The Puzzling Main Idea

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

Monday Subbing!

It's official!  I had my first day of work on Monday!  I substituted in a K-2 school about 10 minutes away from my house and it was awesome!

I was a little nervous because I didn't know any teachers or students at the school, and certainly did not know my way around.  With about 3 maps in hand, I navigated the maze that it is, (seriously, it is a maze!) and picked up various children to work with back in a special education room.  It was a lot of fun working with the kids one-on-one.  Such a different feel than balancing 24 students! Towards the end of the day, I spent about an hour or so with a first grade class.  I was really impressed by them.  I thought for sure it would feel drastically different than 3rd grade, and it did feel different, but everything flowed.  It came with total ease.  Maybe that is due to my early childhood background and many hours working with 3-5-year-olds?!

It was strange to be the "odd man out", and have most people think of me as a sub and not a teacher.  Many people asked if this was my first time subbing.  Over and over, I explained a little bit of my story and where I came from.  I want people to know I have experience.  I want to be valued like a regular teacher.  Luckily, I met many friendly teachers who told me they were happy to have me be a part of their district. :-)

I'm excited to get my next sub call...eeek!  I have to say, subbing just one day, and working with those cute little faces helped fill a little hole in me that has been empty for the past few weeks. 

I saw a great Chrysanthemum display in the First Grade hallway that showed off the children's names and how many letters each of their names have in them.  I didn't snap a picture, because I didn't want to be rude and assume the teachers would like their work posted on my blog.  Instead, I found some great Pinterest pictures / activities that remind me of the display.  They are too cute! 

Check out the Chrysanthemum ideas I was able to find:

In the center of the hallway display there was a poster very much like this...

Courtesy of First Grade Wow

With it was a name chart similar to this...

(I'm not sure where this pin originated from.)

What a great beginning of the year activity to help everyone get to know each others' names!

Here are some additional  ideas I found on Pinterest:

I love the idea of wrinkling a large heart each time Chrysanthemum's feelings are hurt, and then showing the children how the wrinkles will never disappear even after trying to smooth them out.

Courtesy of First Grade Wow

This one includes a story map, comprehension questions, and a sheet for students to write/draw about their own name.

Courtesy of First Grade Fanatics

In this craftivity, children draw a portrait of themselves inside the chrysanthemum and then write about what makes them "wilt" and "bloom".  Love it!

Courtesy of Hollie Griffith

This is an activity for children to complete at home with a parent.  It helps the children to learn where their name originated from and what it means.

Courtesy of The Techy Teacher

Finally, this free packet has the materials you'll need for the First Grade Wow activities I posted above, along with additional ideas.

Courtesy of First Grade Wow

Enjoy, everyone!

P.S. We were supposed to receive our dates for San Diego today, but no such luck.  Now, we're supposed to hear tomorrow.  Keeping my fingers crossed!

XO <3, C

A Good Day

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

Hooray!

Hello, everyone!  Today, two unexpected things happened.  Number 1:  My brother, Jeff, got out of work early so he was able to stop by and hang out with me for a while.  We had a delicious lunch at a local diner.  Nothing like a BLTCA!  Number 2:  I received a letter from the superintendent of  the town I live in, asking me to contact one of his elementary school principals to set up an interview for subbing!  YES!  I wasn't sure if they would really be on top of hiring new subs right now considering this is a very busy time of year from them.  I'm especially excited about this opportunity because not only do I get to have my "classroom fix", but it would be in my town!!!  The two elementary schools are MINUTES away!  What a thought!  I'm used to the hour there and hour back commute I have had the past five years!  Also, I am really shocked to find that I might actually be needed. Just a few days ago, I saw that this district, actually the entire SAU, is no longer accepting sub applications, but I mailed mine in anyway, thinking maybe in a few months they could use someone.  I'm very excited about the possibilities that can come of this. :-)  I just LOVE SCHOOL!

And now, more on that subject.  I'd like to share two of my favorite Beginning of  the School Year books with you.  Let's get started:

Okay, we all know Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst is a children's classic!  I'm sure most elementary teachers have at least one copy of this book in their rooms.  I love to read this book at the beginning of the year, as we are forming a classroom community.  Together, the kids and I discuss the importance of being positive and supporting  others who may be having a bad day, because we want everyone to feel happy, successful, and loved while they are at school.  Most children have great connections to this story, and enjoy sharing their own Bad Day memories as well as helpful strategies their classmates can use to turn their Bad Day around. 

I literally just discovered there is a free video version on YouTube!  I don't often use videos in my classroom, but they really add a nice change of pace, especially when the kids are suffering in the sweltering heat during the first week or two of school.

Mr. Peabody's Apples is one of my all-time favorites, and yes, it is by Madonna!  I want to thank my beloved cooperating teacher from my internship all those year ago for introducing it to me.  This book touches upon the importance of staying open-minded about others, instead of making assumptions about them.  It also focuses on the power of words as they can be hurtful to people's reputations and feelings.  This is another wonderful beginning-of-the-year story as it's a great segue into many common morals that are necessary for building a positive classroom community.  The children usually come up with ideas like, "Don't judge a book by its cover", "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all", and "Don't spread rumors".  My favorite part of this book is the ending.  It leaves the reader hanging, and encourages kids to infer an even deeper message.  I'm not positive this book is still technically in print, but you can still find copies on Amazon.

I have a lot more back-to-school ideas I'd like to talk about, but I think I need a break for now.  I'll be back soon with more!

XO <3, C