1 Freebie, 2 Weeks, 3 Link-Ups

Well who knew this Sunday would be so busy for blogging town. Well really it's busy for me because I'm late to a bunch of link-ups. So without further ado, here I go:

1)


Here I go again linking up with the craziness that is Manic Monday at Classroom Freebies. So this week I decided to go seasonal and created a St. Patrick's Day freebie.

So this freebie contains Lucky Number cards (8 primary, 8 intermediate), 1 recording sheet and of course an answer key. Students follow the directions to answer the multi-step questions that require basic operation skills (addition & subtraction for primary, addition, subtraction, multiplication & division for intermediate) then record. Seasonal, fun & common-core aligned, what else could you ask for?? (Was that a bit of an over sell?)Click {HERE} to check out the freebie on TPT and {HERE} for non-TPT users and go check out Classroom Freebies for more fantastic freebies.2) Next up, another linky. I am linking up with Sharing Kindergarten for her St. Patrick's Day Products Linky Party.

So I shared a St. Patty's freebie above but I also blogged about my St. Patty's unit and some other ideas {HERE}.

3) And finally, I have heard of the Currently linky forever and finally I've decided to join. So let's hope this works.

So I guess I need to explain:Listening: Umm I think this is self-explanatory. I am a reality TV junkie and I will tune into any franchise of the Real Housewives, but really, isn't is always fighting?Loving: Again, self-explanatory. As soon as it is Spring, it will basically be a blink of the eye until Summer. Ahhh.Thinking: The weekend does seem to go awfully fast.
Wanting: Who wouldn't want a pot of gold?Needing: I should really do those dishes sitting in the sink, but there are so many other things I'd rather be doing.Like: Sweets. I eat way too much chocolate (or maybe, not enough!).Love: Well I did say I love Spring Break, but now that I think about it, my school district only gets one week. I would love to have two weeks!Hate: I always seem to be sick around Spring Break. Since I had strep throat last week, hopefully I'll be good to go on Spring Break.Well there I think I did it, my first Currently link-up with Farley at Oh' Boy 4th Grade!Ok, I think that's all the freebies, link-ups, posts, recaps, wind-ups, etc. for today. Phew!

My First Linky!

Well the time has come for my very first linky! I've seen a few link-ups that I've wanted to join but never got the chance but when I saw Lindsey at The Teacher Wife was having one about must-have picture books, I just couldn't pass it up. As evidenced in past blog posts here and here, I am a HUGE fan of picture books and love to find new ones to read. Now I have to say that it took me awhile to decide on just a few to list here because I have soooo many favourites. So here are five must-haves, though there are tons more I could add.

In no particular order:

1. Ish by Peter H. Reynolds - This is such a sweet story and I like it more and more each time I read it.

2. One by Kathryn Otoshi - I really enjoy stories that are unique, whether it be in their artwork or the way they are written and this is one unique story that does a great job of tackling the topic of bullying. Great for intermediate or primary.

3. Pete the Cat by Eric Litwin - Colourful pictures, a catchy song and a great message, what more do you need?

4. The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein - Another great message and such a sweet, sweet story.

5. The Lorax by Dr. Seuss - a book that stands the test of time. I am huge on promoting the importance of environmentalism in the class and this is the perfect book to do it. It's also a great book for teaching story elements to both intermediate and primary students.

So there's five favourites, I know I've got a zillion more must-haves. I also had to write this blog post quickly otherwise I would spend hours revising as I thought of more and more books to add to the list!
Hopefully I did everything right for my first linky!

This Post Has a Point

I love walking the school halls and seeing all the creative bulletin boards that teachers and students have created, but really I'm not that crafty/artistic, especially not as so as some of the students! I do like to find and keep great art lessons, especially ones that can be done with various age groups. So this brings me to the POINT of this post - Pointilism.

Photo via http://www.mrsbrownart.com/1st.htm

I think this website was the first one that gave me the idea, and I have since done pointilism art in Grades 1-5. I don't know who takes there time and enjoys it more, the younger or the older students. I do butterflies in the Spring/Summer and snowmen in the winter, though there are so many different ways pointilism can be used. I really like how this helps students work on fine motor skills and concentration. Whenever I do this, no matter how loud the class is normally, when we first start this, it is silent as students try and concentrate on placing their dots. Students really have to focus on what they are doing, they cannot just scribble. The students that I find concentrate the most are often the most wiggly ones.
In addition, this art can really tie into math and science discussions of patterns, symmetry, and life cycles (wahoo cross-curricular!).
I often provide students with the outline, and have them fill in the pointilism, but it would be great to see students free hand an entire pointilism project.
Would love to hear feedback - let me know if you use pointilism.

It's All Gooood!

One of the things I love about all the amazing teaching blogs I've recently found is learning about new BOOKS! I must admit, I'm quite late on many book bandwagons, sometimes years, but hopefully I'm not too late on the Pete the Cat one. I actually found out about him a few months ago and after reading him students, I can see why he is sooo popular. The kids were singing him all day, and requesting to hear him as they were packing up to go  home. Even if your book doesn't come with the CD, you can find all the songs on HarperCollins. I'm sure everybody has heard about this cat, but I thought I would help spread the word anyways.

Now his tunes are going to be stuck in my head all day!

P.S. Did I mention what a great message (for all ages) Pete the Cat spreads. I've seen these books used in intermediate classes and older students seem to like him just as much as primary students!

Books, Books, Online Books

There are so many great resources on the internet, but I always seem to have a hard time finding them. That is why it is so great when other people do it for you. Today I want to talk about http://www.wegivebooks.org/ . It is a great website that I first heard about on the blog Step into Second Grade. Since first hearing about it, I have used it a bunch of times with a SMART Board in the classroom. It's great for when the students need a quiet storytime break, but for some reason they can't all crowd around for carpet time. I especially use this when snack time gets a little too loud. The kids love seeing the huge book on the SMART Board screen, and they especially love getting to flip the pages. Here are only a few of the books on the site:

Source for photos: http://www.wegivebooks.org/

This website not only has tons of great books, but it also lets you donate books to other children. The site really seems like a win, win, win to me, so go check it out and explore the many titles they have to offer you and your students.