Wham, Bam - Thank You Instagram...

Hey Everybody - 

As you can tell, this blog of mine has taken a back seat to...

Baseball

Soccer

Testing

Teaching

Cleaning 

Baseball practice

Soccer practice

More cleaning {muddy fields are wreaking havoc on my house!!!!}...

That's why I LOVE Instagram...I can post a photo...just like that and give you a little glimpse of what's going on in my classroom {and sometimes in my life outside of the classroom ... <gasp> ... I DO have a life - it's true!}

So the gals over at What the Teacher Wants and Apples and ABC's are hosting a weekly party Instagram-style every Tuesday.  Just post your pics and use the hashtag: #teachertalktuesday in your description.

Don't worry if you're wondering what all this hype is about with teacher bloggers {and non bloggers for that matter - teachers everywhere - let's UNITE and post classroom happenings on Instagram} on Instagram - I didn't get the hullabaloo about it either...but it's really fun.  You just open up the Instagram App, snap a picture, pretty it up {My photos never looked so good} and post it.  You can look around too, like people's photos and maybe add a little comment if you're so inclined.  It's simple and random and I'm all about that.

If you're not a blogger you can still check out Teacher Talk Tuesday and find your favorite bloggers on Instagram, follow them and enjoy little snippets from their day...

@Crisscrossapplesaucein1stgrade
You can even follow me on your computer - just click the pic!

Here are some of my current faves...

Such an awesome read aloud.  Our school participated in One School,  One Book!

My new table top easel...LOVE!!!!

Pattern block reflections in math workplaces last week...

See what you missed!!!!!  

Oh, just one more...

Rainbows - thanks Caitlin!!!

Here's the spring acrostic poem paper I used if you want it...

Fonts: Cupcake for the Teacher, Clipart: Creative Clips
Download in Google Drive

Hope you had a great start to your week...my kiddos are still in full-on full moon mode...

Hardy, har, har...

Toodles!

Roses Are Red, Violets are Blue - I've Got Some Poetry Just For You!

Can I have two evenings of conferences, please?  Comin' right up! 

Spring conferences are "as needed" and you've heard me brag about this bunch a few times - so, needless to say, I don't need to conference with too many.  As much as I can't wait for summer vacation - I'm sort of dragging my feet.  You just never know what the next year will bring {Kids under tables, kids slamming doors, kids running away, kids throwing wet toilet paper balls up on the bathroom ceiling...} and this year has brought lots of smiles to my face.

I finished typing up my poems from our poetry collection and thought I'd share them.  Hopefully you find a few you can use now and at the end of the school year.  I have one or two for each month {give or take}.  I put mine on chart paper and put the collection below in a duotang notebook that the kids keep in their personal bookshelves to read during Daily 5. I blogged more about it {here}. 

Black and white cover {in case you're frugal like me} and the whole packet.

Clipart: Scrappin' Doodles, Cre8tive Hands

Front cover only - in case you like it colorful

Hope you can use them!!!!

I put The Hunger Games on my Kindle....you know what I'll be doing over spring break...

...and blogging
.......and drinking coffee
...........and having at least one all day pajama day
................and blogging
..................more coffee
.....................and building a fort or two with the kitchen table chairs
..........................and blogging
...............................and having a Nerf gun battle

Yeah - I've got plans.  BIG plans!

April is Poet-Tree Month

Hi Chicklets,
This is going to be quick - I'm home with a sick boy who is on the mend so it's taking some doing to keep him on the couch.  I've got report cards to do and a messy house to tend to.  I wanted to show you what I'm cooking up.

April is poetry month - I love sharing poems with my kiddos all year long.  Kids love poems and you can work on so many skills when studying a them{spelling patterns, word wall words, inferencing, mental images, etc.}.  My kids LOVE the ones that make us giggle {Douglas Florian is a funny favorite}. 

Each year we create a "Poet-tree".  It ends up looking something like this...

I found this one on Pinterest which brought me to this blog {here} such AWESOME stuff!!!!

Once I get it all together I'll share mine with you.  I end up copying a leaf  for them to write their own poems on - either when they finish something early, during Daily 5/Work on Writing, or they can take one home with them and write one there.  When they complete a poem we attach it to our "poet-tree".  SOOOOO adorable!

Like I said, we work on poetry throughout the year by doing a poem every couple/few of weeks. I used to do a poem a week, but I have a hard time keeping up with that now that our curriculum is so FULL. So sad because we all know poetry is such an important literacy experience. 

One way we work on poetry is with our "Poetry Collection".  During the summer I copy the packet of poems, the cover, and put it all in a duotang folder.  I also have each poem on chart paper.  When I first introduce the poem we read it together, look for words we know, spelling patterns, etc.  We read the current poem as often as we can and they keep their collection in their "bookshelves" {where they keep their just right books for Daily 5}.  Then the kiddos are sent to their desks to illustrate their poem.  I have about one or two poems for each month.  I'm in the process of re-typing them right now.  Here's a teaser...

Cover

First Poem - Beginning of School Year

I'll make them available for you once I'm finished with the entire collection.  

One more thing and then I REALLY need to get to gettin' on my house cleaning and report card doin'...

Jeannie over at Kindergarten Lifestyle is hosting a linky party for you to link up, find new bloggers, and maybe get a few more followers yourself!  Once the linky party is over she plans on putting all of the linked up blogs onto a Pinterest board - what a great idea!

Go link up or just head on over and find yourself some more fantastic blogs to follow!

Click {HERE} if you haven't entered my giveaway yet...winners will be announced this Wednesday!