Five for Friday on a Rainy Sunday Morning!

It's been a long week for a lot of reasons both in and out of the classroom but it's nice to take some time to talk a little bit about the fun stuff of the week.

So, I recently joined a Facebook group called Carolina Teacher Bloggers.  We are a group of teachers from all around North and South Carolina and maybe even Georgia and Florida.  Some of us blog and some not but the group has scheduled meet ups every once in a while.  This one was last Saturday in Charlotte at the Tyber Creek Pub.  Amanda Madden from Teaching Maddeness set the whole thing up and she even had awesome schwagg!

I just happened to be lucky enough to win some of that awesome schwagg!  

She had a pair of these of Ja*vies of our choice up for grabs and a $50 off a pair of Tieks gift card!  What teacher girl doesn't like shoes!?!  I am usually a practical shoe buyer so I went outside the box on these!  They should arrive this week so stay tuned for a review!

And on a side note, check out Amanda's Blog Teaching Maddeness!  It is really fabulous!

 We also did a small gift exchange.  We all brought a gift and set them on the table and drew numbers for the order we would get them.  We did not do a white elephant type exchange, so no stealing.  So happy about that because LOOK AT MY BAG OF LOOT!

Can't wait to do it again!  I am working on hosting the next meet up in Columbia!

Although it just decided to get chilly in South Carolina and by chilly I mean we have finally hit some 40's for highs.  We have been talking about snow and ice and cold conditions in our classroom.  I have done a pretty good job this year with sending home a family project each month and we then make it into a class book.  I came across this adorable FREEBIE on Pinterest 

and tweaked it a little to make it my own and they went home on Thursday for families to complete over the long weekend!  I can't wait to see what they bring back on Tuesday!

My boys can't get enough of board games and I couldn't be happier about that!  We played a lot of games growing up and it was always craziness because my little brother is a non-stop-comedian-nut-job and I can remember my mom getting fed up with him 9 times out of 10 because he would shut game night down with his antics.  Good times I tell ya! :) The good news is that both he and I are game lovers to this day and have always played games with our kids!

These are my families two latest favorites.

Clue!  Which I played as a kid.  It has changed a little bit but not enough to matter.  I love watching them strategize and fool each other and stretch their brains to figure it out!

We also just got Qwirkle!

Another really cool one that requires strategizing for the win.  

Truth be told, I bought the family Settlers of Catan for Christmas.  We had heard that it was awesome and we would love it and I had shied away from the hefty price tag but thought Christmas was a good excuse to buy!  We opened it, the boys were excited, big punk watched a few YouTube videos about how to play, we punched out the zillion cards and pieces and sat down at the kitchen table to play and after about 15 minutes of Big Punk reading the 32 page (no, I do not exaggerate) rule book, we quietly agreed to pack it all up and take it back.  Maybe some day but for now, we want quick and easy! :)

I have been working on my Sight Word Super Hero Books since the beginning of the school year. 

 I have been wanting to get them on TpT but that next step to getting them together for that doesn't seem to happen...until now!  I am putting up the first 6 weeks of words and next week the rest will be added!

The book is 5 pages long so they can do a quick activity each day with their sight words.  I only give 6 words a week and they are from the FRY First 100 words.  I also will be adding the sight word cards that I give my kiddos each week.

Stay tuned for a big old post in the next few days about how I work sight words in my classroom!

I don't know about you but if we have another rainy day or cold weather indoor recess I might just lose my mind.  If it is below 42* here we can't take the kiddos outside!  Seriously!  I know my Northern friends are rolling on the floor right now but it makes me a little crazy!  And the rain seems to never, ever, ever want to stop so that is keeping us inside as well.  I was feeling a little desperate the other day so on a whim we went on a walk around the school.

As we walked the halls I took pictures (they didn't know) and when we returned to the classroom I started asking them questions to see if they paid attention to what they saw while we walked.  So for instance, I asked if anyone saw any snow on our hike.  They had to describe where.  And I asked if anyone saw any animals and they told us where.  I had the smart board on and showed them the pictures if they guessed right.  It doesn't hold a candle to outdoor recess but they sure loved it and it got us on the move!

Hope you have a great week and a relaxing day off tomorrow!

Check out Doodle Bugs Teaching for more great ideas!

Five for Friday Table Rockin!

Today's Five for Friday is all about camping!  This was one of my most favorite family vacations growing up.  We'd pack up on a Friday after school and head to the forests of Washington State.  I'm hopefully passing on the love to my punks!  Nothing beats camping!  So here we go...Five for Friday camping style!

This was our view driving up to Table Rock State Park!

                     

And this is a grand view of Table Rock.

Once you get to your fabulous destination it's time to start setting up camp!  These two set up our new tent and somehow I never got a picture of it!

We bought a brand new 6 man tent big enough for kids and dogs and parents.

My sweet Sophie girl.  She is the best camper dog ever!  We left our new fur baby, Sam at home because we didn't think he was quite ready and we were camping with a few more families that included another Golden and a Labor-doodle so we were full up on dogs!

                      

She did great as usual!

And of course my most favorite part of camping is the fire!

                    

I can sit by a fire all night and ponder life!

We had 17 people total in our group and that included 6 boys and 1 girl ages 7-15.  The kids had a blast and got along really well.  One of their first adventures was to build this fort!

It is an amazing lean to fort to live in forever!

                    

My big punk loves his Eno hammock and chilled in it a lot!

                    

My life is richer because of these 3.  What would I do without them?

I know, super flattering shot of me!

We went on a hike with all 17 peeps and 3 dogs!  

It was a beautiful trek around the lake!

Doing life with friends is always better!  

Hope your weekend is fabulous!

Hop back over to Doodle Bugs Teaching and see how everyone else spent the week!

Five for Friday...Sunday Style!

Whew, has it ever been a week!  The 1,000 year flood caused us to be out of school ALL OF LAST WEEK!  Now, I know some of you are saying...LUCKY but let me tell you what...I just want normal again!  This past week wasn't much better as we operated on a two hour delay every day because 100 of our 114 bus routes have in some way been altered and they are concerned for the safety of our kiddos and bus drivers having to drive in the dark on compromised roads.  Remember the first 3 weeks of school?  Remember how we prayed for those to be over so we could get to the good stuff?  Yeah, it feels like we are right back there again!  Learning routines, getting down to business, being kind, etc.  The 1,000 year flood affected us in so many ways people will never know!  But the important thing is, we're all good!  We made it through, our state is recovering, and we are stronger for it!

Now, on to a little Five for Friday fun!

This is a favorite lesson in my room.  

Many of my kindergartners do it on a regular basis but a few 4 year olds have even started getting in on the act.  I got it a year ago somewhere on the net and I printed and hard laminated the and they stay on binder rings in groups of ten based on beginning middle or end sound.  The kiddos use the moveable alphabet, one of my favorite Montessori materials, to fill in the missing letter.  If anyone knows where they came from please let me know so I can give credit!

This happened on Tuesday to my big punk.  He is a brand new driver and this was his second time getting to drive to school.  Thankfully he was in a parking lot so it was private property and the other driver was sweet and agreed that we could settle it ourselves.  His car only had a little paint scratch which is showing when you see this giant dent!  Everyone was fine although my boy was a little shaken.  I guess it's just part of life.  Hope it's one and done with accidents!

This kiddo has been in my room for 3 years now.  We have gone round for the last 2 and this year he is a kindergartner who decided he was gonna step it up.  Thank you JESUS!

Although he is a very beginning reader, he asked me to show him this lesson the other day and suprisingly he was able to do it!

It's a great lesson to reinforce blends.  I also have another one that is digraphs.  I ordered them through Montessori 'n Such but you could just as easily make it with objects and and a big piece of felt or a laminated piece of construction paper with the blends/digraphs across the top.

When I came to the state of South Carolina 25 years ago I was supposed to be here for a semester.  I had been accepted to the National Student Exchange Program and was paying my tuition to my home campus of Northern Arizona University and someone else was going there while I came here.  Amazing program and every student who wants to see the US should check into it.  Well, after about 5 minutes of being a Gamecock, I decided to transfer and stay.  As the director of the program at the time said about the many people who transferred every year...I had been "Bit by the Gamecock."  One of the most fascinating things for me was football!  I was amazed by the excitement, the tailgating, the people.  Every last bit of it and to this day, I do love some Carolina Football!  GO COCKS!

We rarely take the kids with us when we go to a game for many reasons but this game they came with because we were celebrating their big sis!  It was a great day for pictures!

My Big Punk and I cheesing for a quick selfie.

Me and my girl punk celebrating her engagement!

My small punk and I catching some rays with the rest of the fans!

A little half time love for our great state that has suffered so much in the last few weeks!

 Love these 4 to the moon and back.

This is the view as we closed out the night with a much needed win over Vanderbilt!

Things have been a little rough this school year but notes like these make it all better!

Hope your week is grand!

Hop around and see what others are doing in their lives and classrooms and drop Kacey at Doodle Bugs Teaching a quick comment and thank her for keeping Five for Friday going for all of us!