It's Coming!!!

...in 3 days.

But you'll get no spoiler alerts from me.  All I'll say is that you don't want to miss it!

In time, things will fall right in place.

The Farming Life

I live in the midwest. Farming is huge here. We may not have beautiful beaches or majestic mountains, but the heartland provides it's own beauty. Every spring, I am thrilled to see the fields return to green and marvel at the growth rate of the corn that's just been planted. I'm a born and raised city girl, but most of my extended family lives the farm life. So I speak with a clear understanding when I say that life is not easy! But it is necessary. And we should thank a farmer 3 times a day for the bounty their work has created.

I have a fun, farm story my father used to tell. Dad was a professor of animal science at the Univ. of IL for over 4 decades.  At some point in the 1960s, he helped to create the Farm-in-the-Zoo displays at Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago.  In the dairy barn, the display showed how milk from the milking machines was pumped up through glass pipes on its journey to the collection tank.  When a group of Chicago teachers and students ventured in, one teacher asked Dad, in all earnestness, when the color was added to the milk.  You see, the glass pipes were being flushed with water at the time!

Having a fondness for the farm, I take pleasure in teaching my kiddos about it.  If you, too, incorporate lessons about farming, you may be interested in some of the farm centers and units I have created.  You can find them here.

Among those materials is the following center: 

In keeping with a farm animals theme, Ducks in a Row Literacy Center provides practice with letter sounds and phonological awareness.

Get your Ducks in a Row!

The greatest gift you can give to someone is your time.

It's About Time for Memorial Day!

It's about time, teachers, for Memorial Day!

As the school year winds down, you probably are not interested in deep, intricate lessons, but still want to pay homage to this solemn holiday. So, here's a quick and easy poetry lesson, along with some teaching possibilities that you may wish to share with your students:

And, here are some possibilities for teaching with it:

[This poem and its possibilities are part of Poetry Possibilities - Spring Edition. It is now available in my TPT store for 50% off.]  

Here's a quick, albeit somewhat messy, craftivity for Memorial Day:

Patriotic Chalk Art:

This is one of my all time favorite crafts and is a hit with the kiddos. The piece above actually reflects 2 methods of making the chalk rubbings. One uses the shape pattern and rubs out from the edges; the other uses the scrap or negative of the shape with rubbings going in toward the center.

For the bell images above, provide cardboard patterns for the shapes. Ask your students to trace the pattern on construction paper (color doesn't matter). Insist that they trace the pattern onto another piece of paper because if they all try to rub chalk on the pattern, you will endure many complaints about purple symbols. Each child should use his/her own shape.  

After cutting the shape out, students should generously rub blue or red chalk around the edges of the shape. They MUST do this on what I call a "dirty" sheet, which is actually paper reclaimed from the recycling box. It is essential that they rub the chalk on while on the dirty sheet, then move to the chosen construction paper background. Demonstrate holding the shape securely with one hand while pushing the chalk out onto the background paper with 1 finger (hence the messy part). You can make this project as easy or challenging as you like by making a single shape on the background or using multiple shapes and colors all on the same background, perhaps creating complex patterns.

The negative version of this craft works much the same way. After cutting out the shape, the student should tape the scraps together (see lower left corner) and then rub the chalk around the edges of the missing shape. Again, this step must be done on a dirty sheet. Then, holding the negative steady with one hand, have the children rub the chalk toward the center on their background paper.  

Clean up absolutely requires lots of soapy hand washing in order to prevent chalk smudges everywhere, and especially on their clothes.  

These patterns can be cut out of cardstock or heavier cardboard. You should insist that the students not put chalk on your templates. Who wants to have to remake the patterns year after year????

You may also like these patriotic products:

A Forest Full of Curricula

It's about time, teachers, for some Forest Friends Curricula.

Having a Forest Friends theme in my classroom has spilled over into curricula. My students have thoroughly enjoyed being immersed in the forest theme. Your kiddos may enjoy it, too.  Take a minute to peruse these resources.

Language arts products:

Math resources:

Critical thinking products:

If you have missed my other posts about a Forest Friends classroom, follow this link.

See you in the forest!

ANOTHER FLASH FREEBIE!

It's about time, teachers, for another FLASH FREEBIE!

(click image to go to product)

This product is perfect for developing number sense.  Although the title suggests using it to find tens, it can effortlessly be used for any number sum.  Moreover, it can be used for 3 addends, multiplication, mixed operations, subtraction, ...  It's practically limitless!

As the traditional school year winds down, you need a few perks.  Hope you enjoy this one.

If you would be so kind, please leave some feedback on TPT.  TYIA

Time is what we want most, but what we use worst.

--William Penn

If you like Forest Friends, check out this post.

FLASH FREEBIE!

It's about time, teachers, for a FLASH FREEBIE!

I value your feedback.  TYIA for leaving some on TPT.

Time is free, but it's priceless.

--Harvey Mackay

Fractions Task Cards

It's about time, teachers, for some fraction task cards.

Because I'm obsessed with my forest friends classroom theme, these task cards are adorned with woodland elements.

The task cards are aligned with these CCSS:

• CCSS.Math.Content.3.NF.A.1 Understand a fraction 1/b as the quantity formed by 1 part when a whole is partitioned into b equal parts; understand a fraction a/b as the quantity formed by a parts of size 1/b. 
• CCSS.Math.Content.3.NF.A.3 Explain equivalence of fractions in special cases, and compare fractions by reasoning about their size. 
• CCSS.Math.Content.3.NF.A.3b Recognize and generate simple equivalent fractions, e.g., 1/2 = 2/4, 4/6 = 2/3. Explain why the fractions are equivalent, e.g., by using a visual fraction model.

This product is 50% off today, May 9, 2016, only.  Grab a great bargain.

You can check out my other forest friends products here.