Friday, July 26, 2013

Mathological Liar


Have you ever heard of SmileMakers?  That's the store that sells stickers and pencils right?  Well, they do sell stickers and pencils and about a bazillion other amazing things for teachers.  SmileMakers LOVES teachers.  They even have a special perks program just for teachers.  You can check it out by clicking on the picture below.





Not long ago, I was contacted by SmileMakers.  They wanted to know if I would try out their Mathological Liar game.  I really like this game.  It's set up so the students are detectives and have to solve a case.  Each case has 4 suspects.  Each suspect gives their alibi which involves some sort of math. All of the suspects for each case use the same math skill.  For example, in Case #1 someone stole Pete's pickles.  Each suspect's alibi involves common fractions (halves, fourths, fifths).   Each card is labeled with the math skilled used, so you can find the case that works in with your current unit of study or you can use them in the order listed.



I am going to use this as part of my math journals.  I plan on putting all of the cards on my ELMO and projecting them on my SMARTboard.  Students can solve the case by checking each suspect's math.  Then they can justify their solution in writing.  Students can also orally explain their reasoning which includes even more of the common core standards.  This game is really a fun way to have kids solve multiple step word problems.  I highly recommend it!


Don't forget to enter in our daily giveaways that are still going on.  Check it out HERE.

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Sunday, July 21, 2013

Hot Off the Press! Back to School Exclusive




EXTRA! EXTRA! It’s time to read all about it! 
Twenty of the most amazing bloggers have teamed up to make back to school a bit more fun. So for the next 10 days, we are celebrating with freebies and a prize a day! Yes, we said a PRIZE A DAY FOR 10 DAYS.  Even if you are not a lucky winner, you can still download all of the freebies to make lesson planning easier.



Every day, you will have the chance to enter and win one of 10 great prizes!
This is what you can win during our Back to School Exclusive…(in no particular order
Prize #1 Quiet Pencil Sharpener & a $25 TPT from Graphics from the Pond  $50 value
Prize #2 Bright Chevron Classroom Decor Set $50 value
Prize #3 Teacher/Classroom Gift Basket $200 value
Prize #4 Teacher/Classroom Gift Basket $200 value
Prize #5 Google Nexus 7 Tablet with case & stylus pen $250 value
Prize #6 Scotch Laminator  $25 value
Prize #7 K-2 TPT Product Bundle  over $100 value
Prize #8 3-5  TPT Product Bundle  over $100 value
Prize #9 Blog ("Cuter" Design by Christi Blogs!) $70 value
Prize#10 TPT Gift Cert $50

This is the IMPORTANT part. Please read carefully. EVERY DAY, FOR 10 DAYS, you will need to visit the final stop blog
 each day to enter to win and to see if you were the previous day’s winner! Each day a winner will be drawn and one of the ten prizes will be awarded. To keep it fun and exciting, you won’t know what prize you have entered to win until the winner is announced the next day! 

You never know what you might win! I know I would visit every day to enter for a chance to win the Google Nexus Tablet! 

To win one of these great prizes, just follow these steps…






         Step 1: You will need to download and print the 

Hot Off the Press Cheat Sheet.

Click the image below. 




Step 2:  You’ll need to collect your freebies. This hop will 
take you to all 20 blogs where you will collect freebies 
along the way. You can start at any of the blogs, 
follow the “next stop” buttons, and it will take you in a  
loop to all 20 blogs.  The very last stop will be 
The Teaching Tribune. 

Step 3: Hidden in each freebie is a QR code.  Find the QR code.
You will need to scan all 20 QR codes for a cash value with your
 smart device.  For those of you without a smart device, 
head on over to Sugar & Spice where she has the solution for you! 



After downloading the freebie at each blog stop, be sure to record the amount in the QR code onto your cheat sheet.


Step 4: Once you have all 20 cash value amounts, add them up, then you will enter the total value  to win a prize a day on the Rafflecopter. All prizes will be posted on The Teaching Tribune blog



It’s time to get started! All you need to do is click on my freebie below to download. 

Find the QR code hidden in my freebie and add the value to your cheat sheet for stop #2!




Click the picture to download the freebie.  It's a great math workstation for input/output tables geared to 3rd/4th CCSS.






THE NEXT STEP: Click on the Next Stop button to head over to the next blog to grab your freebie! 








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Friday, July 5, 2013

Christmas in July





It’s Christmas in July. And guess what?  It’s time to unwrap your presents! 
I have teamed up with 16 other amazing teacher-bloggers and we thought it wasn’t enough to just run a sale this weekend, so we are bringing you some amazing winter holiday themed freebies and the chance to win your choice of products from each of our store. Yes, that’s right, you will get to choose a product from all 17 stores. We will have 2 grand prizes, one for a K-2 primary teacher and one for a 3-5 intermediate teacher!
This hop will take you to all 17 blogs where you will collect TPT freebies along the way.  If you're not already following our stores you might want to do so when you collect your freebie.  It's a great way to receive information about upcoming sales and specials.
Hidden in each freebie found on TPT, is a flamingo hanging out on the beach. Look for a Christmas song written in the sand.  Find the underlined word. You will need to collect all 17 words for the grand prize.  Once you have all 17 words, then you can enter the Rafflecopter for a chance to win the grand prize on the final stop.  
I am the first stop on the hop.  



Are you ready? Well, what are you waiting for? Get going…All you need to do is click on my freebie below, follow my TPT store, and download your freebie. Find the word hidden in my freebie and add it to your list. While your there, take a look around because my store is 20% off from July 5th thru July 7th.  

Happy Howl-a-days!  will be free for a short time.  Make sure you download now.


I finally finished two classroom themes.  They are also on sale.






You will make a complete loop to all the blogs, freebies in TPT with the pink flamingos, and then the final prize. Don’t forget to follow our TPT stores and blogs along your travels! You never know what we might be up to next…



Hint..Hint..It just keeps getting better!





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Wednesday, July 3, 2013

Social Thinking

Do you have students who struggle with social thinking?  I do.  I was so excited when I received the book, "You are a Social Detective!"  It is a book written for children.  It tells kids why it is important to be a social detective and step by step how to be a social detective.  I have so many students who struggle with why they should even try.  They don't understand why other students don't enjoy playing with them.  They really don't understand what they are doing wrong in social situations.


This book helps take the mystery out of nonverbal social language.  It talks to the students in their language.  The pictures are simple and don't overload the kids with too many details.

The book has three sections:  School Smarts/Social Smarts & Expected Behavior, Unexpected Behavior, and Being a Social Detective.  Each section builds on the previous section.  There is a detailed lesson plan for the teacher for each section of the book.

The highlight of the book for me was the section on Unexpected Behavior.  This section really explains to children why others don't react to situations in the manner they want or expect.  I can't wait to use this book with my class.  I plan on using the lesson plans provided the first weeks of school.  I highly recommend this book.  It is appropriate for all children kindergarten and up.  You can find this book and other similar books here.



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Monday, July 1, 2013

My New Favorite Toy + a Freebie

I received a new toy and I LOVE it!  It's a Saturn 125 pouch laminator.  This is by far the best personal laminator that I have ever used.  It is super simple.  Even I didn't mess it up!  The laminator has 4 buttons plus the on/off switch.  After you plug in your laminator, you select what pouch you are using.  You can choose cold laminating, 3 mil, 4 mil, or 5 mil.  Each button is clearly labeled. Once you make your selection, you simply wait for the "ready" light.  You slide your paper into one of the pouches.  The pouches are slightly larger than standard paper which makes it even easier to line up the paper inside.


Just feed the paper through.  Once the paper is in, the laminator grabs it and feeds it through automatically.




You are also able to laminate a variety of sizes without having to change anything.  The feed tray is marked where you need to start for each size paper you are using.  You can even laminate photos without the heat damaging it.  My favorite feature of a home laminator is that you can change the thickness of the pouches you use.  The 3 mil pouches gives the paper a nice "card" feeling when you use regular printing paper.  If you use the 5 mil pouch, you get a nice durable extra thick card stock feel just using plain paper.  The 3 mil pouches gives a much more durable lamination, than I receive when I use the fancy laminator at school. You can find out more information here.


 Today I was able to get my behavior clip chart ready for school.  This year I really want to focus more on acknowledging positive behavior and rewarding those students who always do what they are supposed to be doing.  These charts are floating all over Pinterest.  If you haven't seen them, here's a quick overview.  Each day is a new day.  All students start on "ready to learn" each day.  Through out the day, students move their clips up or down depending on their behavior.  This allows good students to be recognized.  It also allows students who made a bad decision, to try to improve their behavior as they can still move back up, if they earn it.




You can grab your own copy of this behavior clip chart here.  Don't forget to laminate it so it will last all year!

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