February

It's almost February already....I REALLY need time to slow down.  That means that my girl is almost 18 and we are 3 months away from high school graduation...gulp.  My momma heart is so not ready for all of this!

My classroom however is a different story...I'm prepped and ready for this month full of hearts and candy!  Here are a few of my monthly staples that I'll be using this month..and be sure to scroll all the way through to grab the Valentines List FREEBIE!

February Brain Boxes

My Brain Boxes are all switched out and ready for my early finishers!  You can read about how I use Brain Boxes HERE ! 

February Writing Journals

I use Writing Journals during our Daily 5 time.  They are great for students who need a little more direction and accountability!  Check them out HERE!

 Of course, we will be having a small Valentine's Party which means I need to send a class list home for students to get their cards/treats ready. 

 I made this cutie for my kiddos and I made an editable version if you would like to download it and use for your class!  It's my Valentine's gift to you and my other February products are on sale for 20% off in my TPT store!  Happy February friends!

Click HERE to download the editable version!

Happy February my friends!

My Plans in Pictures {January 16-20}

Last week was our first week back after break and we already have another day off for MLK Jr. Day!  I'm certainly not complaining....especially since this first week back exhausted me and I am loving the idea of an extra day to sleep!  

Since we just got back from a significant break I have been spending a lot of time reviewing our classroom expectations and procedures.  I am a firm believer in investing time in teaching and practicing these with students.  It really makes a difference in making the rest of the year run smoothly.  

We always begin our mornings with Morning Meeting.  This past week and again this week we have focused on reviewing one of our classroom expectations each day during our meeting time.  I used the same activities in my Classroom Expectations pack and it was so interesting to compare their Looks Like/ Sounds Like charts from the beginning of the year to the ones they are doing now! 

 I also copied the compliment cards onto colored paper and encouraged them to keep an eye on their classmates throughout the day.  At the end of each school I read the compliments out loud and then they can take them home to show off.  I have been amazed by how thoughtful and detailed their compliments to each other have been and it has been a great way to encourage positive behavior and classroom culture!

Grammar

In grammar this week we will be working on Building Compound Sentences.  We follow a pretty set routine for our grammar lessons that has really worked well for our class this year. 

We begin a new skill by entering information into our E.L.A. notebooks and using a PowerPoint to introduce and practice the skill.  We will usually do some sort of cooperative learning practice the next day, followed by a "Write the Room," the next day.  By the end of the week students are ready for a short formative assessment.  All of these activities along with a few others can be found in my Building Compound Sentences pack.

Reading

For the next few weeks we will combine what we are studying in social studies with our reading.  In social studies we are learning about the Civil War (in my opinion a pretty heavy concept for 3rd grade) and we will be reading about the election of Abraham Lincoln and continue reading about The Underground Railroad.  I have several passages that I've downloaded from

ReadWorks.org that I use during our reading and small group instruction time.  

A reading strategy that my students LOVE is doing True/False sorts before and after reading.  I have created some True/False sorts to go with the ReadWorks passages that we will use this week.  Here is an example of the one we will use to go with a passage about Abraham Lincoln.

Read more about how I use True/False sorts in the classroom HERE.

Writing

During our writing time this week we will work on using what we are learning about compound sentences to write compound sentences.  We will use the activities for "R" in my S.U.P.E.R. Sentences pack.

Our math time each day begins by warming up with our Weekly Problem Solving Journals.  Since we are in our Geometry unit we will be using one of the perimeter journals that was recently added to the growing bundle.  You can read more about how we use the journals in our room HERE and check out the great deal on the growing bundle HERE.

For math instruction this week I will be using many of the Interactive Notebook pages from the amazing Blair Turner.  If you teach third grade math you don't own her bundle RUN to her store a grab it!  

During math center time we will be using activities from my Winter Wonderland centers pack.  Centers is a great time to review and reinforce skills learned earlier in the year while I'm working with small groups!  This year, our district changed the order of some of our math units so I will save the fraction centers to use in just a few short weeks when we are in that unit!

Social Studies

For the next several weeks we will be working on our annual Wax Museum.  It is one of the highlights of our year and our students are so excited about it!  We used this amazing pack from Amanda at One Extra Degree as a starting point and made a few modifications to match our curriculum and students.  Check it out HERE.  If you have ever thought about doing a wax museum I highly recommend this pack as a great way to get it off the ground and organized!

As you can see, even though it's a short week it will be jammed packed with lots of learning and fun!  All of my products featured in my visual plans will be on sale for 20% for the next two days!  

Have a great week!

New Year...Now What? {Getting 2017 off to a Great Start!}

It's been a blissful two weeks off...Christmas has come and gone and we've rung in the new year...so now what?  It's time to head back to school and you want to make sure you start the new semester off on the right foot.

I'm a firm believer in investing time in teaching your students your expectations and then taking the time to make sure they practice them until they are meeting your expectations.  It may take some time, but I believe that you invest now or you pay later.  

At the beginning of the school year I did a whole blog series with that exact title.

You can read about how I teach and practice procedures HERE.

You can read about my expectations and our Morning Meeting HERE.

I plan on treating our first few days back from back as if they were the first day of school all over again.  This will help all of us ease back in and give us a refresher of how our classroom runs.  

All of the products that I plan on using are on sale in my store for the next 2 days for 20% off!  It's a great time to grab them and get your new year off to a great start!

Classroom Routines and Expectations Binder

Classroom Expectations {The 5 Ways To Be}

We will also continue our work with Growth Mindset and I will change a few of the pictures on my Growth Mindset Bulletin Board.

Happy New Year friends, I hope 2017 is off to a great start for you and the year ahead is filled with blessings!