We finally moved in two weeks ago, and we are still working on getting things arranged. We got a new dining room table which I am loving, and yesterday we started hanging things up.  It was so hard to put nails in those nicely painted walls! We already had our first power outage in the new house this week.  I miraculously found a book light and was able to read in front of the fireplace.  It was actually quite cozy! Living with my parents for a few months, I was spoiled by all the wonderful home-cooked meals!  Meal planning and grocery shopping are among my least favorite chores.  I did find a new gluten free pizza crust this week at Meijer, and it turned out great!  The rest of the family (who don't have to do gluten free) even thought it was delicious! I sent out my biggest group of postcards the other day.  I created a bunch of postcards for a variety of occasions to send to my students at home.  When they accomplish certain things at school, they get a postcard, such as reading 10 books, 20 books, and so on towards the 40 book challenge.  I have a clipboard where I check off which ones the students have received along with a copy of all their addresses.  I also make sure to have a bunch of postcard stamps which are a little bit cheaper than regular ones.  I've seen my students bring them to school to use as bookmarks and a parent commented to me a couple weeks ago how much her son enjoys getting them!  :) You can find my Postcards From Your Teacher Bundle that is fully editable at my TPT Store! We had some fun on our half day before Thanksgiving.  We started by reading The Popcorn Book by Tomie de Paola.  It's about the history of popcorn, including how the Native Americans brought it to the first Thanksgiving. Then we held the Popcorn Olympics!  This is a series of ten events where students compete against two others for gold, silver, and bronze medals.  Events include...the popcorn cup catch... the popcorn blow... and the popcorn stack. You can find Popcorn Olympics in my Thanksgiving Activities Bundle at my TPT Store! For those of you brave enough to head out to the malls, I hope you find some great deals! Make sure you find time to check out all the other Five for Fridays at Doodle Bugs Teaching! Posted by Stephanie Rye at 10:23:00 AM 1 comments

4 Made Its and a Giveaway!

It's time once again for one of my favorites, Monday Made It with Tara from 4th Grade Frolics! I made these brownies less than 24 hours ago, seriously?!  That's what happens when there's an 18 year old boy in the house. They are the best gluten free brownies ever!  Move over Betty Crocker, these beat your gluten free brownies by a mile, and I found them at Sam's Club for a really good price.

Well, we've made it to November and we still aren't moved in to the house!  We had the moving truck reserved and ready to go last Friday, which was perfect since I had the day off due to conferences, but to no avail.  We continue to wait for all the inspections to be complete.  My poor parents probably feel like we are never going to leave!  We stopped by the house tonight and dropped off the new toaster that was in my car, so I momentarily felt like I was moving in.  Can't wait to make brownies in my own kitchen! Bonny made it home Friday night so we could go to the Wings game together.  She had to spend a little time getting some love from Ozzie who just happens to be named after a former Red Wing goaltender, Chris Osgood. This fall I made a book conference sign up board so my students could sign up without interrupting me when I'm talking to another student.  I used to just jot them on a sticky note, but I have far too many lists on sticky notes as it is. You can make one for yourself by downloading my Editable Book Conference Board at my TPT Store for free! My last Made It is my "Wonder" Common Core Unit Student Exit Slips.  I created these to use with each lesson of the common core unit and to help prepare my students for the assessment they would be taking at the end.  They are a great way to do a quick check of the class. You can find these at my TPT Store along with my "Wonder" Common Core Unit Student Packet, Learning Target Mini Posters, and Assessment. I also have one of my favorite new products in The Pioneer Teacher's $20K Giveaway.  It's my Camp Read-A-Lot Reading Journal and 40 Book Challenge Bundle. The giveaway has three different prize packages with almost 50 prizes all together!  The giveaway is running from November 10-14.  Make sure you stop by The Pioneer Teacher to enter! Also, be sure to check out all the other Monday Made Its at 4th Grade Frolics!
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