Pinterest you know me so well...

2 more days left of school!  I can almost feel summer through all the craziness of what is to come.  It is suppose to rain on our field day and I'm praying it doesn't.  That day is so much fun and I want the kiddos to enjoy every minute of it but then this is running through my mind as well......I'm not the only one right?!

So the new update to the Pinterest app (at least for iPhones) reads your brain!  I thought I would point it out to anyone who is new to this feature and is possibly on Pinterest as much as me....even more now that I don't have to write lesson plans for next week!!!

Well Pinterest now lets you know if you already pinned something! Revolutionary in my world- after reviewing a few boards and I had the same thing like 7 times.  I always think to myself  "I guess I really liked it..."

It even nicely phrases it..."Pssst..it looks like you've pinned this before."  So helpful I'm sure this will be even more useful when my Pinterest use spikes over the summer.  Hope you can use this helpful feature!  The notifications are also very handy now with the update as well :)

Poetry in the Sky

We have been working on our last unit in writing- Poetry!! Fun stuff let me tell you. With it being the end of the year and all, we haven't gotten to every type of poem but we have done some. 

We know haiku and worked on line breaks to start and talked about how poetry is different from other types of writitng that we have done so far.  They are pretty familiar with it so it doesn't take too long.  Acrostic poems are always a hit and so easy for younger students to catch on to.  We have also been loving concrete (shape) poems! I have found some great templates here for FREE!  So many fun shapes to choose from and perfect for this time of year!

I also found these great diamante poem templates which we turned into kites! Again FREE! (Saving for the wedding and all).  My students had a blast with these and I can't wait for our poetry celebration tomorrow!  Check out just how adorable they turned out. 

We used this website to write and learn about diamante poems! It was so incredibly helpful and worked great to do it as a class. 

You get great examples with each part and then you can write one together as a class.  I left it on the board so if anyone needed reference they could look up and see what each line needed. SO much Fun!

What do you get....

What class doesn't love jokes?!  With testing almost finished I had to have something for the students to work and its the end of the year so I pulled out my PigPen Code Breakers activity!  I made this optional since some of my students would have a harder time than others even in partners, but it went over so well! 

They had a blast figuring out the joke book and writing letters.  We even had our own messaging service to mail letters to others after they were approved by me ;) They loved cracking the jokes and coloring in the book.  It was fun for an end of year activity while still keeping engaged in work.  We did have to write letters using PigPen after all.  They even followed the correct format for a letter and everything!

Don't think this code is too involved, truly it is EASY just follow the boxes around a letter (and dots!) to figure it out :)

Check out some pics of us cracking code in action!  Hard work paid off when we got to share the jokes with each other.

So colorful and fun!

Here's a closer look at what can be found inside!  Made my day so much better!

A Bite out of Summary Sandwiches

Comprehension- it's big in the elementary grades! Focusing on different strategies can really help students comprehend text that they read.  I created this craftivitiy to go along with the strategy of summarizing.  One we just got done working on in class.

I know that this concept can be tricky for some students, so in this pack I have 3 completely different options for summaries!  This can fit any classroom or format!  The pack is also already aligned to the Common Core.

   

Options: 

1. Sandwich of Summaries- each piece of sandwich has a different summary 

2. Sequencing Summary - prompts that sequence what happened in text.

3. SWBST summary using "somebody, wanted, but, so, then" prompts.

The pack also comes with bulletin board template if you want to make it.  A response sheet to summaries is also included so that students have a chance to read and respond to others peers "sandwiches." 

We Appreciate our Moms!

We've worked on our Mother's Day crafts and activities today since we will be on our field trip tomorrow! I got the activities here and here. (They are both FREE- and you still have time to get them done by this weekend!) I really loved how creative the students were and how they turned out better than I expected!  I really think our Moms will LOVE them!  :)

love all the colors!

The "O" says We'll Never (3x) be apart ever - a spin off of the T Swift song  love the creativity!!

Love the last one on here!

She's as smart as me! :)

I just could not share this one!  My mom is as pretty as my dad, she's as sweet as 1,000 kittens...

Got anymore awesome ideas I need to try out next year?!  8 days of school left!  Fingers, toes, everything I can crossed that tomorrow goes well on our field trip.  

Teacher to Teacher Appreciation

Well since I am in a school during this day but being a long term sub has taught me TONS! I feel like I really need to appreciate the teachers in my grade level who help me out on a daily basis.  These teachers are fantastic and always have advice, resources, or chocolate to help me out.  I wanted to show them a little appreciation for this week but they are already teachers and have it all....what to do.

I tried Googling "Teacher to Teacher Appreciation Gifts"...to no avail.  Apparently this is not as common or I am the first person ever :)    So I got creative and tried to think of what a teacher would want.  I really like meaningful gifts with personality.  Take a look at what I came up with.

I love how they all have personality but are monogrammed (I would really appreciate that touch!)

First- cute little bins (Target $1 Spot....shhhhh!)

Next- I printed labels I found here!  Exactly what I wanted!

(I put in lifesavers and their favorite candy!)

Then- I added initials and some glitter and modpodged it on!

Finally- I filled with their favorite goodies and a handwritten note.  Ok...so I also made one with my soon to be last name. I just thought they were so darn adorable! (don't judge)

What do you think? Do you do anything for your teamies?
If you want some labels to do something like this for your project- check these out!

Don't forget to shop! Code: TAD13

Teacher Appreciation Sale!

Hope you are all having a great school year even though it is coming down to an end. Even though I'm just a long term sub now I can tell how summer crazy my students are getting!  If you need some activities to get you through the year check out some of mine or my whole store that will be on sale May 7 and 8!

DON'T FORGET TO ENTER THE CODE!

Click on any of the pictures to go shopping

 Load up your cart and reward yourself- you Awesome Teachers!!  

Be on the look out for a peek at my Teacher Appreciation Gifts coming this week!

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