I appreciate you!

This is a quick post from my son's baseball game to let you know I have put my entire TpT store on sale for Teacher Appreciation!

Our parents put on a fancy French lunch today that was super yummy and I won the centerpiece! I hope you are getting pampered, too!

Proud Mama!

I am so proud of my son, Quinn. He was the male lead in his class musical this week.  I was surprised because he is new to the school and on the quieter side. He had a ZILLION lines to memorize and a solo!! Here is a quick clip.

Everyone did such a great job! I love the experiences my kids are getting at this small private school. All classes 1st - 6th grade have their own show every year! Kinder has a singing performance and middle and high school have many shows that are optional. My older son took Drama as his elective and they did Little Mermaid, Jr. You might think they wouldn't like that but he had a blast! We saw Les Miserables this week at the High School but the director invited kids from all campuses to try out so it was a mixed cast. The production quality was very impressive for such a small school!

So between baseball and all the drama I've been a tad busy. I forgot to take pics of our Easter Bunny Craftivity but it was the same as last year. The only new thing I have been working on is more book club packets. I have two new ones:

Hi Fly Guy by Tedd Arnold. 

Fly Guy books are highly engaging yet easy enough for those just starting to get the hang of it!

My first graders are working on answering comprehension questions in complete sentences and sequencing events.

There is a parts of speech cut and glue sort

and a writing prompt inspired by the story.

 I also made one for Stone Fox by John Reynolds Gardiner.

It is written at an AR level of 4.0 so it worked well with my higher 2nd graders. It has chapter comprehension and vocabulary questions but also covers story elements and figurative language.

My 2nd graders are supposed to write in cursive on Spalding lines (top and bottom, no dotted middle) so that is why the lines are different.

If you'd like to win a copy of these enter below. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I hope all of you are well. I miss connecting with other bloggers. I thought once the boys were {almost } teenagers I would have more time but it seems to be the opposite! Maybe once they can drive?? Not really wishing that too soon though.

Book Creator App

"Can we have more time to write PLEEEEASE?!?!" This is what I have been hearing in my classroom since I introduced the iPad app  Book Creator by Red Jumper Studio.

Once my students have gone through ALL the steps of the writing process (following my posters) they may digitally publish their writing. 

This app is easy to use and allows students to add text and images,

draw their own picture,

add photos and even video! 

My favorite part though is the ability to add audio. I love to hear an author reading their work!

My students love that they can choose different book styles and change the colors of the pages and fonts.  

After I presented this app at our last staff meeting, I started talking to a kindergarten teacher who was very interested but unsure about her ability to use this with her class. I suggested my second graders come over and be their tech buddies. OH MY WORD, it was adorable!!!! 

They asked if they could go outside when recording the audio so it would be quieter. There is nothing cuter than a kindergartener reading!

Every single student was completely engaged and the About Me books they made were terrific! 

My favorite movie is Frozen.

I have a brother and he is 9.

I am going to send them to the parents so they can view the book in ibooks!

I am not affiliated with this app in any way,  I just love to share what is working in my room. Hope you can use it! 

Brain Breaks with GoNoodle

Do you use brain breaks in your classroom?

I recently found GoNoodle.com, a FREE way to provide those breaks in a fun and easy way! There are a variety of choices with different levels of activity.

You can make different classes which is helpful since I teach two different grades. I let the kids pick the mascot. He makes weird comments the kids enjoy and the thermometer looking thing on the right keeps track of the minutes of activity we log. We only need one more minute to level up. The kids are so excited to see what happens.

This photo and the one at the top are my first graders doing yoga with Maximo. 

Both the 1st and 2nd graders beg for the Zumba!

The girl in the front flipping her hair was cracking me up because she was totally imitating the girl in the video!

I'd love to hear what you do for brain breaks.

Fluffy FREEBIE

My students listened to the ebook Fluffy's Lucky Day during their center time this week.

You can download the ebook HERE if you use the Scholastic Storia app.

I made a response sheet that I've uploaded for FREE. Just click on the picture.  I hope you can use it!