On Spring Break It's Raining Main Ideas & Details!

It's Spring Break, and although it's not raining, it HAS been snowing!  Snow? On Spring break?  OUCH!  What's the weather like where you are?  Hopefully a little warmer than where I am! 

It IS raining Main Ideas and Details, however...at least in our school.  One of the most challenging skills our students face and need to see over and over again, is the task of identifying the difference between main idea and the details that support it.  Hoping you and your students will find the FREEBIE adorable rainy day frogs helpful as you get closer to testing time!

Speaking of testing, I'm getting a Pinterest board up and going on Test Prep ideas!  Do you have any test taking strategies, resources, suggestions that you'd like to see on the Test Prep board?  Or would you like to contribute to that board?  Leave me a note with details! 


Bananas for time away from work to unwind with my family, despite the weather!  :-)

101 Things to do with Travel Brochures & Spring Break

It's SPRING BREAK TIME for me in a couple of days! (3 days, 7 hours, and 22 seconds, but who's counting?) As if Spring break isn't wonderful enough, my district threw in an extra MONDAY off the week after Spring Break.  It's like this little bonus that I know I will cherish come Sunday evening at the end of the week!  What are your plans for the break?  (Or what WERE they if you've already had yours?) 

WHEREVER you go, I've got a job for you!  Stop at some rest areas to grab some free travel brochures! LOAD UP! If the rest areas don't have a lot of options, check your hotel lobby!   I'm always grabbing those free travel brochures to use with my students.  It doesn't matter what they're advertising, I can find a use for them.  :-)  I finally decided to create a packet that would assist teachers in creating a travel brochure center for students.  The Brochure Bundle consists of 101 activities to do with a variety of brochures.   The activity cards consist of Language, Reading, Math, Social Studies, and Science tasks that I'm SURE you can find a brochure for!  They're great tools for formative assessments on skills you've taught, review for state mandated testing, cooperative group assignments, pre-assessing activities, or even homework tasks that students can pack up and take home with them! 

They're colorful and high interest so students can't wait to see what brochures and activities will appear in the centers!  Since there are SO many brochures out there, it's possible they will never see the same brochure twice!  I keep mine in a clear, large, plastic pencil box that I got from a bargain bin.  If you can find the pencil boxes with handles, they look more like 'suitcases' and make the activities even more appealing.  

I geared these activities with 3rd grade in mind, but they really cover material that is addressed in grades 2-4 nicely.  Don't see a task in there that you'd like to see added?  Just email me.  I'll see what I can do!  

Surely you know me well enough by now to know I can't get too far along with this post without making it a little fun and interesting!  SO...the first 5 people to email me a photo of their collected brochures, gets the unit for FREE!  Safe travels!  nomonkeybusinessmichelle@gmail.com

Bananas for freebie brochures that you can engage kids with and especially bananas for Spring Break!

SWEEP the Constructive Response Assessments

With the introduction of Common Core, our students have been required to take Constructive Response assessments in Math.  These are nothing more than challenging word problems that are equipped with multi-steps.  Students, however, are required to demonstrate their knowledge and understanding of the problem in a variety of ways. They are often asked to explain their thinking, show an equation to match the problem, and/or draw a diagram.  Our teachers quickly learned that students would often know how to solve a problem, but leave out key steps that the problem had asked them to display.  Missing that information led to students not earning all of their mathematical content or mathematical practice points.  Our fabulous educators got together and brainstormed all the different ways that students could demonstrate their knowledge base of the task.  SO...at our school, we "S.W.E.E.P." the Constructive Response assessments (CRAs) by "putting in symbols where necessary, using words or labels to display what we're working with (yards, pounds, cookies, etc.),  writing mathematical equations to match the task, explaining our thinking, and drawing pictures or diagrams to show what we know!"  SWEEP!
I created this little mini-poster for teachers to display in their classrooms. They're training students to solve word problems using the S.W.E.E.P. acronym.  It's making a difference in student responses.  Their answers are not only more thorough, but teachers can easily identify where mistakes might be occurring.  
If your students are taking CRAs, feel free to use the S.W.E.E.P. mini poster to give students an additional strategy for what to include or double check for when tackling these type tasks.  

Bananas for brooms I don't have to actually use ;-)

Booking Across the U.S.A.

Ready for a road trip?  Although I WISH I could take off and visit all 50 states, I'll have to settle for a blogging road trip to grab some amazing literature activities across the United States.  A blogger from each and every state is ready to share a book and activity related to their state.  I am SO PROUD to be representing the great state of Tennessee.  (Suddenly I feel like I need a sash and crown.)  ;-)

As I began my search for what book I'd like to share with you, I knew I wanted it to be mountain related.  The beautiful Smoky Mountains of East Tennessee are a combination of breathtaking, adventurous, serene, and loads of fun!  Join me on an adventure with a curious bear cub in the Smokies who thinks wandering away from his mother is a good idea.  Unfortunately, he learns the hard way that  investigating human garbage might not be all that it was cut out to be.  This children's book The Troublesome Cub in the Great Smoky Mountains by Lisa Horstman (see photo), would make an excellent resource for environmental awareness activities, a study on animals and their habitats, or even rhyming words since the book is written in rhyme!  I created a FREEBIE story related "foldable" where students can practice key story elements such as character analysis, setting, problem/solution,  predicting, and cause and effect.  A rubric is also included.  Be sure to click on my Troublesome Cub literature activity below to grab your FREE copy!  Don't forget to keep BOOKING ACROSS THE U.S.A. for more amazing reading resources!  Blog hop is below!

Bananas for road trips that I don't even have to pack for,

Alabama: Everyday Snapshots Alaska: Little Wonders’ Days Arizona: Simply Kinder Arkansas: Homeschooling in Arkansas California: Juggling with Kids and The Outlaw Mom Colorado: Learners in Bloom and Living Montessori Now Connecticut: The Teacher Park Delaware: Mama Miss Florida: Teaching Stars Georgia: Fabulously First Hawaii: Teaching With Style Idaho: True Aim Education Illinois: Growing Book by Book Indiana: Teach Preschool Iowa: Surviving a Teacher's Salary Kansas: KCEdventures Kentucky: Chicken Babies Louisiana: New Orleans Moms Blog Maine: Maine Adventure Mom and Country Fun Child Care Maryland: Picture Books and Piourettes Massachusetts: Mama Smiles Michigan: Play DrMom Minnesota: The Wise Owl Factory Mississippi: Hey Mommy, Chocolate Milk Missouri- Ready. Set. Read! Montana: The Honey Bunch Nebraska: The Good Long Road Nevada: Boy, Oh Boy, Oh Boy Crafts New Hampshire: Elementary Matters New Jersey: The Pleasantest Thing New Mexico: Enchanted Homeschooling Mom New York: What Do We Do All Day North Carolina: Realistic Teacher Blog North Dakota: ND HealthWorks Ohio: Smart Chick Teacher’s Blog Oklahoma: Herding Kats in Kindergarten Oregon: Journey of a Substitute Teacher Pennsylvania: Land of Once Upon a Time Rhode Island: Smiling in Second Grade South Carolina: Cookies and Kiddos and JDaniel4’s Mom South Dakota: The Wise Owl Factory Tennessee: No Monkey Business Texas: Curls and a Smile and Kid World Citizen Utah: Teach Beside Me Vermont: Burlington Vt Moms Blog Virgina: Once Upon a Story, and The Freckled Homeschooler Washington: Home Learning Journey and Boy Mama Teacher Mama West Virginia: This Week @ Great Peace Academy and Mamas Like Me Wisconsin: Reading Confetti Wyoming: No Twiddle Twaddle USA: The Corner on Character        

Fraction Frenzy Freebie

Fractions were always challenging for me growing up.  Maybe it's because I was simply expected to learn them through memorization and procedure.  I don't recall teachers giving me fractions to manipulate and compare.  I think times have changed!  Teachers are putting fractional pieces in the students' hands for them to see firsthand how they work.  One of the things I like to do when teaching fractions is to break out the pizza boxes from Pizza Hut.  Pizza Hut donated some personal pan pizza boxes to my classroom.  With a little help from parent volunteers and the laminating machine, I created a baggie full of fractional pieces for my students.   Students dump all their fractional pieces into one side of the box that serves as a holding station.  They "SHOW ME" what I ask for on the other side of the pizza box.  You can do a lot of different activities with the pizza boxes and fractions.  1.)  Identify fractions-Simply ask students to show you what 1/3 or 2/4 look like.  2.)  Comparing fractions-Ask students to pull out two different fractions and compare which is larger/smaller.  3.)  Reducing fractions-Pull out fractions that can be reduced and find the fractional pieces that match.  For example, have students show you 4/8.  Then ask them to find another piece that matches the same size as 4/8.  (1/2)  Demonstrate the mathematical procedure for reducing on dry erase boards or Smart board as you go. 4.) Adding or subtracting fractions-Pull out fractions with like denominators and add or subtract.  5/8 + 2/8 = 7/8.  5.) Identify fractional pieces that are MISSING.  Have students show 2/3, but ask what part of the pizza is missing.  If you're interested in learning more about the fractional pieces that fit into the Pizza Hut personal pan boxes, just click on the Fraction Frenzy image to grab them from my store!  :-) 

If you're into interactive notebooking, then be sure to investigate the newest addition to my math interactive notebooks.  This 27 page unit is full of  foldables, flips, cuts and sorts, etc. that allow students to be creative when learning about fractions, but adds the component of explaining their thinking.  If they can write about it successfully, they know it!  You can grab the Math Interactive Notebook-Fractions unit by itself, by clicking the image below OR if you want all 7 interactive notebooks bundled together, you can click that image as well (Cheaper to get them bundled!).  They are designed for 3rd, but I'm hearing great success stories with 2nd  and even 4th grade classrooms using them to either challenge kids or create a review for their students.










Bananas for Fractions that aren't so scary! 

Touchdown on TpT, a Freebie, and a Super Bowl Surprise!

Are you ready for some FOOTBALL?  GREAT DEALS?  TpT is gearing up for the big game by adding an additional percentage off already "on sale" stores!  Most of your favorite players (sellers) will have items on sale for 20% off, and TpT is throwing in an additional 8%.    YOU SCORE with a 28% savings with the following code:  SUPER.   TpT is running their sale for ONE DAY ONLY on Super Bowl Sunday!   Don't fumble! Grab some goodies for spring, Valentines fun, large units or bundles that you've been saving up for, reviews for state mandated testing, or precious clipart for some half-time entertainment! My locker room (cart) is already full! YIKES!  :-)

I put my entire field on sale, so if there's something you want, you KNOW you can grab it for 28% off on Sunday!  (20% off on Saturday and Monday because I'm running a sale for a few days!)  I bundled some of my own first round draft picks to hopefully help some folks out. :-)   I currently have 6 math interactive notebooks done and more coming.  I bundled all 6 together for some SUPER notebooking fun and savings!   

I've had a few fans ask if I would huddle the monthly problem solving units together as well.  My plan was to wait until all 12 were done, but why not kickoff a good thing by throwing them together for Super Bowl Sunday?!  I have October, November, December, January, and February on a team and ready to go!  

Don't forget to quarterback sneak off with a graphic organizer freebie on Academic Vocabulary words.  My teammates and I would HIDE new academic vocabulary words in the 3rd grade hall for students to be on the lookout for.  They got to find and define them as we introduced them that week.  

"Extra points" for the amazingly talented 3 am Teacher with her adorable backgrounds (like the one in my super bowl sale ad above!) http://the3amteacher.blogspot.com   The football froggie friend comes from Scrappindoodles.com 


TIMEOUT before you go...I have some Super Bowl surprises of my own.  #1 How many SUPER BOWL (football related) words or phrases did I use in my blog post today?  Count carefully!  The first one to post the correct answer (or get the closest by toin coss on Sunday) gets a $6.00 item or less FREE from my TpT store!  (*Since my boys helped me with the words, I'll go by their count and what they intentionally helped me put in there!)
#2 Make a prediction about the score of the game!  A.) Pick the winner B.) How many points will they win by?  **Closest to the correct score also wins a $6.00 item from my TpT store. ***All predications must be made before the players leave their locker rooms to come onto the field on Sunday!     GOOD LUCK!

Bananas for my boys who know more about football than I do!  I'm just cooking. ;-)

Super Bowl Challenge...Recipes and a Mini Unit

Well, the results are in. It looks like we have a couple of teams set for Super Bowl Sunday!  Congratulations to the Ravens and 49ers.  So who are you pulling for?  I would love to hear!  ME?  I don't have a dog in this fight, so I'll be spending all my energy and efforts into rounding up some delicious Super Bowl munchies for all the men in my life.  (Husband, sons, their friends, dog, etc.)  
In honor of the quickly approaching Super Bowl, here are some of our favorite Super Bowl recipes. 

HANKY PANKIES--(1 pkg of sausage (med), 1 pkg of Velveeta cheese, crushed red pepper, and rye coctail bread)  Brown sausage in skillet.  Add cheese and crushed red pepper to skillet.  Continue to cook/heat until cheese is completely melted and sausage is cooked through.  Remove from heat.  Add a spoonful of the mixture to each of the rye cocktail bread slices.  Heat in oven to toast the bread.  Serve warm.


BBQ CHICKEN TORTILLA PIZZAS-- flour tortillas, cooked and shredded chicken, your favorite brand of Salsa, BBQ sauce, chopped red pepper, shredded Mexican cheese    Heat oven to 350.  Top each tortilla with a layer of BBQ sauce (like a pizza), Drop shredded chicken all over the layer of BBQ sauce.  Top with chopped red bell pepper and shredded cheese.  Place on ungreased baking sheet. Bake 15 minutes or until cheese bubbles. Serve with your favorite salsa.

HOMEMADE BROWNIES--1 1/4 cup margarine, 4 eggs, 2 cups of sugar, 1 1/2 cups of flour, 2 tsp of vanilla, 3/4 cup cocoa, 2 cups nuts (optional) Preheat oven to 350.  Melt butter and add cocoa mix.  Stir in sugar and blend in eggs.  Add vanilla.  Stir in flour and nuts.  Mix well.  Bake in greased 9x13 pan for 30 minutes.  Cool; Serve


Let's hear it Super Bowl Fans...what's your favorite snack recipe for Super Bowl Sunday?  I'm looking for something NEW, QUICK, and EASY this year to add to my existing list.  Leave me a comment with a recipe for something you think we'll like!  If I select your recipe to try, (my family gets to vote on which one we'll try) I'll send you the Super Bowl Challenge for your classroom FREE!  (See image below)   **We'll select by Monday, Jan. 28th 8:00 p.m. EST

If you have a 2nd, 3rd, or 4th grade classroom, you might enjoy the Super Bowl Challenge for your students! This mini-unit has a variety of activities that appeal to all the little sports fans in your class. (And even those who aren't)  If you purchased last year, be sure to RE-DOWNLOAD it...as it has been updated for 2013!  You and your class can make some predictions, do some problem solving, interpret a graph of super bowl wins, share some recipes, practice with fact/opinion, etc.  It makes for great fun on the Friday before the big game!  $1.95  

Bananas for a good excuse to have a smorgasboard of goodies sitting around to GRAZE on,