Frequently Misspelled Words

I am so tired of students misspelling the same words over and over again! I finally made a list of the words that the students are constantly misspelling and made them into a chart. I have the chart in my classroom and have told the students that I do not want to see any of the words that are on the list misspelled again!!!!!!

The Keeping Quilt Card and Quilt

In my 2/3 combo, we read The Keeping Quilt by Patricia Polacco. I gave each student a large piece of 20" x 20" white fabric. Using pencils, I had the students draw something on the fabric that was important to them--something that they would want to share with their children and grandchildren. (Let me tell you, some of the drawings were quite interesting!) I also had the students pick out a piece of fabric that they liked. Shhh! The next part is a secret. My mom (Thank heavens for mothers) sewed togethe 28 quilts for me! I made a gift card with an original poem, The Keeping Quilt. On the back of the poem are care instructions for the quilt. The quilt will be a holiday gift from me and my family to the students.

Once the quilts were made, I started thinking how the quilt would also make a great Mother's Day gift or a Grandparents' Day gift.

Holiday Gift Boxes Samples

Holidays are just around the corner. A holiday gift box is the perfect way for the students (or you) to wrap up small gift items. The boxes are easily made and assembled--just need scissors and tape. Fill the box with small candies, a coupon, a class picture, etc. The gift boxes are also great to give a little something to your colleagues during the holiday season.

If you like this box, I have a complete packet of boxes available at my Teachers Pay Teachers store. Included in the packet are patterns for two boxes--pyramid and cube. For the pyramid box, there are 3 different patterns (in color and black and white):  gingerbread man, holly berries, Kwanzaa. For the cube, there are 2 different patters (in color and black and white):  Hanukkah and holiday greetings in different languages. There are also blank patterns for students to decorate their own boxes using crayons, markers, stickers, or stamps.

Vocabulary Cheat Sheet

My 3rd graders are having trouble remembering the different vocabulary terms. I made this quick "cheat sheet" that they can keep in their reading or writing folders.

Prefixes and Suffixes Cheat Sheet

It's been a busy year! Nine days into the school year, my 2nd grade class, became a 2/3 combo! While some of the skills are similar, the 3rd graders do need them at a higher level. The students just began working with prefixes and suffixes. The 2nd grade prefixes are a great review for the 3rd graders, but the 3rd graders needed a few additional prefixes and suffixes not covered in 2nd grade. I came up with the following two "cheat sheets" to help the students learn the prefixes and suffixes.

Flat Stanley

I finally did it! I love the story, Flat Stanley by Jeff Brown and have always wanted to make a unit to go with this story. I gathered together the ideas that I have done over the years and compiled them into a HUGE packet!

Testing, Testing, 1, 2, 3, Testing

Every year at testing time, I have to remind myself to "dial it back", that "this is just one measure of how the students are doing", and "that in 20 years the FBI isn't going to come back and ask me how Sally Johnson did on her CST". It is so frustrating to put the students through six days, yes SIX DAYS, of testing--especially when they miss the EASY questions on the test, questions that were practiced many, many times during class. Again, I have to remind myself to take a deep breath, remind myself they are still babies, and that the test is not a accurate reflection of how much the students have actually learned.

The students were so thrilled when testing finished. We put our desks in groups, for the first time this school year. For the first time, they didn't have to hear me say, "This will be on the CST" or "You need to know this for the CST". We could finally relax, enjoy each other, and dare I say it, ENJOY LEARNING! (I do try to make learning enjoyable during the rest of the school year, but test season just seems to bring out the "ugly" in all of us!)
TGTIO (Thank Goodness Testing Is Over!).