Getting the Hang of it all....

Okay, I will get the hang of it all one day...slowly but surely... I think I need to find an online tutorial on blogging, all the ins and outs, if you know what I mean.  There are some fabulous blogs out there, so if you find mine, you may want to look at my blogggy list until mine comes around:) Chow... for now.

Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes

Here is a reading check out test and reading response brochure for a study on Sadako.  Kids love this story and they also enjoy wearing kimonos and having a Japanese celebration at the end. 

Eric Drachman

I found these wonderful books with audio cd for my oldest daughter who is now four.  Not only do I absolutely love the books the voices and music during the story are so captivating!  I had to share them with my third graders.  I was absolutely right, they loved them.  Each one has a main character that at some point feels they cannot accompish something, and towards the end of the story, they conquer great things.  I used them right before we had to take EOGs as a confidence booster.  I hope in the future to have a compare and contrast sheet for a listening center during reading time.  They are definately worth the purchase.

You can also view the books and hear a sample on thier webpage.  http://www.kidwick.com/

Sea Turtle Book Reviews

This is one of my favorite units to teach with the kids at the beginning of the year.  The hardest part is fitting all I want to do in one or two weeks.  I enjoy using reading stations/workshop, where I get to meet with most of the kids daily.  I also am a big fan of integration, therefore, tying the science curriculum with reading.  What kid doesn't like science, do you see the big hook you have?

Turtle Brochure is designed to read and compare a sea turtle magazine article by Cousteau for kids.  You can easily adapt this to any other nonfiction sea turtle article.

Sea Turtle Book Review compares a variety of genres on the topic of Sea Turtles for the kids to partner read and review the information presented.

I usually teach this in conjunction with Turtle Bay in our basal reader.

Why an 'Ocean' when it's more like a puddle

Just in case you are wondering why this is called an Ocean of Teaching Ideas and you are thinking to yourself, this is more like a puddle.  I have so many ideas and lessons that are on different computers, flash drives, etc.   Also, I have mentioned before, I have two daughters that consume my daylight time, so give me a while and I'll get you what you need.

Grade, Grade, Grade, Data, Data, Data, EOG, EOG, EOG



 Recently we found out we did not make adequate yearly progress for our school.  That really is a bummer since our staff is the most dedicated and hardest working people I know.  We practically pull elephants out of our butts purchasing things for our classroom.  Constantly going to mandatory workshops, coming in at the crack of dawn and leaving late in the afternoon.  So I am absolutely sure we will be required to show evidence of students' keeping their own data.  Not that I'm totally against it, I love the idea and we did it for our third graders last year.  There is just something about people telling you your absolute best isn't cutting it and you have to do this and you have to do that....  So here is a totally revamped student data folder... Enjoy.

Summer Scavenger Hunts

This is meant to help kids stay engaged in learning while they are out of school and you can easily see the North Carolina influence.

Science Journals

Take two!  I was trying to save my science journal as a jpeg and lost my post.  So here we go again.  I will figure this blog world out soon enough to really impress someone.  I'm not sure who yet. 


I loath reinventing the wheel, so when I came across many ideas I have previously made, I really felt convicted to get my ideas out there.  In hopes that someone will find a shortcut. 

I have two adorable girls and surfing the internet for the right idea or making it from scratch is not always a luxury I have nowadays. 

Ps. I should probably post in my information, I'm not a super grammar person, so don't judge me! Lol

Also, I'm sooooo new at all of this and can't figure out how to put them in order and the file is too large for google docs...:(  Maybe I won't be so good at this after all.