Schools out...

... for Summer!!  Woohoo!!  It didn't hit me until this morning, but it's Summer.  Thank the Lord.  We ended Thursday with Field Day and then had a work day yesterday, where I cleaned my room, finalized paperwork and FILED, FILED, FILED.

But atlast, it's feeling like Summer.  No thoughts of lesson plans, books to read, or students, entering my mind this morning and man- it is all sorts of amazing.  How are you feeling today?  Has it hit you?

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all those fabulous Moms out there!!  Being a Mom is one of the most impressive jobs I can think of, thank you to all those Moms who go above and beyond out there! 

Only EIGHT more days of school for me and my kiddos.  Woohoo. I am very much looking forward to the upcoming summer, but I cannot believe how quickly this year has flown by.  Everyone, myself included, is beginnging to get ansy and excited about the coming end of year celebrations!  We're going on two field trips and have field day the last week of school- who can be a learner with that on its' way!? 
To keep the excitement focused on school, we had some fun this past week.  (I know, 4th graders having FUN?!)  I absolutely LOVE Deanna Jump's Mother's Day Gift Book idea.  Unfortuantely it's a little too primary for my guys, so I bought her wonderful packet and stepped it up a notch for my kiddos.  Some of their responses were HILARIOUS!  I love this idea and we had a lot of fun making the books.  THANK YOU MRS. JUMP!

They each had to make a promise to their Mom that they would do something special for her on her day!  They all chose something so thoughful and sweet. 

This one cracked me up, y'all!  "When my Mom is driving, she texts or plays poker on her phone but she watches where she's going so she doesn't hurt us.  She's a really good driver though at least she pays attention or else I'd be dead."

I would have LOVED to see some of the moms read their book and learn what their kids notice about them.

Due to major time constraints (It's almost the end of the year?  We haven't taught energy yet?  Yikes!!)  we had an Energy day on Thursday!!  In just one quick day (and I mean QUICK) we were able to fit in nearly all the energy standards.  My kiddos absolutely loved it too.  They each had their own energy journal and kept track of their learning throughout the day.  They even researched different types of energy in groups and presented to one another!

They did such a fabulous job!  I was so stinkin' proud of each and every one of them.  Y'all know how it is with group projects- they either go wonderful or just fall apart and this one went WONDEFUL!  Quiet voices... teamwork... focus... amaaaazing!  :)

This coming week sounds just as pleasantly busy and I'm looking forward to it speeding by!  I hope yours is busy as well and speeds right by!  Enjoy :)

~Kelly Anne

SUMMMMMER Math Centers!!

I can't believe I'm saying it- SUMMER Math Centers!! 

These centers are to be used in a 4th grade classroom at the end of the year.  Their bright colors and fun patterns may help make these last few weeks just a little more bearable :)  The five activities in this packet are perfect for 4th (& 3/4) graders at the end of the 4th grade year!  They align perfectly with the 4th grade Common Core Standards and are interative and engaging for these nearly 5th graders!! 

Please check out this Summer Math Packet in my TPT store- just click on the picture to go there and check it out!! 

Happy teacher appreciation week :)  Hope you're being spoiled by your kiddos! 

XO,
Kelly Anne

Teacher Appreciation Sale!!

Can you believe it's May already?? I sure can't.  It's been one busy year and this time of year is just my favorite.  All my kiddos are excited to be 4th & 3/4 graders and they know the routines so well that I don't have to say very much at all (most days...)!  And we're coming up on teacher appreciation week!  Wow this year is fly-y-y-yingggg, y'all!! 
Can I get a "WOOHOO" teachers?!  We're almost there :)  In celebration of teacher appreciation week, I will be participating in Teachers Pay Teachers teacher appreciation sale!  Please check out my store for 28% off everything, starting Sunday May 6th through the 8th!!  Just click on the link below.

Tomorrow I will be adding my new Summer Math Centers that I have been working on, so be sure to check them out once they're up!!  They're aligned with the 4th grade common core standards and include several activities that end of the year 4th graders should be ale to do, including those always tricky fractions and decimals!!  I'm hurrying to finish it before tomorrow!!

Happy weekend to all of you!  Enjoy it, I hope the weather is warm with blue skies like it is here!!  Summer is in the air :)

~Kelly Anne

April Showers Bring May Flowers {Math Centers}

4th grade teachers!  I'm not sure where the market for fun activities for 4th graders is- it seems to be laaaacking.  Why can't 4th graders have common core standard aligned activities for their classroom?!   We want fun engaging lessons!  We want exciting math games and activities to support our teaching!  Why can't we have these things available, like the primary grades do? 

I cannot lie, y'all.  When I look at the amazingly cute and practical packets put out by K-2nd teachers, I am so jealous of the students in their classrooms!  How fun!  Let's come together to create entertaining and exciting activities for our intermediate grades! 

I created a new April-themed math activity packet, perfect for 4th grade centers or classroom activities.  Each of the 5 activities is aligned with the 4th grade Common Core Standards.  They could also be used for extension activities for 3rd graders or intervention activities for 5th and 6th graders.  My kiddos get so excited when we introduce new centers and are way more involved!  I can't wait to get these into my own classroom this coming month!

Also, I feel the need to share that we finished TCAP (our state test) today!!!!!  Three weeks later, we are allll d-o-n-e!  Woohoo!  My students had their desks back together (since they were separated and in rows- yuck- for testing) and all the wall coverings (covering our helpful anchor charts) down in less than 5 minutes.  Poor things are all kinds of ready for a normal schedule. 

We are spending Monday in PJ's and with a read-a-thon to enjoy some non-testing.  I am looking forward to just reading with my kiddos (no assessments or assignments) and having some fun down time!

Just one week until Spring Break!  Woop woop :)

- Kelly Anne

Mining Rocks!

Last week I needed to teach about the Gold Rush and really wanted to do this activity I had heard about ,where we would search for fake gold out on the playground, but I was NOT feeling very motivated around 5:30 on a Sunday night, to prep it all.  My Mom was in town though and wasn’t about to let me stay in my PJ’s (Thanks Mom!)  So we hurried to the hardware store and picked up some rocks and spray paint!

I spray painted the rocks gold, silver, and purple.  Each color represented a specific type of mineral.  Gold and silver were (duh) gold and silver!  And then purple represented gypsum, because gypsum is a very cheap mineral and I wanted to show how minerals were worth different amounts of money.

  I prepped my kiddos by telling them we were going to be Miner's.  We discussed what type of minerals they were mining for, got into groups of two, and each grabbed a bag!  My spectacular aid went out into the field and clumped some of the rocks together and spread out others.  Then we moved out to the field to "mine". 

As soon as they reached the field, they were off!  They were so excited and were running around non stop!  It took about 15 minutes, but they found almost all the minerals. 

After they had gathered as much as they could, we took their bags inside and sorted out our minerals into piles of gold, silver, and gypsum. 

I went around and weighed their piles, using my bathroom scale, and had a worksheet ready for them to fill in, with their weights. 

Next week we will find out how much money they "made" and discuss what it was like to be a "miner".  (Feel free to grab a copy of The Gold Rush and the Reflection, below)

We will also do a quick reflection on what we've learned. 

I'm so glad I decided to do this activity because it really helped model a little bit of what the Gold Rush had been like.  I'm looking forward to having the time to discuss our observations, how much money we made, and make connections to the real Gold Rush! 

While we'll get to have some fun with gold, we will also take TCAP, our state test, this week.  I'm looking forward to having this behind us, Spring Break in front of us, and fun activities for the end of the year!

I hope everyone has a great week!

- Kelly Anne

The Lorax

So, I feel a little nerdy, but I AM SO EXCITED for The Lorax to come out tomorrow!  It looks so stinkin' cute!  I will be seeing it this weekend- I can already taste the popcorn :) 

In honor of the new movie and Dr. Seuss' birthday, we started a fun science activity today (since we don't have school on Friday, Dr. Seuss' real birthday).  First, I read, The Lorax.  I seriously almost tear up every time I read it! 

After reading the story, we talked about ways we could make a difference in the world and why the world needs trees, like Truffula Trees.  Then, I told my class I had a bag of Truffula Seeds for us to plant! We were all excited! 

They each got to place soil and their seed into a small plastic pot.  They were lovin' it!  Everyone was so careful when placing the soil in their pots and then again when planting their seeds.  Sooo cute!

As their “Truffula Trees” grow, we will take weekly measurements of the seedling and graph the mean, median, and mode height of our class’ seedlings.  (I'm planning on sending the flowers home in decorated pots for Mother's Day in May!)

As if this day wasn't exciting enough, we had a "Winter Weather Warning" and mini-blizzard beginning right when school began and ending just after lunch recess.  LOOOTS of indoor recess for us today.  I was proud of my kiddo's semi- attentiveness this afternoon with all the time spent inside today.  I *love* snow, however, and couldn't stop looking out the window all day!

 But THIS is what it looked like before I left this evening... weather here is CRAAAZY.

Happy Dr. Seuss Day to Y'all!


- Kelly Anne