turkey disguises and a white thanksgiving

The week before Thanksgiving is always a toss up.  There are so many kids who leave early to get ahead of the traffic, and this year was especially crazy because, well, this happened.

At one point my husband even asked me if we were going to have school.  Fortunately, the snow didn't start until noon on Wednesday, so no make-up days yet.  Whew.  

One of my teammates is an expert at finding fun projects on Pinterest.  This was a great week-before-Thanksgiving lesson because it incorporated writing and they could also get creative when they decorated their turkey.  I equate this lesson to hiding vegetables in the tomato sauce.

There are lots of these projects on Pinterest if you are interested, and since I'm not sure which site my teammate got the idea from, I have linked the whole board here.  Enjoy!

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

favorite thanksgiving book

My favorite part of this time of year is sharing 1621 A New Look at Thanksgiving with my students.  It tells the story of the pilgrims and the local Native Americans, the myths, and the facts.  It's told from both viewpoints, which is what makes it so interesting.  You can find it at a great price here, and you can find more Thanksgiving books for kids here. 

                                         

What Thanksgiving books do you love?

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

sunday letters

Today I am linking up with Michelle over at Big Time Literacy to write some Sunday letters.  Here goes:

Dear Students,
I have a surprise for you tomorrow!  No Cumulative Review test this week!
Your welcome,
Mrs. E


Dear Sarah,
Thanks for the video you sent me on FB.  You're the best twin every.
Love,
Beffy


Dear Angelica,
Good luck with your latest interview.  I hope you get the job.  But if not, you can always come back to MA and live with me and Nick.  The winter won't be bad this year.  I promise.
Missing you,
Phil


Dear Self,
Play hard in the game tonight and score some goals!
Sincerely,
Me

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

thoughts while drinking my morning coffee

Well, it's almost Thanksgiving and that means the Christmas season is in full swing.  I'm not gonna lie.  I am that girl that frantically finds the radio station playing Christmas music right after Halloween.  (It's 96.1 if you're in the Boston area by the way.)

This year, my lil sister and I are planning to go shopping on Black Friday. For the first time.  We are so. excited.  We are going to the outlets where I'm sure it will be just as crazy as any Walmart.

Speaking of Black Friday, I was in the local Kmart yesterday checking out Christmas decorations.  (I am not really a Kmart shopper, but I noticed they had wreaths on sale for $6.99.  Target sells similar ones for $10 and I cannot resist a bargain.  Plus there's one right down the street.)  So there I was, checking out all the decorations when I came upon this what-I-thought-was-an-amazing-pre-Black-Friday deal!  I love these reindeer lawn decorations.  And they are HALF OFF!  Buttttt, then I went online to check out their sales for Black Friday.  And I discovered that they are going to be the same price next week....half off.  

WHATTTT?  

Wait a second.  

WHATTT????  

Then (it gets better) I noticed toys advertised as $15 "from 6-9am Black Friday only blah blah" but in the store they were already marked $15.  Is this going on everywhere?  Are the deals not really deals?  I can feel a conspiracy theory coming on....

On a more positive note, check out this ugly sweater....for a dog!  So awesome.  My family has had an ugly sweater 80's puff paint christmas sweatshirt party for years and this sweater would be perfect.  If only this came in super extra german shepherd size....

Final thought for all my fellow New Englanders:  tomorrow is going to be in the 50's!!  Perfect day to finish raking leaves or putting up Christmas lights before it gets too cold.

Enjoy the weekend everybody!!

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

the thanksgiving interview project

Teaching writing has never been a strength of mine.  Something about all the lack of rule following just makes me nervous.  I am structured and analytical.  I like order.  Except for my bedroom.  That's a mess.  Laundry everywhere.  But I digress.

This year, I have been concentrating on improving the way I teach writing.  My first thought was, "AHHHHHH, WHERE DO I BEGIN???"  I decided to start with what I know: the assignments I currently have.  I'd make them better.

If you are anything like me, you are reading this and thinking, "Yeh that's great and all, but WHAT DO YOU MEAN?"

Here's what I mean.

Last year, I gave a 4-week writing assignment that spanned over Thanksgiving break.  The assignment was to generate questions, interview a family member, and then reflect on what they've learned.  Overall, this project was a success and the kids enjoyed it.  

Buuuuuuut, it lacked refinement.  And more importantly, it lacked excitement.  Take a look at the layout for example.  

See what I mean?  Ugh.  Just looking at it makes me want to fall asleep.

Here's what it looks like now:

So much better.  And my class was so. so. so. excited.  You know when the kids won't stop asking questions the entire time you are trying to explain, to the point where you have to say "STOP ASKING ME QUESTIONS SO I CAN TRY TO EXPLAIN!!!"  Yeh.  That happened.  

I also changed the layout.  I created a page that gives an overview of the project with the due dates for each of the 4 parts.  Now it's easy for the parents kids to stay organized and manage their time.

Then I gave each part it's own page.  No more pages full of language that are hard to follow.

Currently, we are set to begin part 2 of this assignment on Monday.  But I am already receiving lots of positive feedback from parents.  

-My child is excited about her writing assignments.

-There's no anxiety at home.

-My child isn't waiting until the last minute this year.  

-We haven't had one night end in tears.

Assigning this project right before Parent/Teacher conferences was an unexpected bonus!

Psst!  This project is for sale at my TeachersPayTeachers store and IT'S ONLY 3 DOLLARS!

(Note: To save your job ink, I recommend only printing the first page in color.)

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

new beginnings

At the end of last year, I decided to make a change.  A big change.  I decided to leave the school where I have worked for the past 6 years, the school that gave me my first teaching job.  It was a wonderful school with amazing teachers, but, as my mentor put it, I was given wings and now it's time to fly.  

The start of this school year marked a new beginning as well as fresh challenges.  I had to learn a new culture, recreate a new classroom, and meet  many  MANY new faces.  At first it was scary...you never know if the grass is going to be greener.  But as hectic as the last six weeks have been, it has been wonderful!  My team is awesome, the kids are great (but I already knew that), and the administration and parents are soooo supportive.

One of the most exciting new challenges I have this year is implementing the Daily 5 into my daily routines.  I have been reading about the Daily 5 from many of you bloggers out there, and so I'm very excited to have the chance to try it out myself! 

We have been working hard on Read to Someone for the last couple weeks.  Yesterday, my class teamed up with Miss G's kindergarteners to introduce our weekly Reading Buddies.  

During Library, each of my students picked out a picture book they felt their kindergarten Reading Buddy would enjoy.  Then they practiced reading aloud during Daily 5 this week.

My 5th graders were soooo excited to meet their buddies.  As the oldest members of the school, they really stepped up as role models: greeting their buddies and making them feel comfortable, and practicing good expression when reading.  Many of them also found they had a lot in common with their buddy!

I hope everyone has a great long weekend!  And don't forget to head on over to Principal Principles and share your blog!  I'd love to check out what's going on in your classroom!

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

job applications

Each year, my students must write me a letter in order to apply for their classroom jobs.  Whether or not I hire a student for a particular job depends on their strengths (which is why I don't hire them until a few weeks into the school year).

The letter is supposed to state why the student wants the job as well as why I should hire them.  

This is one of my favorite times of the year because I always get one or two hilarious letters.  I will share a couple in hopes that you get a few laughs as well!

1) Planet Fitness Enthusiast

Dear Mrs. E,

I would like to apply for the chair putter-upper because I love putting up chairs and it's always a good time.  I also want this job because I like to pick chairs up and put them down.  I would like this job because it's a blast!  I just don't know why I like chairs but I like them.

2) Personal Offender

Dear Mrs. E,

I would like to apply for the Banker position.  I would be great at this job because I'm good at reminding people things.  Like at the grocery store, I always have to remind my mom to get ice cream.  I don't know why she would forget that because who doesn't like ice cream?  (I'm really sorry if you don't like ice cream so I offended you because I made that comment).  But really, who doesn't love ice cream?

3) Olympic Gold Medalist

Dear Mrs. E,

I would like to apply for the trash position.  I promise I will not forget to do this job every morning and afternoon.  I know you have been teaching for awhile, but if I get this job I will be the best trash person ever in the history of the world!

Follow my blog with Bloglovin