Amazon gift card giveaway!!!!!!!

One of my favorite blogs is having a Giveaway! Hop on over to Ashleigh's Education Journey to see how you can join in on the giveaway fun! What's the prize you ask???
$25.00 to spend at my favorite online store:
AMAZON!!!
I already have some books in my shopping cart - just hoping that I win ;-)

Good Luck!!!!

Get your $5 book coupon from Scholastic

Get your $5 book coupon from Scholastic

I love Scholastic Book Orders - it is a great way to build your classroom library!

Now, families can get a $5.00 coupon for book clubs! Follow the link for more information you can share with your students.

Pinterest Linky Party!!!

I LOVE PINTEREST!!!!!!! But I know I am not the only one :-)
Michelle's Math in the Middle is have a Pinterest Linky Party - head on over I know I will!
 I love to see everyone's pictures - I get so many great teaching ideas and anchor chart examples that really enrich my classroom and teaching!
I would add a link of my board but I have NO IDEA HOW??? If anyone knows how leave me a comment so I can add a link :-)

Mission Impossible!!!

Sadly, math is at the end of our day and motivation for 3rd graders at the end of the day is not as easy after lunch :-(

Recently, I cam across a novel way to get them going when their motivation was low - I was just about to assign their independent work when I remembered I had the complete "Mission Impossible" track on my IPOD, before it goes into what we hear on the movie there is a little military band music and that was what they heard while I gave them their directions, quickly they sat up tall, and instead of telling them to get started - I ask them if they accept this mission - of course they shout 'YES!' and get right to work - it was beautiful!!!

Today, I tried it again to refocus them as we lined up (they were a bit chatty). Their mission was to get to lunch in a straight and quiet line - they did a great job and even pretended to be spies, ducking under windows along the way. I know it will not work if used too much so I am going to keep that trick up my sleeve for those days when they need that extra little boost to keep going!

Spelling Homework - OH MY!!!

Nothing new here, just what I have been working on this weekend. I wanted to give student's choice when practicing their spelling, I also wanted to leave the door open to differentiating spelling lists and not using lots of copies on worksheets! So I created this 'Spelling Choices' sheet where students choose how they want to practice their words. At school, we sort our words different ways (think WORDS THEIR WAY). However, for homework I just wanted  them to practice writing their words :-)



Spelling Choice Activities