Back from Vacation

We are back from vacation. Let me show you a few pictures.

We rented a small cottage/cabin close to Lake James (30 miles from Asheville). Hubby wanted a bigger lake, but this ended up being a great beginning lake to introduce the kids to canoeing and fishing with daddy for hours and hours. 

They left bright and early, while I slept in and spent some quality time with my mom. Win-win situation :)

Sadly, we found many places closed to the public due to the rain. But the weather was beautiful! Some clouds, nice sunny days, and rain by the time we were ready to relax. 

I read a fabulous book (and finished it!), played some scrabble (I lost) and we saw a bear!!! I mean, a cute wooded bear at a restaurant, but nevertheless, we saw a bear :)

I have hundreds of pictures to download from my 'good' camera, but I could not wait to share with you. Now...it is time to reply to all the emails, catch up with bloglovin' and work on something for school. I just can't stay away!

Before and Afters of Today.

Today was my last day at work. Woohooo!  My track out began as of 5:00 pm. The family is ready to escape to the mountains and relax for a whole week.

This is what I accomplished today (besides a ton of paperwork).

My buckets needed some serious cleaning and new labels. I made some star labels that match the stars inside the cubbies.

Browsing Boxes and bookworm labels to revamp their 'look'.

If you think you can use the smiley star labels (numbered 1-24) and/or the browsing boxes labels (numbered 1-24), e-mail, I will be happy to send them your way! 

Now...time to do laundry and begin packing for our week getaway. Continue to enjoy your break, as it is my turn to do the same :)  

Best of luck next week to all my track one buddies!

Knowledge in a Bottl

You probably watched or read Message in a Bottle, right?  If you are as young old as I am, you probably did :)

With that in mind, we created our End of the Year project: Knowledge in a Bottle.

I have been collecting frappuccino bottles for a while. You do not want me to tell you how many calories I have drank. My students should have gotten me a gym membership!

Here come the best part... THE Knowledge!

The kids really liked it, and I received some nice emails about our last project.

Washi Notebooks

I wanted to share a quick project I did with my class today. We called them Washi notebooks :)

This is what you need:
- Notebooks
- Mod Podge
- Brushes
- White construction paper
- Washi tape

Step 1: Mod Podge the cover of the notebook. I used mini notebooks, but you can easily use regular composition notebooks.

 

Step 2: We used white construction paper to cover all the words from the cover. I knew the tape would notcover the words, so we were ready to add a white background. Mod Podge over the construction paper. Let it dry.

Step 3- Use the washi tape to cover the construction paper.

Step 4- Trim the edges and tada! Your Washi notebook is all done :)

Any washi tape lovers out there? Hope you get inspired and begin creating :)

Retelling Wands

The last two weeks, the kids and I did our last review on retelling fiction and nonfiction. I knew I was about to start doing running records and I needed one more change to drill teach these in a different way.
My five leveled groups had two books: one fiction and one nonfiction. The kids met in groups and read with a buddy. We described, defined and retold each element orally and in writing.

We reviewed every single fiction and nonfiction element of the story. 

My students used my latest product, and loved it :)

Find it HERE. 

60 pages:circles to create your wands, full page posters (colored background) , half way posters (using less ink), and all the retelling in writing forms.

Turn a paint stick + paint spray + Velcro into a wand. 

Use when your students are Reading to Someone (and checking for understanding), retelling during a running record or retelling in writing. 

 Retelling in writing.

I had to try something different and this seemed to do the trick for most of them. They were asked to offer evidence from their text and I was so happy when I saw the results.  

I'd love to hear your thoughts. What do you do with the kiddos who do not get author's message?

Ready to win one? Let me know if you are following my blog via Google friend and via Bloglovin' and your name will be entered. I will pick two winners tomorrow night.