The Book Fair, fractions, TPT and the weather man?!

Woohoo! Teachers Pay Teachers is celebrating 3 million sellers tomorrow and Friday- WOW!! As a new seller, I'm super excited to join the fun, post my new things for sale, and stock up on some great things too!  Here is an update on some super fun things I've created just in time for the sale! :)

 The first thing I created is something I'm super excited about!  I've had an ongoing list of skills my kids need to practice before their Reading SOL that our comprehension activities don't always cover.  I love to incorporate seasonal things into my lessons to make our day more fun and upbeat!  So, I created this GIANT St. Patrick's Day themed LA bundle.  Included activities are... St. Patrick's Day letter mash up, a vocabulary dictionary activity, a vocabulary word search, a cross word puzzle, shamrock synonyms and antonyms, a madlibs story, shamrock prefixes and suffixes, identifying vowels and vowel sounds, and ABC order.  It's quite a bundle that I plan on using during Reading rotations for the week of.  Hopefully my kiddos will enjoy the fun theme :)

With all of our snow days, we're a little behind in our curriculum! (Insert scared, stressed out face
here.)  My kids have been troopers though with getting caught up and are demolishing fractions- who knew that was totally possible?!  We're moving right along but I'll be sure we take a break to have a fun scoot filled day for these understanding fractions task cards- that are totally decked out in green, gold, and all things St. Patrick's Day!  These cards cover all the skills the kids need to have mastered before the ever dreaded... adding and subtracting fractions.  This bundle includes cards for: regions and sets, fractions and division, estimating fractional amounts, equivalent fractions, simplest form, mixed to improper, improper to mix, comparisons, and ordering fractions- whew! I'm looking forward to using these through out the month as well for other activities!  Oh, and how adorable is this clip art from Krista Wallden?!

Today the kids were totally rocking it out with simplifying fractions but like them, I am sick and tired of using our boring work book and notebook paper to solve fractions... so I whipped up these fun robot cards to use for tomorrow.  Instead of playing scoot like the kids and I are used to, I'll have the cards "hidden" throughout out the room for the kids to work on. This way they can go at their own pace and won't get stressed out from the timer during scoot.  I also have more cards than kids so hopefully they'll work independently ;)


In other news, a LOT of exciting things have been going on in 4th grade! The first exciting event took place last week.  We finished our weather unit a few weeks ago (check out the weather stuff in my store!) and invited one of our area's popular meteorologists, George Hirschmann to our school to give a "weather talk" to our kids.  I was pleasantly surprised that the kids remembered so much from our unit and asked Mr. Hirschmann some great questions!  A lot were tornado and lightening related, but he answered them all with some comical comments and delivered some great info.  The kids even got a shout out that evening on the local news which was awesome!


Since we're working on fractions right now, I've been incorporating Cuisenaire Rods to introduce topics and skills.  The kids were excited to get their hands on something tangible and enjoyed discovered how fractions work.  We used them to introduce equivalent fractions and I plan on using them throughout the rest of our skills.  Sometime in the future, I plan on writing a post about how I use the rods in my lessons.  For now, try to decipher the equivalent fractions the kids discovered :)

Last but not least, it's Book Fair week at my school! I remember the excitement, curiosity, and toy filled goodies the book fair always brought... I miss those adorable, half naked baby, Anne Geddes book marks and posters!  So anyway, my kids know that I'm a Disney freak and love the new movie, Frozen.  One of my girls found my "wish list" in the library and snagged this book as a gift! :) She caught on to the connection between Frozen and this book's snowman and realized that the he was like Olof, hehe!  So we read the book at the end of the day and then I let the kids watch the video that was pretty similar to parts of the book!

Also, as a newlyed, I just HAD to purchase this book.... just to totally support the book fair though! ;)  I'm making cookies tonight (from the book) to use for an inference lesson and author's purpose writing activity for tomorrow. The kids know I love, LOVE cookies!








Oh, and now that the Olympics are over, check out our finished graph!  We didn't have the time to fill out the medals like I hoped, but it was still fun! (Not always straight and neat, but fun!)

Enjoy the sales on TPT my friends! Looks like our county will have our first FULL week of school since December- woohoo! :D

Magic never grows up

As a small child, I would introduce myself to others as "Belle," as in the Disney Princess.  Now, I don't necessarily remember this, but my grandma and others distinctively do.  I was also the small child who was couldn't sit still when music was playing and had to be dancing in the spotlight.  (Again, according to my grandma, but let's face it, she's probably right.) I wore bows in my hair, matched my American Girl Doll, and loved to play dress up- my favorite was in fact, my Belle dress.  My mom's best friend referred to me, and still does, as "Princess Farren."  My birthday parties were themed after one of the many Disney Princesses and yes, I had plenty of those long, silky, satiny, Disney Princess night gowns.  So maybe I did grow up convinced that I was royal, special, and highly favored just like any other princess.  But so what?

Childhood wasn't always easy either, but who's is?  Like many of the princesses, I had trouble with peers, hated school at times, went through awkward phases, and grew up in a less than "happily ever after" like household. Thankfully, I did grow up with both parents. Some of my favorite memories include spending the weekends with my grandma, watching the latest Disney movies while eating corn dogs and macaroni.  I grew up happy, knowing I was loved, and still, convinced that I was royal, special, and highly favored.

When I was ten, we became members of a great church in a small part of our county.  I quickly learned how to love the Lord and became aware of my love for others and those around me.  I learned that I truly was a princess- a daughter of the King of Kings and the He loved me and scarified his Son so that I really could consider myself as royal, special, and highly favored.  Christ provided my happily ever after and became my eternal knight in shining armor... but that's not the Disney story we all know about.

Disney now has 12 Disney Princess.  Each one different and special with specific, relatable character traits that continue to inspire millions of little girls to fall in love with them and their stories.  Now, I could write hours about each princess in detail but let's be real, I still have papers to grade and the Olympics are on.  So anyway, there's Snow White, the beautiful, highly pitched, but selfless princess.  Aurora, patient and respectful. (She likes to sleep, I like to sleep...) Belle, (the best of them all) who is smart, motivated, and can see past other's flaws to discover their true beauty.  Ariel is independent, creative, but does struggle with her own wants compared to her fathers... but hey, we love the music. (I did a baton routine to under the sea, it was epic.) Cinderella- the dreamer.  She's patient, optimistic and continues to love through her actions, regardless of the life style around her.  Jasmine loves outside of her own world and fights for others.  And then of course there's Mulan, who you know, saves China and fights despite being a woman and putting her entire family in jeopardy.  Pocohantas fights for peace and also finds traits to respect in those who destroy her home.  (This is one is tricky for me since I teach VA history and she's part of the curriculum...) Tiana is motivated and money savvy in order to save for her own restaurant.  Repunzel, my new favorite, is curious and a risk-taker.  She loves someone (her "mother") who only uses her, but is motivated to find answers about herself.  Merida, perhaps one of the most highly favored role models, fights for her own fate and forgiveness.  And then we have the two Frozen girls- Queen Elsa and Princess Anna, the sisters, (do you wanna build a snowman?!) who proves to everyone that an act of love doesn't always involve men and that perseverance and a warm heart and can truly win.

Now, it's so easy to look into these stories and find negative qualities, but overall, what's so wrong with looking up to these princesses as role models?  They're all beautiful (obviously) but they aren't vain.  They're features are actually more plain or quirky than their foes. They're not selfish (don't look into Ariel too much....) and truly bring out the best in others.  (Again, Belle!) In a world where young girls are not looking up to Miley's, models, and once innocent, now CrAzY childhood stars, these princesses haven't changed.  They're qualities maintain consistent and relatable to the world around us in the 90's and the world around us now.  (I can't vouch for life before the 90's... sorry 'bout that.)

So now I'm 23 and I still love princess.  I'm still the Lord's daughter and am royal, special, and highly favored.  My husband dances with in our living room and took me to Disney World for our honeymoon. I proudly wear a princess crown given to me by father-in-law and use a Disney Princess blanket to keep warm during outside recess.  But remember, I'm still an adult.  I am married, pay bills, work a full time job, talk to strangers on the phone, gradated from college, and am responsible for myself and actions.  But, I'm proud of the childlike features I possess.  I relate well to my students and like all of those princess, I fight to find the best in others.  I'm independent but I'm considerate.  I forgive and love.  I'm a dreamer.  I bring out the best in my students and love my husband despite his scruffy days. (Hehe!)  I clean like Cinderella and bake like Tiana. I read like Belle and imagine like Ariel.  I love others like Jasmine and love a goofball like Repunzel loves Flynn.  I'm 23 but I still love Disney.  I love the stories of truth and beauty within the cartoons enjoyed by young kids.  I'm friends with Peter Pan and believe in magic, pixie dust, and am convinced that magic never grows up and that parts of me don't have to either.

       

Sweet Synonyms and Olympic Dreams

Hello!  It's a Tuesday and I can't believe we've had two normal days of the week so far!  No schedule changes, no weather delays... it seems like 4th grade is finally experiencing some normalcy!  However, we are scheduled to have some freezing rain tonight and my cheerleaders' game for tonight was postponed until tomorrow due to the threat so I guess things aren't completely back to normal.  Anywho, I'm linking up with another fellow fourth grader teacher: Fourth Grade Flipper for today's Tried it Tuesday linky!

I love the Olympics- specifically the Summer Olympics but I love any excuse to veg out in front of the TV and feel some America pride.  The Olympics are also great motivation for me to get off the couch and get my butt in shape!  I knew I wanted to do something with the Winter Olympics with my kiddos but didn't know what or how.  I feel a bit swamped with covering what's left of our state curriculum since we've had so many snow days and whatnot.  So, after some brainstorming in the car on my way to cheer practice and after bouncing some ideas off a fellow teacher, I came up with a way to try to incorporate the Olympics with my math class and reading class.  We ability group our kids but I wanted them all to feel connected with what was going on out in my hall.  Say hello to my last minute, right before the start of the school day, medal graph!

Not too shabby for being last minute without a bulletin board in the hall! ;)  My idea to try was simple:  look up popular and favorable countries to win medals and have those names on the bottom of the graph.  Looking at it now, I should have organized them in ABC order or something... anyway, each of my math kids drew a country's name to track.  Before math class, in replace of our word problem wake-up, we will look up the current medal tolls.  If any student's country has earned a new medal, they will fill a paper medal out (gold, silver, or bronze, of course) with the event's name and add it our graph.  Throughout the Olympics I'll use this graph for all sorts of graphing type questions. (My brain is already reeling with ideas!)

My reading class will have a different project to complete.  I have 15 kiddos in my reading group and there just so happen to be 15 sports competing this year- and many of them sound so BIZARRE!  I found a great news article from ABC that gave a quick rundown on each of the 15 sports, a few fun facts, and information as to who is predicted to win. (Making predictions, news sources, inferring... SOL skills, check!) Each of my kids drew a different sport to report on.  I gave them each a copy of ABC's report about their sport and two pages to complete as part of their "report."  One has comprehension questions about their article and the other is an illustration page with a few more things to fill out.  I'm also excited to test out our grade's new set of iPad minis tomorrow! My kids will use these during small groups to find additional information and images to add to their reports.  You can check out this whole unit, ready to go, in my TPT store.  At the end of the week, my kids will share their sport with the class, or maybe on the morning news, and then I'll add display them in our hall for others to learn from.

As part of my school's new Writing Committee, we have a goal of increasing writing participation throughout the school. We take turns creating a monthly interactive bulletin board in the cafeteria for all students to participate with. This was my month to create a new board so of course, I choose to try to incorporate some Valentine's fun!  My fourth grades really struggle with using "sparkly" words (other known as adjectives) in their writing and are always using the same. old. boring. words.  I titled the board "Sweet Synonyms" and cut out giant hearts with some pretty scrapbook paper.  The words I chose were pretty, little, big, funny, nice, said, awesome, like, walked, and happy. I typed up a quick blurb about the board with directions and added some markers and ta-da! We have an interactive, themed board for the school to fill in.  After the month is over, I plan on typing up all of the brainstormed words onto a master list to share with the school.  This way, everyone can have a copy of the students' brainstormed ideas!

           

Thanks for joining me for my first Try it Tuesday linky!  I have some grading to do and some brownies to bake- yum yum!

xoxo farren