Children are humans, just like adults are. They deserve to be viewed and treated as such.

This HAS to be the ‘joke’ pressie for Christmas for my loved ones lol

Pinky is 5 years, Chaos is 3 years, Wild One is 17 months, and Sprout is 1 month Counting and Numbers We read two great books about numbers this week. The first, aimed more at the younger kids, was 1,2,3 to the Zoo by Eric Carle. It's a simple animal counting story, but, as with all Eric Carle books, is beautifully illustrated. The second book we read was a new one to me, but has quickly become one of my favorites - Numbers, Counting in the Natural World. Filled with beautiful nature pictures, this book counts to twelve and discusses sequence, comparison (lot, little, none; smallest to largest, etc), greater than and less than, evens and odds, addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. I have the feeling we will be reading this book a lot! Math Activities: Pinky has decided that she really wants to learn to count to 100 before she starts Kindergarten. She knows the basic pattern but forgets the 10 place holders. I printed out a number chart from 1-100 for her to count with. I highlighted the 10 units and she practiced skip counting another love of hers) to help reinforce her memorization. You can find the number chart here at apples4theteacher and the skip counting charts here at Homeschool Creations. Chaos and I made sticker math charts together. He's gotten very good at counting, and I was surprised at how interested he was in completing the charts with me. The idea for this activity came from this post at Ramblings of a Crazy Woman. Magnets: We had a lot of fun exploring magnets and their properties this week. We started by exploring our new magnet sensory box. Next we tried an activity I read about on the Prekinders blog. Using a ruler, we placed a magnet marble at one end and slowly pushed our magnet wands toward it. We took guesses as to how far the marble would "jump" to the wand. We then experimented with different strength magnets to see which could make the marble jump the furthest. Our magnets - magnet wand, refrigerator magnet, a MagnaDoodle magnet and our magnetic cabinet lock "key" Our next activity (inspired by this post at Tinker Lab) was to see if the magnets would work through glass and water. We submerged a marble magnet and tried to retrieve it using our different magnets. Both the wand and the cabinet lock key were able to move the magnets. This was definitely the favorite activity for the kids. They loved "rescuing" the magnets over and over again. We also read two books about magnets: Magnet Power and What Makes a Magnet? We tried a few of the activities in each of these books which included magnetizing a needle, discovering North and South poles, making our own compass, and discovering that the refrigerator seal is magnetic (this was news to me too!). Finally, we decided to do some magnet painting!! This is such a fun project to do. We filled 4 small bowls with Crayola fingerpaint and added a magnet marble to each one. We put paper in the bottom of a shoe box and dropped in the magnet(s) of our choice. By moving the magnet wand on the underside of the box we were able to paint our pictures. Reading: Pinky continues to read the Bob books. I've noticed she has some trouble distinguishing the lowercase b, d, p and q. Using an idea I found here at Turning Ordinary into Extraordinary, I made a letter matching game for her to practice matching uppercase and lowercase letters. And since I had even more plastic eggs, I also made a few word family eggs to play with. The idea came from this post on Living and Learning Now. Other Reading Activities: This week we were also lucky enough to host Pete the Pigeon - a friend from Pinky's preschool class. He takes turns visiting each student during the school year. This was our second visit with Pete the Pigeon. The first time he visited he brought along Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus for us to read. This time he brought Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog. Pinky and Chaos both find the Pigeon stories hilarious. At the end of Pete's visit, we record what we did with him in the classroom journal and Pinky is able to share her story with her classmates. It is so much fun to read all the stories! This week Pigeon Pete joined Abby at dance class, Spanish class and was even able to attend Sunday School and sing in church! I think he had a good time. Also this week, Wild One had fun with her first sensory box - The Texture Box. She liked to cuddle the softer fabrics and had a fun game of emptying and refilling the bin over and over again. Finally, Pinky showed her how to use the squares as small blankets for her Little People. Speaking of Little People, Wild One had the best time playing with the Little People school bus this week. She would open and close all the doors, pull out the stop sign, and push it all around the house. She even let her baby dolls take a few rides. Sprout continues to grow bigger every day. I am amazed that she is a month old already. We spent a lot of time cuddling this week and spent some time on exploring her playmat (she has just started noticing the toys hanging from it). She surprised us all by rolling over from her belly to her back this week too! Here's one of my favorite pictures from this week. Sprout was crying so Wild One gave her back her pacifier and was stroking her cheek. So sweet! Linking up to:

When I found this image I was stunned really, it was kind of shocking how much the woman I saw on the metro was channelling this peppy rainbow-adorned little sprite. Ok, this particular woman wasn't exactly spritely, but she was pretty spot-on with the outfit, except it was pants and the boots might have been a tad more in the style of "moon" boots circa 1980. And she wasn't actually emitting rainbow stars. But the funny thing about someone so colorful in a sea of cranky black- and gray-jacketed commuters is that she managed to give off an aura of rainbow stars. Enough that it made me smile, and I'm pretty sure it was the cause of the smiles of at least a few others seated around me. I couldn't help equate it to the adult version of Princess #2's desire to layer flowered leggings with a sparkly skirt and pair that with a contrasting-color shirt covered in butterflies. And then add a sweatshirt or sweater with more sparkles and flowers or polka dots; paired with some striped socks and a scarf and light up shoes; and topped off with a ponytail and five barrettes; and a headband. It's more about being pretty because each individual item is pretty and so the rainbow sum total makes it more pretty. (I am not one to argue with the fashion logic of a 5 yo. -- or a 3 yo or 7 yo for that matter.) Unfortunately the adult real-life version isn't quite as charming, and is definitely a questionable choice for business attire. But maybe her job was at a daycare or hosting kids parties or cheering up sick little ones in the hospital? Whatever her destination, I'm certain she continued to spark smiles all along the way. XOXO - Not quite a double rainbow, but still awesome

Happy Friday! A friend shared this with me on Facebook and it made me laugh. I have a few favorites to share with you today along with a giveaway for my favorite seasoning rubs of all time. Let’s get started. The weather. The weather, the weather, the weather. It’s INCREDIBLE in Charlotte this week. This […]

From the introduction by Andy Nyman: When I came across Basil's first book I couldn't believe it. Here was mentalism that fitted everything I had been searching for. It was clean, simple in plot and direct. In fact the more I read the more I was astonished and frustrated by the simplicity of Basil's thinking; 'Of course! Why didn't I think of that?' was a response I had about every five pages. I feel particularly indebted to Basil as I have partly built my reputation on one of his routines (if you think I'm telling you which one, think again). I recently had the pleasure of meeting Basil. What struck me more than anything is the enthusiasm with which he performs everything. His style is the antithesis of mine. Where I am brash he is subtle. Where I am loud he is the essence of silent power. He disarms with his childlike twinkle and cheeky sense of humour. All in all what Basil seems to embody is a rare thing; believability. His thinking is a lesson in disguising simple and devious techniques, therefore sending the spectator to the only conclusion they can possibly reach: that he is reading their mind. ... Illustrated by David Britland, edited by Martin Breese and introduction by Andy Nyman. There are five volumes in this series: Volume 1 Volume 2 Volume 3 Volume 4 Volume 5 Volume 6 1st edition 2004, digital 2010; PDF 40 pages. Table of Contents Contents Introduction by Andy Nyman Challenge Subconscious Pick-pocketing Challenge Body Language Zodiac Test Challenge Body Language Card and Design Test Challenge Diary Body Language Test ESP Incredible Memory Test Body Language Challenge Poker Test Body Language, Voice and Memory Special Bonus Routine - Body Language Challenge word count: 12885 which is equivalent to 51 standard pages of text

I love reading and want my students to become independent readers. One of the biggest things I push in my classroom is having reactions to text. We talk a lot about listening to our inner reading voice when it says things like "Yuck, Wow, Weird, or All Right!" Literature circles is a great way to do read and response when it is left up to the students. I started introducing the concept of a literature circle right after Christmas. At this time we were deep into our reading tracks and understanding the different types of responses. This made it easy because when I introduce the jobs the students were already familiar with the strategy. For example, our visualizations are similar to the artist. Our discussion director facilitates questions. You get the idea, right? Well here is how we do literature circles in my room. They are so much fun. It starts on Monday. I do a quick book talk on the selections for the week. There are three choices. Each group has six kids in it. I have added a new student recently but it hasn't been a problem yet so there are times that a group will have seven kids in it. I display the books throughout the morning and the kids can look over them during our Daily 5 time. This helps them choose a just right book or one that interests them. I do not emphasize levels during literature circles because we have done minilessons addressing how to find a group member to help you read when a book becomes challenging. Now that the kids are familiar with the books we take some time to choose a book AND job. I let them have complete control over it. This is how I do it. I have clothespins with the kids names on them. After lunch the clothespins are passed out. I call the kids by tables and let them choose a book and job. The jobs are Connector, Performer, Discussion Director, Artist, Word Finder, and Storyteller. The kids clip their clothespin on the job they want with the appropriate book. The different colors help distinguish groups. I printed the job titles on address labels and left the large label in the middle blank. Every week I write the new title using an Expo marker. The numbers beside each job title help me to organize which child has which book. This way I can easily pin point at the end of the week who still needs to return their books. It's simple - I just put a post it note on the inside cover of the book with the number one and I make sure whoever is the connector for that group gets book one. You can see here that I have two students that will be the performer. A neat thing that I didn't count on was the students organizing themselves within the group based on their book number. They are great at taking turns just going off of the numbers of their books. I usually give the students all day on Tuesday to read over their books. They also get most of Wednesday to read over their books. On Wednesday afternoon I allow them to begin their job paper. I make them wait to ensure that they do read the book. I store the job papers in the pocket chart below. I got this from Office Max. I found the job papers on ProTeacher a long time ago, but I was sad to see they are not there now. I do know that you can do a google search and find some pretty basic ones. This chart is great because it has a magnet or you can use 3M hooks to hang it. Mine hangs on my air conditioner. The students take the remainder of Wednesday and Thursday to finish their jobs. I have provided a notebook full of job papers that we completed as examples for references. It's helpful because students are likely to serve a different role from week to week so it's useful to have this notebook as a refresher. On Friday we get to share about the books. I don't get too involved other than to police to be sure that we are not spending too long on one person's role. The students are good about paying attention to one another. They also enjoy a break from some of the other parts of our day to just have a 'grown up' conversation about a book they selected on their own. Here are a few action shots of our most recent literature circle. Asking and answering questions. Retelling the story to a very attentive group. Making connections - it appears it was something funny. Acting like a bird that is doing some good thinking. More performances but this group had a book about cowboys. So, please share with me some of your ideas for literature circles! I'm very interested to see how other second grade classes run them. This is my second year of trying them and I feel like they are far improved but have a long way to go to be what they could be.

Does evolution really explain our origins, or is it simply a well-told story?

Hello! Just a short post today as at this moment I should be (better be) on a mini vacation with my family. The other day I was looking up Vistaprint ideas over at Teaching in Room 6, and I came across her sticky labels that she puts onto a student's final draft for their grade. I'm sure that you can relate how you get into a rhythm with grading writing - you know what their rubric score is and you just want to record it to move on with life. (I'm just saying what we all think...) So because I have 6,000 labels available to me to use this year (my Office Max deal), I decided to create a rubric with reasons as to what they are missing. Hopefully this will save me some time so I don't have to write the same comments over and over on their papers. Here is what's on the label, I'm sure you could easily change it up if you need to. The font is LD Elementary. ----------------------------- Overall Score: 1 2 3 4 *Topic isn't clear *Needs more details *Conventions (Capitals, Punctuation, Indents) ----------------------- Here is the document, hope it helps! Need some resources to for writing? Check out these Best Sellers! Whole Class Writing Journal Bundle Rainbow Edit

Made with Love (& Chickpeas), Gluten Free, Source of Fibre, Suitable for Vegans, Kosher - KLBD

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Chapter 1 My mother gave me the same name as a famous black man of the nineteen hundreds, Booker T. Washington. This story tells how the name has affected my life; as a child, as a teen, and as an adult. At the age of six, my teacher took me aside and told me that Booker T. was a famous black man who founded Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. I didn't think much about it at the time but as I grew older more and more people began to comment like my teacher had done. I asked my mother why she named me after this famous guy. I told her that I would rather have a name that did not draw so much attention, like my two brothers who were named Billy and Ellis. She told me that she thought I would like the name. We never talked about it again. I was named after my uncle Booker T. Washington, who was named after the famous Booker T. Washington who founded Tuskegee Institute in 1881 and is located in Tuskegee Alabama. My uncle was invited to, and attended a banquet with Booker T. Washington, in Frankfort, Kentucky when he was nine years old. According to my family, my family is not related to him. Let us not forget that he was one of the most famous black Americans of his time. My mom told me that she named me Booker, and that will always be your name. I never talked to her about my name again.

Back to School: 15 Classroom Accessories for Geeks

Free and Funny Confession Ecard: I've decided to become a stay at home mom. After my kids go off to college. Create and send your own custom Confession ecard.