Pumpkin Time!

It's one of my favorite times of the year...fall!  I love everything about fall, even though I don't get much of the fall experience in Las Vegas!  So, to make up for it, I always do a fun pumpkin unit to get my kids into a fall frame of mind.

The unit consists of:

Using nonfiction pumpkin texts...

Observing and using real pumpkins...

Making estimates and recording actual findings...

and finally, eating delicious pumpkin foods!

The students take notes, draw diagrams, make estimates, and keep track of all their information in handy pumpkin books which can be found at my Teachers Pay Teachers Store:
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/2nd-and-3rd-Grade-CCSS-Aligned-Month-by-Month-Activities-October-Pumpkins-907292

Dive Into Third Grade - Ocean Themed Classroom

It's a new year!  This year, I've decided to try an ocean theme.  Here's a look at a few of my ocean themed ideas.

Dive Into Third Grade - Student Work Board

This board was so fun to make!  It only took some creative fonts, paper plates, construction paper, and wave border... and a little time.  :)

Close up - Wave border glued on construction paper

Close up - Letters glued onto dessert sized paper plates

Library - Title coming soon...

Behavior Chart - Cute fonts and ocean stickers make this chart fun!

I have a similar ocean themed behavior chart available for FREE on my Teachers Pay Teachers store. Check it out here:
Ocean Themed Behavior Chart - FREE

While you're checking out the store, try out my Common Core September Activities.  I'm having a sale beginning on August 29, 2013!

Testing Freebie!

Testing time is getting closer!  I've been making my own passages with explicit information that kids can use to implement the strategies we've learned in class.

Pick up one of my third grade passages for free here:


Common Core Nonfiction Passage - Testing Strategies

Hooray for a new trimester!

I love the new trimester.  It's a chance to start fresh and move away from the same old standards we've been working on since the start of the year.
My favorite part of this trimester is starting research projects.  I love to see the kids dive into learning with new purpose and gusto when they have the chance to complete their own animal research project.

This is the updated version of the animal research projects I've been doing for the last several years:
Informational Text Writing: Animal Research Projects

What's your favorite thing about the new trimester?

Practical Ideas

This is my first blog and first blog entry.  I've been teaching for 12 years.  I've taught 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grade, and I'm currently in a 3rd grade classroom with 23 students.  
I'm constantly looking for new activities to implement in my classroom.  I often create my own activities, lessons, and packets.  My district uses the Common Core State Standards, so I'm always striving to meet the standards in a fun and inventive way.  
I also have some pretty strong opinions about education and teaching in general.  So... I'd like to tell something I currently like about education, and something I dislike about education (See!  You could turn this into a prefix lesson!  Haha!)

What I Like Right Now:
I love holiday activities that are fun and meet the standards we need to teach.  It's so easy to bend a fun activity and add just a little twist to create a worthwhile lesson that kids will love!
This is what we're doing in my class this week:
Reading and Writing Activity: Elf Application


What I DISLIKE Right Now:
I dislike mindless, countless, pointless (Now it's a suffix lesson!)  holiday activities.  

"Let's color a reindeer coloring page!"
"Let's color a Santa page!"
"Let's color a dreidel page!"
"Let's glue a bunch of stuff onto something else with no actual point or direction!"

Sorry... but it drives me nuts!  I'm not talking about ONE little craft.  I'm talking about weeks of crafts and coloring that don't relate to anything students need to know!  Is it okay to do a totally fun craft once in awhile that doesn't meet any standards?  I guess... but it's SO simple to make it worthwhile for your class.  

Instead of: "Let's color a reindeer!"  
How about:  Let's read a nonfiction book about real reindeer and compare and contrast Santa's reindeer to real reindeer.  
OR
Let's read a nonfiction book about real reindeer and draw an accurate picture with labels (diagram!).  

See... still fun, yet totally worth the time!