Break's Over and ARMT Pep-Rally

       I can't believe that my spring break is just about over. I have kept to my "no school" policy this week. It wasn't hard since I have been taking care of my stepfather in his battle against cancer. Next week, those smiling faces will be trampling through the halls with sleepy eyes and a fresh brain.

      I love it when we come back from a break because they are more eager to learn than before. It makes my job a whole lot easier when they have their brains turned on ready to go! What I love most is that testing doesn't start for a couple of weeks. This gives us all time to get back into the swing of things and have some fun before those dreaded tests.

What I am really excited about is our 2nd annual ARMT (Alabama Reading and Math Test) pep-rally that the teachers hold for the testing grades. The teachers usually become the cheerleaders, doing all those great tricks/tumbles (well, maybe not this year since most of the teachers are pregnant). The grade levels have a cheer contest to see who has the best cheer/chant. The winner gets the spirit stick. Ahem, third grade won last year!! Leading up to the pep-rally, the kids get to participate in spirit week. They get to dress up that are paired with different slogans (Army day is--"attack the ARMT", nerd day--"outsmart the ARMT").

This year the kids with the highest scores get to pie their previous teachers in the face! OM MY GOODNESS!!! I will have pie all over my face in the next couple of weeks. Hopefully my group this year will be motivated to do well so they can pie me in the face next year. I know that there are several that would LOVE to do it. Ha ha ha!!

All before this, I am going to have a restful week or so with my students which will be nice. It's time for the 4:30 wake up calls, the dire need for caffeine, and random stories form my students. I love my job!

An Amazing Giveaway!!

Since I am on vacation (from the kiddos), I thought I would stalk some blogs. Well I came across an amazing giveaway!! Visit Primary Inspired to registrar! Here's what you can win:

Party Time Math Pack from Journey of a Substitute Teacher

Snack Literacy Center from Sunny Days in Second Grade

Slides & Ladders (Fry Words 101-200) from First Grade a la Carte

Common Core Cheat Sheets for YOUR Grade from Learning with Mrs. Parker

Candyland Compound Word Game from Seusstastic Classroom Inspirations

 

 

Upper Elementary Linking Party

We all know that it can be hard to find those 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade resources at times. Well, come join the linking party at Fabulous 4th Grade Froggies with other upper elementary teachers. We all need to stick togther! Ha ha ha.

Letters from Parents to Kids Idea

One more day to go before I am sitting back and relaxing.....well, sleeping in at least. There is still too much to do with my day to sit around and relax. I was sitting here finishing clipping my coupons when I thought of something for all my upper elementary friends (mainly 3rd grade teaching friends).

Third graders are usually pretty scared about taking their first state tests, so I thought about getting my parents to write letters to my students last year. In fact, my whole team got in on the game!! We sent out a letter to the parents, explaining that the letters where to encourage their children and calm any fears. Also, they were to send the letters in a sealed envelope with their child's name on it. On the first day of testing, all the students opened their letters. I have never seen such joy on their faces! Even those students that got letters from me (their parents didn't send one). They read their letters every day before they began. It was the sweetest thing. 

Since it was such a big hit last year, I am going to try it again this year. My students need some encouragement even though I know they will rise to the occasion ;) Last year I sent home pretty paper with an envelope so there would not be any excuse. I think that would be a great idea for this group too.

It's Almost Here and Awards

Well, I have almost made it. Spring break is only 2 days away and testing is almost upon us! I can't wait to sleep in past 4:30 and chill out in the mornings with a cup of coffee. Even though I will be working on my graduate assignments and taking care of family business, I will NOT be doing any work related activities. Maybe a little blog stalking, ha ha ha.

I really want to get some ideas about how to get my students motivated for testing, and feeling good about doing well. Any ideas ladies??

I got another blog award too!! I am just so excited! It's from Kim at Finding JOY in the 6th Grade. She had bestowed upon me the Liebster Award.

This award is given to blogs with less than 200 followers and passed from Blogger to Blogger to highlight up and coming awards.  Liebe is the German word for love, so this award has a special meaning for those just starting out. Guidelines for this award are as follows:1) Thank your Liebster Blog Award presenter on your blog 2) Link back to the blogger who presented the award to you 3) Copy and paste the blog award on your blog 4) Present the Liebster Blog Award to blogs of 200 followers or less who you feel deserve to be noticed and 5) Let them know they have been chosen by leaving a comment at their blog.


I am going to give this award to Julie at Lighting a Fire in Third Grade. She is doing a great job. You all need to go over and check out what she has going on in her classroom.





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Outerspace Craziness with FREEBIE!!!

We have been working a lot with the planets over the past couple of weeks. They were having so much fun that they were surprised to hear that their projects were being graded. They were just under the assumption that they were just having fun. Now if that doesn't make someone's heart melt then I don't know what well. Any way, we spent a lot of time looking in our science books and looking at power points. Some of my students dug out the books from my class library on space and devoured them like there was no tomorrow.

One of the firs things we did was write from a writing stem....

Then we had a chance to create our folders about our planets. We took all of our knowledge that we gained and poured it into these folders or lapbooks.

Below (complements of abctech) you can grab the templete to create your own space lapbook. All you need are some old file folders to fold into thirds and the templete pieces, and you're good to go!

One Lovely Blog Award

Thank you so much Julie for my award! It's my first blog award, and I am super excited to receive it! Thank you all so much for reading my blog :)