DIY End of the Year Girls Gift

1. Lemon shaped chipboard designed coasters in the $1 section at Target. (packs of 8)
2. A variety of pens that match are also at Target in the $1 section in packs of 2.


3. Sticky notes and a 18 pack of polka dotted or striped binder clips in the supply section.


Quick and easy idea that all elementary aged girls would love to have!!

Let's Watch them Move... I'm Movin' and I know it...

Our Real LIfe Experience during our Bird Adaptations Unit

Tonight, this is what I found. They hatched!!

About 2 weeks ago we found these little guys hanging out in our wreath on the front door.

Phases of the Moon

The Phases of the Moon

More educational lessons on Moon at NeoK12.com  

The 100th Day of School in 4th Grade

Today, we celebrated the 100th day of school.  I took pictures of each student with the "Aging Booth app" on my iPhone to age them to 100 years old.  I printed each picture on a full size page in black and white as students created oval frames for a finishing touch.  Each student wrote about what it would be like to be 100 years old, what their life was like before they turned 100 years old or described themselves at 100 years old.  We all had such a great time as well as shocked to see each student age so quickly!  Next year, we might just have to dress up as if we were 100 years old and write a compare/contrast with our current age.

QR Codes in the Classroom

I have been exploring all the possibilities of using QR codes in my classroom.  Next week, I plan to teach my 4th graders how to create their very own QR code and embed it into their blog.  A QR code is a  bar code you scan that takes you to a site on the internet.  What a safe way to have students get exactly where you want them to go and not worry about them misspelling words that take in the wrong direction.  All you need is a bar code scanner found in the app store.  There are many different ones that are free.  The bar code to the left will take you to my teacher webpage.  Here are a few ideas on how you can use QR codes in your classroom:

1. Extention activities:  print QR codes on index cards for students to scan and take them to specific sites for online Math activities, research material, etc.
2. Famous People you study in class: Each code will take them to a site that students can read and research about that specific person in history.
3. Incentives:  Create different codes that will be a surprise to the student until they scan the bar code that says, "Free Homework Pass" or "Sit by a Friend today". 
4. Checking their Homework:  The QR code will be a scanned picture of the answer key to their assignment. Once scanned, they will have all the answers revealed to reflect on how they did on the assignment.
5.  Scavenger Hunts:  Students scan and reveal clues or pictures that they can add to their list of items they are hunting for.
6. Vocabulary:  Students walk around the room scanning posted codes or use bar codes on index cards during literacy stations to reveal the definition to new vocabulary.

My mind can't stop thinking of all the ways to use QR codes in the classroom.  Please leave a comment if you have any ideas for using QR codes.  What a fun way to learn and move around a Techie Classroom!  I wish I had these opportunities as a child.

Student Reactions on King George III and The Stamp Act

During our American Revolution unit, students had an opportunity to see how the colonists felt about laws King George III would impose on them when we role played in class today. First, I told them Mrs. Huggins sent us a video message that was left out of our morning announcements and it was extremely important that we take time out of our day to view it before lunch. I secretly asked Mrs. Huggins to help me out with the lesson without telling a sole. I asked her to tell them in the video message that a "NEW" school rule would begin today. No students would be allowed to bring a lunch from home, or choose an alternate lunch item. The only way to get lunch from now on was to get a hot lunch. In fact, the hot lunch was actually going to be a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. The good news was they could choose their jelly. You can only imagine the students reactions to this message. It worked!! I got the questions rolling. Most students were not happy about this new rule. Many students asked questions like, "what if we get tired of eating the same thing everyday?" or "what if we don't like peanut butter?". After much discussion, I told them this wasn't really a rule that was going to happen. My goal was for them to experience how the colonists felt when King George III imposed laws that they had to follow. We all had a good laugh and it really sparked their interest in our lessons on The Proclamation of 1763 and The Stamp Act. In the next part of our lesson, we divided the class into the British and the Colonists. We brainstormed a list of things that could be taxed in the classroom. After many ideas and a lot of student conversations taking place, we all voted as a class to have the British (one half the class) tax the Colonists (the other half of the class) everytime they had to use the restroom and everytime they spoke to someone other than a teacher. Wow! They are tough on eachother. I am so glad the British could tax only for the afternoon. By 2:30 pm, I believe we were all glad the Stamp Act was repealed!

Lily's Show Me on Using the Breaking Apart Strategy

This Weeks Show Me: How to Use Smaller Problems to Solve Bigger Problems

Energy Olympics Science Rotations

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

What a Wonderful Surprise for One Student in my Class

James and his sister were caught by surprise when their Dad returns home Friday afternoon from 7 months overseas.

Students Experiment with Circuits

First Fun Friday with a Visit from the Spurs Coyote

Power Teaching Basics

I love this Whole Brain Teaching...

Leave a Comment of "Water Cycle Jump" or "Water Cycle Boogie" to vote for your Favorite!

Student Response to Skyping with another 3rd Grade Class in Michigan

Technology Conference

I am in Austin this week learning many techniques about integrating technology into my 3rd grade classroom. I am sitting in a session learning how to go paperless and activities for blogging with students. All I need is a laptop or iPad for each student in my class. Any takers or donations are being accepted at anytime. Seriously though, my goal is to try and obtain many of the engaging tech equipment for my class and future classes to benefit from through grants etc. I love giving my students the experiences of working with the many devices that they may never have the opportunity to use otherwise. This year blogging with my class has been continuously engaged in their learning as we have learned how to import pictures and given us a real purpose for writing. I know the parents have enjoyed it as well because they love to leave comments on their pieces. We will use blogging to go paperless this year for our Wax Museum research projects in May. Do you have any ideas for 3rd graders to blog? Stay tuned....

Our Snowy Day Surprise

Here is how Ms. Jordan and her neighborhood spend their snowy day off. Sledding through the neighborhood all morning brought many laughs and many memories for us all. How did you spend your snowy day today?

Student's Story from Storybird.com

Puffy Pumpkin,Puffy Pumpkin what do you see? by marmst on Storybird

Storybird Student Story

Crazy Chrismas tree, Crazy Chrismas tree what do you see ? by efowle1 on Storybird

No Snow in Texas...Here's how we made it happen!!

We had a fun filled day before we left for Winter break. We played a game to review all of our word wall words for the first semester of school called "Snowball Fight". I say a word while each student takes a turn saying a letter to spell the word. After the last letter of the word is said, the next student in the circle says the whole word. Finally, the next student says "snowball" to the person in the circle sitting next to them. That person gets a huge cotton ball stuck to their face with lotion to help it stick. We all laughed and laughed as the "Snowball Fight" continued.

Read to Feed

Cayden's response the story Wolf!

Jesse's response to the story Wolf!