Holiday Time in the Classroom: Frosty Frenzy

Polar Express parties are THE HOTTEST THING... right now on IG and Pinterest.  I of course wanted to do one in my classroom because we are use The Polar Express as a mentor text for mentor sentences this week.

But I realized.... A) Polar Express is not on Netflix or Amazon Prime (boooo!) B) It was close to a two hour movie and C) I usually like to put a spin on things.

So I figured that Frosty the Snowman is a classic, one hour and a few minutes in length and FREE on Netflix.  So my students still get to enjoy some hot chocolate, snuggle with their favorite teddy bear, wear comfy pajamas and watch a fun movie.

I made this flyer up... to add extra hype to the special Frosty Frenzy.

Enjoy the holidays with your kiddos!

Author's Purpose

My students were having a tough time understanding Author's Purpose. I decided I needed a hands-on way that my students could sort persuade, inform and entertain.

Let's be honest.... there's always old Scholastic Book Orders left over. So my students first sorted the mini-passages into the PIE categories.  Then they had a blast in cutting, sorting and gluing the clippings from the book orders.

I also do a STOP! GRAB YOUR BOOK! My students quickly grab their book and I have them tell me the Author's Purpose of their book. Using the sentence frame... The author's purpose of my book is to________. I know this because ( and they give a few reasons why!) This is a quick win-win as a teacher... I get to assess for speaking and listening standards, the other kids get good ideas of what book to read next and it is a perfect way to effectively use those 5 minutes before recess.

Teacher HACKS: #1

When ALL love TOMS as teachers!

My teacher HACKS consist of buying youth TOMS. For example, (I do not have dainty, petite feet) I wear a size 9 in women TOMS and I wear a youth size 6.  The reason, I like buying youth is because they are CHEAPER, have more CUSHION and there are so many PATTERNS you can choose from!!

If my wide, solid caveman feet can fit into a youth TOMS... consider trying them on!!!

#Teachers Take Sacramento 2016

 

So Erin, Laura, Brianne and I have come together to plan an EPIC meetup in February.

The weekend we have planned is filled with fun and collaboration opportunities!!  We have AMAZING (I mean AH-MAZING) GIVEAWAYS and an awesome SWAG bag for all of those in attendance!  Space is limited!

When:  February 19-20, 2016 (Friday is a causal meet&greet and Saturday is the EPIC-NESS!)

Where:  Sacramento, Ca

Cost:  $45  (Includes full dinner, t-shirt, and Swag bag!)

How do I sign up?

1.  Complete the form!  COMPLETE THE FORM HERE!

2.  Pay your $45 using PayPal.  Send money as FRIENDS/FAMILY to BWalterhouse@gmail.com

3.  Book your hotel!  :)  We recommend somewhere in Downtown or Old Town Sacramento!  All of our activities will held around the capital and old town. Laura lived in Old Sac... so if you have any questions. Contact her and she will help you out!

Once you are all signed up, you will receive an e-mail closer to the event with even more information and a few surprises!!!  :)  We can't wait to meet you!!!

Teach Happy Master Class

I was so honored to be interviewed by SHEILA from Sheila Jane Teaching!

Our First BLAB with the Fab 4

Check out our first BLAB about using math manipulatives in a variety of grade levels. My BLAB buddies consist of Erin from Very Perry Classroom, Laura from Teaching from Beyond the Desk, and Brianne from Hooo-ray for Teaching.

Random Facts for my Classroom Chalkboard

This year I decided to add something last minute to my classroom!! Okay... let's be real.... I brought my chalkboard sign from home for my Back-to-School Night, and the magical-ness continued! I use this website, Completely Useless Facts, to find fun but random facts.  Whimsical Teacher also gave me the idea to use Checkiday to find the different daily holidays.

Einstein, Lincoln and John... John Wayne that is.... also add a great comment or great hashtags.   I have teachers or older students stop by my classroom and make a comment about my latest random fact.

Sprinkle in a bit of randomness in your day!

Five for Friday

This is my VERY first five for Friday! (woot! woot!)

I have chosen five items from my classroom that I love but is very CHEAP!!! oh...yeah... let's be real... TEACHERS LOVE CHEAP!

 I found this at the Dollar Tree and use it as a whiteboard eraser. (It works really well!) I just take it home...every few months and wash it! A total win-win!

 I bought this last school year and literally just screwed it to the wall.  It is very visual and my kids know to come in and move the magnet for their attendance. I think I spent $9 bucks at Walmart.

 Last year, I used sheet protectors for my math rotations and for small groups.  They got banged up so quickly.  I found these job ticket holders on Amazon for less then a buck a piece. They are so durable!!

 You are probably seeing a theme with my color scheme. I love teal/ turquoise!! I found these solo cups at Target for 3 bucks and I think there were 50 in pack.  I use them for everything in my classroom. Easy and cheap! SCORE! 

  

Ikea spice rack works prefect as Ms. Cole's read-aloud book shelf. I think it cost $3 at IKEA. I planned to plant it but school started... so that did not happen! 

Here are 5 random things in my classroom that I love and only spent a few bucks on.

Student Birthdays

My awesome teacher partner, Mrs. Deliyiannis, does an awesome thing for her students on their birthday. After the happy birthday song and all the cha-cha-cha-ing, the students turn to the kid and (hopefully) in unison say, "You are one smart cookie!" I then hand the birthday kid a bag of cookies with this tag on it!

I also picked up some bookmarks and 'Happy Birthday' pencils from the Dollar Spot.  I made up all my birthday bags. So then I can just grab a bag when there's a birthday in the class.

OH WAIT.... I didn't mention that I got the cookies from Costco (which has 42...yes.... bags of cookies!!) for 10 bucks!! Super way to "treat" your kids without spending tons of $$$!

 

FYI: I printed the tags on the Avery 8.5x11 sticker paper, then just cut and  stuck to each bag of cookies! Can you say EASY!!!!

Classroom Reveal

The time has come... the CLASSROOM reveal! (drum roll..... please!) I am linking up with some wonderful teachers for AN EPIC CLASSROOM REVEAL!  This post is very picture heavy. (But let's be real... that what we really want to see!)

I hope you enjoyed checking out my classroom!! Go on and explore the other great classroom reveal!

iTeach Third: Book Trailers

I had the amazing opportunity to guest blog at iTeach Third.

Designing book trailers was something that my students begged for! Go check out my post and get my book trailer freebie!

Monday Made It

Monday Made It actually makes me get to work and finish some projects that go into the deep dark chaotic cave I refer as my craft room. (My boyfriends calls it my CRAP room and he describes as a Micheals that has gone through a very large earthquake.)

At the Goodwill, I found this awesome TossAcross game. Without hesitation, I put it in my cart. My mind starting thinking of all the possibilities I could do with this. I peeled off all the stickers and used my Circut to cut numbers out of vinyl.  I am going to use it to strengthen my kids addition skills at the beginning of the year and multiplication skills mid year. Total money spent on project was just over $5.

I have been thinking of back to school and I always take pictures of my students the first day of school.  They are always wearing their new shoes, newest outfit and usually a new haircut. I made these first and last day of school signs. The hardest part was trying to decide what frame to put it in. (By the way, look at these cuties!!!)

I made a welcome banner for my door. Download it for FREE for being just fabulous!

Teaching POV

 

I have had these pictures on my phone and the blog idea in my head for awhile now... okay since the end of April.  I figured summer is the best time to get caught up on all the things we don't do during school time... Right?   

My students were having the hardest time "getting" Point of View.  I paid my  local public library a visit and found as many variations as I could.  A sample of  what ended up in my very heavy tote is above. 

 We started off the week with watching a short video clip rendition of The Three Little Pigs and I read The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs.  We determined the POV and compared and contrasted the clip and the story.  

By the end of the week, my students became POV experts and I broke them into smaller groups to test their new POV skills.  I provided each group with two variations of a well-known fairytale and they got to work.  

They created Venn Diagrams to show the POV of each story and compared and contrasted the two texts. 

It was a total success and all the prep was making a stop at my local library.  (The truth is... I thought of the idea on Sunday afternoon and was very lucky that the public library was open!)