Roller Coasters and Wax Figurines

     Does anyone else's desk look like this? or am I the only one with growing "piles"?? Please say no! and Yes, that is a pot on top of that stack of papers...a COOKING POT!

*ha*

I can't even begin to explain how I feel right now. 

tired. 

  stressed. 

     frustrated.

       proud. 

         excited. 

            impatient. 

               accomplished. 

                   behind. 

                      energetic. 

                         sad. 

                            thrilled. 

                                yep .. .. . it's definitely the end of the year ;) 

     This emotional roller coaster prevails from about March 31st {the exact moment I realize IT IS MAY!} till 5th grade graduation - for us June 7th this year.

I felt this mixture more than ever coming down on the end of this year .. ... .

My group this year has an absolutely beautiful innocence... .  however, once in a while, their sweet immaturity is overridden by an incredible lack of common sense. For 5th grade, some of their problem solving skills are a bit lacking. It drives me BUGGY! Frustration and impatience are felt in moments when, simple YEAR long procedures cannot be remembered We are talking going to the bathroom people, instructions are repeated nearly 1,000 x's I exaggerate, puzzled looks of not knowing what to do with a sweatshirt found on the ground is this real life??, asking where they should cut on the dotted line that has a pair of SCISSORS on it, Columbus apparently set sail in 2002 Think, does this make sense!?, and so-n-so is sitting in so-in-so's chair and no one knows what to do about it ... . . . .yes, it begins making one feel like mad King Ludwig! without his KILLER castle, unfortunately. 

Mad King Ludwig's Fairy tale Castle

 On the flip side,  their immaturity also means that they LOVE EVERYTHING! For 5th grade this is quite remarkable - generally they are much "too cool" for most everything! But these kiddos are enthusiastic about ALL lessons, ALL activities, ALL trips, ALL THE TIME! Joy is felt in moments when students clamber to volunteer for activities, cheer because they get to go "Rock shopping", proudly wear their "planet" hats to the lunchroom, scream out their fluency mantra and hand motions for the whole school to hear, and tell you how much they enjoy learning from you. It is beautiful. It is exasperating. It is what I love about teaching :)

Ok, time to climb out of my head!

     The kiddos have been working on our culminating 5th grade Social studies/writing/language/speaking project this week. We do a Wax museum of early American characters that we have studied throughout the year. They present an oral biography of their person during our “Wax Museum: America’s Walk of Fame.” The students memorize the information, dress up in some way and/or use props, and are frozen,like a wax figurine, with a sticker on their hand. The sticker serves as their “on” button. Visitors will press the button to activate the students acting and dialogue. Other classes are invited to attend as well as parents, grandparents and other student relatives! I make this an "at home" project, but due to the lack of home support many of my students have, I end up giving a lot of "in class" time to work on it. I send home a Parent letter explaining what the event is, what the students are expected to prepare for it, due dates, example reports, requirements, etc. I also attach a list of characters that we have studied along with some lesser known characters during early American history that they can help their child choose. They then have their child list their top three choices and return the top three slip signed BY A PARENT. This ensures not receiving any angry/confused parent letters come the report and poster due date. You can get my wax museum packet here.

     One of the requirements was to create a poster of their character. I get these biography posters from the local teacher store. You can find them here. The kids did an amazing job of doing the research and really making these look attractive! They will hang behind the kids in the hallway during the museum.

     Another requirement was to write a biographical report on their character but change it into first person to be used as their museum "speech". We did not do these in class together this year {contemplating it being our informational writing next year ... however, they tend to get to long for a speech if it is the actual paper}but I was impressed with how well they turned out! They were due this Monday and since then we have been practicing HARD CORE. Every morning I have them pair off and read their speech, hand it to their partner, say it without the paper, vice versa, then they must "earmuff" it 3x's somewhere around the room to themselves. Does anyone else use earmuff a lot? I use it ALL THE TIME - it makes my heart feel so good when I look around and see my kiddos so focused on editing, reading, re-reading, or practicing fluency - whatever we are using it for that day. {happy heart}

Anyways .. .. .. .
Most of them have it memorized and it is only Tuesday! Yippy! Thursday we will be having a dress rehearsal where we bring out costumes {I supply kids with needed props/costumes from my costume closet who need it on this day} and perform our speeches in front of the class. It is pretty much a shot morning, but makes the performance in the hallway THAT MUCH BETTER! 

Look for more pictures coming soon on the Wax Museum ... ... . . .

Love me some tactile reading lessons

     I am absolutely, positively, head over HEELS in love with Tanny McGregor's book Comprehension Connections. After stalking Mrs. B over at Life in 4B I broke down and bought a couple of the resources she recommended and uses for reading. If you have not visited her blog you MUST! She is an absolutely FANTASTIC teacher ... you will be inspired. I promise.
So anyway, she recommended a couple of books - I bought two of them. Comprehension Connections and Strategies that Work by Stephanie Harvey. These books are an absolute godsend to someone who is wanting to do more creative, tactile, workshop related lessons.

I just love how practical and hands on these women make each reading concept and strategy.

Example: 
These lesson ideas originally came from Life in 4B who told me it was from Comprehension Connections. In this activity you show the students the concept of determining importance by going through your purse and decided which things are important, not important, sort of important if you were going to go to the gym.
The other idea taken from Comprehension Connections {originally found on Life in 4B's blog again} involved the students using noodles, water and a strainer to understand how we determine importance of readers. We talked about Noodles {facts} all alone are hard, crunchy and not something we really want to sit down and eat. What writers do is add the water {interesting details} to make the noodles {facts} interesting to us as the reader. Then you show the students the container full of noodles and water explaining that this is like a book on the shelf. As you read the book, it is your job as the reader to use your brain {strainer} to sort out the noodles {important information} from the water {interesting details}.
These sorts of tactile, hands on, visual examples really help establish the concepts in the kids heads. While doing our biography reports for the Wax Museum today, I heard the students telling each other to take out the "water" in their speeches and leave the "noodles" because the waters is only adding length to their paper and isn't really needed. {heart happy!}

Please do yourself a favor and snag these books. I got Strategies that Work off Amazon used for $.01 {plus shipping and handling} and it was in great shape! I would highly recommend these books!

Duct Tape Frenzy

After reading Teaching My Friends post on the use of patterned Duct Tape in her room I had to share a fun idea that I got from 4th Grade Frolics using this apparently new phenomena that has invaded my classroom.

I am now the proud owner of 2 duct tape wallets, a couple of duct tape flowers, a duct tape robot {our theme this year} and another object of which I am still attempting to figure out it's purpose/shape.
*just smile and say thank you*

After seeing Tara's great idea of making her Word Work centers out of these, I just knew I had to get myself over to Walmart and make these for mine as well. Not only did they turn out adorable - but my kids now think I am SO HIP {I mean win win right?!?} *smile*
They are so practical and cute - very excited.

 Tara's FABULOUS set up

My attempt at being as fabulous as she is!

Notice my grOOOOvy new "Word Work" area. WOOT WOOT! 

America in Revolt - Unit Ideas

    The Revolution is finally here! I think my kiddos have been looking forward to this unit since I mentioned that it is where we end the year WAY back in September! There is just something about war that excites and fascinates us isn't there?

This is one of my favorite units to teach as well. This year, I am working very hard to integrate my social studies curriculum with my reading and writing areas as well. This unit has seemed to mesh the best so far. A war gives so much openness to analyzing, comparing and contrasting, writing, points of view, and so many other standards met in ELA. I have also found great resources and ideas from AMAZING bloggers such as Teaching in Room 6 and Life in 4B both of which do an incredible job of integrating their social studies curriculum and ELA beautifully in their classrooms.

Here are some of the things we have been working on so far.

We started out in the 13 colonies discussing what life was like for the colonists. We had a "guest visitor" named Elizabeth Higgins {Picture at right with student - aka ME!} who welcomed us to her home, provided tea and cookies for the kids, and shared about her prior life back in England, the journey over, praise for their King, importance of tea in British culture, and her current life in Williamsburg, Virginia. Then had the students practice wearing clothing from the time period and shared a bit about what life would be like for each of them.

{I wish so bad I could show you my lovely kiddo's faces, but alas, I have not gotten parental approval to put them up online so .... white circles are all you get -well and my lovely face of course ;) }

After studying the colonies for a couple of weeks, "Elizabeth Higgins" came to visit again. This time, she presented a completely different view of what her life is like in the colonies. This time, she apologized that she cannot produce tea and explains how that blasted King George has had the nerve to tax everything including their most precious tea! She produces cracker instead of cookies and explains how they are now boycotting shops. Her change in attitude helps the kids see the change in many of the colonists
Students worked together in cooperative groups to produce a time line of events we entitled "The Road to Revolution." We used our History Alive textbooks to find information for each important event.We also make personal flip books of each event with a description and drawing - the students use this to study for our "Road to Revolution" test I give before we delve into the War.





     Throughout the week we break down each event in detail. In writing, students used their VOICE to create a R.A.F.T from the point of view of a tea bag. If you are unfamiliar with what a R.A.F.T is it is a fun style of writing for students to practice the VOICE trait. The teacher chooses their Role. Audience. Format. and Topic. The student's role was to be a Tea Bag. Their audience was Patriot Colonists. The format was to be a letter. Topic was 1. Encourage the patriots to continue fighting for freedom or 2. Beg them to stop and stay loyal to the King.

We also put these on tea paper and had quite the factory going which the kids thought was great!

We also did some great activities I received on TPT from Sound and Sea. She has some really great free stuff! Check her out! One neat one we did was the Boston Massacre Police Report - the kids has great fun acting this out and filling in their reports :)

One of my most favorite simulations all year has to do with taxes and how frustrated the colonists were at King George III and Parliament. The famous cry, "No taxation without representation" comes alive as the students themselves begin shouting it in the classroom! I give each student a Dixie cup and on the bottom I have written either a K (King George), P (three members of Parliament), T (Tax collector), or C (colonist). I have the students who are King George and Parliament join me at the front of the classroom. The two tax collectors stand on either side of the room. The rest of the students remain seated and I go around placing from 10-20 M&M's in each COLONIST cup. In the tax collectors I place three and in the King and three parliament members cups I place one. I explain to the students that the M&M's in their cup represent the product of their livelihoods, whether it represents wealth in terms of money, furs, fish, lumber, crops, etc. It represents how much money they have. I also explain that though the King and Parliament only have one M&M each, it actually represents 100 M&M's because I explain that members were often part of the gentry class in England and therefore had LOTS of family wealth prior to any job they



{First Pix Above: I wish I could show you this kids 
whole face - he is making an awesome frowny face!
Second Pix Above: King George in the Middle, 
Parliment members beside him wanting money!}


currently hold. Then I explain to "Parliament" in a private huddle that they must choose something to "tax" on the students (items include students wearing blue jeans, the color red, sandals, long hair, glasses, etc.) They then must decide whether they want to tax them 1-3 M&M's for having that item. We announce the tax to the class and the tax collectors begin their rounds. Student protest begins almost immediately! After the collectors are finished they bring their full cups to the front and I distribute the "wealth" among the members of Parliament, the King and increase the tax collectors by 2 M&M's each time. Depending on the amount of M&M's you start the colonists out with, there are probably about 4-5 "taxes" passed before you begin to have people running out of money. In the end, the King, Members of Parliament, and the tax collectors all have more M&M's than the colonists and the discussion opportunity is phenomenal! I purposely do not give every colonist the same amount because it opens up discussion afterward about how some students who started out with more are not as frustrated at the end because they still have quite a bit, while others who started out with less or were unlucky enough to have every item that was taxed ended up with nothing. We talk about the different perspectives, how the "colonists" feel about the King, Parliament, and even the tax collectors (remember they tarred and feathered many of them!!) They LOVE this activity and understand, without a doubt, the complicated theory behind taxation without representation.

I have the students do an anticipation guide sheet as both a cooperative learning activity, and sharing of opinions activity, and a prior knowledge activity before we discuss WHY Britain began taxing the colonies.

Another great way to help the students understand how the colonists were feeling toward King George is to show this  parody of Timberland's song "Too late to Apologize." They absolutely LOVE it ...  
Warning: Humming of this throughout other subjects may occur!
This is actually not the original version created but I felt that the rock scene at the end of the original video was inappropriate to the tone and hurt the educational value. While this one isn't perfect, the kids still ADORE it and it keeps the tone serious (if you can call this video serious! HA!).

Here are two other GREAT videos I use from School House Rock to teach the Revolution:
 
Phew! that is it for now ...

For more great information and lesson ideas on the Revolution, click on the link below! 

Indoor Recess Tips

 Geez Louise!  .. . .. . I probably should blog on my OWN page more often than on everyone else's ;)
Ya'll just have so much amazing stuff that I want to try that it makes me BUSY!

But I'm back in the game!
Phew! *wipes forehead*

Living in Michigan, we get a whole LOT of indoor recesses! No, not because of the snow, we LIKE the snow (sillies), because of the COLD. When temperatures are too low the students aren't allowed to be outside. It's hardcore like that *ha!*
Now, this winter would not be a very good example of a typical intense northern winter, it was a SUPER BUMMER! ... .. but we still had way too many indoor recesses for my liking due to yucky, cold, rain - this we do NOT like.

And so, if any of you deal with indoor recess as much as we do, here are some ideas to help make it less chaotic, decently quiet, and somewhat enjoyable :)

Bring out the whiteboards!
I don't let the kiddos draw on the regular whiteboard with my markers since they mysteriously get shoved inside (you know what I mean, the little marker disappears into the plastic, deeming it destroyed for future use!), run out, or lost, but I have a big bin with personal whiteboards and "kiddo" markers with little erasers. This particular group LOVES to draw! (yes, that is a purple British Flag - we're studying the 13 colonies!)

Table games:
I have a cabinet filled with inexpensive, fun games such as Pictionary, Go Fish, Uno, Jenga (all of which can be easily picked up at garage sales) and my kids ultimate favorite: mini-foos ball {SP??}! The greatest after Thanksgiving sale I have found yet! (shout out to Menards!)

Organized movement activities:
I found this tix-tac-toe bean bag toss for 2 dollars at a garage sale and the "Bags" (or for others of you ... "Corn Hole") boards again were a great Menards after Thanksgiving sale. Both of these games keep the kids being active but contained to an actual event - not just needlessly running around the room!

Love my readers .... . it makes my heart happy! (gotta love Kindles too!)

Not pictured: 
Play dough - my kids LOVE making things with this and it keeps them occupied quietly for hours!



.. ... .. . and because my football instincts are reviving as I watch the 2012 NFL Draft - here is Dudley welcoming in the season!

What activities do you have for your kids when inside recess weather rolls in?? 

Ode to English Plurals

my mom sent this to me and i thought it was GRAND! 

especially for ELA and English teachers. so fun. 

i am not sure where it is from {if someone knows PLEASE inform me as to where i may give credit!} 

i even shared it with my kids when we were doing plural spelling words, and though parts of it were a little over their heads, they understood the gist of it and laughed at all the right places :) 

{Ode to English Plurals}

We'll begin with a box, and the plural is boxes,
But the plural of ox becomes oxen, not oxes.
One fowl is a goose, but two are called geese,
Yet the plural of moose should never be meese.

You may find a lone mouse or a nest full of mice,
Yet the plural of house is houses, not hice.

If the plural of man is always called men,
Why shouldn't the plural of pan be called pen?
If I speak of my foot and show you my feet,
And I give you a boot, would a pair be called beet?

If one is a tooth and a whole set are teeth,
Why shouldn't the plural of booth be called beeth?

Then one may be that, and three would be those,
Yet hat in the plural would never be hose,
And the plural of cat is cats, not cose.
We speak of a brother and also of brethren,

But though we say mother, we never say methren.
Then the masculine pronouns are he, his and him,
But imagine the feminine: she, shis and shim!

Let's face it - English is a crazy language.
There is no egg in eggplant nor ham in hamburger;
neither apple nor pine in pineapple.
English muffins weren't invented in England .
We take English for granted, but if we explore its paradoxes,
we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square,
and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig.

And why is it that writers write but fingers don't fing,
grocers don't groce and hammers don't ham?
Doesn't it seem crazy that you can make amends but not one amend..
If you have a bunch of odds and ends and
get rid of all but one of them, what do you call it?

If teachers taught, why didn't preachers praught?
If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat?
Sometimes I think all the folks who grew up speaking English
should be committed to an asylum for the verbally insane.

In what other language do people recite at a play and play at a recital?
We ship by truck but send cargo by ship.
We have noses that run and feet that smell.
We park in a driveway and drive in a parkway.
And how can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same,
while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites?

You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language
in which your house can burn up as it burns down,
in which you fill in a form by filling it out,  and
in which an alarm goes off by going on.

And in closing, if our Fathers are Pops, how come we don't call our Mother's MOPS?

Hope everyone has a FANTABULOUS weekend! Get out and ENJOY the weather! 


 Living GREEN FAIRY style for St. Paddy's Day 
{. .. .. and yes, the green garland is for St. Patrick's Day .. it isn't still up from Christmas, though that would be how I roll so I don't blame your questioning thoughts! *haha*}

ugh.

tell me.

does this happen to all of you too??
or are my kiddos supply monsters ... eating, loosing, ripping, tearing, and destroying everything in SIGHT!

the middle one is what is LEFT of my cute, ribbon library passes. they even had cute little tags  . .. . .

 a teacher came in yesterday, surprise written all over her face, and asked, "are those really your library passes?"
no. that is what's left of them. come on! i did not sit around in the summer planning for my room thinking .. .. okay, let me see, i think i will use post-it notes and ghetto looking masking tape for our library passes this year. GEEZ.

had to vent.
over all, this group has been pretty good with supplies and taking care of things but ... . .. . sometimes it is still incomprehensible what kids are capable of destroying! truly.
so . ...
Operation "student proof" is happening tomorrow. ... . who am i kidding. i wouldn't even have a classroom if i did that!{sigh. smile.} ... . . . recode. ..... .. . Operation "create sturdier supplies" . .  .. goodnight!

Author's Purpose, TPT, and new scarf!!

So we have been learning about Author's purpose and I found the most fabulous idea on Juice Boxes and Crayolas. I couldn't wait to use it and actually presented it during my principal's observation. It was amazing! We also learned the hand gestures that Amy created. I HIGHLY recommend them! It was so cute because today, while we were taking the assessment I saw a couple of the kiddos doing them to help them on the quiz ;) GO AMY!

 We filled in the P.I.E chart - then we worked together to identify where different articles belong. The fun ones were those that rode the "line". I also created some note cards - while they are not nearly as creative as everyone's in the blogging world, they did the job and the kids did really good identifying different intro paragraphs during guided reading groups.

Today, we took our Author's Purpose Assessment. I finally got around to making a Teachers Pay Teachers account and am excited to actual share some documents! ... I feel like I must share something on blog world since I have taken and been inspired by so much! So, first up is a freebie - Author's Purpose Assessment :)

... . .. .on a slightly un-school related topic, I got the most fabulous scarf - loving the birds! . .. . . . but since I have worn it to school 3 times already it's becoming school related quickly ;)

Observations, Reading Block, and Such.

So for the last week I have been reviewing all of our reading procedures like a CRAZY woman! You see, my principal shared that he wanted to observe all of us during our 90 minute reading block to see how, what, when, we do things. He stated that it wasn't a formal observation but that he wanted to be more aware of what is happening so he can better support what we are all doing and give better feedback when we have questions. Yes, he is amazing like that. He is so involved, encouraging, and supportive- and I LOVE it.

With that said ... it is still nerve wracking to have ANYONE in your classroom for NINETY MINUTES! Let alone your principal ... and the intimidating notepad.

Our reading block, as required by Michigan law MUST BE 90 minutes {I'm sure many of you have the same thing}. My 90 minute block looks something like this ... . ... .
{Note: these are the times for when I have my partner teacher's kids} 
10:20-10:30 Students do a bellwork activity as I call students over to collect homework
10:35 - 11:05 Daily 4 {my adaptation of the Sisters Daily 5 Centers}
11:010- 11: 30 Reading Mini-lesson/ Activity
11:30 - Status of the Class {Usually takes about 5 minutes}
11:35 - 12:00 Independent Reading time - I do my individual student conferences during this time

At 12:00 we switch gears and begin writing or social studies depending on the week.

Normally, I would not have been freaking out too much over any evaluation. The schedule usually goes like clockwork. However, these last two weeks have been NUTS!
Last Monday - no school {Professional Development}
Last Wednesday - Music and Art field trip
Last Friday - no school {Teacher work day}
This Wednesday - field trip to Hockey game
 .. . . . ... this schedule, while loads of fun, messes with classroom organization,  procedures, and behavior BIG TIME!
. .. ..add to this Tuesday (the day before the Hockey game field trip yesterday) which was a completly HELLISH day ... I had four boys at four separate tables around the room, multiple movings of clips, and both classes in for recess to go over some simple classroom rules. With the field trip in between that day and my observation today, I was a hot mess this morning worrying about today's behavior!

.... .. . ... but BOY did my kids DELIVER! They were AMAZING! All the way through. Ninety minutes of pure teaching BLISS! I cannot tell you how incredibly PROUD I was of them, their behavior, or of how smooth and beautiful our reading block was presented. It was exactly how a good day runs in our room. I feel good. I feel accomplished. These moments of success and pride must be cherished by teachers as to get us by on those days where we question why we ever entered this profession!

and I am cherishing it.

Stole this from Lindsey over at My Life as a Fifth Grade Teacher - it SO made me laugh!

 if only . ... . .. ..

field trips and frustrations.

Wednesday we took a fabulous art and music field trip in Kalamazoo {and yes, for those of your who do not live in Michigan, there really is a Kalamazoo *grin*}

Our first stop was to a Glass Blowing Factory. The kids were absolutely fascinated by it! 8 volunteers were even able to help cut the hot glass. It was really neat!

Our second stop was to the Kalamazoo Symphony. I am always a little nervous about this since it is a whole hour of sitting through orchestra music ... but the kids did GREAT! It did help that we were in the very first row! It was a really neat experience and the kids genuinely enjoyed themselves.

The last stop was to a history and science museum. They had the neatest hands-on activities. I think I may have enjoyed it as much {or more} than the kiddos *smile*

The two "hits" were definitely the news station, the diner {where they got to serve each other} and the general store ... what fun!

 Yes, that is me ...I love dressing up - we had a blast in this room buying and selling, and talking in old fashioned accents ;)

 Coal mining was a hit too ...

 Who can resist a good photo op! 

 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------

 Needless to say, the frustration did not come from the field trip ... since we had such a fantastical time!

The frustration is coming from READING. 

I try very hard to follow reading workshop to the best of my ability. My district gives us a reading basal program {of which I am NOT a big fan of} which I generally only use the leveled readers from for guided reading and such. With that said, I am pretty much on my own to figure out any thing I want to incorporate concerning reading and writing workshop since they do not send us to any workshops. I feel that I have good systems in place with Daily 5, CAFE, mini-lessons, guided reading groups and  independent reading time but I can't seem to mesh them together into one, smooth, effective block. I am struggling with figuring out what, when and where. 

I am curious to know how those of you who have successful reading workshops figure out the following: 

1} Without a text book telling you, how do you figure out what order is the best for teaching strategies/concepts/genres? It is truly just your own judgment? 

2} How do you gauge your time on each section/strategy/genre/ etc.

3} When, during workshop time, do you do the actual activities that go with the strategy or concept (like summarizing or point of view) 

I would LOVE some ideas or perhaps a link to a blog you may have posted concerning one of these areas. 

I have learned SO MUCH from all of you - really I don't think I would be going out of this limb alone if it weren't for all of your amazing ideas and inspirations!

Frogs, frogs, and more frogs!

Currently, my partner teacher is discussing endangered animals and animal adaptations with our kiddos in science. We had a presenter come in and talk about the dangers that are threatening many frogs and making some of the species extinct. Many of the factors point back to humans and things that we do that hurt these cute little creatures. Needless to say, the kids jumped passionately aboard the "save the frogs" wagon and we had a great time researching about them, creating them, and making others aware of their impact.

In science they created created amphibian creatures to scale out of clay.

 In writing, we are working on expository text and so I had them create "Ms. Frizzle" frog reports ... Ms. Frizzle reports are my name for "mini reports." You know the short little blurbs that the students in the Magic School Bus books have on the side of the page - the mini research reports on a very specific part of a large topic?
I show the kids examples of real Magic School Bus reports. Wanda's on pollution. Arnold's on coral reef partnerships. Ralphie's on wind energy. We talk about how even mini reports have a Main Idea, a TS {topic sentence}, supporting details {though they will have less since they are "mini"}, key details that help the support, and a wrap up conclusion sentence.

I had the kids brainstorm something unique and specific that they wondered about frogs ... why their tongues are so long? How they jump? What they eat? Which ones live in Michigan? etc.
we researched them down in the lab .. .. .... .
then we came back and filled in the 4 sections of expository text.
Once they were done with their "Ms. Frizzle Report" paragraph they re-wrote it onto a lily pad.

We also created "Save the Frogs" diamante poems. I had them use Read, Write, Think's diamante poem creator. They LOVED using that! We cut out frog heads and legs and glued them to our poems.

Together with the lilypads, these looked SO cute! The presentor is actually putting on a display concerning Saving Frogs at the public library and asked to display all of our reports and poems. The kiddos were so proud - as they should have been :)

Oh, and of course, we had the kids dress in GREEN :)

Sick.

It was one of those weeks.
Negative.

Nothing is organized.
Everything goes wrong.
The room looks like crap.
My house is a mess.
Laundry hasn't been done in weeks.
My head is about to explode.
I struggle with my guided reading groups.
My classroom is a mess {I despise all my piles}
No one seems to be following or listening to instructions.
I repeat everything twice {or more!}
I can't hang things on our hallway walls {Stupid fire codes}
The kids seem to have forgotten EVERY expectation.
The worst = I keep getting asked dumb questions ... I HATE dumb questions ... especially in February.

     " Where do I get lined paper?" smile. {Teacher's head: "Where you ALWAYS GET LINED PAPER!"}
     " What do I do?" smile. {Teacher's head: "READ THE INSTRUCTIONS!"}
      "Can I go to the bathroom?" - insert I am giving instructions. Shake head. Smile.
         {Teacher's head: "Does it LOOK LIKE A GOOD TIME TO PEE!?!?"}
ugh. What a witch I am.
Feeling bad cause I'm cranky with the kiddos.
Everyone's blog pictures of classrooms, crafts, displays, anchor charts, ETC. make me angry.
Nothing is planned for next week.
I'm Sick.
I want to go to bed.
It is 4:00.

I hate to be such a Debbie Downer, but these weeks happen.

Now that I have vented. And made my job/kids sound terrible.

Let's Rewind <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

Positive. {insert sigh and reluctant smile}

A colleague gave me some DayQuil this morning {LIFESAVER}
Everyone in BOTH classes had their homework done {insert choir of angels singing}
EVERYONE WAS HERE TODAY! {insert audible gasp}
No one stayed in from recess {What? You ate lunch in peace??}
"T" improved by 40 words per minute this week! {So proud!}
My kids are THRILLED with my Plymouth/Jamestown settlement research activity
Called every parent and received great appreciation 
Kiddos earned an extra recess today for filling their healthy snack jar
Worked out a great schedule with the Special Ed teacher
LOVE the staff at my school
Morning procedures have been flaw less - nay, relaxing ;)
It snowed a little today! {I miss winter...}
My building is heated {ok, I may be stretching a little far with that one}
I love me kids. Every one of them.

So, I guess I love my job. Even when days like this are as far from perfect as they could possibly be!
Even when everyone's "perfect" blog classrooms make me ill.
God is good.
I am happy {still sick}but hallelujah it is the weekend!

Tag - you're it!

Rules of the Game:

1. Post the rules.

2. Post 12 fun facts about yourself in your blog post.

3. Answer the questions that the tagger has set for you in their post; then create 12 new questions for the people that you tag.

4. Tag 12 people and link them in your post.

5. Let them know that you've tagged them.

 I was tagged by Casey at Cardigans and Curriculum and Linda at Tales of a Fifth Grade Teacher, so here goes the LONGEST post EVA! *grin*

I'm gunna cheat a little on the 12 facts about myself - I just did a post about myself .. check it out!

Casey's Questions:

1. If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go? I would get one of those round trip tickets and travel to each continent - I have been many places that are amazing so I would really just like to "taste" a bunch

2. If you had to live in a city besides your own, what would your top choices be? If I knew this answer I would not be where I am right now ... my husband and I are currently seeking where God wants us to be! I would prefer to stay here in Michigan ... specifically Northern, but we shall see!

3. Do you follow any sports teams? I am a Green Bay Packer Fan through and through, I also cheer for the Chicago White Sox, the Detroit Pistons and the Detroit Redwings, and the Michigan University Wolverines - yes, I do follow sports ;)

4. What is one lesson/topic that you get REALLY excited about teaching? SOCIAL STUDIES!!!! It is the axis with which my room revolves - I also love teaching reading and on good days, writing *grin* Because it's fifth grade I enjoy teaching American history, but I would be thrilled to teach Ancient History as well!

5. If you had to go back and get another degree, what would you pursue? I am currently getting my masters to get a degree in History - particularly European Renaissance - thinking someday of teaching university history ... ?? 

6. What is your favorite dessert, or two? ICE CREAM! Any kind. Any time.

7. If you could re-do any year in your life, which one would you choose and why? My senior year in high school ... I wouldn't have dated, would have spent more time with friends, pushed myself in areas I was scared, smiled more.

8. What do you like on your hamburger? Cheese, lettuce, ketchup, ranch dressing - very plain I know.

9. What is your favorite type of marker or pen? Fine point sharpie, purple gel pens

10. What is your favorite recipe? My grandmother's raspberry and custard tort

11. Do you have a song that makes you cry? What is it? TONS of songs can make me cry! Some happy, some sad ... I am such a sentimental.

12. If you had to go on a reality show what show would you want to be a part of? I do not like reality shows ... never watch them. But, if I HAD to choose one ...Amazing Race. 


Linda's Questions: 

1. Do you have a theme in your classroom? If so, what is it? My theme this year is ROBOTS :) I really had fun with it this year ... but my mind is already heading in next years direction ... I'm thinking Super Hero's - with a twist, focusing on historical hero's and their impact ... 

2. What colors are your classroom? VERY BIGHT COLORS ... neon pink, blue, green, yellow, orange, purple (lots of purple, it's our school color!)

3. How long have you been teaching? this is my second year teaching

4. How long have you been blogging? about a year

5. Twitter, Facebook, or Pinterest? Facebook and Pintrest - haven't gotten into Twitter ...

6. What is your favorite subject to teach? SOCIAL STUDIES ... my obsession ;)

7. What is a book you really enjoy reading to your class? Swift Arrow (Native American Book), Snow Treasure (WWII book)

8. Do the other teachers at your school read your blog? A teacher friend of mine emailed it to everyone in the school once and a lot of them checked it out and complimented me on it, but I am not sure if anyone follows it.

9. If you could improve one thing about your teaching what would it be? Guided Reading groups and conferencing during reading workshop time ... I just can't seem to fit it all in!

10. How do you unwind after a stressful day at school? Call my mom on the way home and vent, cuddle with my kitty and hubby, read my Bible/devotional

11. How do you stay positive during the school day? PRAY! and remind myself that I wouldn't want to be actually teaching robots so the rough is just as much part of the job as the smooth.

12. What is your favorite TV show? How I Met your Mother, Big Bang Theory


My Questions:
1. How many students do you have in your class?
2. Do you have a pet?
3. How active is your lifestyle? Do you play any sports or have any outdoor hobbies?
4. What is your most necessary item in your school wardrobe?
5. What is the one thing you MUST HAVE when you leave the house (cannot be your cell phone *wink)
6. Are you/did you watch the Superbowl?
7. Are you close to your extended family?
8. What was your worst lesson/activity that you've taught?
9. What is your favorite book?
10. Do you have a favorite house decoration?
11. Do you collect anything? If so what and why?
12. What does a typical Saturday/Sunday look like?

Here are the 12 people I'm tagging. 

Sorry if you've already been tagged!

A cupcake for the Teacher
A day in the life of Miss Kranz 
Life in 4B
In my classroom: The forest and the trees 
Reading is Thinking
Views from Room 205
Teaching in High Heels
Create.Teach.Share
Confessions from the desk of a future teacher
Clutter Free Classroom
Annecdotes
Keep Calm and Teach On