Anatomy of a Groundhog and Tagged Questions

We started learning about groundhogs today and graphed our weather predictions for tonight. I remembered to take a pic of the anatomy anchor chart but of course forgot the pic of the graph. 

And I've been tagged by Amy at the The Resource Room, Barbara at Happy Teaching First, and Sarah at Fun in Title Math

Since some of the questions were the same and I figured y'all didn't read all 36 of my answers, I decided to do a mash up of the fabulous questions :)

1. What is your favorite TV show? I have three: Glee, Pretty Little Liars, and Gossip Girl. Although recently I've become addicted to Revenge. If Daniel Greyson really dies at the engagement party, I'll stop watching. Isn't he gorgeous?? 

2. What is your favorite book? Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen and Seventeenth Summer by Maureen Daly

3. How much time do you spend on your hair in the morning? I just love this question! :) I do my hair at 6:15 every morning, so I could spend 3 hours on it and it still isn't going to do well that early in the morning. That's one of my least favorite thing about teaching. My hair does horrible when I fix it in the morning. I guess I spend about an hour on it all together: washing, combing out, products, drying, curling.

4. What's your favorite memory from high school? That would have to be cheering. If I could go back to high school to do one thing again, it would be cheering. I miss that so much. 

5. How long have you been teaching? This is my 3rd year :)

6. What is your favorite color? Pink...bet you were surprised by that, right? :)

7. Name the one blog you frequent often: Teaching blog: The First Grade Parade Fashion/Lifestyle Blog: Confessions of a Twenty Something

8. What is your favorite movie? Legally Blonde

9. What is your classroom theme? I don't really have a theme, I just decorate with a lot of bright colors. I get bored very quickly so I like being able to create different things and just using bright colors as opposed to a theme makes this easier.

10. How do you group your students seating? I change where my kids sit A LOT. I would get so bored sitting in the same spot everyday so I know my kids do too. Sometimes we sit in a U shape, sometimes in  two long rows, and sometimes (like now) in pods of four. Usually just whatever works best at the moment!

11. How long do you stay after work? Not too long. I'm usually home around 3:45 or 4:00. By the end of the day, I'm completely spent and cannot think about much. It's usually pointless to stay and try and work because I'm so tired from the day. I come home, take a bath and concentrate on something non-school for awhile and then feel ready to create school things again. I do the majority of my planning and creating on the weekends (exciting, I know). If I didn't have the weekends to plan, my entire week would be off.

12. Are you married? Nope! I'm single and happily enjoying my carefree twenties. Although if a John Kennedy Jr. came along, I wouldn't complain. :) :) :)

13. What do you do to relax and de stress? Take a bath, do my nails, look at InStyle, and watch Gossip Girl. 

14. How did you discover the world of blogging? I have a sweet teacher friend to thank for that! She told me about First Grader...At Last! and after that, I was hooked! A few months later, I discovered fashion blogs, and I cannot tell you how much I've learned through those!

15. How long have you been blogging? Since August of last year (2010)

Thanks for tagging me, girls! I love to answer questions like these and love reading everyone else's!

Don't forgot! My Groundhog's Day unit and Valentine's Day unit are on sale. Go to my store to check them out!

Groundhog Day and Valentine's Day Sale!

My groundhog day and valentine's day units are on sale now 'til Friday for 15% off! Check them out here :) Happy 1st day of February!

A Babbling Abby Inspired Lesson

When I read the fabulous Babbling Abby's post about her making inferences lessons, I knew I had to do it in my classroom. It combines two of my favorite things: handbags and teaching! How can you go wrong? :) Check out her amazing lesson here. The lesson originates from a book called Comprehension Connections and it has many other fantastic ideas to use in the classroom.

The Bag:

Here's the chart we created, which was again, completely copied from inspired by Miss Abby. 

I feel that making inferences and drawing conclusions go hand in hand so this lesson was the PERFECT intro to our skill this week, which was drawing conclusions. After we did the lesson, we completed a  sheet where the kids had to use all the clues from my bag to draw a conclusion about what kind of person I am. Their responses were really cute:

Thanks again for a wonderful lesson idea Abby! :)

Groundhog Day!

Have y'all ever read this book? It's the best book to read on Groundhog's Day. There's a ton of information presented in a funny way that engages kids. There's so many possibilities for activities! I love it :) I've created a packet for Groundhog's Day based around this book, but even if you don't have the book, you can still use the activities. Check it out here:

Included in the packet is the pattern for Professor Groundhog:

Isn't he cute? :) My kids are so excited about Groundhog Day and I have to say, I kinda am too! 

***First three to comment get a free copy of this packet!

Junie B. Jones and the Mushy Gushy Valentine Literary Companion

Junie B. Jones and the Mushy Gushy Valentine might just be my favorite book in the series. I think it's such a cute and sweet story. My kids always love it too. I created a literary companion to go along with this adorable book Click the pic or here to get it!

**First three to comment win a free copy!! Just be sure and leave your email address :) 

Last Week in Pictures

Here's a look at what we did last week in pictures! 

Our reading story was Jan's New Home, so during social studies, we talked a lot about the differences and similarities between the country and the city. We made a venn diagram to compare and contrast these two places and then each student picked which they liked better and we did a little writing activity.

We discussed what the theme was and then identified the theme in Jan's New Home

While we were reading the story, we realized that the author never said why Jan and her family were moving, so we brainstormed possible reasons why they could be moving. 

Friday after tests we read The Country Mouse and the City Mouse, which went along perfectly with our reading and social studies lessons

We made Chinese dragons in honor of Chinese New Years

Is it too early to break out valentine's centers?? Maybe, but my kids and I were ready! They are loving these centers. 

Hope everyone has had a great weekend! :)

Valentine's Day Fry Phrases...TPT!

Just uploaded Valentine's Day fry phrase flash cards. Click the pic to get them!