Ice Cream Anyone?

It's getting hot in VT.  My office is on the third floor and is the hottest room in the school.  What better way to cool down than have ice cream!!! 

Our cooking class made single serving ice cream in plastic bags.  It was such an easy activity and I was certain it wouldn't turn out- but it did!   

Freebie- excellent recipe for language skills.  Step-by-step following directions, visuals, sequencing.  

Click HERE for Rachel Lynette's awesome freebie:  

Free common core with writing ideas from Ms. Beetie-samantha blog HERE! 

This all went well with Ice Cream Emotions, my latest product which helps students learn feeling vocabulary.  I've added some higher level vocabulary words (i.e. parched, famished, astonished) which makes this activity most appropriate for learning levels grades 4-8.  There are also many "create your own" cones for more activities.  Check it out HERE! 

Winding down for the end of the year.  I'm starting to make my purchasing list for next year which made me reflect on the items I bought for this school year.   

These Elementary Photo Cards by Lingui Systems have been a great time-saver since they target many goals with varying leveled students, and engage my kids again and again.  I love the up-to-date photos and ability to work on a variety of expressive and receptive language skills including vocabulary, sequencing, concepts, and logical thinking. 

  The cost is around $89 which is a bargain if you compare to similar other photo cards on the market.  You can also find codes and sales if you check the website often.  Here is the link if you are interested.  

http://www.linguisystems.com/products/product/display?itemid=10678

What are your favorite "go-to" materials?  

What a cool day!  The Shires of Vermont Marathon was this morning.  My husband ran in it and the Boston Marathoners were able to run for free.  It was very inspiring so I wonder why I made chocolate cake instead of getting my butt out to exercise.  I'll get out tomorrow, I promise.   
I did, however, complete a new product called Ice Cream Emotions.  Here it is for 50% off first 24 hours:   http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Ice-Cream-Emotions-An-activity-for-describing-feelings-701999

My mind is on sweets this weekend!  Maybe it's the end of the year stress.  Am I the only one?

Saving the trees

I'm a tree hugger.  I try to be good to the environment by recycling, composting, and repurposing.  It is important for me to teach my children and students about caring for the environment so I try to be a good role model.

My school in Vermont recently purchased filtered drinking fountains with a water bottle filling spout.  They show a digital number of the thousands of bottles saved from landfills.  I feel fortunate to live in VT and work in a school with administration and staff whose values align with mine.  

Here is something simple that I do to save the trees from all of the wasteful photo copies:

There are sheet protectors over my color pages for students to work on.  They wipe clean and are able to enjoy the color markers as well as color copies of worksheets.  



This works for lamination as well but I find the sheet protectors wipe cleaner.  They are also a snap to assemble and remove easily when coping is warranted.  You can even organize materials by placing some black and white copies behind the color copy in the protector sleeve.  

Think Green!

Happy Mother's Day

What a beautiful time of year.  I spent the day with my husband and three little girls at the park.  We are splurging on Delmonico Steak for dinner and my 8 year old and I made a lemon cake for dessert.  Thinking of my mom and mother-in-law in PA today.   How did you spend your Mother's Day?

Pizza Scramble Freebie

Pizza Scramble is a new freebie where students work on auditory memory, sequencing, and processing through role playing people in a Pizza Shop.  This activity is most appropriate for grades 3-6.  

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Pizza-Scramble-A-free-Auditory-Processing-Sequencing-and-Memory-Activity