It's Five for Friday

I'm joining Doodle Bugs weekly linky.

On Wednesday I reported back to work for Teacher Prep Days and had to leave Harley at home solo.

He was so happy to see me come home at the end of my first day of work.

As part of my prep work at school I put together and Emergency Sub Tub Cart.

I have it permanently up at my front teacher desk in a rolling cart.

It will make needing to be out unexpectedly less stressful.

I'm still recovering from a recent surgery, so being up and about all day at work has been a bit exhausting this week. I've been using heat packs to curb my pain a bit and then I come home and use the heating pad while sitting in this MOST comfortable chair.

My district has adopted Go Math for our new curriculum so I spent a good chunk of my time today lesson planning and trying to find my way through their technology pieces. It's going to take some time to get the hang of things.

My most recent addition to my TPT store is a MEGA bundle of all my reading and language task card sets. It's a total of 40 different skills at a 20% discount AND if gets even better. TPT's Back to School sale is coming up on Aug. 4th and 5th.  This MEGA bundle will be an additional 28% off (be sure to use the TPT code BTS14 to get that extra 8% off). Task cards are a great resource in any classroom.

If you've never used them, give them a try.

Click picture view this MEGA bundle

Don't miss out on the shopping TPT spree!

Find more great ideas on my Pinterest page or TPT store

A Spin on Squiggle Writing- Creative Writing Idea

Raise your hand if you've done Squiggle Writing at some point in your classroom.  If not, then you've got to learn about this "oldie but goodie". It's been a standby, staple lesson in my classroom for years (30 years to be exact). 

Here's the nitty gritty directions. Basically you draw a random squiggle on paper and let students create an illustration out of it. Then they follow by writing a creatively, cute story.

Now, here's my spin on the traditional Squiggle writing.  Instead of having it be an independent activity, I've made it interactive and called it "Swap the Squiggle". The low down here is students start with their own squiggle for a brief amount of time to begin decorating and on a teacher signal move/swap their squiggle with another classmate. Ideally, you would swap the squiggles several times and then end by returning it to the original squiggle owner. Then the story writing begins! All of my classes have 

 L-O-V-E-D my "Swap the Squiggle" because it's a team effort and the end illustration ends up being a squiggle surprise. 

I've included 15 squiggle writing paper templates for writing fun. Grab it HERE

I recently started a Facebook Group for teachers to share ideas, questions, and inspiration. 

Come Join the group!

The BEST Brain Break Game

This is a must have Brain Break game in my classroom. Students don't even realize they are learning in this fast paced category game.  Students compete in pairs to name a category answer. The winner gets to race/advance around the room until beat by another opponent. It's a great listening skill game as well.  The 100 + category cards I've made are open ended making this a game to come back to AGAIN and AGAIN. It's perfect as a quick time filler which my students beg for.  

I always leave a copy of this game in my sub tub and I don't know how many "Thank You's" I've gotten from appreciative substitutes! 

Sidenote: I also modify this and use it for transition times like waiting in line. When I do, I just call off a category and call on random students to share their ideas.  Do you have more great transition tips?
       

                                        You can RACE to grab your copy here.

 

 

Stay in touch. Find me at:

My TPT store

I recently started a Facebook Group for teachers to share ideas, questions, and inspiration. 

Come Join the group!