5 for Spring Break

This was my spring break week.  The first day started off with snow.  This is Ohio, so we accept that.  But what was I going to do with my girls all week long...inside?
Here are my 5 random thoughts about this week.

1. I started getting some birthday party items ready.  My youngest is turning 3.  What!!!  She is having a Pee Wee party.  So we turned some bow ties into hair bows.

2. Maria's girls came over and we had a cupcake decorating party.

3. Fancy Nancy ideas have started to really flow this week.  Maria and I have been texting back and forth all week with ideas.  We have been gathering books.  (Note: there are some Henry and Mudge books we plan to use because they have the same theme and we want to grab the boy's attention, as well).

4. We have also started to gather materials to help the students make a fancy version of themselves.  Once they create their "fancy" or "handsome" portrait, they will use Melissa and Doug frames.

5. Grading in writing has always been a struggle for me.  Finding just the right balance between mechanics, neatness, and content has been a little tricky.  But I think these challenges are what makes our profession fun.  So I started working on the student checklist and rubric for this Fancy Nancy Unit.  Here is what I have come up with.  If you like, just click on the image for your copy.

Hope everyone enjoys their weekend!
Em

mmmm....muffins and sight words

Oh, spring break! 
With all of my home time, there has been a lot of experimenting this week with some crafts and recipes.  I found a linky to go along with my experiments for the week at 2nd Grade Pad.  It is a Make and Take linky.  It can be school or home related.  Since I am not at school this week, I thought I would post a recipe that I tried out this week.

I live in a house with one gluten-free child and one diabetic low-carb husband.  We have to be creative.
I found these "Green Monster Muffins" on The Chic Life. They were really good!  But I needed to make them fit our food restrictions.  So I changed things up a bit.  I used almond meal instead of flour.  Got rid of the sugar and decreased the amount of applesauce.  I added some more spices to ensure there was some flavor (since I got rid of the sugar).

Spinach-Almond Muffins
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups of almond meal (I use Trader Joe's)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground gloves
1/2 teaspoon allspice
 1/4 teaspoon salt

1 egg
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 cup packed baby spinach (chopped in food processer)
3 tablespoons canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Get muffin cups ready (about 11 or 12).
Whisk the egg until fluffy.  Add the applesauce and whisk until blended.
Then add the oil, vanilla, spinach, and lemon juice.  Whisk together.
 Pour in all of the dry ingredients and mix until just blended.  Pour mixture into muffin cups (about 3/4 full). 
Bake for about 14-16 minutes.

Mine are not as pretty as the "Green Monster Muffins" but we have had about 3 batches this week!

This is a teacher blog.  So I figure I need to post something related to school.  This year I have created some powerpoints that show sight words quickly.  The purpose is to get our firsties to see the words and know them automatically.  I just made a new one this week.  It will be used more next year because they are very easy/common words.  We show the powerpoint during transitions on our mimeo.  The students can read along with the powerpoint on their own.  If you want a copy just click on the photo.

Happy Thursday everyone!
Em

Five for a "Researchy" Friday

Happy Friday everyone!  I missed my Five for Friday last week :(  It is one of my favorite things about the week.  So I am happy to be linking up again.

 So #1 for this week has got to be SPRING BREAK! I can't believe it!  The year is rounding the corner to the end and it has gone so fast.  Oh...and FYI...we are suppose to have a huge snow storm this weekend.

Alright...#2 is pizza.  Natalie and I have been working on fractions for the past couple of weeks.  We have had a lot of fun.  Our firsties broke cookies into fractions, make a fraction quilt, and (of course) some pizza.

#3 is for research.  Maria and I have been working on animal research reports for the past couple of weeks and it came to an end today with a celebration!  Parents, second graders, and kindergarteners walked around to our three classrooms and got to hear the research reports.  WOW!  They did a great job! Check out some of the work...

 #4 is research assessment.  We are learning about writing assessment as we go.  It is a constant learning.  Here is the student checklist and rubric that we used for this project.  Click below picture for your copy.

Click Here

Fonts: Type Key by Typadelic and Cinnamon Cake by Brittany Murphy.
#5 is next up...Fancy Nancy.  What The Teacher Wants posted about Fancy words and we got inspired.  After Spring Break, we will begin talking "fancy."  It will also connect to our "Henry and Mudge and Mrs. Hopper's House" that we will be reading.  Students will be writing a "how-to" and may have the opportunity to celebrate some fanciness at the end of our unit!

Happy Weekend Everyone!
Em

Five For Friday

Yay for Friday!!

1.  Okay...brace yourself...My number one this week is S.N.O.W....D.A.Y!  Can you believe it???? First one in two years (I think).  It was a pretty exciting phone call to get.  My girls, husband, and I enjoyed a little "cold" time in the snow together.

2. Our girls decided to share their "fierce" faces with us at dinner.  I just had to share with you!

3. This week we read "The Dot."  Oh...I love this story.  Have you ever used this story in your classroom?

My curious teammate, Natalie, and I decided to try to connect this to our math study of fractions.  And we think it was pretty successful.  Here's what we did:

Our firsties tried to throw a round sponge into the target circle.  Each student got two tries.  We talked about how Vashti learned to not give up.  Then we took our results and wrote fractions.  And (of course) we ended the lesson by telling our firsties to "sign it."

4. Maria and I started a research unit this week.  Animal research.  And...oh..my...goodness...our kiddos are just so excited about it! 
We started with some cute decor.  This owl is based on an owl that I saw here.

Then we read "Sharks!" to our firsties.  We asked them to listen to facts about what the sharks look like, eat, where they live, and how they move.  We used post-its to mark where the facts are located in the book.  (Yellow=looks like; Green=eat; Blue=live; Pink=move).

They picked out their animal today and the book they need to do their research.  How exciting!!

5. Tonight we walked around the antique mall looking for some inspiration.  We bought this cool frame from Ikea.  It was black and we painted it white.

It is going to be hung on a brown wall above a twin bed.  But I just can't decide what should go inside of it.  Any ideas??

And last...I am linking up with Fifth in the Middle to share that I am a...

Happy Weekend everyone!
Em

It's Currently Time!!!!!

Yes.... it's March.... That means... it's time for Farley's Currently!  :)  If you've never done this before, you should.  It's super fun and I just checked... She posted like... 22 hours ago and there were already like 1,000,000 almost 220 posts!!!!  Amazing!

Here's what I'm doing... Currently.  :)

My hubby is listening to/watching basketball.  I'm working on the computer, so I'm listening too.  :)
LOVING..... the ladies I work with.  They are A.M.A.Z.I.N.G!!! I feel so blessed everyday that I have such a wonderful, supportive team. 
THINKING.. I have lots of work to do.  I need to get sub plans ready for Monday because I have a personal day and I'm headed to school tomorrow to get everything in order.
WANTING.... sleep.  My youngest keeps having night terrors (Me diagnosed) and keeps waking up about 2-3 times a night.  I think for the whole month of February I only slept through the night once or twice.  I'll take any advice!
NEEDING... 'nough said.
LIKE.. Minnie Mouse!  Can't wait to see her when we go to Disney this summer.  Which... I need to post about.  :)
LOVE... Mac n' Cheese!  Kraft, homemade, if it has cheese and noodles, I'm in!
HATE... Mustard.  I just don't like it. I guess I should have put M&M's too because I HATE chocolate!  :)


So what are you "Currently" doing???????  Can't wait to hear about it!
PS.... You still have time to head over to our 100 Follower Giveaway! My talented Curious Friend Em made an AWESOME Wreath to giveaway!   :)  Just click the picture below to check it out!!!

Five for Friday (thank goodness)

Wow! It has been a crazy.fun.busy.crazy week!

One
My amazing math teammate, Natalie, and I start working with fractions next week.  So I ordered these two books to help us along.   "Full House" was a new read for me and I think it will be a fun way to introduce the concept.

Two
It was Dr. Seuss week.  One of my favorite activities came from a quick change in plans in our daily schedule.  Maria is so quick to think on her feet!  She came up with this amazing idea to go along with the "The Tooth Book."

Three
This was another favorite activity of mine this week. "Sight Word Apples Up On Top"

Four
This week I successfully made some gluten free banana bread.  My teammate, Karen, needed a healthy treat this week and I think it did the trick :)

Five
Our 100 follower Giveaway ends soon.  Hope you can enter!

Thanks to Doodle Bugs for this time to reflect on the week.  But I am so glad that it is Friday!  I need some sleep time.

Em