Tried it Tuesday

This is my first time linking up for Tried it Tuesday even though I have been checking it out for a while.

Something I have tried this week is Goodreads.

I have known about it for quite some time but never took the time to go and do it. I just set up an account and added a bunch of middle grade books that I could think of as well as a few personal reads. I also added one of my teacher friends and browsed through her books to see some more that I had not thought of. I primarily was doing it with the iPad app. I searched some titles by name and others by author (if I knew I had read a few by them). I also used the scan option to add some from my summer reading pile.

I probably need to search around for some more teacher friends to get some other good suggestions but at least I started.


This past year I had my students using Biblionasium which I thought was great.

You create a class and add your students (with lexile levels if you want). At first I created two classes for my morning and afternoon. Once I got into it a bit I decided I would rather have one big group so they could interact with each other and so I didn't have to add everything twice.

Once in they can select their avatar and add their own books. They can rate books and recommend them to classmates. They can enter the books on a reading log and get "awards" for various things like different genres and number of books read. Students can also see each others shelves to get ideas without specific recommendations. I did add myself as a student as well as a teacher so I could set up a student shelf with the books I was reading.

As a teacher I could add required and/or suggested books to a class shelf for students to reference and add. I could also track all sorts of things like logs, awards, book levels, etc. I could also create specific challenges for the class, groups, and/or individuals.

I would highly suggest checking it out.

Made It Monday

I'm so excited to be off for the summer and have time to indulge in little projects. This one has been hanging over my head for FOREVER. I actually bought most of the supplies last summer and then my husband burst my bubble by telling me that circle are way hard to cut. I had him ask one of his coworkers that makes furniture and that didn't work out. I also put out a plea to the parents at open house and in an email - nothing. I finally had to think about a work-around. Here it is...

I bought cake circle (which happened to be the perfect size) and glued two together with the corrugation perpendicular in case that make it more sturdy. 

Then I traced them on the foam I bought at JoAnn fabric and cut them out.

oops, I guess I ended up with toes and a dog in this one

I cut the fabric into 6 equal pieces (which unfortunately was a little tighter than I would have liked on two sides). I used spray glue to attach the foam on one side and the fabric on the back. I originally was going to staple it but this seemed okay.

Next I I had to sand the plastic lids a bit to roughen them up so I could use some heavy duty glue to hook the cushions to the lids. I decided to use a paint brush so I could spread the glue a little since it is so thick. I went through two of the E 6000 tubes to make 6 stools.

Here is the final project. I have to say I'm so relieved to finally have this one done. Although I may actually add some ribbon but I haven't decided for sure. I just hope they hold up. I guess only time will tell.

I know I got the idea from somewhere but I didn't have any pictures pinned so I searched one out this evening. That's what made me think about ribbon.

I'm looking forward to another summer of crafting projects inspired by...

Thanks Tara.

June Currently

It's been a while since I've joined in the "Currently" fun (or really done any blogging for that matter). So here's to getting back with it. I'm joining Farley for the monthly tradition.

 

 

Listening: We could really use the rain around here so I'm not complaining

Loving: Teachers finished up on Tuesday although I had to go in on Wednesday to do some final packing up of my room. Our school is changing who hosts our websites and I trained everyone so they kept coming and asking me questions while they tried to get things posted before the summer. Once everyone was gone I knocked the rest of it out pretty quickly.

Thinking: I last presented this training in November so I just need to make sure I review what I'm covering so it has a good flow :-)

Wanting: I bought the material for a stool project last summer and never got it done. I making myself finish it before I can do any other fun ideas.

Needing: I am so excited that my father's side of the family is having a reunion this summer up in Connecticut. I think it has been about 15 years since the last one. My dad is one of 8 and everyone is spread from one side of the country to the other. It's not so easy to get the crowd together. We will also be having a belated 90th birthday celebration for my grandfather.

3 vacay essentials: I love to take pictures on vacation and I'm never satisfied with the ones from my phone. I am totally addicted to my iPad and I barely go anywhere without it. My older Kindle is a must have on summer vacations because the ipad is usually unreadable in the bright sunlight.

Well, I have to say it feels good to get something posted again. Now I have to finish my project so I can post about it tomorrow!

Fourth Grade Common Core Resources revisited

Fourth Grade Common Core Resources

So I had a chance to check out the Fourth Grade Common Core Workbook that I found out about yesterday when they sent it to through the giveaway. It is GREAT! It has the feel of a bunch of well done TpT lessons bundled in one collection. It is all organized by standard. In the English section there are mini posters, activities, organizers, and passages for each of the standards. They even used adorable clipart. I'm telling you this is good stuff. For the math it also has just what you need. It would definitely be worth the asking price but if you are fourth grade blogger I would absolutely participate in the giveaway before it expires on Sunday.

You should certainly check out the fabulous Fourth Grade Common Core Resources.

Fourth Grade Common Core Resources

It has been a continual struggle this year starting implementation of common core. Many of the resources we had in our classrooms have not lined up and our county and state could really use some work. Thank goodness that 44 other states are going through it too so many things are available for those ready to put in the search time. Of course it is nice when well prepared materials are found without a huge amount of time. I'm hoping the Fourth Grade Common Core Resources may be just the thing.

The write up states "This Fourth Grade Common Core Workbook is the largest collection of resources for teaching the Common Core State Standards. This workbook includes over 850 pages of Worksheets, Activity Centers, and Posters that teach all the Fourth Grade English Language Arts Common Core Standards and all the Fourth Grade Mathematics Common Core Standards!"

That sounds good to me.

If you would like to check it out free for limited time click here. Thanks to I love My Classroom for the tip.

Reading Roundup

It's always nice to reflect about the books in my big stack. Must of the kid books are an actual stack but the professional books mostly collect on my Kindle until I make time to read them. I actually expected to get more reading done over vacation but I did get in a couple of good one :-)

If you would like to join in click here.

Professional book

I have a huge backlog of books but I think next note list is going to be Conferring: the Keystone to Reader's Workshop. I really need to work on my conferring skills. I feel like I say the same thing when I talk to students and I need to make it more meaningful.

Personal book

I always enjoy a good Nicholas Sparks book. Of course my husband always says ones that make me cry that hard can't be enjoyable. I'm a few behind and I would like to read, Safe Haven, since it will be coming out as a movie in February. It was on sale for the Kindle for only $3.99.

Book to teach a skill

A book I just ordered that should arrive tomorrow is "Did It All Start with a Snowball Fight?: And Other Questions About The American Revolution." It isn't really a skill but a content area. In reading we are about to start reading some historical fiction novels that go along with American Revolution. I don't teach social studies but we are trying really hard this year to tie our reading in more closely with out content area. It sounded inline the question answer format would be entertaining for the kids.

I look forward to seeing what some others are sharing.

Currently January from Jamaica

It's that time again - Farley's currently craze. Go check out the links and see what everyone is up to.

My sweet hubby and I are relaxing at Sandals in Ocho Rios right now. It is such a fabulous place. I really wish we didn't have to leave I a few days to head back to reality.

Most of these are pretty self explanatory.

I did want to clarify my OLW. My live is very fulfilling so that isn't what I mean. I don't always have the best follow through. My word was going to be completion since that's what I really need to work on. I popped it in the thesaurus on my iPad and it came up with a bunch of more interesting choices. I was torn between fulfillment and fruition - fulfillment won :-)

Have very wonderful new year!

 

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