Wrapping Up October Five For Friday!

Yikes - another month has come and gone!  Now it's time to link up with Doodle Bugs for:

http://doodlebugsteaching.blogspot.com/2016/10/five-for-friday-linky-party-october-28th.html
 Morning Messages

This week's Morning Messages dealt with a variety of subjects:



 I love to write Morning Messages that spiral back and review what we've learn.  I also try to review new material like the Friday one - identifying Massachusetts as one of the New England states as well as singular and plural nouns.  Plus, my father was a mailman so I have to ensure that my students know the zip code for Woburn.  They didn't even know what a zip code was - it's a good thing I taught them!



 Listening Center/Book Buddies


This week we have a new Listening Center which includes one of my favorite books - Art Dog - by Thatcher Hurd.  Our Book Buddies thoroughly enjoyed the book, too:





 If you've never read Art Dog, you're in for a treat!  It's such a fun book, especially on CD because it includes music and sound effects!

https://www.amazon.com/Art-Trophy-Picture-Books-Paperback/dp/0064434893/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1477786918&sr=8-1&keywords=art+dog
Click on the above image of check out more on Amazon!


Here's some of the summary from Amazon:

Oh, no! Someone has stolen the Mona Woofa from the Dogopolis Museum of Art and the police don't even realize that they are barking up the wrong tree when they collar their number one suspect. So it's up to Art Dog, the mysterious, masked painter who roams the streets of Dogopolis, to find the missing masterpiece. Zip! Splash! Smoosh! He paints himself a Brushmobile, and he's off––on a wild and funny chase to capture the dastardly crooks. 

This is an all-around amazing book!


 Today Will Be Different by Maria Semple

 I managed to read an entire book last week:

https://www.amazon.com/Today-Will-Different-Maria-Semple/dp/0316403431/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1477787213&sr=8-1&keywords=today+will+be+different+maria+semple
Click on book to check it out on Amazon!

 I got this book from the library because I fell in love with this author's book, Where'd You Go, Bernadette, which told of a family trip to Antarctica (I'd really love to go there, too!).  I enjoyed this book, but I LOVED the other book more.  I'm just feeling lucky that I found time to read last week because we had parent-teacher conferences.  By the way, my conferences went really well, too!





Introduction to the Water Cycle

 On Friday, I introduced the water cycle with a Powerpoint presentation which you can check out for free here:


 My children learned the Water Cycle song on the slide while in Middle School, and they still remember it many years later.  Of course, I had hand movement to help the kids remember the whole process.  Plus, it's a break to stand up and sing!



The Real Reason For Teaching

I received this note from one of my students last week:


I just LOVE getting a short, sweet note like this!

Happy Halloween!
 
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Better Late Than Never Five For Friday!

Yikes - this weekend flew by way too fast.  I'm lucky that I'm finally getting around to linking up with Doodle Bugs for:

http://doodlebugsteaching.blogspot.com/2016/10/five-for-friday-linky-party-october-21st.html

 Morning Messages:

This week we learned about cause and effect and reviewed matter and the importance of good manners:

 
Focus Board Update:

 Cause and effect was also part of our Focus Board which is right near our meeting spot:




 Raffle Sale Fun!

On Friday, we had our first raffle sale:


Raffle sales are held monthly and are a means of raising money to pay for student activities like field trips.  Each grade level donates the prizes each month, and the kids and teachers purchase tickets for 25 cents each.  I even won a prize - the Eco Science Toy!

 Book Buddies!

This Friday our Book Buddies had a wonderful time in our room.  They even had the opportunity to use the listening center:

 
My blog has its own domain!

I bought a domain for my blog:

Then I traveled right over to Canva to design the above graphic!  I just learning how to do more when it comes to technology!

Have a wonderful week!
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October Show and Tell!


Today I'm delighted to link up with Forever in Fifth Grade for:


http://foreverinfifthgrade.blogspot.com/2016/10/show-tell-tuesday-october.html

 Check out our completed directed drawing of Johnny Appleseed.  Each drawing is accompanied by a haiku written by the artist:






Click here to check out this free product on TPT.


 My students made this colonial village a few years ago (click here to see the original post).  I wanted to post it now because it would also be amazing to make a similar Pilgrim and Wampanoag village.  To make the house, we used clean milk containers from the cafeteria.  The bigger building are tissue boxes.  The kids created this all on their own, and it came out terrific!




 The vegetable garden is my favorite!



Now I LOVE Vineyard Vines.  My friend and I LOVE to browse the sales rack at the store near where we live.  One day I spied this shirt:

I fell in LOVE with a $49.50 long-sleeved t-shirt.  While browsing on their web site, I spied the same shirt in boys XL for $29.50.  Well, I tried on the boys XL in the store, and it fit!  Of course, the Thanksgiving shirt in this size was not in the store so I ordered it through the store.  If you do this, no shipping cost which is $8.50, and the shirt gets sent directly to my house.  Plus, right now everything is 25% off.  Click here to check out this deal.  The shirt ended up costing $22 so my son, Andrew, can easily afford to give this to me for my birthday which was last week.  After Thanksgiving, I'll continue to wear this shirt to the gym or as a sleep shirt - it's that adorable!

Have a great rest of the week!



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Columbus Day Week Five For Friday!

Happy Saturday!  It's the weekend, and I'm linking up with Doodle Bugs for:

http://doodlebugsteaching.blogspot.com/2016/10/five-for-friday-linky-party-october-14th.html

Morning Messages

This week we covered Columbus Day, verbs and matter in our Morning Messages:







 Computer Lab

The kids worked on their sentence Powerpoints in Computer Lab:



 When they're done, the kids will present these on the whiteboard in class.

Author Max Brallier, aka Jack Chabert


 We had an author visit/assembly on Friday:



 This author - Max Brallier whose pen name is Jack Chabert - talked to us about how he became an author and how he uses his imagination to write all his books.  He grew up in a neighboring town to our school.  You can visit his author page here.


 My Birthday!

 Last Wednesday was my birthday, and I received plenty of gifts and attention both at home and at school:



 I even got to babysit Sparty the 90 pound puppy on my birthday celebration.  He got neutered on my birthday so he should stop growing.

Blogging Class?

I volunteered to teach a "How to Make a Blog" class on November 8th at work.  Teachers are volunteering to offer professional development.  Some of the other options include Zumba and Relaxation 101.  I wonder if anyone will show up to make a blog - I guess we'll see...

Have a delightful weekend!

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Time for Five for Friday and Columbus Day Weekend!

Hello!  It's always a happy time to link up with Doodle Bugs for:

http://doodlebugsteaching.blogspot.com/2016/10/five-for-friday-linky-party-october-7th.html

Morning Messages!

I like to share my Morning Messages on the blog so you can see what we focused on last week and also to give you ideas for your own Morning Messages:


We enjoyed a busy week of science learning about the states of matter and how to make paper with Change is Simple.

Change is Simple and Making Paper!

Speaking of Change is Simple, click here to read more about this non-profit group of scientists who visit school and spread the important message of keeping the Earth clean through recycling and caring for our environment.  Check out the kids making paper:


In addition to making paper, the kids learned about different kinds of trees and their seeds.

Our Favorite Guest Reader!

Aedyn's father came in to guest read:


He read this fun book, Runny Babbit by Shel Silverstein (click here to read more on Amazon).  The kids enjoyed figuring out their "Runny Babbit" names.

Delightful Division

We worked really hard in Math learning our nine times facts and continuing on with division.  Also, we read several word problems to decide when to multiply or divide. 




Keeping your mind focused when reading.

I made my first anchor chart using this book:

https://www.amazon.com/Reading-Strategies-Book-Everything-Developing/dp/032507433X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1475933711&sr=1-1&keywords=the+reading+strategies+book
Click on the book to read more at Amazon.
Here's the anchor chart from the book:


I recreated this anchor chart and discussed with the kids as we do Read to Self after small group work in the afternoon.  The biggest difference is the brain - I didn't even attempt to draw that! 

If you have a chance to check out this book, it's well worth your time!

Happy Columbus Day Weekend!
 
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