Currently-July

I am linking up with Farley at Oh' Boy 4th Grade for her monthly Currently.  Kerry is away on a much deserved girls week in Florida, so you get just me.   I can see her now, soaking up the rays, a fun fruity beverage in her hand, nice long UNINTERRUPTED chats with her friends, quiet time for reading a juicy novel and sleeping in late...oh how I love to live vicariously through Kerry.  I, on the other hand, am just hanging out on this rainy summer day thinking of all the things I need to do but aren't.  I did just go have lunch with my best childhood friend.  We grew up 2 doors down and her sister was my sister's best friend as well.  We still remain connected, but have gone our separate ways.  Her family has a beach house here, so I get to see her at least once a year and catch up.  This time it was her, her sister, and my family all at a yummy restaurant filled with lots of young people out for Sunday brunch enjoying the brunch "drink" specials.  Needless to say we stuck out a bit with our 6 children all under the age of 6.  But, it was fun to catch up the kids were fairly well behaved. 

Well, on to what the post is all about...

Listening- It is pouring here today and lots of thunderstorms.  It is a nice peaceful sound.  Also after lunch Baby A went down for a nap and the hubs and Big G went to the movies...so it really is quiet.

Loving- Now that I finally have things figured out, I think, I am really lovein this Bloglovin' stuff.  Seems easy to stay up to date with all your wonderful blogs.

Thinking-  I desperately need to do laundry.  Wish I had a laundry fairy!!!

Wanting- Besides that laundry fairy, I would love to have a packing fairy.  We are leaving for 10 days on Tuesday to head to the in-laws for a mountain vaca.  It will be nice and relaxing, however packing 3 kids and myself will be a chore.  Here's hoping I don't forget anything REALLY important.

Needing- After that yummy lunch, I am about to pop.  Hopefully when the hubs gets home I can go out for an afternoon workout class.

Tips, Tricks, or Hints- Have you ever heard of AppsGoneFree?  It is a wonderful app that every day has a list of apps that are free for the day or even two days.  I have found some useful, and some not so useful apps through here and even some really cool interactive stories.   I hope to fill up a folder of interactive stories and use it for an "extra" center in my classroom this year.   I have also gotten some great workout apps, organization apps, games and puzzle apps, etc. from here.  It really is worth looking at.  Hey even if you don't like the app that you downloaded, don't worry...it was free.


Well now off to do that laundry so I can pack these kiddos.  That is unless that fairy shows up!!!

Jumping on the Bandwagon and a SALE!!!

Well after careful consideration, I mean reading all the other blogs and going with the majority, we are jumpin on the bandwagon to join Bloglovin'.  Here at Third and Goal, we (Emily) is known to wait to the last minute.  I do my best when I am under pressure!!!  So if you have been hiding under a rock the past few weeks and you haven't heard, Google Reader is going bye bye tomorrow.  Most everyone has joined up with Bloglovin' and are following blogs that way.  So, I have made it easy for you to follow us any way you wish.  You can always go to the sidebar and follow us that way, or push any of these buttons below and follow that way.  So thank you for following and I hope you too have joined Bloglovin'.

 AND.... to celebrate all this followin action and the last day of June, we are having a sale at our TPT store.  Everything is 20% off.  Shop away!!!

Tried it Tuesday-Guided Reading Style

Hey (Linky) Party People!!

We thought we'd link up with Holly at Fourth Grade Flipper for a little Tried it Tuesday.  Check our her awesome blog HERE and get in on the fun and link up!

We wanted to share our latest novel units with you.  I'm sure y'all are like us and you have a wide range of readers that makes your head spin can be challenging.  :)  Beverly Cleary is a good mid-range for third graders and our kiddos devour anything she writes!  If you use Fountas and Pinell, The Mouse and the Motorcycle and Ramona Quimby, Age 8 are both Level O.

We usually read a chapter each day with our small groups and try to follow a pretty consistent sequence.  Let's face it, we crave the consistency as much as the kids (at least I do!).  It's fast and furious, but in that 25 minute session we try to: review/preview, introduce new vocab, read together, review the text, and assign a meaningful activity that will extend their thinking.  Sounds easy enough, right?!  HA!

We love to use novel units to keep us on track AND we can plan the activities ahead of time.  I know we've got a winner when..... A.) My kids groan when our time is up.... B.) They shout "YESSSS" when I call their group to the table or  C.) They ask to read and finish their assignment during recess.

If you'd like to try either of these units, let us know!   The first 3 people to comment, get them for free! Just leave your email and which unit you'd like.

Thanks y'all!  Now go link up with Holly so we can see what you did!

Monday Made It

So today I (Emily) am linking up with 4th Grade Frolics for a Monday Made It.

This is not a school item, but thought it would be neat to share.  I have made a handful of these in the past and I think am finally getting the hang of it now, plus I think they are kinda cute, so I thought I would share.

Just in the past two weeks I have had 4 friends who have had babies.  Love me some itty bitty babies and the snuggling time I get with them.  G-Man and Big A aren't snuggling much these days. :(
I made some burp cloths for my friends.  They are easy to make and everyone needs burp cloths.  This month, there were 3 boys and 1 girl.  The boys are taking over!  Next month I have 2 friends who are due, and then it is one baby each month until December.  All I can say babies, babies, babies!

What I did different this go around was take my time...ha ha ha...that is something I have a hard time doing...being patient. 

I actually ironed out the fabric before I got out the sewing machine.  This helped me when it came time to sew them, I almost had straight lines.

 This is before I got to sewing, all laid out and ready to go!

Here are the final products.  I added a bit of flare to one of the girl ones to see how it looked.

I am not going to bore you with all the steps, just thought it would be fun to share!

We promise our next post will be school related!  There are some big things in the making!!!
Happy SUMMER!!!

Five for Friday-Sunday Style

So this is a few days late, but I have been on vacation all week with my whole family.  We love linking up Doodle Bugs!

Our last Five for Friday Kerry wrote about her beach week with her family...boy was it relaxing! Well, my family beach week started on Saturday as hers was ending.  Now let's compare her week with mine...

Kerry                                               
Location: Kiawah, SC                       
People: 5 Adults                               
Relaxing: Very Much So                 
Activities: Pool, beach, happy hour

Emily
Location: Ocean Isle Beach, NC 
People: 6 Adults, 5 Kids
Relaxing: only after 9pm
Activities: pool, beach, anything that makes the kids happy

So here is a little peek into my vacation...just a tad bit different from Kerry's

1. Everyone's happy playing in the sand.  This is day one...everyone digging a hole for Big A. 

2.  We celebrate Father's Day by sending the boys off for an afternoon movie, Man of Steel.  This made my hubby's day.  Here is my dad and my sister.  We are so lucky to have this man in our life.  He is a fabulous role model and such a great dad.  He is also a wonderful grandfather to our kids.  We are so lucky. 

And my hubby, such a kid at heart and a wonderful father to my children.  We are so blessed!










3.  A few ways we entertained the kiddos at night.  Go Kart racing (the blurry picture isn't because he is going fast, really so slow, just bad photo taking), bungee jumping for the big kids, and a very LONG game of putt-putt.  

4.  One day it was a bit cloudy, so we took the kids to the water slide.  They loved it, G-man went about 50 times down the little slide and the big kids couldn't get enough.  And by big kids, I mean hubby too, needless to say he was a little sore the next day. 

 
Big G                                  Hubby

 

 5.  It really was a wonderful week.  We had great weather and lots of fun times together.  I ate and drank my way through the week and loved every minute of it.   Lots of exercise to be done before our next vacation to the mountains.  I think the week was summed up best as my mom, sister, and I were packing up the food, toys, etc. on the last night and these two were sawing logs and catching flies on the couch at 8:00pm. 

This week I have promised Kerry I will get lots of work done, back to school activities and trying something new with Chapter 1 in math...we'll see how it goes.   Thanks for reading, even if it is on Sunday. 

Five for Friday-Summer Style

Hey Hey Teacher Friends!

TGI-Summer!  We are linking up with Doodle Bugs for our current Friday loves...summer style!

I've been on vacation all week with my family in Kiawah Island, South Carolina.  It's a quick 45 minute drive from Charleston, so it's kind of a staycation for me.  We have had gorgeous weather and long, lazy days.  I gotta say--the livin' is easy!  Here are some fun things we have been up to!

1.  I got my monogrammed beach hat!  Here is a pic of my daily must haves.  :)  The Four Agreements is an incredible book if you have never read it.

2.  One of my favorite parts of the day is our nightly happy hour.  Usually, this commences around 5 or so.  My entire family loves to eat, drink, cook and just be merry!  We have tried to out-do each other each night with our concoctions.  I gotta say my sister-in-law's sangria definetly wins for the drink category.  But I may have pulled out a win for the app category.  I wanted to share a yummy recipe that is easy peasy and absolutely delish.  I can guarantee satisfaction with this heavenly Charleston Cheese dip, and if not you can blame me!  Click {HERE} for the recipe!

3.  Excuse the awkward selfies, but I had to share some of my latest Forever 21 finds.  I know I am entirely way too old to shop there, but for under $20/dress......a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do!  PS-I need a new stance...I know!

4.  The wildlife here is out of control!  Take a look at this bobcat (yes!) and baby gator that got turned around and wound up on the beach.

5.  Emily and her boys came out to visit me.  I loved spending the afternoon with these cutie patooties!  We jumped in the pool over and over and over again.  Tons of fun!  Here they are being all cutesy!

Thanks for a taking a quick peek at my week!  I hope yall have had a good one, too!  Link up and let us know!

The Teacher Toolbox How-To for Dummies

WOOHOO!  I did it!  We are linking up with Tara from 4th Grade Frolics for a little Monday Made It fun.  Get in on the action and tell us what you've been up to!

Now, I know I'm a year behind on this.  And I know yall whipped this little toolbox up in an hour.  What yall might not know is that I am the most craftily challenged teacher there ever lived.  Ever. It's sad.  Soooo, I thought I'd post the "Teacher Toolbox for Dummies" how-to guide.

Step One:
Buy the toolbox from Home Depot.  Click {here} to see the one I bought.  Not bad for $16!

Step Two:

Take out all of the drawers and spray paint that baby whatever color you want.  We had black on hand so that's what I used.

Step Three:
Go to the UH-MAZING blog Create, Teach, Share and download Rebecca's Toolbox labels.  In my book, Rebecca is an absolute genius and my teacher hero.  I can't tell you how many hours it would've taken me to size the boxes.

Step Four:
Print the word doc on your pretty paper.  I got mine from Michaels for 59 cents!  Depending of which size paper you choose, you may have to trim it down to fit your printer.

Step Five:
Cut out your labels and glue them to the inside of your drawers.  I used Crystal Clear Tacky Spray from Michaels.  This stuff rocks!  You will want to use gloves with it, but it was so easy to use.  It dries clear and can be peeled off if you make a mistake.

Step Six:
Stand back and marvel at your organizational prowess!!

Just call me Martha Stewart!  But don't ;)

Happy Summer Freebie!

Hey Yall!

It's 9am and we should be knee deep in guided reading groups!  But no one has asked me one. single. question. yet this morning.  Could it be?  Could it really be summer???

Like all of y'all, Emily and I spent our first day of summer working on projects.  I attempted the teacher toolbox .... and uh, when I finish it, I will post it.  I'm having some printer difficulties. Insert Debbie Downer voice. Emily has been working on some new read alouds.  Needless to say, you can take the teacher out of the classroom, but you can't take the classroom out of the teacher!  Or something like that.  Y'all know what I mean!

We wanted to share something with you that is kid tested and teacher approved.  This year we used task cards and Scoot to bribe motivate our kiddos to learn and move at the same time.  We also had a group that LOVED anything animal related.  If I even mentioned the word puppy in my classroom, I had my little guys and gals eating out of the palm of my hand.

Exhibit A

Exhibit B

Exhibit C

How does one include puppies into math?  Well, enter Sam.  Poor Sam is a cashier at Pawleys Pet Place and is terrible at his job.  He needs help and YOUR kids are there to save him from being fired.

If you teach third grade you may need to review all 4 of the basic operations.  There are 24 task cards included in this pack.  Use it as a center, a whole group game, guided math group instruction, homework, or anyway your teacher heart desires.  Just click {HERE} to scoop it up for free!  We will keep it free for the remainder of the week to celebrate SUMMER VACATION!!!

Hope y'all find it useful!

June Currently!

Hey Yall!

The end of our school year ended in a big flurry of paperwork, portfolios, and performances.  We are BEAT to say the least!  But now it's summer and we have all the time in the world.  Helllllllo lazy days, flip flops, barbecues, pool time, and trashy novels!  HOORAY!

We are linking up with the fab Farley from Oh Boy 4th Grade.  Go check her out and tell us what's up for you this month!

Kerry-I can't get enough of Luke Bryan so that's an easy one to explain.  I can't wait to get my hands dirty and make some Pinterest projects.  First up is the teacher toolkit.  Yall are a crafty bunch, I hope I can keep up!

I also really, really, really want a monogrammed sun hat.  I know how ridiculous it is, but I live at the beach!

That's about it for me.  The rest are pretty self-explanatory.   Check out Emily's additions.  

Emily-

It is finally bedtime and after a very lazy morning (PJ's until 1) and a super busy afternoon (beach and yummy fresh local shrimp and veggies for dinner)  I am pooped! I am too lazy to even turn on the tv so I am entertained by the sound of the washer and dishwasher!

Tomorrow is our first morning of summer break.  No alarm clocks at 5:30, no lunches to pack, and no kiddos to hurry out the door by 7...PJ's and workout clothes from now on.

Needing to declutter is to say the least. I have just made piles around the house for the past few months, now I must tackle them!  

Vacation for us is in two weeks.  We are headed to the beach with my family.  It will def be no schedules, wild days on the beach, LOTS of family and chaos, and many fruity beverages.  I can't wait!  After that vacay, we head to the mountains for 10 days with my husband's family.  That has 3 other necessities!!! 

We will be back later this week with some fun updates of stuff we did at the end of the year.  Take care!