Kevin O'Malley Author Visit!

It has been over a week since my last blog post!  I'm pretty sure I've been going through withdrawls!  I know we ALL are going through the hectic end-of-year craziness, but to top that off, my computer was sick AND my blogger account was sick!  (I kept getting CRAZY error codes, and I couldn't even read anyone elses pages, much less post to my own page!)

So now that everything seeeeems to be up and working (fingers crossed), let me give you a quick, fun, short Sunday night post!  On Friday, the wonderful author Kevin O'Malley visited our school.  He is so inspiring and SO funny to listen to.  He talked with our students a little bit, then created a "fractured" fairy tale of Jack and the Beanstalk with them!  He even let them share their ideas for bits and pieces of the story.  Very cute and very patient!  We ended up with "Jackie and the Highrise"!  While Kevin O'Malley was creating and telling the creative story, he was drawing, too!  (So very talented!)

Here are a few fun pictures I thought I'd share with you!

He was SO full of energy and acted SO happy to be there, that our students (and all the teachers) couldn't help but to love him!  I couldn't even imagine "performing" like he did 4 times in a day...I'd be EXHAUSTED!!!

At the end, he had a quick Q&A, and let a few kiddos ask him some questions.  (Then our class snuck in a group picture!  But shhh....don't tell anyone!!!) 

Best part you ask?  Well it was definitely when he drew our class a custom, signed picture of a HIPPO (our class "theme")!  My students pretty much went bonkers when he walked into our room during math with the picture on a big piece of chart paper.  (Okay, I'll admit...I was a little bonkers, too!)  I wish I would have snapped a picture of that for you all to see, but maybe tomorrow I can post the picture!  I'm so excited to have it, and I've been debating all weekend, but I'm pretty sure I'm going to get it framed this week!  (because honestly...how many teachers can say they own a hippo drawn by Kevin O'Malley?!?)  :)

Hope everyone's had a great week!  Looking forward to Monday...now that I'm back on and can read everyone's posts, I see the countdown has begun...only 14 more days for me!!!  Tick, tock, tick, tock... (but I'm not overjoyed just yet...still have to get through all the insane "end-of-year chores" up at school....plus I'll miss all my chillens....but goodness me, I'm ready for the SUMMER!!!)

HAPPY SUNDAY!!!  Have a wonderful evening!  :)

Teacher Jackpot FREEBIE & and BIG SALE!

**UPDATE:  The Jackpot ended last night (Sunday) at midnight!  Don't be sad, though!  You can still swing by my TpT and TN stores for some FABULOUS Sales!  :)

Thanks to everyone who participated!

Well the time has finally arrived!  I know you're probably all SO excited (yes, I am too!!!) for the HUGE Teacher Appreciation Jackpot! 

(If you haven't been reading, here's a quick recap: This Sunday, May 6, over 130 TpT Sellers (including myself) will be showing our appreciation for our fellow teachers in a BIG way!!! We've all agreed to give away one of our TeachersPayTeachers products for FREE on Sunday only! Each free gift will be valued at between $3 and $8, so the total jackpot amount is estimated to be over $500! Woo-Hoo!!!  The three "categories" have been separated into: K - Grade 2 - April McNair on A Modern Teacher,  Grades 3 - 6 - Laura Candler on Corkboard Connections,  & Grades 7 - 12 - Adrianne Meldrum on The Tutor House)

So, are you ready to see my contribution?!?  It is my Natural Disasters and Natural Hazards Pack! (normally $5!)

Click on over to TpT to download it for FREE until midnight Sunday!  (And I'd love for you to leave me some feedback, too!  It'd really be the cherry on top of this already FABULOUS day!)

Ready for some MORE great news?!  My TpT Store will also be a part of the BIG Teacher Appreciation Sale going on from May 6-8!  Take 20% off my store, then use the code "TAD12" to get an EXTRA 10% off on top of that! 

Here are just a few of my items that will be on sale.  I'd love for you to jump over to my store to take a look!  (I know I'll be scooping up LOTS of fantastic goodies over the next few days!)

Still in need of some items to use for Mother's Day?  Click on over to take a look at these:

Thanks for following my blog, and thanks for being an AWESOME and DEDICATED teacher! All of us sellers over at TpT appreciate your commitment to your students and your dedication as an educator!  Hope you check out the list below of all the wonderful and generous teachers that also are participating in this event-- I know we'll all be getting some great resources over the next 24 hours!    :)

New Spelling Pattern Balloons!

A few days ago, I was doing my normal rounds of blog stalking (yes, I'll just come right out and admit it...after all, it's the truth...), when I read Krista's post over at Second Grade Superkids.  She was practicing "r controlled vowels" with cute flower "craftivities"-- where the "ir", "er", and "ur" went on the stems, and the petals were the words that included those spelling patterns!

I used to do very similar activities in the beginning of the year in my classroom (and even commented to Krista that I don't quite remember why I stopped!)  We put our "chunk" in the center of the flowers, though.  It was always so fun, and my kiddos loved it so much! 

Anyways, her whole blog post spurred my mind to remember that I also created a similar "craftivity" to practice spelling patterns-- but instead of flowers, I made my students balloons to write their words on!  Then we'd "tie" them together with the new spelling pattern on the fake paper bow!  Sooooo, you know me...I just HAD to go find my file, spruce it up, and share it with you guys!  Here's a quick "sneak peak" at my new Spelling Pattern Balloons!

AND, you know me (again!), I want to GIVEAWAY 2 FREE copies!!! So, here's the deal:
- The first 2 followers to leave me a comment below, completely answering this question (and following the directions!) will get this activity for FREE!!!

- Leave me a comment telling me what spelling pattern, "chunk", or rule your class was working on this week.  Then, tell me 5 words that could go inside of the spelling balloons!  Finally, tell me your email, and I will send you the activity for FREE if you're one of the first 2 to follow all the directions!!! :)  Easy as pie!

Hope everyone's had a great week!  I can't wait for this weekend, so I can rest, relax, and snag me some great freebies on Sunday!  (And some great deals during the TpT Teacher Appreciation Sale, too!)  Don't forget to stop back by to see all the great details about the Teacher Appreciation Jackpot, this Sunday, May 6!  I know you're probably just as excited as I am!!!  :)

Teacher Appreciation Jackpot!!!

**UPDATE:  The Jackpot ended last night (Sunday) at midnight.  Don't worry, though!  I'm still having my sale on both my TpT and TN sites!  Swing on by to pick up some fun goodies at a GREAT price!  :)

Well the time has finally arrived! I know you're probably all SO excited (yes, I am too!!!) for the HUGE Teacher Appreciation Jackpot!

(If you haven't been reading, here's a quick recap: This Sunday, May 6, over 130 TpT Sellers (including myself) will be showing our appreciation for our fellow teachers in a BIG way!!! We've all agreed to give away one of our TeachersPayTeachers products for FREE on Sunday only! Each free gift will be valued at between $3 and $8, so the total jackpot amount is estimated to be over $500!Woo-Hoo!!! The three "categories" have been separated into: K - Grade 2 - April McNair on A Modern Teacher, Grades 3 - 6 - Laura Candler on Corkboard Connections, & Grades 7 - 12 - Adrianne Meldrum on The Tutor House)

So, are you ready to see my contribution?!? It is my Natural Disasters and Natural Hazards Pack! (normally $5!)

Click on over to TpT to download it for FREE until midnight Sunday! (And I'd love for you to leave me some feedback, too! It'd really be the cherry on top of this already FABULOUS day!)

Ready for some MORE great news?! My TpT Store will also be a part of the BIG Teacher Appreciation Sale going on from May 6-8! Take 20% off my store, then use the code "TAD12" to get an EXTRA 10% off on top of that!

Thanks for following my blog, and thanks for being an AWESOME and DEDICATED teacher! All of us sellers over at TpT appreciate your commitment to your students and your dedication as an educator! Hope you check out the list below of all the wonderful and generous teachers that also are participating in this event-- I know we'll all be getting some great resources over the next 24 hours! :)

Ready for a WINNER?!?

Congrats to Rachel, the new owner of a 1 year membership to GregTangMath.com!  Rachel, I will be emailing you later this evening with details!  :)

Thanks to everyone who participated!  I hope you actually played, and I hope you really enjoyed it!  (I have to admit, Kakooma is one of my all time favorite math games!)

Hope everyone's having a great week.  I know mine has been very very very busy-- so much so that I can't believe it's only Tuesday!  (It definitely feels like it should AT LEAST be Wednesday!)  Don't you agree?!  :)

Have 2 Minutes to Spare??

Hi Friends!!


I'm SO excited to let you know that my school has been registered as part of Rack Room Shoes' $50,000 Beautification Photo Contest!  Our PTA has been trying for about a year now, to build us a shade structure/outside classroom behind our school, near our playground, and recently we have been so blessed to be a part of this HUGE grant giveaway!!!

This $50,000 Grant Giveaway is a VOTING CONTEST!  The one school from around the country that collects the most votes by Monday, May 7, will be the winner of the $50,000 Beautification Grant.  How exciting would that be to win?!?!  We could get our shade structure AND lots of pretty flowers and such!  :)

So here's a favor I need of you.  If you have 2 minutes (or less!) to spare, will you please click on over to Rack Room Shoes' contest website and vote for my school??  If you click the link or picture above, it should take you to the "Texas" 1st page!  My school, Carlena Chandler Elementary, should be somewhere on that 1st page (its location seems to change everyday...not sure if that's due to ratings or what!)

I would SO SO SO appreciate your help!  You can vote once a day, up until May 7, and you don't even have to log in or say where you're from!  :)  Super quick and easy!

***Finally, don't forget about my GregTangMath.com Membership Giveaway from Sunday!!!  It ends TOMORROW evening, so if you haven't entered yet, click on over to Sunday's post to find out how.

Happy Monday!

I Heart Greg Tang...And A Giveaway!

In yesterday's post, I mentioned using GregTangMath.com as one of my short, filmed examples of technology in my classroom. 

Today, I wanted to further show you how GREAT this website really is, and how it can be SO beneficial in your classroom, too!  (And no, I am in no way affiliated with Greg Tang, I just think he is an amazing man with amazing resources!  I promise you'll LOVE this stuff, too!)

When you first pull up the Greg Tang site, it will look like this:

As you can see on the home page, there are several different resources on this one site.  There are lots of fun games, several online versions of Greg Tang's picture books, and even a place where you can download and print teacher materials and masters! 

One of my students' FAVORITE places to visit is Kakooma!  (As I'm typing this, I just realized it's very hard to explain how to play without actually showing you...so I'm going to let the website do the hard work and give you a break down!) 

My class uses Kakooma both as a whole class fluency activity and as a math center.  To play as a whole class, we sit in a "rainbow" around the SmartBoard like this:

Sorry for the poor picture quality...it's hard with the lights half off and the SmartBoard giving off a glare!

The website is pulled up on the board, and we all complete the game together!  Students are all participating, either looking at the problem we're on, or looking ahead to be prepared.  Here are a few step-by-step screen shots:

 

If we clicked the correct one, the sum will be displayed largely in the center of that box.  Then, the main box will rotate (you can tell by the bolded black outline) to the next one in a clock-wise order.  You can see, after we click the correct sum, it will take us to the next box:

And this pattern keeps on:

Now, when you get to the last box, your game is not yet over!  Students NOW must figure out the BIG math fact from all the sums from the individual boxes!

Once students click on that one, they've finished the game!  The "Scoreboard" screen may or may not come up, depending on their time.  (As a side note, I don't let my kiddos normally play easy fours, so that is why I got in the top 10 during this explanation! Haha!)

When we play as a class, we record our "Top 10" with dates, so we can see our progress throughout the year.  Sometimes we play boys vs. girls or teams, and we make little notes in our "Top 10" with initials or letters like "B" or "G".  Here is an example of one of our class' "Top 10" from hard fives (We don't play this one that often, either!  I guess I should have done a screen shot of a more up to date one that we use often!  Oops!) 

The date when we played as a whole class, and the time we got!

Here are a few final notes I'd like to share about Kakooma. 

Another blurry class shot!  :)

• The way our class plays has evolved throughout this year!  It has taken some time to learn to play as a whole class.  When students think they know the fact, they raise their hand to be called on to go up.  Then student then "announces" the fact to the class as they press it.
• There IS a penalty for wrong answers, so students must be careful! 
• Students can "look ahead" to upcoming squares to be prepared!
• If I see a student not participating, I will call on him/her and specifically give him/her a square. 
• If a student wants to participate but is stumped on the fact, I call on other students to share one of the addends.  Then, the original student must come up with the other addend and the sum!  This ALWAYS helps, even my low students that are pulled out for math.  (Yes, they participate too, and do a GREAT job!)

I really invite you to click on over to the GregTangMath.com website and take a look!  There's a FREE version of Kakooma you can play, and you can also explore all the other resources there too!  (SO many other great games we play, and printables that I use with my class!)

**So now, are you ready for the GIVEAWAY part of this post?!?! 

I will give away one FREE yearlong membership to GregTangMath.com to one follower on Tuesday, May 1 at 6 PM (Central Time!). 

There are 2 ways to enter NOW 3 WAYS TO ENTER!!!

1. Leave one comment saying that you follow my blog.  (MANDATORY!)
2. Go explore GregTangMath.com.  In the "Kakooma" section, try the free game of 6 number addition.  Come back here are leave a comment telling me what you thought of it AND your time!  (Yes, you MUST try it yourself!)  :)

**NEW #3. Post about my giveaway, and earn 2 entries!  Leave your comment twice with the link to your post!  :)

I will use Random.org's Random Number Generator on Tuesday evening to pick one winner.  Good Luck!  I hope you enjoy!  :)