Eleven, Elevens: Specials Behavior Management

Hello, sweet friends! This post is going to be short and sweet because graded papers and progress reports go home tomorrow and I have to grade our spelling tests. :)

Lately, my kiddos have really struggled with making good choices at specials.  Which makes me really sad, because they are a good group of kids.  They are just a wee bit implusive and need lots and lots of structure and don't always thrive in more unstructured settings. 

A sweet friend of mine shared with me a behavior management system she used in the past for specials called "Eleven, Elevens."  We've been doing doing it this week, and I've been loving the positive reports from our specials teachers! 

Basically, I tell my kiddos their behavior should be better than a ten on a zero to scale at specials, it should be an eleven! This is because they only see those teachers a few times a week.  We keep track of the 11s in our room and once we get eleven elevens, we brainstorm a small treat to celebrate...like gym day, slipper day, etc.  

They are so jazzed about this system because they are so competitive. As well as smart, because they realized that eleven great specials in a row earns them a reward! :)

I had been keeping my elevens on notecards in my classroom {not pretty}, but spent some time making some cuter ones tonight to use.  

Just click {here} to download them from Google Drive.  Please remember that I don't need to share the document, I already have by sharing them with you in the Google World. :) 

I've been really good at documenting our study on inferencing this week, I can't wait to share the fun with you this weekend! :)

Happy almost Friday! 
  

Cyber Monday + Tuesday Sale and a Freebie

Hey all! I hope you are enjoying your holiday weekend! I know I sure have!  My hubs and I adopted a new dog on Tuesday, and I've just been loving the puppy cuddles.  We got family pictures taken today by our sweet wedding photographer, and I'm so anxious to see them!

 Even though, I have LOVED the time off and am sure I won't love the alarm clock tomorrow, I am so excited because tomorrow is Cyber Monday and I can't wait to move some items from my wishlist over to my cart. :)  

Everything in my little store will be 20% off Monday and Tuesday.  TpT is taking 10% off the sale price of any item you purchase, making everything in my store 28% off. 

 Many thanks to the sweet Ashley Hughes for the adorable graphic.  That girl is so, so, so talented. :) Just click on the image above to head over to my store. 

I just uploaded my Christmas Fry Phrase Fluency Game last night.  I am so excited to use this with my kiddos. :) I know they will love playing Jingle Jangle!

  

Also, just in time...my Christmas themed graphic organizers are ready! :)

My Teachers Notebook store is also on sale, and the sale has already begun.  Everything there is 20% off too.  Although, I haven't been the best at uploading to there lately.  My apologizes, life has just been flying by lately!  Just click on the cheerleader below to head on over!

 

I also uploaded my Christmas themed roll and cover to my Teachers Pay Teachers store. :) I love having these games available for my kiddos to play during the occasional down time or with my parent helpers. :) Just click on the image below to check it out!

Sweet Michelle over at the 3AM Teacher has organized an awesome link up of the sales happening over the next few days.  I'm about to head over and link up.  :) Happy to join in the fun, but not so sure my wallet and my husband will enjoy the outcome! :)

Enjoy the rest of the weekend sweet friends, now that we are in a better routine with the two pups and I'm no longer sick, I'm looking forward to sharing more of what my fourth graders and I have been up to in classroom! :)

Beat Blue Sale!

Yes, I am participating in TpT's big Cyber Monday sale as a seller and a buyer, I can't wait! My wishlist is getting a little out of control. ;) But I wanted to share with you a special flash sale I'll be having tomorrow out of love for my Buckeyes! Hopefully it will help you out as you prepare for next week. 

If you've been around my blog for awhile, you know that I LOVE my Ohio State Buckeyes. :)  

  

Ohio State and **ch*g*n have one of the biggest and best rivalries in college sports, and I've been hyped up all week long. :)  I have not actually said **ch*g*n all week.

My dad and I have been texting **ch*g*n jokes all week long and I played my Ohio State marching band CDs in my classroom just a few times this week. ;) 

 

I would *never* do this to one of my students, but goodness I LOVE this picture!

Due to some sanctions, Ohio State won't be playing in post season games this year, so tomorrow's game is our bowl game.  I'm so proud of my Bucks and how they were able to overcome so much this year, so I'm having a special Beat Blue sale starting at 8:00 PM EST Friday and all day Saturday! :)

Click on the image above or {here} to head over to my store! :)   I'm working on a few Christmas goodies and they'll be on sale tomorrow as well. :)  

Go Bucks! **ch*g*n friends, I still LOVE you so much, it's just I really, really, really want my boys to win tomorrow! :)

Thankful For My Fellow Bloggers Linky Party

Well hello! Sorry it's been so long between my posts.  I've been battling a horrible sinus infection for the past few weeks that has totally drained my energy and my voice.  I'm finally on the up and up, and am so excited to link up with Stephanie's Thankful for Blogging Link Up!

I first discovered blogs last year when I changed grade levels unexpectedly.  I went from teaching third grade, my grade level home for my first four years of teaching, next door to one of my very best friends, Hey DD1! :), to being assigned to a new grade level/school a week before school started.

It was so hard, I mean SO HARD.  While my new grade level was great at sharing resources, they weren't always electronic and weren't always aligned with my teaching style.  The day I discovered Courtney's blog, I think I literally squealed! :)
   
Not only did she have some awesome packets aligned with Treasures, the reading series I use, she offers tons of freebies on her blog that saved me time and time again last year during my year in second grade. 

Also, a life saver during my year in second grade with her awesome math products and fantastic freebies? 

 This year I'm in a new grade level again and it's been so much easier adapting with the help of these lovely ladies. :)
 

Blogging has also opened the door for some really awesome friendships for me.  I've developed some wonderful relationships with so many wonderful bloggers who have send me sweet emails when I've been absent for awhile, have shared their newest products with me to use with my kiddos, or have just lent a listening ear for any personal/professional rants I might have. It's hard to single out my wonderful blogging buds, but these three ladies are so special to me! :)
Blogging and TpT have transformed my teaching and my classroom, and I'm just so so so thankful for all you who share their ideas and talents so freely! I know my classroom is greatly enriched because of all of you!  

I'm off to cuddle on the couch with my sweet pup and finalize my plans for tomorrow! :)  If you are already off, lucky, if not...we're so close! :)

Thanksgiving Math Centers for Bigger Kids and a Freebie

Happy Wednesday! :)  I took advantage of my day off yesterday to finish up my Thanksgiving Math Centers.  I still have a center or two I'd like to add but Thanksgiving is coming fast, and I know many of you have been waiting for Thanksgiving's Math Centers. :)

Here they are! :) 

  
Click the cheerleader to check them out on TpT.  They are on sale until tomorrow at midnight! :) 

 
We started using them today and they were so excited. :)

This pack covers a little four digit addition and subtraction (with borrowing and regrouping), two digit by one digit multiplication, partial products (9x3=6x3+3x3) and multiplication facts.  

I haven't posted a freebie in a long time, which makes me sad because I LOVE sharing freebies with you.  My pack has a few roll and cover games for multiplication.  I took two out to make a freebie for you. 

 If you would like to download, just click on the cheerleader to check it out on TpT! If you download, I'd love to hear what you think! :)

I apologize if you tried to download this earlier and it wasn't working, there have been a lot of glitches and problems on TpT today.  Finally after trying my third browser, it worked! :) 

*EDIT: I have a ticket in with TpT about the issues people are having downloading this freebie, I am able to get it to download on Safari.  Chrome and Firefox are not working. Many have told me to refresh the page if it doesn't work and then try it downloading again and it should work in Chrome and Firefox!*

I'm off to finish conference forms! :) Have a great evening, friends! 

Thankgiving Themed Graphic Organizers

While I LOVE, LOVE teaching early intermediate kiddos, one thing I miss about the primary grades is being able to spend a lot of time on themes like Thankgiving.  My second graders were always engaged in any activity that had anything to do with the holidays.  Bigger kids love activities like this too, but we have a lot less time in testing grades.  

Once again, I have created a pack of seasonal graph organizers for my kiddos to use this month.  You can check out this post and this post for more information on how I use these seasonal organizers in my classroom. 

  TpT

My little pumpkins loved using these last month and can't wait to for our public library collection to come in to use these.  Thankgiving is great hitting and reviewing main idea and detail...so I requested some more nonfiction books to use. We are also using Thanksgiving books for our short two day week before Thanksgiving, so I'm glad I have these ready early. 

We have a kid free day tomorrow, and half the day is ours, as in personal time off, so I'm *hoping* to finish up my Thanksgiving Math Centers sometime between tonight and tomorrow! 

Would you like to win a copy of my Thanksgiving Graphic Organizers to use in your classroom? :) You can! The first person to correctly guess the number of little turkeys I have in my class wins! :)  Don't forget your email with your comment! :)

They are also on sale through Wednesday night on TpT! :) Click on the cheerleader to check them out! 

Have a great night friends! We started Data Folders in my room and I can't wait to share them with you, look for a post on that later in the week. :) 

Gobble Wobble: Fluency Fun for Bigger Kids

Happy Sunday! I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend. :)  I spent most of my day yesterday working on my newest product, and I'm so excited it to share it with you and my kiddos.  Make sure you read the post to the end for chance to win your own copy! 

One of my goals for my kiddos is to improve their fluency scores. A good chunk of my class was below benchmark after testing in August.  So I've been looking for ways to sneak in extra fluency instruction and practice any way I can throughout our day.  

I'll be sharing how fluency is practiced as a center and as homework later this week, but one of my kiddos favorite ways to practice fluency is through games.  They absolutely loved my Trick or Treat Sight Word Game. So I took that and ran with it for a November game for my kids, this time I used fry phrases for the 3rd, 4th, and 5th One Hundred Fry Words. 

The game follows the same rules as Trick or Treat, a kiddo picks up a fry phrase card and if they can read it, they get to keep it.  If they can't they put the card back and their turn is over.  However, if they pick a Gobble Gobble or Wobble Wobble card they have a chance to either gain more cards OR loose some or ALL of their cards.  My kids LOVE getting those cards.  The winner is whoever has the most cards when time is up.

I play a few rounds as a class to introduce the new game and then I make it available as a station for my kiddos during our RTI intervention time (a ten to fifteen minute part of our day where some kiddos are pulled for interventions and we can't do any type of brand new instruction).  Games like Trick or Treat or Gobble Wobble are so popular, that I have to make two. :)  I also have small groups play it with my parent helpers as well.  

I can't wait to pick up a seasonal container at Target today and have this game ready for my kiddos tomorrow.  I know they will be so, so, so excited. :) 

I have uploaded Gobble Wobble to my Teachers Pay Teachers store. 

It's on sale until Monday night.  Click on the little cheerleader below to check it out! 

Many have asked if I have made Thanksgiving Themed Graphic Organizers like my Halloween themed ones.  I sure have. :)  I'll blog more about them later, but they are up. :) I got my Thanksgiving books out the other day and my kids were so excited!

Click on the cheerleader to check them out! :) 

  
As a reward for following along with this post, I'll be giving away a copy of Gobble Wobble to a lucky follower! Whoever can guess my Thanksgiving side dish wins their very own copy! Good luck!