Clifford Character Traits and Super Easy Pumpkin Muffins!

This week Clifford celebrated his 50th Birthday this week!  I love teaching with these books.  The stories are great and the lessons are BIG!  We read many Clifford stories this week, and I really mean "we"!  The kids love reading these stories and are so proud of themselves to read a "real" book.

I taught Character Traits this week with our good friend Clifford.  I love how my anchor chart turned out.  A funny story and bonus lesson: When making it, I was drawing Clifford with one of my favorite Mr. Sketch smelly markers and I messed up twice.  After throwing away those charts, I went to the trust erasable pencil!  So my class learned the bonus lesson of draw lightly with pencil first and then draw over it with markers.  In addition to the bonus art lesson, my kids really got Character Traits!

I have a great idea for an at-home "Character Traits" related book report for October.  Check back on Monday and grab the fabulous FREEBIE!

On a totally non schools related topic, I made my favorite chocolate pumpkin muffins tonight.  The are super simple, healthy and tasty!  Combine one can of pumpkin and a Devil's Food cake mix (Spice Cake is good too).  Mix just the two ingredients together, put in muffin tins and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.  They are amazing and even I can make them :o)

Have a Fabulous Friday!!!!!

Classroom DIY, Addition FREEBIE, and new product!

Yay! I was featured Sunday on Classroom DIY!!! This is a great site to add to your daily reading list. There are some amazing and "why didn't I think of that?" ideas you can make for your classroom.

I just finished a fun addition challenge for students to encourage and help them become fluent in their math facts. It is "Additions Math Masters"! Students will earn their belts as the conquer their math facts. There is a sample preview at my TpT store if you want to try it out. My students are working so hard to earn their belts. At the end of the challenge I am giving them bracelets with colored beads for all of the levels they earned.

It is Manic Monday at Classroom Freebies! Here is a quick little FREEBIE, just add dice and you have a great center activity. The kids roll the two dice, draw the dots on their dice, write the numbers and add. Great practice and fun too. You can use it again and again! Click HERE to download it for free!

Happy Friday!

This Friday was a great day! I was contacted by Charity Preston at Classroom DIY and found out I will be featured very very soon! This is a great site with so many amazing and fun ideas. Keep checking to find out more about my "golden spark"!

It is hard to believe we have been in school for just over 4 weeks and it is already progress report time. Fridays are always full of test! The kiddos work so hard all week, do their best on the test and then deserve a little fun. My students spend Friday afternoon engaging in S.T.E.A.M. activities. (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Mathematics) What do you do in your room on Friday afternoons???

Great Lesson in Self Control!

Today I had a fabulous lesson with my class on impulse control! I wish I could say I thought of it, but Pinterest did (oh I love that site!!). I had a great "I Pick" lesson on choosing books, but after the day we were having, we needed to learn about self control!

I started out with me blowing bubbles in class. All of the kids stood up and went crazy popping the bubbles. The we stopped and talked about how much fun it was and everyone wanted to do it. Then I related it to how everyone wants to talk out, get up, make random noises.... and we need to control those things so we can all learn. I then challenged them to stay seated, but they could still pop the bubbles. It was like a game, 4 or 5 kids "got out" because they couldn't stay on their bottoms. We talked about it and played the game once again, this time everyone managed to do it! Then we upped the challenge and had the kids just watch the bubbles and see if one landed on their hand. Once again every one passed with flying colors. For our last demonstration, I challenged the kids to sit and focus on "Pete the Cat" while the bubbles just fell to the ground around them. Once again we all managed to control our impulses! We discussed how the bubbles were a distraction, but we could still focus. This was an amazing lesson I am sure I will refer back to over and over this year.

When will I make it up to breathe?? Had to share a link!

Hello all! I hope you are having a fantastic start to year and are not completely drowning.... I think I can see the surface, not sure when I will make it up there? Every year starts this way and I always forget until the next year starts. (Kind of like having babies!)

I had to take some time to share a fantastic site and great deal she has on her site. She has a code to use for Samson's Classroom. If you haven't used this site, it is fantastic for the kids. I have so wanted it, but couldn't afford to get it for my class. Problem solved with this great deal! Thank you! Hurry up and head over to take advantage of the offer!

Classroom Set Up Begins!!!

Well today we were allowed in our classroom for the first time this summer. Oh boy do I have my work cut out for me! It seemed like most of my day today was just looking around thinking "what do I do first????" I did get a little bit done. I have so much on my mind now, I don't think I will be able to go to sleep ever!

Must get to work and off blogs.....

"Hi my name is Teresa and I am a blog addict!"

The Super 6 Finally Finished and a Freebie!

I have been working all summer long on my Super 6 Daily Differentiated Learning Centers pack and I finally finished!!!!! I think it turned out great. The Super 6 consist of S.T.E.M, Literacy Plugged In, Write On..., Read to Self, Word Work and Book Club. It is in my TpT store here and I am adding it to my TN store. Below is a quick description of it.

The Super 6 are daily differentiated learning centers that incorporate reading, writing, science, math, and technology. It is perfect for all elementary grades, especially grades K-2. Students rotate through 6 stations daily (sometimes 3 per day) with a customized rotation schedule. The teacher "pushes in" to a center and has the opportunity to work with every student everyday, not just the struggling students. I think I have tried every center method under the sun. The Super 6 combines the best from all of them and what works for me. This 58 page document has everything you need to implement The Super 6!

Pages 1-10 Description, directions and sample daily schedule.

Pages 11-18 Classroom Center Signs (in color)

Pages 19-25 Student rotation planner and schedule cards.

Pages 26-33 Super 6 "I Can" Task Cards

Pages 34-41 Super 6 "I Can" Task Cards (blank)

Pages 42-49 Super 6 "Must Do/ I Can" Task Cards

Laminate and write in Daily Must Do

Pages 50-57 Super 6 "Must Do/ I can" Task Cards (blank)

Page 58 Credits

This has everything you need! It may seem overwhelming at first, but once you implement it you will be amazed at the progress and growth of EVERY child. Your kids will love it and you will wonder how your taught any other way before.

The summer is quickly coming to an end and I have not done nearly as much as I had hoped. I go back Monday and the kiddos join me Thursday! I am getting in gear. Here is a quick freebie I will be using for the student's self portraits.

To find many more fabulous freebies check out Manic Monday at Classroom Freebies!