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