Show and Tell Tuesday!

Hello Friends!




I always LOVED Show & Tell days when I was a kindergartner--and so did my Chatty Cathy doll-- so I was delighted to receive the invitation from Stephanie over at  Forever in 5th Grade to participate in her new monthly linky party!  




I'm here to share four current favorites that will give you a quick peek at what is going on in my life and in my classroom!




This old gal is currently contemplating how hard it is to get off the couch in the winter.  Can you relate?  Who wants to walk in 8 degree weather, right?

Her name is Rosie, and she has been my canine companion since I rescued her in 2011.  This photo captures her "I am a queen on my throne" attitude perfectly.  She used to share her perch with Brutus, but he passed away after a good, long life in 2014.  

Even though her hips are arthritic, her hearing is fading, and cataracts are developing in both eyes, she still has a bit of spunk left--especially when she spies a squirrel on the back deck.  This morning she is watching the TV news scroll intently in hopes that I get a two-hour delay and she gets more "snuggle time!"











For the past two weeks, my second graders have been using a resource I created in a very fun way!  The vocabulary cards in my  SNOW WINTER WORD FLURRY pack were designed to be a word wall that they could reference for writing and reading activities, but instead we've been using them to play "Heads Up" Ellen DeGeneres style!  I stand behind a student volunteer and hold the word card above their head, and we face the rest of the group.  That child then calls on friends who provide synonym, antonym, phonics, parts-of-speech, or meaning clues to help them guess the "mystery word." We play for about 10-15 minutes per day right before lunch and have the best time!  I've been blown away by the variety and depth of clues my kids come up with!  The game can also be adapted for your weekly Spelling words and content area vocabulary.  Just write them on index cards or sentence strips and you are good to go!  You can see my list of winter words in the product preview {HERE}.









March means celebrating literature, art, and science in fine Dr. Seuss-style, and last year my students had a blast using a variety of art supplies to bring the illustrations from his books to life!  Who knew that we could create our own forest of Truffula trees out of simple pipe cleaners and construction paper.  Start saving buttons, craft sticks, sequins, pop tops, yarn, and any other materials you think might inspire your young inventors!  You will be amazed at what their imaginations come up with!








Organizing literacy center materials is often a huge challenge for me, but this year I adopted a "page protector" system that has saved so much time, paper, and trouble!  Now I just put fluency poems, practice worksheets, rhyming activity pages in plastic protectors and keep them in labeled binders. Students then use dry erase markers to complete the different assigned tasks.  This system is easy-peasy, lemon-squeezy and so much more cost effective than the plastic sleeves sold on Amazon!


As always, thanks so much for stopping by to share my story!  May you continue to hold a song in your heart and teach your children well!  Be sure to click the social media icons above to follow me for more ideas to help you work "smarter not harder" in your classroom!

Warm Regards,

6 comments

  1. Love your little canine friend! We only have a feline around here. :)
    I also am a fan of page protectors. I have been using them for years and find them to be simply AMAZING! Like you said, they are a huge paper saver! Plus, kiddos love using the dry erase markers and erasers :)

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  2. Heads up is our next game night theme!! Next week! We are excited. I love the Seuss trees and will need to start saving! Happy Tuesday!

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  3. Such great ideas! I pinned your vocab game to my board so I could incorporate it into Social Studies. When I first started reading your post I thought you were referring to yourself as the old gal who didn't want to get off the couch! Lol! That's certainly how I feel some days! Thanks so much for linking up!

    Stephanie
    Forever in Fifth Grade

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  4. Love the Heads Up idea! I too have been using page protectors for all kinds of things these days. 8 degrees? I better stop complaining!

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  5. Hi Jennifer! I think I've found my Read Across America activity! Thanks. :)
    Deb
    Not very fancy

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  6. Love the STEM and Seuss idea! What a great way to incorporate literature and science.

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