Mourning the Loss...

of a fellow blogger, Pam aka The Vintage Teacher.  I can't begin to imagine what her family, friends, colleagues, and students must be dealing with.  My heart and prayers go out to them.   

Here is a message from Pam's family:

Pam was a dedicated teacher for years and education was always an important part of her life and the lives of those around her. Pam was a friend to many and helpful in providing insight and educational tidbits to others when they asked for help. Outside of education, Pam was involved with her church family and maintained relationships with family and friends over facebook.

Pam will be missed by many and will always be remembered for the impact she had on education and children. Thank you for following her blogs and being a part of her life. As her family and friends, we are sure that you had a positive impact on her each and every day. Thanks for honoring her in this way and helping us share her story with others.

If you wish to, stop by her blog by clicking on the pic below and leave a comment on her final post.  The blogging/education community has truly been blessed to have known and worked with Pam.

Valentine's Giveaway WINNERS!!!

A gigantic THANK YOU to all of my followers and everyone who entered the Valentine's Math Fun Pack Giveaway!  And now for the lucky winners! 

Drum roll please.....................................

 Congrats!!!  I will be emailing you shortly!  I hope everyone has a fabulous weekend!!!

Free Interactive Whiteboard Resources!

A colleague of mine showed me an AMAZING interactive website last night.  It's called TeacherLed.com.  And it's FREE!  It works perfectly with my Mimeo board and the kids love it! 

Click on the picture below to check out their decimal game.  The kids draw the correct comparison symbol.  How cute and easy! 

 

And browse around while you're there! They have so many great games and activities to choose from! It's perfect for a math center! Thanks Barbara for enlightening me! :)

Classroom Freebies Celebration!!!

I don't normally post twice in one day, but y'all CANNOT miss this!!!  If you haven't heard, Classroom Freebies has hit 1,000,000 views and we're celebrating!!!  Click the picture below to snag my freebie I contributed!  But that's not it!  There are TONS of other freebies before and after mine!!!  And keep checking back for more tomorrow! 

Division, You Better Watch Out!

Geez, Louise!  These division facts are still tricking some of my students!  So today I pulled a small group and we played a game with these flashcards. 

I flashed a card to the group, let them come up with the answer, then we all said it at the same time.  After going through the entire deck as a practice round, we started the real game.  :)  I showed a card to one student.  If they got it right, they kept it.  If not, the next student tried.  The person who had the most cards when the deck ran out WON!  It was a hit!!!  They loved it and were begging me to keep playing.  I can't wait to play again tomorrow.  It's such a great feeling to do things with the kids that they think is just a game!

Valentine's Giveaway!

I've created a math fun pack to go along with all of my Valentine's activities!  I've tried similar activities for autumn and winter and the kids loved them! 

To show my love and appreciation for my followers I'm giving this pack away to FIVE lucky winners!  Just leave a comment below with your email address and I'll do a random number generator Saturday morning at 9:00 am Eastern time.  I'll post the winners around 10am-ish.  :)   Good luck!

Thank you for being an amazing support system!  Happy Wednesday!

A Really Cool Decimal Activity!

Maybe I've been under a rock and have never seen this, but it's AWESOME!  Tonight at my Math endorsement class, we used this:

LOVE!  This will be a great addition to my decimals unit!  It would also be great as a center!  :) 

Freebie and My 1st Video!!!

Here's a new spin on a freebie I posted a while back.  Here's a link to the original freebie.  Click the pic below to snag the revised freebie.  I took away the addition (How Much is it Worth?) part and added a definitions section.  Hope you and your students can find this useful!

And my here it is...my first video ever!  I'm not as awesome as Charity at The Organized Classroom Blog, but I'm practicing.  :)

Planning? Need Resources?

How about FREE ones?!  Head over to Classroom Freebies!  You're sure to find something that fits your needs!

Anchor Charts/Pinterest Madness!

I'm LOVING this idea I saw on Pinterest (what's not to love on there?!) and knew I had to recreate it for myself and my kids. 



And then I started finding TONS of great anchor charts!  So I created an entire board devoted to them.  :)  Check it out by clicking below!

Holiday Multiplication/Division Centers

Hey guys!  Here are two centers I made for the upcoming holidays (Valentine's Day and President's Day).  Each center has a combo of multiplication and division flashcards (16 in each).  I've included a recording sheet and an answer key.  Click the pictures below to check them out.

Super Bowl FUN!!!

Y'all know I LOVE football (even if my team doesn't even make it past the first playoff game).  So when Denise from Sunny Days came out with a Super Bowl pack full of football goodies, I was all over it!  It covers everything from problem solving to compound words to designing your own jersey.  I can't wait to use it with my kids!  The Super Bowl will be here before you know it (February 5th).  I'm already printing, laminating, and getting ready to go!  Click the picture below to check out all the details.

Birthday Bash!!! Freebies and a Giveaway!!!

Kathy at First Grade A La Carte is celebrating her blog's first birthday!  Please swing by and join in the festivities!  She is giving away some adorable freebies and there is a HUGE giveaway going on as well!  Click the picture below to get all the details!  Good luck to all who enter!

Last minute MLK, Jr. planning??? (FREEBIES!)

If you're still in search of MLK, Jr. activities, here are a couple activities I posted in December (seems SO long ago!).  Click on the picture to go back to that post and snag the two freebies.   Happy Friday!!!

Dino Decimals Pack and a FREEBIE!

Not only are my kids learning about fractions, we're throwing decimals in the mix!  So I created these activities to (a) help them better understand the relationship between fractions, money, and decimals and (b) to give them more practice with sorting, comparing, and ordering decimals.

Click the pic below to check out the entire pack.

And here's your freebie!  Click the pic to snag it! 

Enjoy! 

Quick and Easy Writing Prompts!

Do your kids struggle with writing topics at times?  Mine do.  We've completed Top 10 lists, a heart map, and discussed several other strategies to coming up with writing topics, but they still get stumped.  But thank goodness!  I've found the solution to this problem!!!

Hands down, one of the best purchases I've made for my classroom.  There are six different genres of writing prompts (including persuasive, which we're working on this month) and include 20 prompts for each genre.  And the best part - I can use these in my writing center or in whole group.  The kids have really enjoyed them so far!  One of their favorite persuasive prompts was "Should children get an allowance?  If so, how much?"  Hahaha!  Some of their responses had my cheeks hurting from laughing so hard!  :)   Hope everyone's kids are enjoying writing as much as mine are right now.  Happy Wednesday!

Self Control!

We could all take a lesson on this one!  This is the character trait of the month at my school AND I saw this fabulous video to match it!  It's from Teacher Tipster.  He has tons of great videos!

What are some things you do to help your kids practice self control?

Fraction Frenzy Giveaway Winners!!!

Hey ladies and gents!  Thank you to everyone who entered!  I was totally kidding about colors and the Super Bowl, but you guys have been a riot!  And for those who don't know, I'm a huge Falcons fan.  So seeing all these Giants, Saints, and "Who Dat?!" stuff on my blog is REALLY tough, but I'll still like you.  :) 

Now for the winners (sorry for any fuzziness) :

If the following people will email me (3rdgradegridiron@gmail.com) and I'll send out the unit!

Thanks again to all who entered!!!

New Fractions Unit and a GIVEAWAY!

I just finished my fractions unit!  I have some resources, but knew I needed more to make sure my kids had a good grasp on the concept.  It's 30 pages with eight centers and covers the following skills:

- identifying parts of a group

- comparing fractions (with like numerators)

- comparing fractions (with like denominators)

- ordering fractions (from least to greatest)

- adding fractions (with like denominators)

- subtracting fractions (with like denominators)

- equivalent fractions

- fractional parts of a set

- word problems

There's also an answer key for each activity!

And now for the giveaway!  Ten lucky winners can snag this unit for FREE!  All you have to do is leave a comment telling me you're a follower, what your favorite color is, or who you think will end up in the Super Bowl...any nice little comment will do.  :)  I'll use the random generator to pick the ten winners tomorrow at noon (eastern time) and post the winners then.  Good luck to everyone! 

Math and Writing Freebies!

I'm working diligently to finish a couple of projects for you guys!  So in the meantime, here are two freebies.    : o )

The first is a writing freebie I made for a colleague. 

You could use for several different winter-themed prompts. 

The second is a math freebie I made for my own students.  I'm sure you can purchase these bookmarks from a store, but I wanted to add my own personal touch.  It was worth it!  The kids LOVE them!  They even carry them to lunch to study!

Enjoy!

A little motivation!

Yesterday I had the pleasure of hearing a fabulous speaker, Dave Weber.  I didn't think it was so fabulous when I was leaving my teacher workday at 1:30 to go listen to him.  Grading, planning, cleaning...my to-do list was ridiculous.  Not to mention I was missing the UGA bowl game (I know, I know...).  But boy, was I wrong when he started to talking!!!

I truly needed to hear what he had to say.  :)  And my to-do list went out the door!  He shared his 12 X's of leadership...phenomenal!  Here is his website.  If you want to check out his books, check out his video, or invite him to speak to your school or company - all the info is right there!  You will walk away with tools and a mindset that can take you places and help you reach your goals. 

And if you don't know about the quack attack, find out!

H-U-G-E Giveaway!!!

Mel D. recently celebrated her 40th birthday!!!  To continue the celebration, she has created one of the biggest giveaways I've ever seen!  Over 40 bloggers (including myself) have pulled together with Mel and are giving away over 90 products to ONE lucky winner!!!  You read that right!  :)  If you would like a chance at winning, click on the pic below to head over and read all the details.  You have until midnight January 6th to enter!

Good luck and happy Monday!!!

Hello there, 2012!

Happy New Year, everyone!!!  I hope everyone enjoyed themselves and got a little rest.  :)

Are you looking for centers and activities for your students?!  My newsletter will be coming out on the 7th this month.  Make sure you've signed up for a couple freebies and a jump-start on MLK, Jr. activities. 

Click the picture below to go to the sign-up form.

Enjoy the rest of your day!  I go back to work tomorrow (teacher work day). 

When is everyone else going back?