Help Oklahoma Blog Hop

Teachers Help Teachers

 

I know it's been forever but I really felt this was worth sucking it up and sitting down to blog for!! My hubby is from Oklahoma so this tragedy hit close to home.  Some of his family was in the middle school right next door to the elementary school where so much damage was done.  By the grace of God, they all made it through safely!  I really want to do whatever I can to help so I am going to donate 100% of whatever I make over the holiday weekend to this cause.  The teachers involved were so brave! Please go to my store and see if there is anything there you might like to have, everything will be 10% off until Tuesday.  The more we sell, the more help Oklahoma will get!
Check out the Blog Hop to see who else is involved and help out while getting some awesome new resources!
Happy Memorial Day Weekend! Thanks so much to all the Armed Forces who have given so much for our country!
Blessings,
Sandy

Magical Product Swap (a little late) and the flu (ugh)...

So I had the honor of participating in the Magical Product Swap again and it was (again) so much fun!!  The only thing that held me back was that the very week I needed to use the product in my class so that I could blog about it, I got the flu!  Just let me tell you that I would not wish it on my worst enemy (even though I don't have one)!  It was awful!  So I'm a little late with my post but am hoping that I will be forgiven.
I was partnered up with Jeannie at The 2nd Grade Surprise.  She has a super cute blog and TPT store!  If you don't follow her, you definitely should!  I chose her Let's Build a Snowman Writing Pack and my kiddos loved it!  I started our writing lesson with one of my all time favorite read aloud books for the winter season...

My kids loved this story so much,they actually clapped when I was finished reading!  They do this for the stories they really enjoy and although it took me off guard at the beginning of the year, I now take it as a compliment!  This story is the perfect springboard for the writing activity because 2nd graders are little and they can relate to the character (text to self connections) and it is all about how to make a snowman.  We live in Florida so the majority of my kiddos have never even seen snow!!  

The packet includes the graphic organizer that uses transition words which 2nd graders always need reminding to use!  Here are some of my kiddos working on their writing before putting together their own cute snowmen...

             They did really well with their writing and they also really enjoyed it! Here is a finished product...I will be putting these up as a board but I just didn't have the energy so I will post that picture next week when it is complete!

I have really enjoyed being a part of The Magical Product Swap and meeting new teachers that are so wonderfully talented!  Check out all the other swaps here...

and be sure to check out Jeannie's blog here...
 

I really hope I am forgiven for being so late and hey you guys...take your Airborne, vitamin C, or whatever helps you stay healthy! Being sick is so not fun!

Have a great week! =)

Sandy

Native Americans (freebie), cranberry relish, and fudge...

Yep, I did it all...first, my kiddos finished up their first research project on the I-Pads! They had to work in a group and make a poster to share with the rest of the class about one of six regions/tribes of Native Americans.  Each student had a square with specific information they had to find and illustrate.  The group of six then put their poster together and presented to the class.  This was an awesome way to jigsaw what can be a lot of information.  The kiddos loved being able to use the I-Pads to research and it really kept everyone engaged and talking about the topic.  In case you are interested, this is what we did...
Native American Poster Project


In the course of our studies on Native Americans, we came across a really simple recipe for Cranberry Relish that we decided to make for our Friendship Feast! All you need are these...

put them in a small food chopper...you get this....add sugar to taste...

and you end up with these...for your own fridge or as a gift!

This was a real hit! Not only with my class but with my family as well! I also now have a garnish for those turkey sandwiches I'll be eating for the next week or so! ;)

Speaking of turkeys...my daughter is obsessed with the mustaches...have you seen this new trend?  I know what to shop for this year! 

I also got a head start on making my peanut butter fudge this year! Yep...the first batch is already gone and peanut butter is on the shopping list so that I can make more!  I'll also be trying this fabulous looking fudge this year thanks to Pinterest!  It has definitely motivated me to try new things!  I think that's a good thing! 

So with visions of vacation dancing in my head, I'm off to enjoy a fire and a cocktail before going back to work tomorrow. Counting down the days til winter break! Enjoy =)
Sandy

October Currently....a little late!

     I know it's a little late but since it is October 13th I thought I'd link up with Farley's October Currently anyway!  Wow, every time I check it out there are more people involved! This blogging world is growing and growing! =)  So, here's mine...

First thing this morning I heard on the news about Jessica Ridgeway being found....so sad that our children can't even walk up their own streets and stay safe,sending positive thoughts and blessings to her family, I can't even imagine what they are going through! :(

I am loving that we are actually feeling a little bit of Fall weather here in Florida!  Yep that means that our mornings are starting out in the high 60's! Can you believe we get excited about that? ;)

Man do I have a lot of work to do this weekend! Our grading period is over and they all have to be entered by Monday! I'm sure you know that even though we have an inservice day, it will be spent mostly in training!  I also have a video (hate those) to make of myself and a lesson plan to write for my reading endorsement class!  It's almost over though,I can see the light at the end of the tunnel! Yay =)

My favorite book this year is called Substitute Creature by Chris Gall

OMGosh...this is so cute!  I don't really have any behavior problems but boy oh boy some of my teacher friends do! This book had my kiddos so enthralled, I highly recommend, especially if you have any "creatures" who like to misbehave!!

So that's it for me....go link up with Farley here and join in the fun!

Farley's Currently

I gotta go get ready for a busy day of softball, grading and cleaning!

Happy Fall Ya'll! =)

Sandy

The Magical Product Swap

OMGosh...I can't believe I was lucky enough to participate in this awesome product swap!  I feel so honored to have been able to choose an item from Linda at
 

She has some of the most awesome units I've seen and I even had to purchase a few of her others!  I chose her Tomie dePaola unit for the swap and so far my kiddos and I are LOVING it!  I even introduced the unit on a day that I had an observation (you know how nerve racking those are!) and got an awesome review!  You should really check out her store and this fun unit here:

                                             Tomie dePaola: An Author Study 
                                 

There is so much to do that we will be enjoying Tomie's books for the next few weeks!  Here are a few of the text to self connections that my kiddos made:

As you can see, I'm horrible at taking pictures!  I even took my daughters IPod touch thinking hoping that it was my phone and not me!  Nope, its definitely me =)!  I will try on Monday to take a better picture of the anchor chart we made for author's viewpoint and will post our activities as we work our way through!  Gosh this unit covers so much...cause and effect, character traits,and writing activities.  There are even craftivities!  I highly recommend! 

Thanks so much for allowing me to be a part of this annual event!

This was so much fun and I promise that next year I will have a lot more to offer!
Have a great Night =)

Sandy

Show some random love...

This I just had to share! What an amazing way to help out a friend in need!  I'm sure you know Alisha over at The Bubbly Blonde Teacher and how awesome she is. Well she is holding a fundraiser for her friend Tiffany who is battling cancer.  Its a total win-win for everyone and I know I donated because it touched my heart and I hope we can give her some comfort at this difficult time. The package that you get for helping out is awesome too!  I think this is an incredible way to come together to help out and hopefully this will just be the springboard for more fundraisers to help out those in need.

 

Head on over and "Show some random Love"!

Sandy

I'm so bad....

I know I've been really bad about posting on a regular basis lately.  Getting set up at school has really kicked my butt been rough this year.  I'm thinking that it might have something to do with the reading endorsement I'm working on,the training to teach Cambridge, and just life in general. How do some of you do it all? Family,career,school,and then making things for the classroom,cleaning the house,etc... Sometimes I feel absolutely overwhelmed.

I absolutely love my kiddos this year,however, I really cannot say enough about how great it is to have a class full of little ones who already love to learn!  26 students though! This is the biggest group I've had!  I really hope I can keep up with it all and make it to Christmas!  It'll be so nice to be finished with my own schooling, for a while anyway ;)

That's all for now =)
Sandy