Notice Anything New?

Cheers to Honey Bunch Blog Designs for helping me switch over my blog to my new domain:  Elementary School Garden.  I decided to get rid of "fourth grade" in my title just in case I one day don't teach fourth grade.  Hopefully that day will never come.  My heart will always be in fourth grade.  But hey, you never know.  I will be able to continue to grow my blog under my new name no matter what grade I teach.

I purchased a domain for my new name.  It only costs $10 a year and is soooo worth it.  Despite my name change, if you visit any of my old posts or links they will still be available and will redirect you to my new site.  $10 isn't bad to keep all my hard work from the last few months of blogging.

I also decided to scratch the name Liliris and start blogging by my real name, Jennifer.  Over the last few months I've become more comfortable with blogging and I'm ready to be recognized by my real name rather than a username.

So, when you see the name Elementary School Garden, don't be surprised!  It's just little ol' me!  Stayed tuned for a giveaway coming up real soon!

New Name Coming Soon

Hey bloggy buddies!  I just wanted to give a quick heads up that my blog will be undergoing a few little changes over the next week.  I am switching to a new blog name that will be a better fit for many years to come (just in case there ever comes the day *gasp* when I don't teach 4th grade anymore.)

I apologize if any links become temporarily unavailable during the switch.  I hope to have all the kinks worked out shortly.

Stay tuned for my new name reveal and a giveaway to celebrate!

November Monday Made It

This past weekend I have been running around like a turkey with her head cut off trying to get all my Monday Made It's post ready in time for Monday.

To start off with, I made some more dice shakers to use during the start of our multiplication unit this week.

I found these adorable turkey and scarecrow containers at Michaels on sale in the clearance area.  Funny how Thanksgiving items are on sale right along with the Halloween stuff.  I shouldn't complain.  I swiped them up and got a steal of a deal.

I filled them up with water, plopped two shinny dice in each one, screwed the cover back on and then went around the cover with glue so that they will stay closed tight.

 Students will start using these little dice shakers this week during our math center rotation.  I created a turkey themed multiplication unit to supplement our curriculum.  It includes worksheets, games, and centers for multiplication properties and problems from 0 x 0 all the way to 12 x 12.  Check it out here at my Teachers Pay Teachers Store.

I also created a book review tree.  The theme?  We are Thankful for Good Books.  I got the idea for a book review tree on pinterest from Lessons with Laughter.

I plan on displaying this in my classroom this week.  Students will take a leaf, write the title and author of their favorite book on one side, and why they are recommending it on the other.  They will then hang the leaves off the tree.

I made the tree with branches from Target.  I would have grabbed a branch from our backyard but it has been raining for a week and  I wanted something dry.  I placed it in a pot I found at Micheals, buried the wires and battery box under some pebbles, and ta da...this is how it came out.

Best part is....it lights up!  Sparkle sparkle!

I also created some Turkey on a Stick writing prompts.  I plan to have my students use these during writing centers or for when they finish their writing early.

 I found the cute little pail in the dollar section at Target.  Target has all their fall stuff on clearance for 70% off right now.  So, the pail only cost $0.30.

I have the templates for my Thankful for Good Books tree and Turkey on a Stick Prompts inside my Thanksgiving Writing Prompts pack.  Also included are letter writing, stationary, and story element dice.  Check it out here at my Teachers Pay Teachers Store.

Want a copy of my Turkey Time Multiplication or Thanksgiving Writing Prompts?  The first 3 people to comment will get a copy of their choice for FREE.  Just tell me which one you want and how you will use it in your classroom!  For everyone else, both products will be 20% off at my Teachers Pay Teachers store until the end of today (Monday, November 5th).  Pop on over now!

 Want to see more Monday Made Its?  What are you waiting for?  Head on over to Tara's blog for Monday Made it!

November Currently

I live for the weekends.  Not because I want to be away from my classroom.  No!  Because I love planning for the upcoming week with my kiddos.  I love sleeping in a little late, keeping on my pajamas a little longer than normal, and sitting in the peace and quiet while I relax, read, write, plan, create and blog. 

Next weekend is a 3-day weekend.  3-day weekends are obviously even better than 2.  I think every weekend should be a 3-day weekend.  You can get so much more accomplished.  You can actually enjoy both Saturday and Sunday.  Usually, Sunday is a little chaotic because all I can think of is trying to complete my to-do list before Monday comes.  Having Monday looming over your head adds a slight amount of stress.  Not much, but some.  Not having to work Monday...now that makes Sunday so much more fun!

Now...can you believe it's already November?  It's time to link up with the fabulous Farley from Oh Boy 4th Grade for her monthly currently!

Here's a quick pick from Halloween.  Our "little" Apollo "wanted" to be a banana for Halloween!

Too bad he only kept it on for about 30 seconds.  Have a wonderful and relaxing weekend!

Mystery Day

Does your school let you celebrate Halloween?  Our school had Mystery Day today instead.  No costumes, no passing out candy, just some good ole' mystery fun.

Our PTA sponsors this day.  We kick it off with an assembly with a story teller who shares some fun mysteries. 

Later in the day students get to visit the mystery room.

The mystery room contains many fun stations such as candy estimation, guess the weight of the pumpkin, guess the smell, touch and guess (with fun objects hidden in socks), mystery boxes, and more!

We also had a mystery snack....dirt pudding.....with a mysterious worm hidden in the center of the pudding cup.

Happy Halloween!

Pumpkin Jack Freebie

Here in New York we are standing by, waiting to see what Hurricane Sandy will bring.  Will school be closed?  Will our power be out?  Only time will tell.  Being the paranoid teacher that I am, I have been busy today writing out all my plans for this week and preparing just in case there are any cancellations.  I live about an hour away from school so there is also the chance that, for what ever reason, the storm hits hard and I can't make it to school but our school is still open.  So I have been busy preparing for any and all possible scenarios.

One book that we will be reading on Monday is Pumpkin Jack by Will Hubbell.  This book is great for practicing sequencing.  I've created two little worksheets for you to swipe for free.  One is short response questions that go along with the book and the other is a cut, paste, and write sequencing sheet.

Hopefully they will be useful this week with Halloween creeping up on us!  Enjoy, and if you are on the east coast...stay safe!

A little fun to spice up a crazy week!

Thank goodness the weekend has finally arrived.  This sure has been one crazy week.  With data coming due, report cards looming over us, and parent conferences right around the corner our week has been chocked full of staff meetings, grade level development, data analysis, paperwork and more paperwork.  To top it all off, our district was sicken with a bug.  A virtual bug.  A bug so horrible it left us without internet and computers for a complete week.  We are still in the process of cleaning our network and can not print.

Despite all the "behind the scenes" craziness I was able to squeeze in a little fun with my kiddos this week.  We started out with a nature hike around our school.  We observed and recorded the different signs that fall has come.  We used our five senses and practiced writing juicy details.  After our nice walk we ended up in the pavilion at the park to write our descriptive writing master pieces, share, and then....play on the playground!  Oh what fun!

Around mid week we were forced inside due to some inclement weather....rain!  My students absolutely love indoor recess this year.  One group of lovely ladies decided to create a life size robot replica of .... can you guess who...... me!

Here is my head and my glasses.

They measured my arms and legs to make sure that all the specs for the robot were as accurate as possible.

The measured my height so they would know just how tall to make the robot.

What am I looking forward to for next week?  Using the laptops and classroom computers.  Oh how deprived we've been this past week.  It's amazing how much our lives revolve around technology.

Have a happy weekend!