Currently...

I just love me some Farley, and of course I had to link up for her December Currently. I just do not think that my month would be complete without it.

Be sure and head on over to Farley's blog to link up with your Currently!

Literacy Centers for Bigger Kids and Bud!

I am so excited because I am pretty sure that I just finished my new favorite product! 

It is a total of six Literacy Stations for the 3rd, 4th, or 5th grade classroom that can be used during the month of December. Head to my store to check out the description and to also download the preview that shows you exactly what is included. I promise you will not be disappointed!

We also have a new friend in my classroom, Bud. I noticed him while I was doing some planning today. 

My kids are at the age where some still do the Santa thing and others do not, so I knew I had to do mine a little differently. I know my kids will not be sure about it at first, but I am excited for it. Hopefully their behavior will improve...especially my 7th period class.

It's Sale Time!!!

Graphic Courtesy of Ashley Hughes.

If you are like me, you love Teachers Pay Teachers, but you love it even more when it is sale time!!! You can get up to 28% off of your purchases on Monday and Tuesday! 

In honor of the sale I will be having 20% off all of my products for both days! 

Happy Shopping!

Thanking My Fellow Bloggers

I have learned so much since starting my Teaching Blog back in July of 2010. I didn't really get serious with it until the fall of 2011. I have learned so much from all of you wonderful teachers out there and not to mention the addition of things like Pinterest and Teachers Pay Teachers to my classroom too. I cannot imagine teaching without all of these things. 

I thought I would give a shout out to some of the bloggers that I am most thankful for! 

I just adore Kristen! Her tutorials have been such a huge help for me and I am also in love with her classroom organization. I just wish my classroom could look like hers. I also am so grateful for her CRAFT board for reading strategies. I used a CAFE board last year, but I love the addition of the Respond to Text category. Have I mentioned her super cute labels too?!?!?! 

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Shayna is in IRL teacher friend! We actually go way back to when I was a 7th grader, but I won't embarrass her with that. :) It is great to have someone on my campus as innovative as Shayna and always willing to try new things. She is one of the teachers who made me realize that I had to use interactive notebooks in my classroom. Her kiddos are so lucky to have her as their teacher!

Yes, I know this amazing lady teaches 1st grade, but I do not care! I just love Reagan! She is just as sweet in real life as she seems! She really makes me want to teach the little ones, but I am pretty content with my 6th graders right now. One day when I do venture to the little ones, you can bet that her entire TpT store will be bought!

Amber is another wonderful blogger that I have gotten to know really well over the past year. We both share the same love for task cards! Even though Amber teaches 3rd grade, I am able to implement lots of her ideas into my classroom too. If only we could teach together!

How could I not mention Farley too! Such a fun and eclectic girl she is. I love that she things outside of the box and her Currently Linky is one of my favorite things each month! She has also made me realize that writing is not nearly as bad as it seems. 

Of course Lindsay has to be on my list as well. She is simply amazing. I cannot wait for the day that I get to meet her in person. (Hurry up and come to SA!) I love that she still made time for guided reading and meeting with small groups in her 5th grade classroom, and that she has made many of the things from 5th grade fit into her new job teaching 3rd grade. 

There are so many others who have helped make my first two years in education so wonderful, but there is no way that I could ever name all of you. Be sure that you go and link up with Stephanie and share about the bloggers you are most thankful for!

What We've Been Up To in Room 117

It is so hard to believe that yesterday started the beginning of the 3rd 6 weeks. Where has this year gone? I managed to somehow get everything graded and my grades posted before I had to be emailed by our Registrar. That is always a good feeling! :)

This week we started our new CSCOPE unit which is focusing on Expository Text. This is something I have never really taught a whole unit on, but I am loving it so far and so are my 6th graders. We started the unit by creating an anchor chart together that helped us understand just exactly what an expository text is and we also reviewed text features. 

This is something that we will be reviewing throughout the unit. I also plan on making some more with students to demonstrate the different organizational patterns of expository text. 

In my Pre AP class, we also started reading The Wednesday Wars on Monday and my kids are already loving it! When I read it this summer, I knew I had to read it with some of my classes. What are some of your favorite novels to read in your classroom? 

I have also had a huge response about the Anchor Chart Linky Party. Be on the lookout for it to debut on December 1st!

Who Will Win?

I don't think I have mentioned this before, but the librarian at my school is absolutely amazing! She has made the library one of the coolest places to be on our campus. She also just so happens to have been my 8th grade Pre AP Language Arts Teacher too. She was amazing then, and I am so grateful that she has made the library into a place where learning happens too. 

On my campus, we go to the library every 3 weeks. It just so happened that today was my library day (tomorrow is too) so I explained to her that I would love to do something that was election related while we were in there. Boy did she deliver! First we started with this amazing video that was done by the students at the Ron Clark Academy. My kids were very engaged with it! I love that it shared the views of both candidates and that it was not one sided.

After we watched the video, we discussed why it is is so important for individuals to express their right to vote and how it affects our country. The librarian set up a blog for us to respond on in class. My students answered questions like...

If 6th graders could vote, how would it change the campaigns of the candidates?

Should United States citizens be required to vote?

Do you think voting is important? Explain your choice. 

I was so amazed by some of their responses. I was not really sure how much background knowledge my students really had about the two candidates. I am glad that they proved me wrong. 

We finished the day with a mock election after students had some time to do their research about the candidates. I could not believe it! We had a dead tie of 45 votes each for the two candidates. I even got one write-in vote! I am interested to see how close my students are to the real election. 

Did you do anything fun for the election today?

November Currently...

I just love Farley and her monthly Currently link up!

What is currently happening in your neck of the woods? Be sure and head over to Farley's blog and link up what you are doing.