this snow, I'm ready for spring to come in full force! This cold weather is getting old, and I'm ready to pull out my dresses. I even bought a new swimsuit Monday!

Anyway, if you haven't already joined in on my linky party, follow this link! It's going to be open all month, and I've had fun reading what everyone is blessed with! It's a great way to get to know you a little more.

I'm also working on a writing activity to go along with it, and I hope to have that finished tomorrow. I just need to make new girl hair that will work with my cute little leprechaun hat I have. The high ponytail that I've been using doesn't work, so I was thinking low pigtails instead. I need the scanner at school, though. So it will be up by Monday at the latest!

Finally, Donna from Hokie Teach is a 5th grade teacher here in Virginia who I've met. She's SUPER sweet, and she just reached 100 followers! Go enter her giveaway for a chance to win one of 2 prizes.

Oh, and one of the prizes includes my St. Patty's Day Literacy Centers!

New Magic Tree House unit and snow?

I'm REALLY hoping that today was my Friday! After having temps in the upper 60s and even 70s last week, they're now calling for snow in our area starting in a few hours. This morning they said 6 pm, so hopefully it will wait until then. I usually get home around 5. So I prepared all of my kids with the typical snow homework (ice cube down the toilet and pjs inside out), and I'm praying for a snow day! We can miss one more day before the semester ends next Monday and not have to make up President's Day. I would LOVE a four day weekend! Is anybody else getting a snow day? Do you love them as much as I do, or are they more of a nuisance to you? Maybe it's because I grew up in the deep south and still get as excited as the children when it snows since I rarely saw it growing up.

Well, no matter if we have a snow day or not, next Tuesday I will begin a new historical fiction book study with one of my groups. It was not a book that I already had, but I got a copy from the teacher to go ahead and prepare. I love historical fiction, so I'm very excited about doing this study. As usual, the packet breaks the book into 6 sections (the last page is a reflective writing assignment). The questions range include reflections, straight from the book, vocabulary, and even some visualizing. Enjoy!