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Saturday, October 26, 2013

A Classroom Full of Smiles Blog Launch!


Welcome! It means a lot to me that you are taking the time to read my blog. I have enormous things planned for my blog, so stayed tuned. 

My name is Mary. This is my fourth year teaching. I'm currently teaching 3rd grade. I'm obsessed with teaching. Just ask my hubby. I basically work ALL the time. But what teacher doesn't? Admit it, we love what we do! I'm always looking for innovative ways to teach a lesson. I'd say that I learn something new everyday and I love it! You can find out more about me in the "About Me" section of the site.

These are some of my bulletin boards this year.

 Ummm, I might have a slight addiction to owls.

Bats, bats, and more bats!


I'm going to go ahead and jump right on in. With the Spooooky season upon us, I decided to switch things up. We were suppose to be following our basil (which had nothing to do with this time of the year). How boring is that? I needed some excitement in my teaching. I chose to create a little bat unit. If you're a pinter-holic like I am, you'll probably recognize some of these projects.

My classroom is located in the only building with an inside hallway. I wanted to enhance not only OUR learning experience, but the whole building's. Therefore, I created an interactive tree map. I posted an article about bats, a huge bat, sticky notes, and directions. I got the idea of using a bat as a tree map from A Day in First Grade.


What bat unit is complete without Stellaluna?!
I didn't have enough books for everyone to be in a small group. What was the next best thing??? I-Pads of course. Our school is Title 1 and with that comes extra money to invest in different things. We invested in thirty I-Pads for the whole school to share. Luckily, no one had reserved the I-Pads for that day. I scooped them up. I went to the website Storyline Online. Of course Stellaluna was one of the amazing stories included on their website. I grouped the kiddos, set the purpose for reading, and let them enjoy the story.


Afterwards, we talked about many of the story elements, their opinions on the story, etc. Then it was time to get to work. The kiddos worked in different groups to come up with ideas of how Stellaluna changed throughout the story. I gave each kiddo a sticky note to write down how Stelluna changed throughout the story. They were able to use the story from the website on the I-Pads to go back into the story for evidence. They posted their ideas on our Stellaluna thinking map. I got this aaaahhdorable idea from Mrs. Patton's Class. After reviewing, it was time for them to show me what they learned. They got to work on writing how Stellaluna changed throughout the story.

Trick-or-Treat... A Halloween Freebie!


Need a little something with little prep and a little spook to it? Try my Common and Proper Noun Sorting Game (Halloween Edition). Click {here} to grab it.



Tasty (and easy) Grand Opening Giveaway!


What grand opening is complete without a giveaway?
How about a night out with the girls or that special someone?
 Even better, what if dinner was on me?
Follow the directions below for your chance to win a $25 gift card to P.F. Chang's AND a free copy of my Common and Proper Noun Sorting Game (All Four Seasons).

a Rafflecopter giveaway



23 comments:

  1. My littlest boy always makes me smile!

    Crystal Shepherd
    lucytumnus@gmail.com
    Lamppost in a STEM classroom

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    1. Hi Crystal. Kids are the best! How old is your son? My daughter turned 1 in August.

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  2. One of my students wrote a fairy tale about me :)

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    1. Aw! Gotta love when they incorporate you into their work. Sometimes it is hard to remember that to the kids, we are a HUGE part of their world.

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  3. Welcome to the wonderful world of blogging! :)
    Cute blog! :)
    XOXO,
    Tamara

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    Replies
    1. Thank you Tamara! Love your blog. Purple is my favorite color ;)

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  4. Seeing my son at our Harvest Fest.

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    Replies
    1. Love Fall events! How old is your son? My daughter is 1 and had a blast at the pumpkin patch.

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  5. My kindergarten students who are so eager to learn put a smile on my face everyday!

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    1. I love seeing the Kinders at school. They are SOOO precious and always wanting to please the teacher.

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  6. What made me smile: looking through old photos for my blog post of me in a Halloween costume when I was a child...it brought back such happy memories! Welcome to blogging - I look forward to following you!
    ~Deb
    Crafting Connections

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    Replies
    1. Deb, your throwback pic is adorable. Love the costumes your mom made!

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  7. A student who is always extra excited to learn.. I like your site!

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    1. Thank you! It is an awesome feeling when you mention what you will be teaching for the day and the kids smile and say, "yay!".

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  8. A student who was excited to come to reading group to finish what we started the previous day.
    Thanks for the opportunity and freebie.
    Jeanne J28ber@gmail.com

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  9. One of my kids was writing an acrostic poem and couldn't think of a word to start the line with l so he wrote LOL... I was LOLing!

    Very cute blog!

    Laura
    tattling to the teacher

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    Replies
    1. Adorable! I love how your kids drew borders around their poems.

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  10. Hi friend! Welcome to the blogging world! One thing that makes me smile is seeing my students smile :-) (Also when they tell me that I'm the best teacher in the world lol)

    Jasmine
    Buzzing With Mrs. McClain

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  11. My kids always make smile. I also smile on Friday afternoons when I enjoy tea time with my girlfriends.

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  12. Love that you have a tradition to hang with the girls each Friday! A great way to unwind from a busy week.

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  13. My first graders make me smile when they read their stories! A student wrote and told me not to say, "Smell my feet!" when I go trick or treating! Gotta love them!

    Welcome to blog world!

    Kristen
    A+ Classroom Creations

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