A Day Fit for a Foodie

If you know me well, you know I’m a foodie. NOT a food snob at all...I’ll eat ANTYHING. Especially if it’s deep fried and made with butter :) But I’m definitely a foodie!! Today’s activities were focused all around a couple of my favorites…pizza and cinnamon rolls!!! Both terribly fattening and unhealthy, but that’s not the point of this post :)

Before we started our math tubs today, we did a whole group fraction activity. I set out 4 pizza boxes on different tables and handed out recording sheets and clipboards. The objective of this activity was to get the kids to count the number of slices in each pizza box and then record the fraction of slices that had pepperoni/mushrooms/olives/green peppers. I made the pizzas out of construction paper, cut them into various slices {each box had a different number of slices}, and then glued each slice to the bottom of the box. The kids got to travel from box to box until all of the fractions were recorded. I labeled each box with a number, too. They LOVED this activity!!!

I got the boxes from Domino’s last year. Actually, they were left at school…totally unused…so I snatched ‘em up knowing I could do something fun with them at some point. This seemed like the perfect time to put ‘em to good use! Click the pic below for a printable.

Graphics copyright DJ Inkers.

If you’re looking for another appetizing fraction activity, Amy Lemons has this precious pizza craftivity you should check out! LOVE IT!!

During our literacy block, we talked about synonyms. I started with this book…

And then we made a list of synonyms. After that, it was time to start baking! Baking SYNONYM rolls, that is. I’m sure you’ve all seen this PRECIOUS idea on Pinterest! Well, for my little foodie lovin’ class, I knew this activity would be just perfect! I decided it would be fun to play the part of a baker, so I made all the kids a chef’s hat…and one for me, too…busted out the apron, and we got this party started.

First I had the kids make a list of synonyms. They actually got to choose what they wanted to do…either make a list of several different pairs of synonyms, or make a list of several synonyms for one word. They were all up for the challenge and it was fun to see what they chose!

Here’s a copy of this, too…

Graphics courtesy of Scrappin’ Doodles.

Once they had their words recorded, I handed out their chef hats and they immediately transformed into “Synonym Chefs”. They baked their little hearts out making the most delicious little “synonym” rolls. Yum!

I really wanted to make cinnamon rolls for the kids and bring them in, but I have several kids with severe peanut allergies, so I’m really nervous about bringing anything homemade into the classroom! While I was shopping yesterday, I found these little gems and since I knew they were peanut free {PTL!!!}, I thought these would be fun to share! {I saw this cute little idea, HERE. Genius!!!}

Oh…here’s how our little antonyms turned out. I’m still missing a few of my kids’ feet, so I’ve got a gaping hole in the middle!

Antonym Andy!

Food wasn’t the only thing we worked with today. We also worked on lots of long /a/ activities from my little Long A Kids packet.

If you want to make some chef hats for your kiddos, here’s what you’ll need to get started:

A sentence strip, 1 sheet of white tissue paper, and some tape. CHEAP. I had TONS of white tissue paper stored away…you can grab a pack of 50 sheets at the Dollar Tree!

Just take the tissue paper and start bunching it just a *pinch* and as you bunch, secure with tape. Keep on doing this until the first side of tissue paper ends. Now wrap the sentence strip and staple

Now keep on bunching/pinching/taping all the way around the inside of the sentence strip. Once it’s all secure, fluff it and put it on :) SUPER DUPER EASY!

We’re halfway to Friday, sweet friends! I’m off to celebrate with a bowl of cereal and Modern Family :)

Inferencing with NO David! and a Silent E Freebie

To kick off inferencing, we started out using Abby’s Snow Day Case Files. Do y’all have this yet??

If you’re teaching inferencing, you SERIOUSLY need this!!!! Let me just tell you that my kids were all over it. I set up my case files and the kids went to town being little “inference investigators”. Wow. I mean, they really got it!!!!!

To follow up, we pulled out the book, NO David! My kids LOVE this one!!! Our whole team is using this book to reinforce inferencing skills. First up, we made a little “No David!” inferencing brainstorm chart. We talked about using our schema and the clues in the text to make really good inferences. As we looked at each page of the story, I called on a few kids to give me an inference about the picture and then the clue/schema that helped them make the inference. We broke up this activity into parts because even though this isn’t a long story word wise, it’s pretty long when you’re making inferences!!!

After we brainstormed our inferences, I introduced our little inferencing anchor chart. We talked about words to use {sentence starters} when we’re making/writing about inferences. We went over schema again and they IMMEDIATELY knew what evidence was {thanks to Abby’s Snow Day Case Files!!!!}

I had the kids fill out this little inferencing sheet where they had to describe a picture from the story, write their inference about the picture, and then write about a clue/schema that helped them make their inference. LOVE!!!!

We’ve got lots more inferencing activities planned, but so far we’re off to a great start!

We’ve also been reviewing and working with silent e. I don’t want to jinx myself, but I think they’re *finally* getting it!!! Now we’re working hard to incorporate the silent e into our everyday spelling. Here’s a little activity we did a couple of weeks ago. My kids LOVED it and it really helped them to understand the job of silent e!!!

Click to download Silent E Freebie

I’ll be spending the next few nights cramming for my ESL certification test on Friday. EEEEK!!! Nervous!! I’m NOT a test taker by a LONG shot. However, I think God is helping me through this one!!! I’ll be praying big time!! Have y’all taken it?!?! I heard it’s REALLY hard!!! Nothing like waiting ‘til the last minute to study! To prep for a long night of studying, I’ll be watching Top Chef and cooking THIS for dinner. That should help me make it through!!! HA!!!

HAPPY HUMP DAY!!!!

A New Year Freebie & Some Resolutions

So…let me just go ahead and say that I LOVE New Year’s :) Not because I’m partyin’ it up on NYE…unless you consider sparkling cider, my sofa, and MTV a party…but I love it because it gives us a chance to start all over. Such a great time to reflect and make resolutions and ohmiword…I’ve got a few! I thought I’d go ahead and share those with y’all and then share a *little* freebie :)

This has been one of those years. I’m sure you can tell by the lack of my blogging :) Between my very spirited class, my even more spirited boys, a husband that works nights, and domestic duties, this little blog has been pushed aside. I’m sure it doesn’t help that I’m also trying to maintain my personal blog AND my domestic blog, too. My personal blog is my journal…the random stories of our little life…and I don’t want to slack on that one, so I’ll be keeping up with that one a lot more often! But I also LOVE this little blog. I love all the opportunities it’s thrown my way and all the WONDERFULLY TALENTED, AMAZING teachers/friends I’ve met through it. And keeping up with it has really helped me stay on track in my own classroom, too!

I’ve been SO blessed by so many of you in SO many different ways. Your comments, your emails, your posts, your ideas, your funny stories, your creativity, your sharhing hearts, your vulnerability…everything!! I’ve loved meeting some of y’all in real life and feeling like I’ve known you since forever. I’ve loved meeting some of y’all just through comments/emails and feeling the same way. This little blog…and ALL of you…have been such a blessing to me :)

In 2012, I plan on…

*Commenting more. I have a little over 100{ish} teaching related blogs I read through Google Reader every day. I catch up on my phone mostly…while I’m sitting in traffic, cooking dinner, bathing my boys, etc. The bad thing about Google Reader is that it’s made me terribly lazy. I haven’t visited blogs in a LONG time, so I’ve been slacking in the comment department. BUT, I’m changing that in 2012. I’m always so appreciative and grateful when y’all comment on my blog and I definitely want y’all to know that I’m lovin’ reading what you’re posting, too! So…I’m definitely going to get better at that. Will somebody hold me accountable, please?! Rachelle?!?! Where are you?!?! HA!

*Returning emails. I’m not even gonna get into this because my email is a sad, sad place. So unattended. I’m so overwhelmed by emails that I’ve been behind for a long time now. If you’ve emailed me and haven’t heard back, I’m sorry…for real. As you can tell, I’m extremely long winded and way to wordy, so those are the kind of emails I want to send back when you write. If I can’t sit down and send you a “talkative” email, I keep putting it off until I can. Now I’ve dug myself into a hole and can’t get out. I’m wiping the slate clean and starting from scratch. I just can’t get to them all, so I’m deleting my inbox. If you email me again…starting now…I promise I’ll get back to you right away :)

*Updating my sidebar. Like I said, I haven’t visited blogs in forever…mine included. I’ve been meaning to update my sidebar with links to more blogs and I’ve just been so dang lazy.

*Being more consistent with my Wandering Wednesday posts. Darnit! I started off so great, but then I just got so busy!!! This year has been wild, but I’m determined to get back on track!

*Post more freebies. Starting now…

Here’s a little {42 page} freebie just for you :) I’ll need something to keep my kids busy when they come barreling through my door on the 3rd, so here are a few activities I’m using to keep them on task. You can click the picture to download it or head on over to my TpT shop and pick it up there {for free}. Hope this helps get your new year off to a great start!!!

For those of you that have asked about my Winter Math & Literacy center packs, those will be uploaded this weekend!! I’m still visiting with my in-laws up north, so I’m knee deep in family time and trying to savor every minute of this WAY too short vacation. Hope y’all are having a very BLESSED holiday and I’ll see y’all next year :) HA! Couldn’t resist ;)