Monday Made It

    Last summer I purchased this little hardware organizer at a yard sale for $1.  I bought it from a retired teacher who used it for word work.  I wanted to turn it into a supply organizer.  I finally got around to it today!  Yay!

This is not my original idea.  You guessed it, I saw it on pinterest!  Mrs. Rojas has a super cute blog and she wrote a tutorial for this project.  She is also sharing her labels.  

   

 Here is how mine turned out.  I love it!  I can't wait to put it in my new classroom!  

  

You can download the labels here.

I am linked up with Tara and 150+ other bloggers at 4th Grade Frolics for the Monday Made It!  Go check it out.  There are so many fun projects to see!!!

Peace Begins With Me {Freebie}

The last month has been full of changes and little miracles.  I accepted a job at a small school outside of Santa Fe and will be partner teaching with project based learning in a multi-age classroom!  I am so excited for this new adventure and feel very blessed for the opportunity!  My husband has been living in Santa Fe since September studying to become a Doctor of Oriental Medicine.  So he came home to Utah and we packed up my classroom (not a small task!) and home and we drove all of our stuff down to Santa Fe!      


As June was approaching I was searching for some kind of learning opportunity for myself.  Something that I could use to better myself, my family and my community.  For the last six years I have dedicated the month of June as a time for spiritual growth and have gone into the mountains of New Mexico with 2,000 yogi friends from around the world for a Yogic immersion.  This year I decided I wanted to do something a little bit different...




 I truly believe that.....

and was looking for another way to contribute to the healing of the people and planet. During my free time much of my energy during the last eight years has gone to living and breathing Kundalini Yoga in search of an inner peace/healing and spiritual experience.  I certainly did find that in my practice and am eternally grateful for the dedication and commitment I found through the process.     

Lately though the intellectual side of me has been leaning toward learning about sustainable practices.  I have been interested in sustainable living for a long time because I believe that a strong force in the disharmony of the world is in part because of the unsustainable culture that most, including myself, have bought into.  

I've wanted to learn ways that I can decrease my negative environmental impact on the planet and the passion for this knowledge lead me to a little/big intentional community known as the Lama Foundation.  

I spent two weeks at the Lama Foundation learning about Permaculture ethics, principles and practices and becoming certified in Permaculture Design.

What is permaculture?

Permaculture is an ecological design system for sustainability in all aspects of human endeavor. It teaches us how to build natural homes, grow our own food, restore diminished landscapes and ecosystems, catch rainwater, build communities and much more.  

This was the classroom at Lama that I shared with 25 other souls from around the country.

     Our teacher was Scott Pittman.  A very knowledgeable man who has been practicing and teaching Permaculture Design for many years.  I found out about the course through The Permaculture Institute.  His wife Arina has a beautiful and informative blog on sustainable living: lotsoflifeinoneplace.blogspot.com 

Each day began with a meditation practice in the prayer room.  At Lama they call this "The Sit'.  You are welcome to use any type of meditation practice that you know or you can just sit.  I chose to do the meditation for a Calm Mind and Strong Nerves that I have been practicing for a few months now.  They have a very beautiful space dedicated to the sit.  We also used this room for a special global meditation during the Venus Transit.    

The water for the shower at Lama is heated with a solar water heater and the grey water feeds a greenhouse.  There is bamboo and other plants growing in planters surrounding the shower.  It is a lot like showering in a jungle!

  

The residents at Lama were so hospitable and loving.  A big thank you to everyone at Lama for making my stay so spectacular!  

I learned SOOOOOO much during the Permaculture Design Course!  I am so inspired to integrate Permaculture ethics and practices into my life and teaching style and to be able to share this with you, through this blog, because together we really can make a change for a better future for all living creatures on this sacred Earth.

I have made some posters to use in my new classroom of the ethics of permaculture which are:  

* Care for the Earth.

* Care for the People.

* Care for the Future.

{Click on the picture to snag your FREE copy}

Leave me some love if you download the posters, and let me know what you intend to do and are already doing to leave this world a better place!

Measuring Practice

A few weeks ago my students started measuring with feet and inches.  I made this data sheet so my students could collect the measurements they found.  They love using the measuring tape!  It's really important that you model how to keep it tight so they get an accurate measurement.    

{Click the picture to get the free download!}

I partnered my students up and let them measure items in our classroom.  My two classroom aides and I walked around the room helping the students to make sure they were measuring correctly and writing down the measurement right.  They are still mastering writing inches to the nearest half inch and that can be a bit tricky to write down.  

I had to help these two to measure our GIANT smartboard that we love SO much!

PS I am enjoying the sun room in my husbands house in Santa Fe, New Mexico!  I came down for a visit during my WEEK long spring break!  Wahoo!!! 

Persuasive Writing With FREEBIE!!

I love using the book I Wanna Iguana by Karen Kaufman Orloff as an example for persuasive writing. This is such a sweet and funny book about a boy named Alex who corresponds with his mother through letters.  Alex is trying to persuade his mother into letting him have his friends iguana.  My students love this book and the illustrations are hilarious!  

As we read the book I had my students think-pair-shair about the exact lines that Alex uses to convince his mother into letting him have the iguana.  Then, I had some of them come up and write down the convincing sentences as we read.  

{Note:  Having students write on a vertical surface is really great for their fine motor skill development and shoulder strength}

 After this I let them pick an animal that they would LOVE to have as a pet.  It can be any crazy, outrageous, silly animal that they want.  The sillier the better actually!


I have my students draw a picture of their animal.  I made this worksheet that you can use for this step.

Next, I model for my students how to write a persuasive paragraph.  I made this graphic organizer to help them organize their writing.  They wrote these as a letter to their parents or to our principal.  

Finally, my students peer edit their writing.  Then write their finall drafts.  I have included a page for that as well.  

{Click the elephant for the download!}

Get 'em While They're Hot! Coin Posters Freebie!

So I ordered DJ Inkers Kidoodlez: Science and Math CD.  Let me just tell you.....I LOVE all of the super cute and useful images that come on this CD! 

(Click on the picture to get your own copy!)

There are so many fantastic images to use.  This is the first resource I have created with it.  I have updated my money posters and created one for the half dollar which I didn't have.  I am not the greatest poet so if you know of or think of a better poem to use for the half dollar please let me know and I will make a poster with it!  

(Click the picture to grab a copy of the Coin Posters)

Please leave me a comment if you download the coin posters!  I love hearing from all of my blogging friends!  {HUGS}

Just in time for Thanksgiving!

    Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday.  I love getting together with my family and eating lots of yummy food.  However, we know that it is so much more then that and I also enjoy the whole reflecting on what we are thankful for part! It's a great strategy to make sure you can always make the sunshine... having an attitude of gratitude. 

    So I have made this book to help my students practice an attitude of gratitude.  I just love this book because it is a great way to get younger people to think about being thankful for the simple things in life like nature all around us.

    This idea was given to me the first year that I taught by a fellow teacher who had hand drawn the whole thing!  I have recreated it with cute clip art and I want you to have it too.

Click on the turkey to make this great book with your students.  The file includes a student version and a teacher copy with instructions!


If you download this please leave me a comment.  :)  Also, please feel free to make a link on your blog to this great resource.  I hope you enjoy it!

Pssst.. We love fairy mist! (A classroom management tip)

Has one of your little darlings ever felt down in the dumps?  Were they in need of a magic fairy to make their day all better?   Then let me let you in on a little secret.  Over here in my class where we are always trying to make the sun shine, we use rose water for its aromatherapy benefits. 

According to aromatherapy and my own experience, rose water offers a soothing property to the nerves and emotional /psychological state of mind. It is regarded as an anti-depressant. Rose water/oil is increasingly used in treatments for conditions of stress like nervous tension, peptic ulcers and heart disease.  Rose water is also used as an antiseptic. Not to mention is really does smell heavenly!

When I have a student that is having a bad day, feeling glum, or even if my entire class is just feeling lethargic.  I will have them close their eyes and then I tell them they are going to be sprayed with fairy mist.

THEY LOVE IT!

Plus it really works!  

This is my favorite brand to use.  I usually pick it up at Whole Foods but you can order it online also!  Click on the picture for a link to purchase your very own fairy mist!  Did I mention you can get it for only $5 ?!

It always makes them feel better.  There's nothing like a cold shot of fairy mist in the face to lighten the mood! 

Here is a label you can print and put on your bottle to cutesy it up :)

Click on the picture for you copy.

I'm back with a vertical, horizontal and oblique line activity and FREEBIE!

This weekend I went to lunch with some amazing fellow teacher/bloggers!  You can see Rachelle and Natalie's post all about our get together here @ whattheteacherwants.blogspot.com  These amazing women have certainly inspired me to keep up with blogging!  So here is my first new post in a few months.

This is a fun, quick and easy activity that you can do with your students either in whole group or small group instruction.  Here we are practicing vertical, horizontal and oblique lines.  I have my students draw a picture of their choice but they can only do horizontal lines in black, vertical lines in red and oblique lines in blue.  

 I keep a visual reminder on my own white board after I model for them how to draw something using these three colors for their corresponding line.

Here are a couple of my students and their fabulous line drawings.  They really enjoyed this activity.  I asked them what type of lines they were for a simple assessment.  It was a easy way to assess their learning.  

I made a freebie for you just in case you want to use this in a center.  You can do this with crayons, markers, colored pencils or paint!

Get the freebie here!  There are two versions, one is has more scaffolding then the other.

Let me know if you download this and use it!  I would love some feed back.  Thanks!

Rain Forest

Wow, the last few weeks have been CRAZY BUSY!!!  Here are some pictures of the "rainforest" we created in our classroom.  We watched this brainpopjr.com video...

We also love this book.  Click here to order it.

 

...and then made this rain forest complete with rubber frogs, ants and flies:

Can you see the flies dangling in the air?  I hot glued fishing line to the wings and then tied them to the branches.  It's just the perfect touch!

Then my students filled out this writing extension that I made and want to share with you!  Just let me know if you download it :)