The Web Files Mystery

I can't believe that I have almost made it through my first year of teaching. I'm very excited about the next few weeks because we can do FUN activities for the last five weeks of school. Next week I am planning a whole mystery unit to do. I'm using the book The Web Files to focus on this genre and summarizing. Lots of information I'm using for this book came from HERE.


I plan on having my kiddos practice their questioning and letter writing by writing letters to the author and illustrator. I even plan on sending them to them!!! I wonder if they will write them back. Oh how excited they would be if they got letters back!

I'm also planning on using The Robbery at the Diamond Dog Diner. They will watch the Reading Rainbow version HERE.


The final book I plan on using is Detective LaRue. I love this cute book about a dog writing letters to his master from jail. My kiddos will have to make inferences about what really happened to all the creatures at the end of the book. I'm planning some cute activities to go along with this book as well. I'll post next week! :)

Does anyone have any good mystery books or activities they use? I'd love to hear them! :)

Looking on the Positive Side

Well, my week got progressively worse towards the end, but luckily picked up today. I got good news which was a much needed pick me up! My kids start the CRCT, Georgia Standardized Testing, on Wednesday. I really feel like they are prepared. Everything I've been teaching for the past year seems to be more challenging than the questions on practice tests. Could this be a good thing or bad thing? I guess only time will tell! :)

I've been working on a cool new graphing center that you can see below. I hope to have it finished sometime soon! Thanks for all your prayers with my dilemma. I'll announce the good news whenever I get the go-ahead! :)

Erin

When It Rains, It Pours

What should be a happy, exciting time in life is turning into stress covered in disappointment. My fiance and I have been trying to buy a house since October. The bank now tells us they still have no deed and are being forced by the government to take the house off the market. Who knows when we will get our dream house.

We went on a field trip to the aquarium today. My students were great. We completed the Aquarium Field Trip packet I made (click HERE to see it) before and after we went. The students loved it, and I really think it helped them reflect on what they learned. After our staff meeting, my principal said she needed to talk to me. We have a good relationship, so I wasn't worried. Well, here comes the blow. Thanks to the great terrible state of Georgia, class sizes have been raised which means I will be, more than likely, be relocated to another part of the county. Can we say devastated? I tried so hard to hold back my tears....I couldn't. I started crying, my principal started crying, it was a mess. My school is like a big family. I can't imagine going anywhere else.

I guess for one happy note, here are some of my precious students at the Georgia Aquarium. We had fun, until my day ended in devastation.

My sister told me this verse when I got home. It provides a little bit of comfort. "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." (Jeremiah 29:11 NIV)

Here's to hoping for a better day....

Tagged

Thanks to Kelley at Buggy for Second Grade for tagging me!


  

Here are the answers to her questions!

1. If you could travel to any place where would you go? Egypt, without a doubt. I've been fascinated by their culture since I was little.

2. What current fashion trend are you loving right now? I'm loving the "baggy" loose shirts with skinny or straight jeans. I work part time at a boutique I've worked in since college. I LOVE it. :)

3. What current education trend are you currently loving right now? I'm not quite sure since I'm so new. I know that I am kind of disheartened by all of the Common Core starting next year since I've done SO much work for our current standards!

4. What is your go to food or snack? Oreos :)

5. Are you a flats or heels girl? Heels!

6. If you could change anything about yourself what would you change? That I get so nervous about the littlest things!

7. What is your favorite sport to watch or play? Play: Softball Watch: Football and baseball

8. What are you looking forward to doing this summer? Getting married and going on my honeymoon to Belize!!

9. What is your favorite piece of technology? Promethean Board in my classroom and IPad at home

10. What is the best movie you have seen recently? I haven't seen any new movies in a long time. I'm trying to convince my mister to take me to see Titanic in 3D. :)

I tag any of my followers that wants to join! :)

 

We have a field trip on Tuesday to the Georgia Aquarium. My students are SO excited...and so am I. :) I whipped up this packet I'm going to turn into a book for my students. Go HERE to check it out!

 

 

What a Break!!

Well, as you could tell from my currently, I got pretty sunburned at the beach. What it didn't tell you was that I have bridal portraits tomorrow. Needless to say, sunburn and bridal portraits probably don't go well together. It wouldn't have been as bad if it was an even sunburn, but I was splotchy sunburned! This has never happened to me! So, I come home a day early and go get a spray tan. Well, once again, my luck is awful. I run in to Walgreens and come out to a torrential downpour. So I wait until the rain slows up, and run to my car. When I get in, I look at my arms and it looks like I have "A Bad Case of Spots." Yep, David Shannon could have written a book about me. UGH. Luckily, I think I got it all evened out, but what a night.

Now that I'm done with my soapbox...a HUGE thanks to Amber over at Adventures of a Third Grade Teacher for blogging about my Jelly Bean Math page from TpT! Go check out her blog if you haven't already. She has some super cute ideas for spring on there I can't wait to do when we get back from break.




Before break we started some multiplication. Thanks to Katherine from Third Grade Teacher Files for posting the super cute Multiplication Monster to TpT. My kids LOVED it. Here is one of my kiddo's monsters! We added googly eyes for a 3D pop! :) He added 5 googly eyes and the rest were hand-drawn.

I'll be back tomorrow with more fun and the answers to my tag from Kelley at Buggy for Second Grade! :)

Thank You!!

Thanks to everyone who entered my giveaway. I'm sending my products to all of you as a big thank you! :) If you didn't leave your email but you left me a comment, just send it to me and I'll send it your way. I would love any feedback you may have for me!

On another note, I'm loving my first spring break. It is definitely a much needed break! We didn't have any time off from January until now. How many other districts have a winter break or year round school? I'm nervous to see how my kids are going to act on Monday morning. Are your kids usually eager and ready to learn? Or are they eager and ready to talk?

I linked up with Farley for April Currently. Go check out her blog!

Here is my April Currently! :) Hope everyone is enjoying their week/break, whichever it is for you!