November Freebie!

Halloween is tomorrow, which means that I already thinking about Thanksgiving. I love this time of the year with all of the festivities! 
There is one special surprise that I have for you today! If you leave feedback on any of my paid products between November 1, 2015 and November 3, 2015 you will receive a November freebie from my store! My Thanksgiving Dinner Decimal Center  is the newest product in my store and I am super excited for you to try it! 

This product includes 12 task cards for decimal operations including addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. Six of the task cards included in this product are standard algorithm, while six are word problems. This product could be used in small groups, as a classroom center or a classroom scoot. Also included in this product is the answer key and recording sheet for student use.  Grab this freebie while you can! 

Figurative Language

Halloween week is one of my favorite times of the year! I'm always a little sad to see it go, but I know that Thanksgiving and Christmas are soon to follow. Here in 5th grade we are trying to get as much spooky in as we can before October 31st comes and goes. 
In reading we are beginning our unit on figurative language which meets the 5th grade standard for literature in craft and structure R.L.5.4 determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative language such as metaphors and similes. I begin with figurative language in general, most of the time my kids have a pretty good understanding of what is literal and what is figurative so I've finally found a text that challenges them enough!

 "The Highway Man" by Alfred Noyes is a spooky poem that really sets the Halloween mood, and it keeps my students interested. Although this poem has some mature content in its second part, I find that the first part catches students interest and challenges them. 

I begin with modeling for my students how to identify figurative language while reading, I don't specifically focus on any type of figurative language, I am just trying to get my kiddos to pick out what is literal what what is figurative. Then, I model how I form my own interpretation of the figurative language. We spend ALOT of time talking about interpretations and what that means. 

The best part of this lesson is getting to listen to how students interpret the figurative language and to see if they can summarize the story! I also hit on the following standards while working with this text, although it is not my focus. 

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.5
Explain how a series of chapters, scenes, or stanzas fits together to provide the overall structure of a particular story, drama, or poem.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.10
By the end of the year, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poetry, at the high end of the grades 4-5 text complexity band independently and proficiently.

If you are interested in using this activity in your own classroom, you can find it at my TPT store for only $1.00! That is a great deal if you ask me. I hope you enjoy your Halloween week and get into some spooky stories! 

October Freebie

I feel like I start off every post about how crazy my week was so I guess that means all of my weeks are crazy. This was our first week back from fall break and it was a wild one. October is one of my favorite months, insert basic white girl talk about pumpkin spice everything and fall weather, so once we came back from fall break it was October explosion in my classroom. 
We began comparing and ordering decimals this week and number lines are a must! I had some of these candy corn decimal cards that I'm not sure where they came from and I had a wonderful idea. Why not use those cards for students to make number line with. 

They. Loved. It. The weather was wonderful so my fellow 5th grade teacher and I took the whole 5th grade out side to compare and order decimals. First, we started with groups of five and then continued until we had our whole class in order from least to greatest. The kids were so engaged and it was so interesting to see what strategies they had for organizing everyone. 

So, what I have for you is a Candy Corn Craze Freebie. There are 14 candy corn card with decimals on them that you can use for a whole class number line, comparing war center game or many other activities. Also, there is a exit clip with comparing decimals including the answer key. I hope that you enjoy and please leave feedback. 

I hope this freebie can help bring some October into your classroom and help your kiddos with ordering decimals! Happy Fall Ya'll! 

October Currently

It's my favorite month and my favorite linky! I love to link up with Farley from Oh Boy 4th Grade to read about what everyone else is up to! Even though I'm four days late I still couldn't resist linking up  for this October currently. 

My sweet dog, Ruger, has been playing outside all day at my mom's house with the other dogs. Let me say he is worn out laying on the couch beside me snoring away. 

This is a great Sunday night for me since I am on Fall Break all next week. The weather here in Kentucky is starting to cool down and I'm looking forward to spending some time with my mom and getting my house ready for Halloween. 

October is my favorite month because of Fall Break the cool weather, Halloween and the color of the leaves. I'm not sure why, but Halloween is one of my favorite holidays and October just makes me happy. 

Potato soup is my favorite soup ever and since its officially fall 

I am really needing some potato soup in my life. 

I need to finish up some laundry, but isn't that what Fall Break is for? I'd rather spend some time cuddled up with my dog and husband on the couch watching football instead. The laundry will be there tomorrow. 

Painting my nails always makes me feel more beautiful and put together. Last night I put one of my favorite colors, Pat on the Black. 

I can't wait to see what everyone else is up to on the start of October. 

Peek at My Week

Let me just start off by saying that my life has been crazy for the past two weeks. My husband and I went on a quick weekend trip to Gatlinburg last weekend and I haven't caught up since! I figured that I could quickly give you a Peek at My Week and do my first ever link up with Mrs. Will's from Mrs. Will's Kindergarten. 

I have been out of my room at least once a week for the past two week and this week makes week three! Its so hard getting back into the grove with my kiddos when I know I'm going to have to leave again. 

This week is repetitive since we are working on two Project Based Learning experiences. If you haven't tried this in your room, you need to, like now. We began the year with a plant based PBL where the kids are now working on their student deliverable which is presenting to the 1st grade class what plants would be best for their garden this year. Through helping the 1st graders at our school my kids learned a lot about how plans grow and exactly what plants NEED to grow (air and water). 
We are also beginning this week to work on a PBL in social studies that is based on Native Americans and how we as 5th graders can help them overcome the obstacles they have in life due to their past. Since PBL is so student driven, its hard to make weekly plans because I'm not sure where the students are going to lead me each day. Yes, I know what I want to teach them so I try to lead them where I want them to go but some days they get so caught up in their own learning that we have to move away from the plan. Which is why my S.S. plans look to be the same every day. 
What do you have going on this week? 

Giveaway!

I hope everyone is having an amazing Labor Day Weekend, I know I am! To end this long weekend with a bang I have joined Heather from Recipe for Teaching  for a giveaway. She is celebrating a huge milestone on her blog and I was more than willing to help out.
She is giving away a $25 gift card to TPT, along with a gift card to Educlips and a primary product pack as well as a intermediate product pack. 
Be sure to head over to Heather's blog to enter this amazing giveaway. It opens today and runs through this week! 
Don't forget to enjoy the last day of this long weekend. 

September Currently

Hello September! I'm linking  up today with Farley from Oh Boy Fourth Grade for September Currently. I am so excited for September, some of my close friends are getting married, I'm going to Gatlinburg, TN for a mini-vacation and on the 27th I will be married one year!! It's a very busy month for me! 

I am currently listening to my Americas Got Talent on the T.V. in the living room. It's not my favorite show but my husband likes it so I watch it with him from time to time. There is a pretty cool mindreader on there right now! 
I am LOVING Donors Choose. How many of you have used this before? Let me say, when I first heard about it I was quite the skeptic, but I went for it and got my first project for a iPad Mini funded before school was out last year. They have this summer break rule where they won't send anything if you have less than 20 days in the school year, which was my case last year. So about a week after school started this year we got our iPad, which we LOVE. Immediately I had to go back for more and I've gotten two Chromebooks funded since school started on August 5th. If you haven't tried this, you MUST give it a go. 
Even though we've been in school almost a full month, I am still teacher tired. Getting back into the routine of things has really kicked my butt! Hopefully this three day weekend coming up and my mini-vaction will help me get rested! 
I. Love. Fall. I love EVERYTHING about fall, hoodies, cooler weather, chili, football and pumpkin everything. Even though it still 90 degrees here in Kentucky I am ready for everything fall and pumpkin. Bring on the pumpkin cookies, scones, lattes, cakes and whatever else can be pumpkin. 
I need it to be Saturday. Not only because this is a three day weekend for me because of Labor Day, but because I am getting a haircut and I cannot remember the last time I got this mop cut. Its in need of some serious trimming! 
Finally, three goals. My final grad class started Monday and it seems to be a busy one so I want to stay on top of this class. The hardest part for me is keeping track of my clinical hours and making sure that I am recording those, so my goal is to stay on top of getting those on paper! Sometimes it is so hard to stay positive while teaching, going to school and dealing with the daily crazy of every day so this year I want to stay positive! Finally, with everything I've got going on, just like everyone else, I want to slow down and appreciate the better things in life. 
What have you been up to? I can't wait to hear.