Luck Needed and a FREEBIE!

Have you grabbed My Lucky ABC Order FREEBIE?  Click on the picture to download it.

This Friday, my son's 6th grade class sponsored a waffle breakfast to raise funds for their graduation trip to Disneyland.

It was so cute! Their advisor held a Waffle-making 101 class the day before. There was a waffle maker in each classroom and groups of 4 would take turns cooking all by themselves and sending a runner (literally LOL) to bring the finished product to the kitchen warmer.

This is my son getting ready to serve.

Look at all the topping options!

I thought it was great that all the kids pitched in to help and learned the value of working to earn their trip!

I was asked by the Technology Committee to present at our staff meeting tomorrow.  This is my first time getting up in front of my new staff so wish me luck!

Awesome Teaching Moment FREEBIE

I had one of those awesome teaching moments on Friday. It was after school and I overheard two of my first grade girls talking outside my door. I didn't hear every word but the tone was so sweet and I caught the important bits.

"Avery, I feel sad when you ___. Could you please ___. " Avery then cheerily said, "Sure, Violet. Sorry," and gave her a big hug. Awww…….

My heart swelled. I had taught them to resolve conflicts using this I Message poster. 

This could truly be the thing I am most proud that they have learned this year. This is a life skill that will serve them for years to come!

I originally got the idea from my friend, Robi. Miss you, girl! 

I teach my students to use this sentence frame the first week of school. We go through possible scenarios and practice with our partner. Then I reinforce consistently through the year.

For example, if a student comes up and tells me, “Joe just yelled in my ear.” I don't yell to Joe to cut it out because I want my students to learn to resolve their own issues. Instead, my response is always, “Did you use your I words?” In the beginning they usually say, “No,” so I walk them over and facilitate. 

It sounds something like, “I feel mad when you yell in my ear.  I would like you to stop yelling because it hurts.” 

I teach the offending student that they may not interrupt and must give their full attention to the speaker. The only appropriate response is something like, “Sorry, I’ll stop.” I do not insist on an apology since it wouldn’t be sincere but they must verbalize they will stop the offending action. If the offending student is also upset, I encourage them to use their I words back. It might go something like, "I was frustrated that you weren't listening to me. Will you please answer me when I am talking to you?" 

It works amazingly well! At this point in the year, if the student says they did use their I words, I ask them to try one more time before I get involved. In the rare case that I do have to go over, we also have a talk about respecting the I message, and that they want to be listened to when they use it.

The other day I had to laugh because a student came up to tattle and another student said, "You know she is going to ask if you used your I words. Did you?"    

If you click on the poster or HERE and you can download it for FREE. I hope you have as much success with it as I have.

Congrats to Laura Scheunemann on winning my Magic Tree House Book Club 2 Pack Giveaway!

Sale!

My entire store will be on sale for the next 2 days.

Perhaps you could use some seasonal activities...

or I have over 20 math games and activities

or over 20 book club packets

or maybe you'd like to check out one of my best sellers

 Happy shopping! I am headed to TpT to fill up my cart right now.

FAN FREEBIE and another giveaway

I added a Fan Freebie to my Facebook page!
Scholastic is offering the FREE Storia ebook My Stinky Valentine: Laugh-Out-Loud Poems. 

My students will read the poems during their center rotation and then write an opinion response, explaining which poem was their favorite and why. I also included a picture space so they could draw their visualization.

I included the link to Scholastic FREE ebook and the CCSS in the download. If you don't have enough iPads for a center, you could download to your personal device and use it as a read aloud activity instead.

So hop on over to my Facebook page, LIKE me if you haven't already, then click on the Fan Freebie tab!

Congrats to Emily O'Neil and Leslie Ho on winning a free copy of these two items!

Last night I added a Magic Tree House Book Club 2 Pack to my TpT store. Enter below to win a FREE copy!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Beach Bummed and Book Clubs

I am super envious that so many of you are on break this week!! Did everyone go somewhere sunny but me? I had a few days off so I can't complain too much.  My brother got 27 stitches after ripping his finger open so I was reminded to appreciate my health. I thought about posting the pics but I didn't want to gross you out. Think Frankenstein zig-zags down his entire middle finger. Poor guy.

I posted some new book club packets.  My students are getting SO good at writing their answers in complete sentences. I taught them a trick to cover the first couple of words (usually the who, what, why, etc.) Today I overheard one student nicely reminding a friend, "Remember, we never start with the dreaded BECAUSE." LOL, love hearing my own words repeated back!

This packet covers two National Geographic Kids informational texts at a 2nd grade reading level.

Here are a few sample pages.

I wanted a shorter fun book to use with my higher first graders so I introduced them to the Black Lagoon series. This book is great for practicing inferring and discussing character change.

Click HERE to go to my store or enter below to win!

a Rafflecopter giveaway