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Monday, 29 July 2013

Maths game linky

I do love a linky and today I am linking up with iSURF for a maths game link up.


One of the games I love to play with my students to help increase maths fluency with friends of 10 is called True or False

 All you need to do is to choose 1 point in your room to be True and one point to be False.  I put up a sign on opposite walls.  Then depending on what maths concept you are focussing on, for example with preps or Kindergarten I focus on  practising friends of 10 so you say "7 + 4 = 10". The students choose True or False and the students that did not get it correct sit out and you keep playing until there are 1 or 2 students left. If you want to still involve those sitting out they can encourage those students who are still in the game.  I like to make this a fast game with lots of movement and I sometimes like to do this instead of a written form of mental computation.  The great thing about this game is that you can play it with any concept!

The other great thing about this game is that you can play this with ANY year level, very handy for a relief/sub teacher.   

Just for dropping by you can get your own FREE copy of a TRUE and FALSE poster so you can play this game tomorrow, yay!  Just click here.

Just click on the pic above to link up one of your favourite games to play in the classroom with your kiddos.


Friday, 26 July 2013

10 Things I've learned from Teaching




When I saw this linky as I was blog stalking  undertaking Professional Development I knew I had to link up and share!  So lets get to it!

1.  Never grab a child by the wrist during the Winter months.  The only safe place to touch a child is between the shoulder blades, this is most likely the only place they cannot wipe their nose on.

2.  If a child has a suspicious smell emanating from them but they deny having an "accident"......they are possibly not telling you the truth.

3.  We may be the occupation that is responsible for the destruction of the rainforests.  I try really hard to limit the amount of paper I use in the day and I am more inclined now to email documents and memos as well as use the IWB, yet I still end up with a huge pile of papers on my desk at the end of the week!

4.  Velcro was invented by a lazy parent and I am so thankful for this when I am teaching Kindergarten....but it seems Grade 3 kids can't tie their shoelaces either now, I blame velcro.

5.  Pick your battles!  Students act out for a massive range of reasons and some days are way harder than others, sometimes it is ok to let that student choose to play with blocks quietly in a corner rather than nagging at them to work when they may not be capable of it that day.  At least as long as they are not throwing the blocks :)

6.  Coffee and red wine are legitimate food groups and I definitely need the first to get me into the classroom and the second to get the classroom out of my head.

7.  Laminating is soothing for the soul.....it's very zen.......that is all

8.  A lunch hour is a myth in the teaching profession.  Who has time to sit and eat when there are so many fun and amusing things to do like....playground duty, marking, checking and replying to emails, planning, calling parents, well I could go on and on.

9.  The hardware store is also a viable teaching supplies resource store.  Think about it, paint chips, storage containers, counting objects, art supplies.

10.  I could never, ever, never want to do another job...unless it involved wearing awesome shoes everyday.

Now it is your turn to link up and share!  Just click on the pic above to go to Miss Kindergarten's blog


Tuesday, 23 July 2013

Planning and a Freebie!

Yesterday I got to spend time with my new teaching partner for my most recent job I picked up.  I will be job sharing in a Year 2 classroom 2 days a week.  I was soo pleased to pick up this contract as it is at my kids school and with my oldest going to high school next year..(EEEEKK!)  my kids were really pleased to have me at school with them again, now normally I would insert sarcasm here.....but they are genuinely excited to be at a school with me again, awww.

Anyways to get to the teachery part of this post.  I have never been in a job share situation before so I was very unsure about how the break up of responsibilities was going to come about.  In the end though I was very pleased, I am going to be taking Art (yay!) ICT (to integrate with the Science Unit for the term), poetry for English and because the students use individual spelling lists I am going to focus on spelling rules and patterns.  For Maths I will be exploring some of those areas that need revision to begin with, like fractions and time and then perhaps changing the focus a little later on.  The other great news is that I have picked up lots of other subbing (relief) days at the same school so I am beginning to be more of a familiar face which is nice.

Today I was in a Prep class and I got to use my second That Cat reader as well as a product that is in the making "Count it, Colour it, Graph it!"  For a sneak peek download your copy of the Under the Sea one I used today by clicking on the pic below.


That's it for today folks!  I am off to cook dinner, oh and get some planning done!

Thursday, 18 July 2013

Holiday Cartoon Workshop

Hey Friends,
If you are still on holidays I hope you are enjoying them.  If you have kids and you are still on holidays I hope you are successful at keeping them occupied and entertained.  I know this is one area I struggle with, my daughter is 12 and my son is 8, there are not too many activities that they agree on.  However yesterday I hit the jackpot!
We went to a cartooning workshop that was run by a local cartoonist Bradfield Dumpleton, it was a hoot! He showed the kids a few techniques that he uses and then ran the kids through drawing some cartoons step by step of images that they had chosen.  Here are a few pics from our day yesterday.  BTW parents were told encouraged to join in so I had to unleash my artistic self :)


Concentrating.....


Pretty happy with the results



The finished cartoon....a lizard knight in tin can armour on a hover horse/unihorn!  So creative!


The evil bunny plotting to turn all the worlds carrot supply into zombie carrots and lure them too his lair!

and one of my efforts!  It got a bit crumpled on the travel home, but I quite like this funky lion!

I was pleased to see a few techniques I could take into the classroom to teach drawing to the students.  If you are interested in his web page just click on his name, he runs workshops in Tasmania and Victoria.  Plus there are some cool cartoons to view.


Monday, 15 July 2013

Snow fun and a new emergent reader.

It is Winter holidays here in Australia and now that I am living in Tasmania with the very chilly weather it means we get to indulge in a lot more Winter fun, including visits to the snow!


My family

My snow girlie



We took a trip to Mt Field National Park which was only an hour away from where we live and while there wasn't enough snow for skiing, there was plenty of snow for playing!  I am a bit worried about the emotional state of the snowman, looks a bit angry!
I also finished my next That Cat emergent reader on the weekend as well, this one focuses on sight words rather than a blend and also gives the opportunity to discuss questions and exclamation marks.




This file also includes a PowerPoint file to read the book as a whole class on an Interactive Whiteboard and a set of smaller books to send home or keep as a group for guided reading. There are some blank pages for students to make their own book or to make a class book as well as some extension activities.

Just click on the above pics to check it out in my store!
Hope you all have a great week.

Thursday, 11 July 2013

How Pinteresting Science Edition and a linky

I know it has been a looooooonnng time since I have posted a How Pinteresting edition and I really have no excuse for why this has happened other than I lost my drive.   Now I cannot promise that I will be doing this every week as life seems to be getting in the way at the moment, you know how it is work, kids, pets....so annoying when they impinge on my bloggy life.  Well without further ado I resurrect my How Pinteresting series with a bunch of pins related to Science in the Primary classroom.




Weather themed activities that work in your classroom!  Our first unit is earth science, and the weather part is always so hard.  Maybe these will help.

This is a great post that shares a range of different  science activities throughout the year in  her First Grade classroom and she gives a freebie!

This website is so awesome and will be very helpful in the classroom one day. This activity, done with gummy worms, allows for the children to observe what they see after an overnight experiment. Also on the website, there is different types of art projects that all ages can do that relate to science!

How much fun is Science with food!  Yum

Black Pepper Science Trick  Here's an easy but impressive science lesson. Easy to replicate both at home & in the classroom.  All you need is:  Black Pepper  Bowl or plate  Water   Dish Detergent

This is an easy experiment to do in the classroom with items you would likely have on hand.

This website has links to websites featuring over fifty science experiments and activities for kids to do. These activities range from fun experiments to nature explorations, from physics to mixtures and potions, and even activities for the study of weather. This website would be an awesome resource for teachers to use in the classroom as a rainy day activity or to teach science concepts.

This website has even MORE links to MORE Science experiments for the classroom

Snow and ice experiments - lots of fun and easy ones on here that could easily be done in the classroom.

Being Winter in Australia, this site has some great experiments for ice and snow.....and a great way to cool off in Summer if you are in the Northern Hemisphere!

I hope you have enjoyed the resurrection of my How Pinteresting series and I promise to try and be a better blogger with a new edition next week....if life doesn't get in the way!

If you have read all the way to the end of this post I just want to remind you that if you were a member of the Premium Graphics club to link up to showcase a resource you made using one of Mel's Graphics.  You can link up here or click on the pic below


Monday, 8 July 2013

Premium Graphics Club linky

A little over a year ago I made the HUGE investment into buying clipart.  The first set I bought was from Mel  @ Graphics From the Pond and I fell in love!  Then something amazing happened Mel ventured on a new journey called Premium Graphics Club that meant you recieved a grahic every (week) day for a year.  Well this sounded too good to be true but what followed exceeded my expectations beyond what I could imagine, over the following months I recieved SETS of graphics, background, frames and borders.   I got to see the evolution of Mel's talents and became so inspired from what I recieved, not only that, she actually listened when you had a request and bent over backwards to help you out.  Mel is the nicest, loveliest person I know, I am sure you will agree.  So this linky is a celebration of the Premium Graphics Club!

I know that there were many people who were members of the Premium Graphics Club and I invite you to celebrate the last 12 months and show your appreciation to Mel for what she achieved.  All you need to do is to link up here with your favourite product that you created using a graphic/border/background from The Premium Graphics Club.  All I ask is that you put the button on your blog, link it back to my blog so that you can invite other members you may know who were part of the Premium Club, also feel free to leave a comment letting Mel know how much you appreciate and will miss getting those emails every day.

Click on this button to go to Mel's Graphics from the Pond blog.

Ok I am going to get this linky started by linking up my Build a Butterfly to 10 and 20.  


I chose this one because the butterflies were a request that Mel specifically filled for me and I just loved making this resource....and my kiddos loved it as well.



Feel free to link up to a product in your store or a blog post about a product that used a Premium Club graphic

Sunday, 7 July 2013

Shared Teaching

Hi friends,

I have been very busy with relief teaching since our big move a few weeks ago, however I have been so lucky to have been offered 2 days in a Year 2 class for all of term 3.  I am so excited as I have worked in this classrom for three days a a couple of weeks ago and the kiddos are so nice!  This is the first time I have been in a shared teaching situation and I am a bit nervous as to how this will pan out but also very excited to have some stable work and a classroom again!

I have not had the opportunity to talk to the teacher I will be sharing with as it was a bit last minute just before the holidays started but I have met her previously and she is very nice......but scarily organised!
I will also be doing relief teaching on the other three days I am not at school so I should be kept quite busy.  The other really nice thing about this is that this new job is at my kids school so I get to have that connection with them again, this is particularly lovely because my daughter heads off to high school next year so this is really the last opportunity for us to share our school days *tears starting*

I would love to hear from other teachers who have done some shared teaching for suggestions/advice on the best way to make this work or any experiences you would like to share.

Saturday, 6 July 2013

Check this out!

Have you seen this fab new item from Brooke at Teachable Moments.  It is a ten and twenty frame interactive PowerPoint slideshow that you can show on an Interactive Whiteboard.



Yesterday I was working with a Prep class and a Year 2 maths support group and I was able to use this product with both groups successfully.  Let me give you a rundown of how this file works.  First you choose either ten or twenty frame cards then you decide the speed at which the cards will flash up they run at 3 speeds, slow, medium or fast.
We did a quick warm up with the slow speed and the students called out the number as the card came up on the screen, then we progressed through the medium and fast speeds.  After this we went back to the slow speed and the students had to write the number that corresponded with the ten frame card, (of course they wanted to try all speeds!)  Then to finish off we went back to the slow speed cards and called out the friend of ten that related to that card, so when the 2 spot frame came up the students called out "2 and 8 is ten".  At this point our time had finished but there would be so much more you could do with this, not to mention the bonus round when you have finished that mixes both ten and twenty frames.
To get your copy you can click on the pic to head over to Brooke's store.

On another note I started holidays today so after taking a nana nap on the couch I plan on getting my next That Cat emergent reader finished.

Monday, 1 July 2013

Currently July


I am linking up with Farley @ Oh' Boy Fourth Grade

Oh' boy fourth grade

I missed June....I don't know why???  Maybe I was ummm.....moving or something along those lines.  Anyway now I am in July and I have internet (yay!) and I am able to link up.  So here goes.....



Listening- It is Winter here in Australia and I have just moved to one of the coldest parts of the country, Tasmania.  Today was one of those blustery, windy days that ended up knocking over trees and powerlines, so at school we had to have indoor lunch and we lost power.....and you just know that the children were so out of control crazy  settled and calm.  Time for a medicinal shot to calm my ragged nerves.

Loving- We moved into our house 2 weeks ago and I have finally unpacked all of the boxes that belong INSIDE the house, now I feel like I am living in my house and not just unpacking it.   On the other hand, hubs has not even started unpacking the garage and quite frankly that is not my zone to unpack.

Thinking- You know when you move you realise how many places that have your address, now don't get me wrong we are experienced at the whole moving business, but there are some things that are just a CHORE, I love those places that let me do it online.

Wanting- My hair has dried out really badly in this Winter weather, I guess having heaters on really knocks around your hair.  It has been a while since I have been able to get to the hairdresser and I have had to settle for DIY hair treatments to get me through.  

Needing- It is Winter....in Tasmania.....Antactic winds......thick frost on the car in the morning.....frozen dog poo in the bag yard ( I kid you not)....under these circumstances a onesie is an absolute MUST my friends

I am a big believer that if you don't know there will always be someone you can ASK and that stands just as true for blogging.  I have made some great  bloggy friends through asking for advice and questions about blogging and TpT.  Surround yourself with like minded people, networking will get you further than working in isolation.

Well that is it for now, it's your turn to head on over an link up!