Christmas in July...Blog Hoppin' Style!

Hey there! It's mid-July....the peak of our summer time! Let's have a little fun and have a little retail therapy as August approaches! From now through July 26th, I will be placing a product on sale for the entire day! Want to see what's on sale? 

Here are the links for each  one so that you can catch 

the fun each day! 

July 15   July 16   July 17   July 18   July 19

July 20   July 21   July 22   July 23   July 24

July 25   July 26

Now, you are probably wondering what is going on for July 25 and 26! It's a MYSTERY product (who doesn't love a surprise!) and I know that you will love them!

Make sure to follow on Facebook and Instagram 

for daily reminders of the sale! 

Want to see all the fabulous sales? Check out the 

fun at Blog Hoppin'!

What's Under Your Cape? Book Study- Chapter One

I am beyond excited to get this book study started with my new bloggy friend Melissa of Transitional Kinder with Mrs.O! It is going to be a great couple of weeks as we take an in-depth look at Barbara's book, What's Under Your Cape?

In the beautifully written book What's Under Your Cape?, Barbara begins with her experience in the 4H Club and how the values of the organization helped shape her view of character education for the children in our schools.

Source

These values, once taught, can lead every child to find the super hero in each and every one of them. Mind, heart and action will allow students to develop a character that will last them will past their years with us. 

                                     

The first step of developing their inner superhero is service. 

In your classroom environment, you can create service opportunities everyday. The focus is on filling a need, whether it being a line leader, taking the cafeteria count or sweeping at the end f the day. Investing in their classroom and their classmates will not only make them feel as thought they are stale holders in your classroom but also allow them to feel as though they are a part of something that is bigger than themselves. What they do and how that effects others is essential and when you do for others, you can't help but feel good too! 

In a school environment, creating opportunities for students to come together with a common purpose and goal can also foster the value of service. With a little guidance, students can take the reins and create a plan to help their school, community or the world around them. This is the next step. A service learning project allows students to deepen their learning experience through civic responsibility which touches and changes the community around them. It may be that it fills a need right in your community. Your students can organize a food drive for families in need, a clothes drive or even a school supply drive for students at a neighboring school. It may be that your students have a great talent that needs to be shared with the community for the common good- knitting, painting, singing. 

Children need to have chances to think like a super hero and help to contribute to fulfilling the needs of others. Once they develop that way of thinking..."How can I help?"...they will discover that not only does it touch someone else's heart but it will also fill their heart with joy, accomplishment and love.

Something that I have always wanted to do is create a service oriented club at my school. When I was in college, my very best memories are from when I was in my sorority, Kappa Delta Chi. It is a service organization and it was the first time I felt that I was truly helping the world around me. What I did mattered. We did everything from food drives to volunteering at the Boys and Girls Club. We painted house for families in need and we gave holiday parties for the senior citizens of LULAC. I gave my heart to service and try to do that every single day.

I am going to start small but here are some ideas that I have found...maybe there is one in here for you! 

• Write welcome letters to new students to your school. These can be distributed when a child registers their first day though the registrar and can help students feel part of a school family from the very first day.
• Decorate lunch bags  for children in their school. How fun would that be to see their lunch bags shared with their schoolmates. Bags can also be donated to a local Meals on Wheels organization as a way to contribute to their cause. 
• Student ambassadors can be used to help new students become oriented with new a class or grade level. Children can give of their time to play with them at recess, give them a school tour or act as a lunch buddy as they arrive to your school.
• Make cards for a local organization that has shown sincere interest in their learning. Our community is very active and it would be such an awesome experience for students to acknowledge and appreciate their contribution to their learning.

There are several websites that can also help you develop service opportunities for your students. Here are a few that you might find helpful:

• Kid World Citizen
• The Great Kindness Challenge
• The Creative Kindness Project (launches later this year- follow The Creative Chalkboard for more details)

Service to our community, our country and our world is essential. Through fostering this in your students, you are setting them on their way to discover the superhero that they truly can be and that lesson will impacting for the rest of their lives. 

Have a great idea or have been inspired to include service in your school year? I would love to see what amazing ideas you have implemented and your thoughts on What's Under Your Cape?

Would you like a signed copy of Barbara's book? Just click here to link to our giveaway, how to purchase your own copy and the schedule for our book study! 

What's Under Your Cape Book Study and Giveaway

Howdy friends! I don't know about you but I love the summer for so many reasons! The sun, the fun and the time to just relax and unwind is simply priceless. This summer (like many others), I have spent time reading a TON of books. Some for pure pleasure (my favorite so far as been The Fault in Our Stars) and a stack of professional books.

There was one book that truly inspired me. One that gets to the heart of what I hope to do in my classroom everyday. My bloggy friends and I started talking and well....we decided this book was too good to keep to ourselves! So we got together, in only the way that excited teachers can, and planned a book study to share this book with you!

Barbara Gruener is a counselor and character coach of Westwood Bales Elementary and has taught from prek through 12th grade in her 30 years of working with children. She has an amazing blog The Corner on Character  where she shares so many wonderful ideas and stories that focus on developing the heart and mind of the students that we have in our classrooms everyday. 

I have had the absolute pleasure of reading her book What's Under Your Cape? and it is a must read for every educator! In this wonderful book, Barbara writes passionately about the importance of nourishing the super hero qualities in every single student. Through the use of song, dance and pure laughter, we can use Barbara's example to develop character that will benefit our students and the world they live in for many years.

We would love for you to join us as we explore this book together! 

Here is a schedule of the chapters and all the amazing bloggers that will be part of our super fun book study:

I am very excited to be co-hosting chapter one with Melissa of Transitional Kindergarten to bring you our thoughts on chapter one! Chapter one is all about service and how creating service opportunities is a great chance to give to others while also filling your own heart....

Are you excited? Want to know how you can get your copy? Ready to join us in our book study?

We are having a little giveaway!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Want to purchase a copy of your own? 

Check out Barbara's blog The Corner on Character and order your copy today!  

See you on July 14th for Chapter one!

Bright Ideas- Writing on the Walls!

It's time for some more Bright Ideas and I have a super fun one to share with you! 

My idea was inspired by the documentary TEACH, which aired last fall. One of the teachers was teaching Algebra to 9th grade students and piloted a program to help her students to succeed. Part of what occurred was that the room was a 360 degree classroom, where students had wipe boards all around them. Every single wall. She used this to create an AMAZING collaborative environment for her students to be able to work through problems, watch others work problems and have conversations about their strategies.

I feel in love.

Then I thought....how can I do that? I couldn't very well buy giant wipe boards! My classroom has two already (one that is somewhat covered with my Promethean board) but the rest of the room is mostly large blue cabinets....and then it hit me!

WRITE AND WIPE CONTACT PAPER!

So I wrote a Donor's Choose grant for several rolls of write and wipe contact paper and expo markers! Here are the results...

 

This was the easiest project and is going to have so many rewards! The students can get out of their seats, allows for collaboration and creates an environment that fun, save and productive!  This worked beautifully with task cards from all subjects and will make a great resource for writing reading responses, editing and so much more! I hope you enjoyed this idea and are inspired to show "the writing on the wall" in your classroom! 

If you enjoyed this bright idea, please consider joining me on 

Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest or Twitter for more great ideas.

For more bright ideas more than 100 different bloggers, please browse through the link-up below and choose a topic/grade level that interests you. Thanks for visiting!

An InLinkz Link-up

Summer Reading { A little personal and a little professional}

Well, year 14 is in the books! What a wonderful whirlwind of a year! I am really enjoying teaching the older kids and can't wait to get started on my second year of fourth grade! But before I do that, I have a whole summer to do some of the things I love most...create, plan and read!

I love to read. It is my favorite past time and it's something that I don't get a chance to do when the school year begins. I try. I really do....but I am always so busy and tired that it might take me weeks to read something that would only take a couple of days during the summer. *Sigh*

During the summer, I really like to mix it up and read as much as possible and I definitely have a list of books to read! I just finished reading The Fault in Our Stars and totally fell in love with it! I am SO glad to have read this before seeing the movie (side note: I am a big fan of reading the book first when I can. There is something really amazing in the act of  creating the story in your own mind first and then comparing it to the movie. I will say, that there have been times where I have been inspired to read the book after the movie only because I wasn't even aware that it was a BOOK...but, the book always seems to win....lol).  If you are looking for a inspirational, sweet and easy read....this is your book!

I am off to the bookstore again today and am thinking about picking up Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. Many have suggested it and have said that it is really good....

Here is a list of a few other reads that I have planned...strictly personal....

1. The Silver Lining Playbook by Matthew Quick
2. Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell
3. Fifty Shades of Grey  by EL James (Not a new read, but a really good one....)
4. Whatever might fall in my lap because I LOVE a good book recommendation!

As for professional books, this next school year is going to be focused building what was great this year! My school is taking a closer look at close reading (lol...) and we are continuing our work with guided math. Here are the books that I will be studying this summer to help build those skills...

1. Note and Notice: Strategies for Close Reading by Kylene Beers
2. Falling in Love with Close Reading by Christopher Lehman
3. Guided Math: A Framework for Mathematics Instruction by Laney Sammons
4. Building Mathematical Comprehension: Using Literacy Strategies to Make Meaning by Laney Sammons

Still looking for some more awesome books? Check out  Marie at The Hands-On Teacher, who has a great summer reading linky going on that will definitely help you find some awesome books for the summer!

So now it's your turn (and I can't wait to hear), what are you reading?

Bright Ideas Blog Hop- Awesome End of the Year Gift

I am so excited to be joining the Bright Ideas Blog Hop once again! I absolute love the hundreds of fun, easy and amazing ideas that all the contributing bloggers write about each month! 

We are gearing up for the end of the year and I always love giving my students a little gift from me. Usually I like giving them books to read over the summer but this year my team and I went another way....

I AM IN LOVE!

I am sure that some of you have heard of a Wordle. It is a very cool website that allows you to create a word cloud about any topic that you would like! It's a great instructional tool for students to develop main idea, summary, descriptive writing and so much more! 

This year, I am using Wordle to create a personalized gift for each of my students! Each Wordle can be printed in color or even as a photo and will create  a gift that will be treasured forever!

In class, the students wrote their name on a piece of notebook paper. Nothing to fancy....but just you wait! 

The kiddos went around the room and used adjectives to describe each of their friends in class. It really helps for the students to have a list of character traits. It gave my kiddos lots of ideas and made the variety of words used made for great wordles! 

Now that you have a list of words for each student, the fun really begins! 

All you have to do is go to Wordle.net and select  "create a wordle".

The text box will appear and you can begin typing there. The more often you write/repeat a word, the bigger the word will appear on the word cloud. Because this is going to be a gift for my sweet kiddos, I typed there name several times so that they appear larger.

 

Next click "go" right below the text box.

This will create a word cloud! Now you can definitely play with it and continue to click to get different versions of your word cloud until you find one that you want. 

Using a screen shot of the Wordle allowed me to print in color and also to use my local drug store to print as a picture!

Here is one last tip for using Wordle:

*Copy and paste your text for each student into a word document. This way you have the text, just in case you have to create a new Wordle for that student. The information you type is not saved so this could really be a life saver! 

*Don't forget to add the grade level, school names and even your name to remind students of their awesome school year! 

*I do not share my Worldes on the site. Many of the Wordles I have created for this project have private information, so I chose to not share.

Hope you enjoy making these sweet and unique gifts for your kiddos! Thanks for visiting the Bright Ideas Blog Hop! 

Booking Across the USA...Texas!

Howdy from the Great State of Texas! 

I am so excited to be participating for a second year with  Books Across the USA! It is so much fun to learn about the 50 states and I LOVED the amount of amazing activities that I was able to use with my students!

This year, I was able to read a great little book that would follows the travels of Charlie all through our region of the United States. It was full of awesome facts about each of the states and vivid, colorful  pictures that truly engaged the students. The best part...as a former primary teacher, the information was written well for the little ones! Not only is it informative for the little ones, but it as additional facts that really helped my older students learn interesting facts about each state! It is a wonderfully written book and I can't wait to finish purchasing the rest of the series!

As a fourth grade teacher in Texas, my entire year in social studies is dedicated to Texas history. Texas is an extremely unique state that has a very rich and detailed story and it has lead to some amazing discussions and debates in my classroom. I started the year by creating a graphic organizer for the state of Texas so the students could draw on their prior knowledge.

The kiddos take these graphics and write anything and everything that they might know about Texas! The best part is that as you go through the lessons, student's can add to their graphic organizer! It's a simple yet very effect tool in my classroom and a great way to introduce the state of Texas for your kiddos! 

Looking for another Texas activity? Check out my Books Across the USA post from last year! 

You will love it!