Five for Fraturday!

Hello again!  This is going to be a 'Five for Fraturday' 

I will start with a very exciting, surprising email I received yesterday. {I'm starting this post on Friday night, but I know I won't be pressing 'Publish' until sometime tomorrow!}  I don't know about all of you, but sometimes I do have families who want to make some donations to the classroom.  I decided that there are really only two things that I would like to have parents help with if they are willing and able.  First, tissue...my class goes through it sooooo quickly!!! In the past we were told one box a month from the office, and paper towels {the brown school kind} are not exactly gentle on the nose. Second, ink...like may bloggers out there, I love to print out things for my classroom in color & ink is so very pricey!!!!  We are able to order at the school, but I know it is hard on our school supplies budget as well.  I had heard of two organizations that dealt with school supply donations, Teacher Lists & Adopt a Classroom.  I finally filled out the brief online information to register my class so that parents can go to the websites, make donations, and I can purchase ink through those sites.  I wanted it set up in time for parent conferences, which is the beginning of December, to let the parents know about this way they could help.  I plan to have fliers available to take if they are interested.  Well, I received an email letting me know that JCPenny has adopted my class and gave me a $100 grant!!!!!!!  I am so amazed and grateful!!! I already did an online thank you, invited them to take a look at this blog and my classroom blog, and ordered one black & one color ink cartridge for my classroom printer through Adopt a Classroom. {The sad thing is...it took the whole $100 for the 2 cartridges} Their site was linked to Office Max where I ordered the ink...it is already on its way!

 

In my last post I shared about my Christmas present..my Silhouette Cameo..well NO self-control here!! It's out & I'm learning to use it!

One of my fellow teachers surprised us with her great news...I made this with my Silhouette Cameo & stuck it up in the lounge...bunnies added thanks to Picmonkey for her privacy.

I had fun cutting out my 'mini me'...it turned out so good!

I also made this for my daughter's friend's birthday...she is having a Mardi Gras themed party.

I also used it for the letters for my 'UNRAAVEL' chart in class.

When the school year began our new principal did an activity with us that involved writing a mission statement.  I decided to print it up and have it up in my room.  I had to do it my style...notice all the different fonts!  

I love teaching third grade for many reasons, one of those reasons is that I love teaching multiplication.  I want to share with you some of the things I do.

For many years I have been using Kim Sutton's number line with different colored dots for the different multiples...red for 2, green for 3, etc. At the beginning of the year the number line is up with just the Velcro dots...the colored dots have the other side of the Velcro.  As we begin to talk about skip counting and multiples I place the dots up... it is fun for them to see the pattern when we have just the 2s & 3s up...r, g, r, blank, both, blank, r, g, r, blank, both....{I LOVE patterns in math!!...I am constantly reminding my kids 'math is NOT like reading/language art' (when you have a rule or property it ALWAYS works!) it is another great quote from Kim Sutton!}  

We make pattern sticks that are color coded the same way the number line is. {also from Kim Sutton} I laminated them on my personal laminator, {which I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE!!! Best investment ever!!!!} punch holes in the ends, and stick them on the rings.

I have three rings on each hook.  The students have access to them when they want to use them.

We also made 'Bug Books' that they did as partners...now these are 'bugs' NOT insects since insects have 6 legs.  I showed them one example {which I forgot to take a picture of} of an 'eyeball bug' with 5 legs & I drew 3 of them.  On the page I had the matching equation 3 X 5 = 15.  This class was one of the most creative I have ever had.  They chose their favorite to put up in the room the rest were put into a book.

In addition to the students' favorites, I had some more favorites:

Okay...still have TONS I want to share, but if I don't pick and post a #5 quickly, it won't be 'Five for Fraturday' it will be 'Five for Frunday!!!'

So...pictures of our October book reports {this comes from Hope King's Trick or Treat Pumpkin Book Report}