I know a secret!

Shhhhhh. Don't tell a single person.......TELL EVERYONE!  You are going to want to stop by on Sunday and see what I have planned with a few friends.  Here's a little hint....

Hmmmmm......16?  What could that mean?   Better check back Sunday!  I promise, you won't be disappointed!

A Miracle for Miracle

My friend Samantha, also known as Ms. Smarty Pants, has taken on a wonderful deed for a special child.  Her name is Miracle and she is a first grader at Samantha's school.  Miracle has been diagnosed with Leukemia.  

 Samantha shared Miracle's story with some fellow bloggers, including myself and put together an amazing collection of 31 activities.  This collection can be yours if you make a $25 donation to help Miracle.  Talk about a win/win situation!  Head on over to Samantha's blog to donate.  Thanks so much!

Science Fair

Do you have a Science Fair at your school?  We have a school wide fair every year.  Each classroom completes a project together and all of the students are invited to create an individual project.  Since I always have a class full of boys (10:2), we usually focus on something destructive.  This year, we created 3 different buildings; a three sided, four sided, and five sided building.  Then we measured how much weight (stack of books) each building could hold.  It was a lot of fun and the kids really enjoyed working on it.  The best part, we won 1st place in the 3rd-5th grade class division!  My kids were so excited.  They don't often get to shine against their non-disabled peers so they were beaming all day.

Have you heard??

Have you heard of the new blog Chalk One Up For the Teacher?  No?!!  You need to head over and check it out.  She has amazing ideas for the classroom.  Right now, she is hosting a giveaway with some really fabulous teaching resources.   Hop on over and check it out.  You won't be sorry!

Anchor Charts

Do you use anchor charts in your classroom.  I hate to admit that I just recently started using them and wished I had known the benefits of anchor charts years ago.  Here's some of the charts that we are currently using.

We actually made this chart long before Christmas, but my kids are continually referring to it so I decided to make these charts a permanent part of the classroom.

These are are charts from geometry.

Counting money.  (Do you use touch points?  Makes counting money so easy!)

We are starting a unit on fractions.  This is the first chart we've made.  There will be several more coming.  Fractions are so hard for my kiddos.  We are in the process of making an equivalent fraction chart and a benchmark fraction chart.  

I've started making them for all subject areas.  In social studies, we are studying the Revolutionary War.  The kids wanted an anchor chart to help keep each side straight.  The only problem we have with anchor charts is space.  I run out of room, but I have a really hard time throwing the charts away.  I have very little storage space.  I would love some suggestions on how you all keep your charts handy for kids to refer to and still have room to add new charts with each new unit.

14 Days for the Love of Teaching Blog Hop

Welcome to Day 8!  I hop you all are enjoying all of the freebies!  My freebie is an easy gift you can do for your students.  I made these cute, easy bookmarks for you!  All you have to do is print, back on card stock or construction paper, and laminate.

You can grab your freebie HERE!

Hope you love these bookmarks!  Hop on over to Sugar and Spice for tomorrow's freebie!