Hey Fellow Teachers!
I'm dropping in to show you my newest creation. I so would like to write about the really fun weekend I had, but I am just absolutely exhausted. Not only have I been working on this creation for weeks, but I just spent hours adding the final touches! I'm ready to be d-o-n-e.
Here it is...The Puzzling Main Idea! Hooray!
I first mentioned it to you a few weeks ago when it was in a very rough state. I feel great about the way it turned out!
This first activity involves reading The Important Book, by Margaret Wise Brown, and then creating a "Classroom Important Book". The Important Book is a fabulous and most basic intro to the concept of main idea.
Three of the activities included are puzzle themed, as puzzle pieces are compared to details and a puzzle that has been solved or put together is compared to the main idea. I love when reading skills and strategies can be made concrete and hands-on!
One of my favorite activities is called "Main Idea Mystery Bags". Several "Mystery Bags" are put together, each with their own set of cards. Students must solve the "Mystery Main Idea" of each bag.
All-in-all, there are five activities, made to be implemented in order since they build upon one another. In the last activity, students must use their new knowledge of main idea and apply it to a text.
I hope some of you will find this useful in your classroom. You can check it out here.
As always, thank you for reading!
I can't wait to write again with details about my weekend once I muster up some energy.
XO <3, C
Hey there!
All-in-all today was a good day. Nothing spectacular, just good. I woke up early to drive Sam to work today since his car has been in the shop. (Weeks ago, someone actually hit his car while it was parked in a parking lot at the shipyard where he works. There was no note left behind, and the shipyard police were never able to figure out who hit Sam's car despite surveillance footage. Personally I feel like they didn't work hard enough to scan all of the video footage, but maybe that's just me. We are down $1,000 for the deductible which is painful after funding a wedding!)
Back to today...despite the dread of waking up at 6:20 in the morning to chauffeur Sam, it was great to be up and ready to go at a more reasonable hour of the day! Unfortunately, that also meant taking a long nap later on in the morning. Oh well. You win some, you lose some!
Afterwards, I spent the day puttering around, picking Sam up from work, running errands, and making dinner. As I said before, this is nothing spectacular, but I almost felt a bit "busy", which is something I miss. That slight busy feeling made today a good day.
Just a couple specific details I'd like to mention before I sign-off for tonight.
#1 Bath and Body Works has a great sale on hand-soaps right now- 5/$15 or 7/$20. I chose to do the 7/$20 and used a 20% off coupon and ended up spending only $16!!! I just had to mention this because this deal put me in a really good mood, ha! :)
#2 More importantly, I tried a new Pinterest recipe tonight, Thai Style Peanut Pasta. Both Sam and I loved it. This is the first "real" meal I've cooked for Sam as a "wife". That is really sad considering we've been married for a month and a half already! I'm letting you in on a little secret...in this relationship, the guy does most of the cooking! I'm really trying to work on that.
When you check out the recipe at Apron Strings, you will see one of the ingredients is tamarind paste. I was unable to find this at my local grocery store, so after some research, I decided to use a tablespoon of rice vinegar and a tablespoon or so of brown sugar as a substitute. I'm not exactly sure how the dish should have tasted with tamarind paste, but it was pretty delish with my alterations! It definitely has a kick to it, probably from all of the ginger and the crushed red pepper. Here is a photo of the pre-cooked meal from Apron Strings. Yum!
#3 I am currently working on another TPT product. For some reason, this one has been taking me a while. I really would like to have it finis by the weekend! Here is a photo I took that will be incorporated into the lesson plans/activities...
Any guesses on what I am planning? I'll give you a hint. In one some of the activities, puzzle pieces are being compared to details in a text. To see the "whole picture" you need to put the details or puzzle pieces together....I'm creating a product on MAIN idea! It is always such a challenge for kiddos to formulate a detailed and cohesive sentence that accurately describes ALL of the main idea. I'm excited to finish this up! More details to come later.
Thanks for reading, everyone!
XO <3, C
