Thank you, Public Library!

This weekend I ran into the library with my kiddos to find a good movie (just didn't want to spend that $1.00 at Redbox!) and stumbled upon something great in the children's section! I can't believe I hadn't noticed this wonderful tool sooner- but I am grateful I found it when I did. Have you ever heard of a Playaway View (The All-in-one video player)?? I hadn't until just now.
It is this remarkable little gadget that houses preloaded videos. It is about the size of a cellphone, so your students can hold it in their hands while viewing.

It comes with a jack for headphones.
I was so happy to find this amazing piece of technology! Each of my little ones checked out one for themselves and I snatched one up for my classroom. I couldn't believe my luck when I was able to get the "Great Places and Faces" video. The very first video (it has over an hour of watchable video) was Thank You, Sarah. How perfect for Thanksgiving and for my Turkey Task Centers that I had planned for Monday and today. My listening center promptly changed into a video center!!
Let me tell you, my students were so excited about this new piece of technology. Of course, a couple of them who are frequent visitors of the library had already checked one out and knew all about it.
The icing on the cake was when I read a comment on one of my posts from Elizabeth over at Fun in Room 4B. She shared some great printables from another blogger for, you guessed it, the book Thank You, Sarah! Could things get any better!
I hope you have a great public library like mine that has wonderful resources! If they don't have these yet, maybe tell them about them! I can't wait to check more out for my Listening/Video Center!!

Making Time for Thanksgiving!

Whew!! What a busy time of year this is right now! I have parent- teacher conferences coming up and I am NOT ready! So, of course, here I am talking to you guys. Can you say, Procrastinator!!?? I am looking forward to my two day week that is coming up the week of Thanksgiving. Since we only have a two day week, it is really hard to introduce new concepts, so I spend Monday and Tuesdsay doing a lot of reviewing. I use my Turkey Tasks to keep my students busy and engaged. These are low prep activities or centers that your students can do independently. Take a look at my Thankgsving Making Words activity. Your students can do this in a center or you can assign it to the whole group. Grab it here by heading to my TPT store. If you are interested in more great Turkey Tasks, head on over to my TPT store! Gobble, gobble!!

Thanksgiving at the Tappletons'

Have you ever thought that things are going just the way that you planned only to find out that everything was going wrong? Well, that is exactly what happens to the Tappletons in this sweet tale by Eileen Spinelli. This has always been one of my favorite Thanksgiving stories. My students always love it as well and I think it is because we all can relate to it.

If you haven't read this story now is the perfect time to introduce yourself and your students to it. This story has a great message at the end that really gets to the heart of the true meaning of "Thanksgiving" and the Holiday Season.

Check out my Story Pack by going to my TPT store http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Thanksgiving-at-the-Tappletons-Story-Pack and in the spirit of ThanksGIVING, I will give a copy away to the first three followers who comment on this post. Make sure to include your email address!

I do! We do! You do!: Goal Setting

Goal setting has become a big part of my classroom life this year. As an instructional coach, I had a professional development session that focused on using MAP to differentiate in the classroom. I included goal setting with MAP scores as an added element to this training. This year, in my third grade classroom, we are setting goals with our MAP scores in Reading and Math. This is actually a school-wide activity.
I have truly enjoyed the conversations I have had with my students as we work together to set realistic goals for them for the Winter round of MAP testing.

Take a look at one of my sessions. If you want to try your hand at goal setting, grab a copy of my MAP goal setting document. This one is different from the one my school uses. I have made a generic one so that everyone can use it! Enjoy!!

Making a good impression!

We have been studying fossils this week and spent some time discussing the definition of a cast, a mold and an imprint. As a culminating activity each child made their own imprint of an object found in nature. Before they made their own imprint- I shared 3 different examples: a ring, a key and a fork. Then I asked them to record what each imprint will show future people about how we lived. You can get the recording sheet by clicking on the picture.

Here is the recipe to make your salt dough if you want your students to try this activity:

• 4 cups of all purpose flour


• 1 cup of salt


• 1 and a half cups of water


• bowl

Mix the above ingredients in the bowl until dough forms. Add extra water a little bit at time if needed if the dough is too dry.

Give each student a small ball of dough and have them flatten it on wax paper. Students will gently press their object of choice into the dough. Have your students carve their initials into the dough before collecting. Place the creations on a cookie sheet (take off the wax paper) and bake at 350 degrees for 30-45 minutes. This will harden the dough and make the lasting impression! Have fun!!

Gimme a "Fall" Break Sale!

Hey ya'll! I hope you are enjoying the autumn leaves as they fall upon us! I am throwing a sale to celebrate my fall break which is coming up starting on Friday!! So, from October 13th- October 17th you can get 20% off of everything in my TPT store. Just click on the Autumn Leaves and "fall" in love with my products!

Stick it to 'em!!

I just had the most fun ever with my guided reading groups! I have an obsession with post-it notes. I have all sizes, colors, designs, stickness strengths....too many by far! My obsession seeped into my instruction awhile back and I love coming up with new ways to use the little magic pieces of paper with my kiddos.

Today I used my Non-fiction Text Feature post-its with my guided reading groups and they loved it! I love being able to find hands on activities during reading and what a way to keep them engaged. My students worked in pairs to find various text features in their leveled readers about penguins. The discussions that were taking place were focused on investigating the text and learning about each feature. After the pairs had ample time to search the text and slap their post-it labels (which by the way is a text feature!-just saying!!) we spent time letting them share their findings. It was such a worthwhile mini-lesson. I can't wait to do it again.

If you would like to try your hand at this guided reading activity, click on the post-it picture and head on over to my TPT store and grab your FREE copy of my post-its! They will be free until next Friday, October 14th. I'd love to hear from you all if you use this activity with your kiddos!! Have a good one!

Melissa