Budding Blog Linky

We found this super cute linky over at  I {Heart} Recess  today for new bloggers...and that is us!  So we thought we would join right in.

1. Why did you start blogging?
Everybody's doing it... Sorry we wouldn't jump off a bridge if everyone was doing it, but we will follow everyone in the blogging world!!  We love to read up on all the cool things that teachers are doing and sharing.

2. What is your favorite subject to teach and why?
Emily-Math!  I love teaching math and playing around with games and manipulatives.  This year we set a goal to get out the manipulative or games at least 4 times a week.  WOW, it has made math SOOOOO much fun.  My favorite math concept is Geometry.  This year while teaching lines and angles, I got so excited about what I was teaching, I blurted out "I love geometry!"  One of my sweet kiddos looked me dead in the eyes and said, "We can tell, you are REALLY excited!"  HA HA!!!
Kerry-I love math, too!  Believe or not, geometry is my least favorite to teach.  Probably because I have bad memories of my 10th grade teacher and going to my tutor!  I'm game for everything else!

3. Describe your teaching style.
Emily-Creative, Energetic, High Standards, Challenging, etc
Kerry-Fun, Happy, Loving, Excited, etc

4. Give three interesting facts about you.

Emily-married with 3 wild monkeys (10yrs-girl, 4yrs-boy, 1yr-boy)
           my mom and sister are in the education family...my poor dad
           only 8 more days and we will have our toes in the sand as SUMMER is here!!

Kerry-I love yoga, I taught in New York City after college, and I just adopted a pound puppy!

5. Do you have a TpT store? If yes, post the link :)
Yes we do!!!  Third and Goal

Thanks for letting us link up and join the fun!  Happy Friday!

Monday Made It

Hello There!

We are linking up with 4th Grade Frolics for some Monday Made It fun!  Check out Tara's blog HERE.

I don't know about yall, but we love ourselves some Ellen.  I can't turn it on without laughing/smirking/snorting/or some version of all three.  Why??  Why on earth are you snorting and smirking at the same time????  Well, I'm so glad that you asked!!  Girl is hilarious AND has a new app out.  It's called Heads Up and I highly recommend!  It provided hours of entertainment at a recent family game night and a quiet night at home with my man.  If you have no idea what I'm talking about, check it out HERE and HERE

Exhibit A:  Don't judge my fam, we cry when we laugh!

Ok, so you may be wondering what on earth this has to do with school.  I promise I'm getting there!  We had so much fun with it that I just knew it would provide the endless amount of giggles in our classroom, too!  Since we are knee deep in our Geometry unit...one thing led to another....I wrote out the properties of the shapes....Emily put some fancy pants graphics and frames on it and.... VOILA!  You can scoop up our little game called Shape Up or Ship Out HERE.  

We hope all you blogging mommas had a wonderful Mother's Day.  I spent mine with my mom, such a special treat, and Emily enjoyed her day with her cutie pie boys.   She also spent some quiet time in her new ride.  She is now an "official" soccer mom!  She is loving her new minivan and said that this morning her "new ride" even made her get to work on time...HA HA HA!

Happy Monday, y'all!  I'm off to cheer on cutiepie Kellie Pickler on DWTS!

Five for Friday--Only 3 left in the schoolyear!!

TGIF, yall!  We are so excited for the weekend!  The forecast is looking great for Charleston.  Emily will be able to relax a little when the hubs returns from his business trip.  I can't wait to see my parents, they are coming to town tomorrow morning!

We are linking up with Doodlebugs for some Five for Friday love.  This one will be a little fluffy, we've had a crazy week here!

1.  In case yall haven't been reading up on the pirate Blackbeard, you may not know this little gem of a fact.    We got the hard hitting truth from one of our little researchers.  "Blackbeard demanded medicine to remember his girlfriend and she left him a venereal disease to remember her."  YIKES!!  Those brothels were dangerous back in the day!

2.  Emily made a fun new game.  We tried out our version of Candy Land to review some basic math skills.  It was really fun!

3.  We made Mother's Day gifts with our kiddos.  We used THIS awesome freebie from Susan Moran.  Check her out HERE!  In the midst of an insanely busy week, we are so thankful for all of the TpTers out there who share their incredible resources.  What an amazing community!

4.  Today we met up with a new bloggy friend.  I'm sure yall have seen the AH-MAZING things from Bridget at Little Lovely Leaders.  If you haven't had a chance yet.... run, don't walk!  Go check out her stuff HERE!!  She is so cute and we had a great time hanging out and talking all things teachery!

5.  Happy Mother's Day!

Just a coupla hens hanging out!  This is a picture of my Mom and me on vacation in Kiawah.  We stopped by the Fat Hen for dinner one night, so delish!

Isn't this picture gorge!?  Here is Emily, her sister, and her mom at Emily's wedding.  LOVE IT and LOVE our mamas!


Happy Mother's Day to all you Moms out there.  May your day be merry & bright and all kinds of wonderful!

Frac Attack Mini Pack

Hi Lovely Teachers!

Is it only Wednesday?!  What a week already!  It's been a doozy down here for us.  Emily has had her hands full while the hubs is in San Fran.  But how stinkin cute are these two precious boys?

We are in the middle of testing, planning the last of our field trips, AND we wrote a play and are performing it next Tuesday!!  My sweet boyfriend offered to narrate it.  He gets signed up for all sorts of ridic things...just look at the picture of him dressed as the Swamp Fox from our Revolutionary War Games!

Emily and I make a very embarrassing cameo at the beginning of the South Carolina Play.  We will post some {blackmail} pics next week!  Needless to say, when the weeks start to get this hectic....the countdown to summer is ON!

We made a Fraction review pack that our kiddos have loved playing this week for ERB Review. Check out the preview below to see all 5 common core aligned games.   We just added it to our little ol' shop, so click here if you interested!  

We made it through Hump Day!  Y'all, have a good night!

Sales, Feedback, and Shopping! Oh My!

Hi Friends!

We are so pumped to shop til we drop this week!  In case you're like me...you love a sale....as evidenced by the severe damage I did at the JCrew Factory sale on Saturday.  Not gonna lie...I had some 'splainin to do when I got home.  Oopsie!  Emily and I both have a thing for colored jeans...so I'm pretty sure, between the two of us, we have every color in the rainbow now!

Anyway, on to the real sale and Fabulous Feedback Linky with Christina from Bunting, Books, and Bainbridge.  Check out her awesome ideas HERE.

This linky is designed to highlight some super cool TpT shoppers that left us feeling all warm and fuzzy with their comments.  We love you!   If the owners of these fab comments would please come forward, we would greatly appreciate it!  You can choose any item in our store for free.  :)  Just email us!

Thank you jsd6582!
LOVED IT!  I used this for my evaluation!  Asst. principal loved it too!

 Thank you jscholtz76!
This is fantastic!  I cannot WAIT to do a novel study in the fall using this packet!

Thank you A Series of First Grade Events!

Thank you for creating this! Having only one student at this reading level (and 30 others ranging from an a to k), this is a perfect way to challenge him and have questions and activities ready for an aide/volunteer to work with him on! I love the use of graphic organizers and vocabulary study mixed in with comprehension questions. Thank you!

I must admit, I didn't understand the TpT credits thing for the whole first year I was a member.  You see, the free stuff was like the gateway drug.  But then once I started downloading, I was hooked.  I eventually started doing some light stalking and got to know some of the awesome teachers behind their products by reading their blogs.  Before I knew it, I was a faithful reader and buyer on TpT.  The first time I realized I could earn cash back on my purchases it was like a gold mine!  We seriously went on a shopping spree and it was ALL FREE!  Awesome!

So now we can't wait to check some things off our list.  I just KNOW I am going to be more organized if I have one of those super cute planners for next year.  Color coding my to-do list will make me more organized and efficient, right??  Right.  And you know what they always say...

Check out the HUGE SALE on TpT this week.  Our whole store is 20% off through Wednesday, plus you can use the discount code TAD13 at check-out for even more .  YAHOO!   Whatever shopping you do, have fun!

Five For Friday-Weekly Classroom Loves

Hi Fab Teachers!

Today we are linking up with Doodlebugs for a little Five for Friday love.  It has been a great week!!

1.  We've had a lot of fun with our Geometry unit.  We tried the ah-mazing area robots from Amy Lemons.  If you haven't tried them, click HERE.  So much fun!  We also identified triangles using toothpicks and pipecleaners.  Tons of fun and so easy to prep!  If you want to try it, click HERE for a Friday freebie.

2.  We started our Independent Research Projects on Monday.  The students chose a topic that we have learned about in Social Studies (The Revolutionary War, The Civil War, The Civil Rights Movement, etc).  They research, write a paper, and then present a PowerPoint to the class.  Here is a pic of one student's research in action.  They are looking on the iPad for facts and then they place the facts in the correct subtopic envelope.  

When I look at those pics, it makes me laugh to think how much education has changed since I was in third grade!  WOW!  I can remember watching my teacher (Hi, Mrs. Stoll!!) xeroxing dittos and the ink was purple!

3.  We tried out Literature Circles this week.  At first it was so hard for us to let go and let them try to run a reading group independently.  Much to our dismay, they don't need us as much as we thought.  :(  They were begging for more time!  Yikes, if this is any indication of what we will be like when we have teenagers.... we are in for it!

4.  We needed something fun to review division and history before our ERBs so we whipped up some Army Task Cards.  Check them out HERE if you are interested!

5.  We had to share this cute pic.  It's our baby boys meeting for the first time!  Gotta love Batman and Cash!

                              (Graham is Emily's 4yr old and Cash(puppy) is Kerry's 4 month old)

That's all we've got!  Time to relax this weekend before ERBs start on Monday!!  Take care, y'all!

Linking up with Currently

 

We haven't linked up with Currently for a while, so we thought we would join the "PARTAY!"

-Right now I am watching and listening to General Hospital.  I am home today due to Big A being sick.  Thought he just had a rash on his face, but sweet boy has double ear infection.  Boy, he is a good actor.  Love General Hospital!  I think I have been watching it since middle school, 20+ years, and it still has the same story line.  Even some of the same characters/actors.  LOVE IT!!

-Even though I feel bad for Big A, I do love to snuggle time with that sweet boy.  He is a snuggler even when he isn’t sick, so you can even imagine what he is like now.  Snuggle bunny!

-Next week is going to be a doozie.  We start testing AND we are doing it on the computer...YIKES!  Two tests a day and I am sure we will have some hiccups, LONG WEEK.  Plus the hubs is going to San Fran for the week and I will be all alone!  Bedtime will be 830 for all! 

-Been cleaning all day while Big A naps, and all I have left is the kitchen...hate mopping!

-Think my needing is self explanatory...we could all use a day at the beach.

-I know we live at the beach but I plan to be there at least 3 days a week, or more.  Wearing  those kiddos out and enjoying the salt air.  And a little staycation with the hubs, while the kiddos are at Grandmas!  COME ON SUMMER!!!

as for Kerry... I made her add her Currently, so not much explanation.  See, there are only two 3rd grade teachers here at our school, so when one is gone the other takes on the load.  Don't get us wrong, we have a sub, but we really rely on the other one that is there to take the slack.  SO needless to say, she is exhausted and I am sure (even though I am not there) she really needs that Diet Coke and that yoga class.  Girl is a yoga groupie and she says she is determined to do yoga everyday this summer.  Good luck, I'll be doing my yoga on the beach as I lift (and chase) that 25lb son of mine.   

Happy May to everyone!!!

Workshop Wednesday Linky with Jivey!

Hi Bloggy Guys and Gals!

We are linking up with the super fab Jivey for Workshop Wednesday.  Check out her blog HERE.  Today's topic is our favorite book for guided reading groups.

How to choose, how to choose?  Emily and I had different picks until we both settled on one.  We originally chose Frindle and Because of Winn Dixie, but we see that some other awesome teachers picked those two.  They are good, y'all are right!!

Another favorite of ours is Shiloh by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor.  Shiloh is the story of a young boy named Marty who lives in the foothills of West Virginia.  Marty finds a dog and names him Shiloh, but quickly learns the dog belongs to Judd Travers.  Judd is an abusive man that wants his dog back immediately.  Marty is faced with a moral dilemma, should he give the dog back to Judd or lie to protect Shiloh from abuse?

Your students will become CAPTIVATED with this story.  It promises incredible discussion about values, friendship, heartache, and the importance of family.  Shiloh is a Newberry Award Winner and an absolute joy to teach!  There will be giggles, tears, and everything in between.  It is a level R, in case y'all use Fountas and Pinnell letters.

Thanks for reading.  Enjoy the rest of your week!  Happy Hump Day!