September Currently

Here is my currently for September.  Thanks Oh Boy 4th Grade!

Cool Fact of the Day **Flash Freebie!!!***

For a limited time I am offering my newest TPT product for free!

A fellow teacher has been posting a fact of the day for her students and I just love the idea.

However, I have always been hesitant to start this routine just because I wasn't sure if I would have time for one more thing.  I don't know about you but when I get to work in the morning I have about a zillion things to do.  A little of this, and a little of that.  Then the next thing I know the students are comming in and I am still trying to put together a morning message.  Sigh.

So I came up with this idea. In this download you will receive a set of printable posters for 180 facts plus a title poster to create your very own display or bulletin board. Everything is in black and white for low ink usage. Just print and insert your facts into page protectors. Then you can hang them on binder rings on your display board. You can make changing the fact of the day a student helper responsibility.

I have also carefully proof read each fact found from various sources around the web to be age appropriate for students in grades 3-12. This is the same set I use in my classroom! My students look forward to seeing the newest fact each day and it works as a neat conversation starter.

Please follow me here on my blog to stay updated on the latest freebies I am offering!  Please feel free to check out the rest of my store too.

Now to get that freebie:  click here!  Enjoy!

Busy? Yeah, me too.

I don't know about you but back to school means back to chaos in my house.  I have two littles and a busy hungry husband.  When I get home from work I am exhausted and so is everyone else.  But I still have to clean, cook, and tend to my littles.  Oh, and get ready for the next day to start bright and early at 4 a.m. Yikes. 

So, recently I started planning and prepping our dinners in advance.  I found this great website that does the planning for you and you just follow the directions.  The menus listed on Once a Month Mom listed as traditional before 2011 are free.  I am not being paid to tell you about this.  I just wanted to share something that works for my family.  Clean up and cooking are a breeze!  We loved all the recipes.  And that says something!  My family is picky picky picky.  The best part:  I don't have to think!  Although it is a little odd to buy that many groceries all at once for me since I'm a weekly shopper.  Once I did it, I was hooked.  HOOKED!

I just spend a few hours doing the shopping and prepping and I am set for a few weeks at a time.    There is  a subscription if you want to use a more recent or a different menu plan and it is pretty reasonable.  They have something for everyone from diary and gluten free to vegetarian options.  I only wish I had found this sooner!

Cool Sites to spark imaginations!

So recently I have been updating my class webpage with links and resources for my students and I came across some really awesome sites that I wanted to share with my fellow teachers.

Wonderopolis
There is even a widget to embed in your class website with neat facts and content.  It's great for sparking that curiosity in all of us!

 Make Me Genius
Science Videos for kids!

Museum Box
Not well known here in the U.S.A., this sites allows students to create a virtual box to teach and learn about a topic. 

http://www.101qs.com/
Kids can ask questions based on a picture prompt.  A great inquiry building tool!

Amusement Park Physics

Texas Performance Standards Projects
This isn't necessarily for students but a great resource for you if you are looking for projects to challenge your gifted students.  This is a major focus of mine this year.

 

Give away update

Well folks, there weren't any entries.  Therefore no winner.


I will try again another day.  So stay tuned!

Teachers Pay Teachers Sale!

The BIG Sale is happening at Teachers Pay Teachers on August 18-19th!  I am also adding an extra 15% off during the sale on most of my products!  Click HERE picture below to go directly to my store!  Enter promo code BTS13 at check out!

STEM activity

This was my first week of school and boy am I zonked!

I spend the first week or two of school doing team building, routines, procedures, and getting to know you.  Anyway, this activity will get your students minds wondering and help them to work in teams of 2-3 to solve a problem.  I especially like that this activity encompasses all parts of the engineering design process and I use my posters to help the students see the process as part of the lesson.

Here is what you need:

• Straws
• Aluminum foil
• Scissors
• Masking Tape
• Optional:  Wax paper
• Weights (If you don't have any weights to use you can use small found objects of the same size and weight)

Make a kit of all the materials your students will need in a basket and you will also need either a plastic tub filled with water or an aquarium.  I made 8 kits for my class.  To introduce the idea I asked my students to close their eyes and image they were on a beautiful island.  But they were trapped and in order to get off the island they had to build a raft that would hold their whole crew plus some.

Students should work in small groups to draft a plan on paper and develop their model raft.  The winning group was the one that was able to hold the most weight.  If you want to increase the difficulty of the activity you can use Popsicle sticks instead of straws.