Schoolroom Swag

Elementary Teacher

Having fun in the classroom and "balancing" life!

Sunday, January 27, 2013

Hooray for Hot Chocolate Day Free for three!





      I was sadly not able to celebrate the 100th day of school this year because we were on a field trip. So I came up with Hooray for Hot Chocolate Day! The kids have been earning marshmallows for their cup of hot chocolate that I taped on their desk. Everyone gets the hot chocolate. If they earn up to 5 marshmallows, they get to choose 1 topping. Up to 10 marshmallows is 2 toppings. Up to 15 marshmallows is 3 toppings. I made a unit to go with it that has graphing, spelling, and grammar activities. It's about 50 pages, with center ideas and assessment printables to match. For the next day it's $1. So if you need something quick for winter, go check it out while it's cheap. Here are some of the activities. The first 3 people to leave me a comment will get it for free!
 





 Have a great week!
 Glitter Words
[Glitterfy.com - *Glitter Words*]

Thursday, January 24, 2013

technology with a poem

I am so not a tecchie. It's one of many things I need to work on as a teacher. But yesterday we used technology in a fun way, and my kids actually wanted me to put it online. They actually thought it was online the whole time we were creating it, but I had to sadly say, no, it was just for us. So when they wanted me to put it online, I thought, "why not?" No one's name or picture is being used. It's just a poem we created.

Like many of you, we read poems every week to use for rhyme, alliteration, reading strategies and tons of other stuff. Sometimes I write it on my my lined tablet, sometimes I read them, sometimes I put them on a ppt with graphics, which is what I did this time. So we read the poem, did our thing with rhyme, the strategy of the week, yadda yadda, and then we wrote our own poem. I showed them how to change the font, change the size, add graphics, and move things around. We also looked online at a color wheel to find the complimentary color to use in the background. They came up with the poem entirely on their own, and I think it is awesome!!!! I actually took some of the graphics off because I didn't want to break any copyright law.  So here's a toned-down version.

So to celebrate my use of technology in the classroom and show off my kids' fabulous writing, here it is!


 Thank you for reading it!

 Glitter Words
[Glitterfy.com - *Glitter Words*]

Saturday, January 5, 2013

A Valentine's party freebie

Do you ever skip over the parts of teaching that aren't as fun and put them off until the last minute so that you can do the fun stuff? Like instead of planning for our science fair, I've been planning for Valentine's Day!!! What sounds like more fun to you, science fair or Valentine's Day??!! I planned my party around Willy Wonka. Willy Wonka is the bomb. And a book about a poor kid who inherits the coolest candy factory that ever was??!! What could be better?!  Here are some pictures of what I did.
Giant candy!
These were supposed to be Pixie Sticks, but I couldn't find them!! Can you believe it? So I went with pencils and straws. Not as good as Pixie Sticks.




I have erasers in these right now, but I will also use them for spelling word games. I will be giving the pencils and erasers away to the kids who find golden tickets. That's everyone.

The Valentine card and treat holder!



Ok, the frame's not done, but honestly, who knows if it ever will be?







 Sorry about all the pictures, but I went a little camera happy. This party planning pack is available at TPT for $3.50. It's about 80 pages worth, so I think it's a pretty good deal. It takes the work and thought out of planning your Valentine's Day party. Three people who comment will get it for free! Leave me your email address! Now instead of working on my science fair project, I'm going to bed.
 Glitter Words
[Glitterfy.com - *Glitter Words*]

Friday, January 4, 2013

Word work freebie and less blogging resolution

Does anyone else out there have a resolution to blog LESS??? Am I the only one? Is anyone else deleting blog posts without reading them?? Is it just me? I just got back from a 3-day cabin rental that my husband got me for Christmas. It was awesome, and it's putting me into a "I'm on vacation and can eat whatever I want and never go to work again" mood. I guess I better snap out of it. 

I made a couple units over break that I plan to use for morning work to review nouns and prepositions. I want to make a verb one, too, but I just don't have it in me. Do you guys get updates from TPT about new stuff that is being posted? I can't believe how much people can create. More power to 'em. But 2 small units and I am SPENT!  But here they are, and they'll be $1 for a day (or 2 if I'm too lazy to go on and change the price, or forget. Either one is possible.) And 3 people will get a free one. Not because I'm having a "I want to give back to the world because I'm Ghandi" moment. I've decided that I'm not really generous and about wanting to give back. I really just want to get paid to go on vacation and watch HGTV.

Notice the similarity. I told you, I'm spent. So to the three people who comment on this post, send me your email address and I'll send you both of them for free.

Hope you had a great holiday and vacation! How long 'til spring break??!!
 
 Glitter Words
[Glitterfy.com - *Glitter Words*]