Two for Tuesday- Novel Study and Decimals Game

I just hit up a bunch of stores in this linky party and got so many new products for my classroom at half off!!! So I had to "pay it forward" and link up as well.

That's right, these products are now 50% off in my store  today ONLY!

This novel study packet is based off the book, "Because of Winn Dixie" by Kate DiCamillo. It can be used for guided reading groups, lit circles or whole class novel study. The enclosed activites encourage students to make connections, learn new vocabulary, write and summarize.
The skills that this packet focuses on are:
*Parts of speech (verbs)
*Paragraph Practice
*Dictionary Use & Vocabulary
*Predictions
*Character Mapping
*Summarizing
*Visualization

The second product is math-related!

Students can put the cards in order from least to greatest or greatest to least. This sort includes decimals up to the thousandths place. This can be used as a quick math center or enrichment activity. Print, laminate, & cut and you have a quick and easy math center for years to come.

I used this in my fourth grade class as a math center. The students were beyond excited to get to this specific math center. I gave them each a set to keep and they were playing war with the cards during indoor recess.

When students are finished putting the cards in order from greatest to least (or vice versa) you can have them partner up and play "war" with the cards. War is a card game where both of the students have a pile of cards facing down. At the same time, both students pull the top card off their deck and put it face up in front of them. The card with the highest value wins.

Currently July!

Listening: I've been watching a ton of Netflix documentaries lately. Today I watched "Stuck" and "Mortified" and would recommend both. "Mortified" was a comedy where regular people read their diaries from their awkward teen years as part of a comedy show. Hilarious.

Loving: We've only had about two weeks of summer and I've already gone to a Nationals baseball game, taken a cooking class with the hubby at Sur La Table, visited friends in Pittsburgh, ran a Father's Day 5k with my family, went hiking, gone tubing down the Shenandoah River, gone to brunch and tried three new restaurants! But most of all I get to hang out with my dog.

Thinking: I have lots of packing to do for the wedding this weekend. My hubby is a groomsman so we have to pick up his suit. & I have to pack for the long weekend and all the festivities!!

Wanting: Obsessed with all the cute american flag clothes and accessories I've seen lately. I have some american flag shoes from American Eagle and I love them.

Needing: I've been staying up until 2 AM lately (and by 2 AM I mean 4 AM) and need to be more normal. I've cut coffee out of my life cold turkey so waking up is even more difficult than usual. If anyone wants to send a Dunkin Donuts iced coffee my way, I won't hate it.

Can't wait to see everyone else's Currently July over at Oh Boy! Fourth Grade!

Don't miss this Clip Art freebie from Creative Clips

A link to this freebie on Teachers Pay Teachers has gone viral today and for good reason: Krista Wallden is giving away a School Favorites Clip Art pack for free! AND if she gets 2000 ratings on this product, she'll post another freebie!

Do yourself a favor and download (and also don't forget to leave a rating!) The stripey apples are my favorite and the owls are a close second.

Just click the picture below to follow the link to the product:

I just checked out her store and she also has a ton of other amazing freebies. Six pages worth to be exact!

Teachers Pay Teachers Facelift

My last day of work for the summer was June 18th. Ever since then I've been incredibly unproductive. It's been great. And by great I mean that I don't have bags under my eyes anymore!

But I've decided I want to be prepared as possible for this upcoming year. As a fourth year teacher, I hope to have more time to complete all the pinterest projects I've always dreamed of completing. I know... dreams of grandeur and it's not even July!

I began with wanting to create some new products for my TPT store. I sat and I thought.

I sat.

I thought.

And the creativity bug never bit me. My determination continued. Mostly because I wanted a reason to justify purchasing some new clip art and digital papers from Etsy.

So I decided to give my current TPT products a facelift! Here's the before and after:

A lot of my products didn't even have cover pages, so I created some of those. Like this one:

Now I'm just waiting for some ideas so that I can add some new products to my store this summer while I have time (and am not sleep deprived!)

Has anyone else ever done this before?

Whew! What a year!

Wow. I haven't blogged since September 2nd of last year. And I'm not surprised.

I'm going to be honest. It was my third year of teaching, I thought it would be smooth sailing, but I had a tough class of knuckleheads this year. I adore each and every one of them but boy did they give me a run for my money.

Isn't it amazing, though, how the kids that give you the hardest time really become your favorites? I had some truly fantastic kiddos this year and also, I think, the smartest and most hardworking group as a class that I've ever had.

The highlight of my year this year was that a couple of my girls organized a surprise birthday party for me. It was a BIG deal. The kiddos were so organized. There were committees!!!! They made sure there were snacks and cake but they didn't forget the decorations, music and utensils. One of my girls even secretly wrote a note to another teacher in my school (who I'm very close friends with) and asked her if she could ask my husband to come to the surprise party. And he managed to take off work and show up (I mean, who can say no to such a dedicated fourth grader?!) Needless to say, my heart was melted!

There was even a sash and crown for me to wear!

Here's to another year next year. It will be my fourth year teaching fourth grade! I promise I will blog more! I have loads to share!

Currently September

It's that time! Linking up with Farley from Oh Boy Fourth Grade for the September Currently!!!

I've been busy, busy, busy lately. With school starting tomorrow, my wedding in 19 days and lots of upcoming doctor appointments, I haven't had a day to myself. This labor day weekend was great though. I got to spend yesterday tubing down the Shenandoah River with some of my favorite girls.

I am super obsessed with etsy lately. And then with back to school shopping, anything black and gold or chevron catches my eye immediately.

With the upcoming wedding, I am focusing on being strict about eating clean now. Can't decide what to cook up for dinner.

So much to do this month!!!

Monday Made It - Teacher Toolbox

My first day with the kiddos is tomorrow! I've had the last two weeks to prepare: get my classroom ready, plan and attend quite a few professional development trainings. It's my third year teaching fourth grade this year and I'm so happy to have the experience that I have. I remember being so nervous before my first day of school my first year. I'm not nervous this year. I'm a little anxious with all the wonderings about my new class, but I'm mostly excited to start a new year.

One of my main goals this year is organization. I'm the team leader, which means I need to be organized to help the rest of the teachers on my team succeed. So one of the pinterest projects I decided to make this summer was a teacher toolbox.

I've always seen the teacher toolboxes on pinterest but the thought of going to Home Depot was intimidating. Whenever I go to Home Depot, Lowes or any of those giant home improvement stores, I always get lost and feel like I'm finding a needle in a haystack.

HOWEVER, did you know that you can order/reserve a product online through Home Depot or Lowes' websites and then pick it up in about 20 minutes to an hour later at the customer service desk AT NO EXTRA COST! This means no more wandering and it saves a ton of time!! This way you can also be sure that they have exactly what you're looking for in stock at your local store.

Step One: You can order the Stack-On 22-Compartment Storage Cabinet from Home Depot here. It is currently $12.97.

You can order the Stack-On 22-Drawer Storage Cabinet from Lowes here. It is currently $16.47.

I wanted mine to be gray, so I ordered mine from Home Depot. Make sure you check the option for in-store pick up :)

Step Two: Paper. I went to my local craft store to get some cute paper to print out on. I had a chevron vision for my teacher toolbox, so I actually had to buy one of those $20 books of scrapbook paper.

Step Three: Download the teacher toolbox label template from Jessica Warcup's Teachers Pay Teachers store here. This will make your life so much easier!!!

Step Four: Type up the labels you want for your toolbox. Every teacher is different so you can fully customize these labels. I typed mine in the font Howser, from Kevin and Amanda fonts. You can download that font here. It's one of my go-to fonts!

A few recommendations for labels that I have-
- I made a small drawer for a hole punch.  My standard one-hole hole punch did not fit in the small drawer.
-I forgot to make a drawer for pencils. Definitely make a drawer for pencils.
-I made a small drawer for binder clips, but only about 10 fit. It doesn't seem like the most efficient use of a drawer to me, so I might not do that the next time around.
-Leave a few drawers blank, you might think of a better use for the drawer later!

Step Five: Print the labels on your scrapbook paper.

Step Six: Cut out the labels and tape them onto the drawers.

Step Seven: Fill with supplies, show off and enjoy!!!