Show & Tell Tuesday

I am linking up with Forever in 5th Grade for Show & Tell Tuesday.  Just a little peek at some of the things in our lives and classroom!

As you can probably tell from my profile pictures and my blog, we have a lot of boys in our family.  6 of our own to be exact.  We also have 2 nephews, so up until August we were a boys only family.  In August my sister-in-law had a baby girl, and we finally had a girl in the family.  We visited them this past week, and you can tell my hubby is just smitten with his niece!

A few weeks ago, I showed my class the video, Cain's Arcade.  You can watch it below.  They have become so inspired to make their own cardboard arcade.  Here is just a sample of their work.

I will be sharing a more complete post once they have completed their projects, but let me just say, I have been impressed!

Two of our favorite picture book read alouds have been these two:

They are great mentor texts for writing and figurative language!

I love the erasable Frixion pens, so I was super excited when these arrived in the mail on Friday from Amazon!  They are erasable markers!  I am always making mistakes on my anchor charts, so I am looking forward to using these!  You can find them here.

Currently May 2015

I cannot believe how fast this year has flown by!  We only have this last month of school left (we get out May 29th).  The next few weeks will be a blur though because we have SBAC testing this week, one regular week of school, MAPS testing the following week, and then the last week of school.  I'm just hoping I can survive! LOL!  Now that a new month is upon us, it is also time to link up with Farley for Currently!

Listening: Luke has a buddy spending the night, and they are currently watching YouTube videos on our tv in the living room.

Loving:  If you are following me on Instagram, you may have already seen my two boxes full of books from the book fair! If you are not following me, you may want to because I have gotten together with a group of other bloggers and we are having a special FREEBIE giveaway tomorrow on Instagram.  Don't miss out!

Thinking: As I said before, we have a ton of tests coming up, and I always stress this time of year!

Wanting: Enough said!

Needing: I love my class and teaching, but I am ready for a break!

Summer yes, hope, dream: I am super excited to be going to Vegas again this year for the TpT conference!  I am also attending the differentiated instruction conference from SDE right before.  I hope I can squeeze in a visit with my 19 year old this summer.  He moved to Los Angeles last August, and I haven't seen him since Christmas.  It gets so hot here in the summer, I would love a pool one day!

What are you Currently up to?

February Pinterest Pick 3 Linky

It is time for our monthly pick 3 party hosted by PAWSitively Teaching and Inspired Owl's Corner.

Here are three of the things that have caught my eye to use with my students during February:

 

 

Click here to see original pin.

 

I love this Valentine's art project of radiating hearts.  I am going to have my students make Valentine's Cards for their parents with covers like these.

 

Click here to see original pin

My students always love Minute to Win it Games, and I think these games will be a hit for our Valentine's party.  I sometimes add a graphing component (of their results) to make it a bit more academic.

Click here to see original pin

 

My students love science, and this one looks like a great experiment!

 

 

To see all of the things I am pinning, be sure to follow my boards!

Visit Kelly's profile on Pinterest.



Share what you are pinning for February and follow along with other bloggers here:

An InLinkz Link-up

How to Link to a Linky Party

I have had this blog for almost two years, prior to that I had another blog for three years or so.  So.. I've been blogging a bit and I sometimes take for granted all of the things there is to know about blogging.  Now I am by no means an expert, but when I got an email from a sweet reader asking me what the deal with linky parties was (how do you find them, how do you link up, etc), I just had to help.  I wrote her back and gave her a pretty basic starter guide, but it got me thinking that maybe other people are struggling with this as well. So, without further ado... here is a quick tutorial on how to link to a linky party.

A linky party is when the author of a blog invites other blog writers to link up their blog posts on the same topic.  For example, a blog might host a book study, or an organization idea linky party.  Some popular linky parties in the teaching blog world include:

5 for Friday  from Doodle Bugs Teaching  This linky party involves posting 5 random things from your week.

Made it Monday from 4th Grade Frolics  is the place to show off the things you have made.

Saturday Snapshots from Run! Miss Nelson's got the camera! is a place to show off your pics.

Tried it Tuesday with Fourth Grade Flipper is the place to share things that you have tried.

  

Farley's Currently at Oh boy Fourth Grade is the place to share what you are Currently up to.   As you can see above, she provides a template for you to complete.  The completed one above is from her blog.  Currently happens on the first of every month and there are a few of us stalkers fans who hit refresh a million times until the new one comes up. 

I know what your next question is - How do you fill in the blanks?  So glad you asked:

1. Right click her template and copy it or save as JPEG or PNG.

2. Open up PowerPoint and paste the image or insert the image if you saved it.

3. Insert text-boxes over the open areas and type in your answers.

4. Copy this new picture and paste it into paint and save as a JPEG (you can also save as a JPEGin PowerPoint)

5. Upload your image to your blog.

If I didn't mention your linky party above, it isn't because I don't love you, I just put a few.  Feel free to leave a link in the comments section if you have a linky party we should join!

* As a blogger, joining a linky party increases your readership and helps other bloggers and blog readers to find you.

* As a blog reader, linky parties help you find more information about a topic you are interested in.

* Hello? Writer's Block maybe?  Linky parties are a great way to think of ideas to blog about when you just can't think of anything to write about.

Step 1: Write your post.  If the linky party has a "button" (a fancy word for the picture they use) copy and paste it into your blog.  They may have a grab button with a code for you to copy and paste into the html section of your blog. I have a grab button to the right on my blog. 

You would just copy and paste the info they have in the box (their info, not mine :D  )

Step 2: When you have hit publish on your blog post copy the url for THAT page (not your home page).

Correct: http://applefortheteach.blogspot.com/2014/06/five-for-friday-june-27-2014.html

Not Correct: http://applefortheteach.blogspot.com

Step 3: Visit the page where the linky party is at and click on the button that says: Add your link.

Then choose your picture from the pictures displayed.

Now that you have linked up, be sure to leave a comment for the host.  Also, visit several of the other blogs who have linked up and comment as well.  Farley advocates the rule of 3 on her Currently post.  That is, you comment on the 2 posts before you and 1 post after you.  I think this is a good practice and super easy to do.  If you have time, visit more!  It is also nice to respond to the people who visit your blog as well.

Five for Friday February 14th

Happy Valentine's Day!  I survived the sugar rush that was our Valentine's Day Party!  It is Friday Saturday and time for a belated Five for Friday post with Doodle Bugs Teaching!

Speaking of said sugar rush here are a few pics of our "Love Fest"

My haul - good thing I have a few boys at home to help me eat all the goodies!

I tried to tame the sugar monster a bit by having a Heart Healthy Breakfast.  I think it is going to be a new tradition - the kids loved it!

Speaking of healthier eating - I know I have to be better about this.  I was really good at the beginning of the year, but as soon as I got bronchitis and pneumonia right before Christmas my good habits went out the door.  Being sick made me crave all of my comfort foods and unfortunately that includes sugar.  I lost a ton of weight when I gave up sugar during my last pregnancy (I had gestational diabetes), but I went back to the sugar and gained it all back and then some. I know I have to change permanently. So for the past three weeks I have gotten back on the exercise habit and this week was the week to get back on track with my healthier eating. I rarely have time at school to sit down and eat, but I am a snacker. Usually I munch on candies or other quick things to eat.  I knew I had to have quick and easy snacks on hand to help out.  I was inspired by this pin from Pinterest to bring some healthy snacks to school.

Pin

My Version

What types of healthy snacks do you bring to school to keep the hunger at bay?

Another fun Valentine tradition that has developed in my class is hair bows.  Because I have rolled up with my class, I have the same students this year that I do last year.  One of the girls in my class has brought hair ribbons to school for all of the girls in our class (including me) every Valentine's Day.  Here is a pic of the girls modeling their bows:

And then the boys had to get into it too.

And on a final parting note:

Yeah, not sure what to say about that exactly :D

Hope you had a great Valentine's Day!  Hubby had to work last night so we are going out to dinner tonight.