Tried It Tuesday (Donors Choose)

Yay for the second week of Tried It Tuesday!! I was so THRILLED by all the awesome ideas that were  linked up last Tuesday by amazing teachers!  It just made my heart so happy:)   Thank you SO much for your support and I hope everyone reading the posts gained some valuable tips and new ideas that they hadn't heard of before.   Isn't the collaboration of fellow teachers an amazing feeling?!?

<center> <a href="http://fourthgradeflipper.blogspot.com/"><img src=" http://i593.photobucket.com/albums/tt15/04fallingstar/3AM%20Blog%20Design/3am_triedittuesday_3_zpsd7a240d4.png" width=225 height=225 border="0" alt="Photobucket" /></a></center> What is 'Tried It Tuesday'? 1.  Write a post about any"thing" you have...TRIED (new or old)! 2.  Describe what worked and maybe what didn't work. 3.  Keep it simple and focus on one general topic.  You can link another idea next week:) 4.  Link your post back to this post.

"Tried It" Ideas....

• instructional strategy
• teaching product/resource
• management strategy
• technology tool
• recipe at home
• personal interest/hobby
• website 
• ANYTHING GOES!

I thought this linky would go well with my "Flipper" theme since teaching (well, life!) is all about trying out "things" all the time...borrowing and tweaking them to your style. 

Sometimes it works out and other times it doesn't! 

Posts about things we "tried" in our personal lives are fun to read about too!

My Tried It Tuesday: Donors Choose.

I know most teachers have heard of this site but, in case you haven't, Donors Choose is an online charity that makes it easy for the general public to help classrooms in need of supplies and resources.  American public school teachers post classroom project requests on the site and people donate to the project.   When the cost of the project has been paid for, teachers receive the supplies! Check out their story from the beginning in 2000.  It is really inspirational.

After reading about Donors Choose last summer in the blogging world, I decided to submit a project.  I really needed a better way to organize all the center materials I was accumulating for Daily 5.  I bought a hanging pocket chart that held 10 file folders but it wasn't great for holding task cards.  I found this cart on Lakeshore Learning but it was $99!  

Sadly, I cannot find this product on Lakeshore's website anymore but the link will take you to a similar product.

I love this cart because it has 8 drawers and is SO sturdy.  The students can remove the drawers easily and put them right back on the track.  The legs have wheels on them that can be locked in place too!  

When I filled out the request for this storage cart, a pocket folder for vocabulary strips, and a water cycle interactive SMART board activity, I thought that it probably wouldn't get funded (even though 70% of the projects are funded, I thought mine would be in the 30%!).  I am so glad that I submitted it.  The process was SUPER EASY!

Once my project was funded, I had to:

1.   Write an "impact letter" on my account page to my donors.  It has a maximum word count that is pretty low so the letter had to be short and sweet.

2.  Print a permission slip for parents to sign in order to have their child's picture using the materials downloaded on to the site.  You must download six photos of students using the materials.  I was the most nervous about this part but about 75% of my students' parents returned the slip signed so it was easier than I thought!  I wrote a note and copied it to the other side of the permission slip.

3.  My students wrote thank you cards and notes to the donor (I only had one donor).  The students loved making the cards and the letters were from their hearts (so sweet!).  I had over a month to get this done and they sent me a prepaid envelope to mail them in.  They are sent to the Donors Choose facility and checked to make sure they meet their requirements of no pictures sent or students' last names used.  Donors Choose mails them to the donor(s).

THAT WAS IT!  It was done!

This is the message I received from my donor.  She is such a kind woman.

It was such a rewarding experience for the students too.  I loved watching them get so excited over the new supplies and see how grateful they were that a stranger would donate to our class!  Now, I am brainstorming a second project.  Last summer I bought new bins for organizing supplies and cardboard book boxes for daily 5.  I really could use some book bins for my library or more sturdy book boxes for Daily 5.  If you haven't tried Donors Choose yet, I highly recommend you put it on your to-do list:)

Let's Get Acquainted Linky (favorites!)

I am linking up with Latoya again at Flying Into First Grade for her 

fabulous and fun Let's Get Acquainted Linky!

This week's topic is FAVORITES SURVEY!

FAVORITE PLACE TO SHOP

I live in a small, rural town.  It is frustrating to have to drive 45 minutes or more to have a decent selection for anything.  However, I can shop in my pajamas from my couch and have all my goodies delivered by Amazon!  I buy most of my kids' Christmas and birthday presents from Amazon and I love reading the reviews too:)

FAVORITE TV SHOW

(Of all time)

It began my sophomore year of college.  Enough said.

Current favorite TV show

FAVORITE SWEET TREAT

This one is difficult for me because I am a sweets fanatic...but if I had to choose the ONE sweet treat that is just to die for, it would be....

Peanut Butter Fudge Georgetown Cupcake

We stood in line at Georgetown Cupcake when we were in DC on vacation...this cupcake was...well, there really are no words.  If you like chocolate and peanut butter, you have to just try it for yourself.  We haven't been back to Georgetown but have ordered cupcakes in the mail three times (for VERY special occasions...the shipping is outrageous!).  However, they test wonderful even coming in the mail!  They are packed superbly and shipped overnight frozen, arriving thawed and ready to eat:)

FAVORITE FOOD

This is discussed above.  I really don't have a favorite "real food".  Sweets just trump everything else.  I will eat just about anything though.  I am not picky at all!

FAVORITE RESTAURANT

This is my all-time favorite restaurant (Webb's Captain's Table Restaurant).  We have a lot of local restaurants and I love so many of them but Webb's is a long time favorite.  I have never been disappointed in a meal here.

What are your favorites?  Link up with Latyoya!

I hope you will come back and check out my Tried It Tuesday Linky tomorrow!  

<center> <a href="http://fourthgradeflipper.blogspot.com/2013/03/the-first-tried-it-tuesday-linky.html"><img src=" http://i593.photobucket.com/albums/tt15/04fallingstar/3AM%20Blog%20Design/3am_triedittuesday_3_zpsd7a240d4.png" width=225 height=225 border="0" alt="Photobucket" /></a></center>

You can read last week's link ups here.

What is 'Tried It Tuesday'? 1.  Write a post about any"thing" you have...TRIED (new or old)! 2.  Describe what worked and maybe what didn't work. 3.  Keep it simple and focus on one general topic.  You can link another idea next week:) 4.  Link your post back to this post. There were 28 link ups in Week One (wowza!) and I read about so many new ideas that I can't wait to try out (already working on some of them!).  I hope you will come back to link up, comment, or just read up and soak it in every Tuesday!!   Bloggers will be able to link up the entire week:)

Mentor Text Linky (The Hurricane) and FREEBIE!

Happy Easter everyone!  

I hope you are spending some quality time with your loved ones today to celebrate.  

I am writing this on Saturday to have it all ready to link up with some of my best blogging buddies, Collaboration Cuties (they really are amazing!).  Today, they are starting this awesome new linky full of mentor texts!  You have to check out their plan for linking up every Sunday.  I know that I need some help when it comes to good literature (I taught 6th grade math for my first 8 years and did not really use too many mentor texts!).  This linky will be so helpful for organizing all the great texts out there!  

I love the blogging world and all the knowledge that everyone has to share:)

From Publisher's Weekly:  "A boy and his family witness an awe-inspiring storm in this exhilarating picture book account...Based on London's (The Candystore Man, reviewed above) recollection of a childhood experience, this suspenseful tale has a ""you are there"" immediacy. Poetic descriptions of hammering winds, crashing waves and lightning which ""scribbled on the dark clouds"" eloquently capture the beauty and violence of severe weather. Sorensen's (I Love You as Much) slightly hazy oil paintings move suddenly from sunny island blues and greens to chillingly dark grays." 

Go to this link to read the entire Publisher's Weekly Review.

During my natural disasters unit, there are many examples of informational literature, but this is a wonderful historical fiction story.  As the publisher's weekly review states, the book has so many poetic descriptions which makes it ideal for teaching visualization and word choice.  The book also lends itself to prediction and plot/sequence activities.  I used these short and extended response questions to accompany the book as a listening activity.  Updated for TPT and added as a freebie, you can download it here.
Here is a preview:

If you are interested in a culminating activity I use for the Natural Disaster unit, you can find it here on TPT.  Sale ends tonight at midnight EST:)

Be sure to check back for the other link ups at Collaboration Cuties!

March High and Low Linky!!

I am linking up with amazing Katie from Teacher to the Core for my high and low of the month.

Check out her super cute blog by clicking the link above!

My high of the month...

This goes along with my 2 Truths and a Lie post here.

I have always wanted to go to Disney.

I have never been.

I knew that one day I would take my two children when they were old enough.

Next year they will be 4 and 6 at the time of a week off in February.

But, it is SO expensive and money is super tight:(

My husband and I are hard workers by nature.

We both paid for entire cost of college on our own (after any scholarships and yep, we are still paying those loans after being graduated for 13 years!).

So, we thought we could just charge the trip to our credit cards.

We don't hoard our money and have the philosophy that we have the rest of our lives to make money but our kids are only going to be with us to go on vacation for a short time!

I really didn't know if we could stay in a one room hotel room for a week with little kids.

We stayed three days in a one room hotel last spring in the Outer Banks and I couldn't wait to get out of there!  

To save money, we went to the grocery store and ate some meals in the room.  

Here is a picture of my youngest eating pudding in his seat in the hotel in the Outer Banks:

Actually, TODAY we were talking about staying one night in a hotel next week at Splash Lagoon (I am on a 2 week spring break...don't be a hater!).

Charlie looks at me and says, "I want to eat pudding in there!"

It must have made a lasting impression:)

So, what is the HIGH??

My hubby's aunt and uncle said that we could use their timeshare points to stay at a resort!

What?!?  Seriously, my hubby and I never seem to get any break like this!

It is a two bedroom unit with a kitchen and everything:)

The Fountains Resort in Orlando. Anyone ever stay there?

Our fee for the week? $250 for the booking of the timeshare!

We are SO excited!!!

I can't stop looking for ideas to plan our vacation coming Feb. 2014:)

This one is a no brainer, unfortunately.

Our beloved pug, Asia is no longer with us.

She was 15 years old.

Here she is with our other dog, Aussie (shih tzu).

I don't have any puppy pictures because that was before we had digital cameras.

She was the most adorable puppy ever!.

She entered our family officially in 2003 when my husband and I bought a house.

First, she was my little sister's puppy while I was in college.

Then, my sister went to college and my hubby and I "adopted" her.

She was the most loving dog and always was great with both our children (they were born in 2007 and 2010).  She is a part of our family history.

Knowing that she lived a good life makes it a little better...but not much.

Her last days were sad.  She had been deaf for about two years but her mind was great.

Then, her back legs gave out and we started having to carry her everywhere.

She couldn't hold up herself to eat or go potty.

We knew we were prolonging the inevitable.

The last straw was when she just sat in her little bed and was shaking all day.

I am so proud of my hubby for being the one to take her to the vet.  

I couldn't do it.

He called me and told me what I knew the vet would say.

There wasn't much they could do and we would be back.

We made the toughest choice to put her down:(

It happened last Saturday and I didn't know if I could blog about it.

I am sitting here now crying like a baby.

 Our Christmas card photo before kids was with the dogs!

She could twirl like this over and over...so strong!

Aussie is nine years old and still very healthy. 

She spent every waking moment of the last nine years with Asia by her side.

It is not surprising that she is so depressed.

When I came home today, she was howling like I have never heard her howl before:(

I guess that is one way she can show us her grief.

(SIGH)...On a happy note...I am throwing a sale at TPT and TN:)

Adorable button by Tonya at Tonya's Treats for Teachers!

Workshop Wednesday (mentor texts) and Spring Sale!

After the first Tried It Tuesday linky yesterday, my brain is just swimming with tons of ideas!  I read all your posts and am so excited that I had link ups!!  I was reading, commenting, pinning, bookmarking, and taking notes until well past midnight (hey, I'm on spring break!).  

The blogging world is just wonderful!  I love reading accounts of things real teachers have tried and then when I have a question, I can just ask!  

Everyone is SO helpful.  Thank you, thank you!

Today, I am super excited to link up with a bloggy bestie, Jivey, from Ideas by Jivey for her Workshop Wednesday!  

This week's topic is mentor texts to teach author's craft. 

 There are so many choices but I decided to highlight a two that I have used recently.  

My class read Can't You Make Them Behave, King George before break and I love this book for teaching point of view.

Using this guide, we made a diagram of the Point of view comparing and contrasting King George III, the American Patriots, and Jean Fritz (author of the book). 

We also took notes on different types of point of view.  

I used these point of view notes as a a guide that I found here:

We read various sections of the text from Can't You Make them Behave, King George (3rd person point of view) and then I had the students work in pairs and read a page in 1st person and a page in 2nd person.  They changed the pronouns as they read.  

It is very challenging but good practice and it seems to "stick" with them.  

I used this resource for a point of view project last year.  They loved it!  This year, my students will work on this after spring break and I will take pictures to share with you. 

Each student is assigned a Loyalist or Patriot personality from the Revolutionary War to research and create a character role based on the facts and inferences students make.  They write their character role in 2nd person (using "you").  When the character roles are finished, I assign put the students in groups of 4 or 5 and give them a character role (one that they did not write).  I try to have a mix of Loyalists and Patriots in the group.  Next, the group creates a role play based on their group's characters' beliefs.  They practice and then perform their skits.  The rest of the class must determine if each group member is a Loyalist or Patriot based on their dialogue.  I want to work on a better assessment tool this year and have students more of a part of the process.  I just attended a writing module training for the Common Core and having students involved in the assessment criteria was discussed at the training.  This type of assignment was highly recommended for addressing the Common Core and that made me feel like I am doing something right (once in awhile, anyway:).

Here are some snapshots of the assignment (not full pages):

Sample character roles written in 2nd person:

Here are some more point of view activities on Read Works.  

I haven't used them yet but want to incorporate them after break.

A 4th grade unit is here and a 3rd grade unit is here.

I also wanted to share with you a great picture book that can be used to teach so many aspects of author's craft!  It is the book, Encounter by Jane Yolen.  Bookmark this for next year during your European Explorer's unit!

I used this awesome pack from Collaboration Cuties to accompany this book!  

(Sorry the picture is so blurry.)

Main Idea/Details

Making Inferences (there are so many examples!)

 I love this page on reviewing figurative language also.  We are going to complete this as a review of similes, metaphors, and personification after spring break before the big test!

What are a few mentor texts that you use in your classroom?  

Link up with Jivey or go back and check out what others have linked up!

Also, I am joining some blogging friends to have a spring sale starting tomorrow at my TPT and TN stores!  Don't you love the cute graphic by Tonya at Tonya's Treats for Teachers?

The FIRST Tried It Tuesday Linky!!

The results are in...Design #2 it is!! 

  The button was designed by the fabulous Michelle at 3AM Teacher!  Isn't she so super talented?!?  Check out her store by clicking on the picture below.   She also updated my comment and reply section:)  I LOVE the way it looks now!

Thank you so much for all your comments and support.  It really means a lot as I "attempt" my first linky party (which I hope will continue for many Tuesdays!).  You also made my decision so much easier on which linky button to use.   So, I hope you will grab the cute button and link up today or anytime this week!
What is 'Tried It Tuesday'? 1.  Write a post about any"thing" you have...TRIED! 2.  Describe what worked and maybe what didn't work. 3.  Keep it simple and focus on one general topic.  You can link another idea next week:) 4.  Link your post back to this post.

I originally thought this linky could be something you "recently" tried.  However, that might be silly because some of the "things" that teachers have "tried" could be strategies or tools that they have been using for a LONG time!  

Many readers would love to see how it works (or doesn't work) for YOU!!  One thing I have learned from blogging is that there are so many ideas out there and the possibilities are endless! Don't assume that everyone knows about what you do 

or that everyone must already use it.  That is not the case!

"Tried It" Ideas....

• instructional strategy
• teaching product/resource
• management strategy
• technology tool
• recipe at home
• personal interest/hobby
• website 
• ANYTHING GOES!

I thought this linky would go well with my "Flipper" theme since teaching (well, life!) is all about trying out "things" all the time...borrowing and tweaking them to your style. 

Sometimes it works out and other times it doesn't! 

Posts about things we "tried" in our personal lives are fun to read about too!

My Tried It Tuesday: KidBlog.  

I was super excited to use kidblog this year in my classroom!  See my post original post here. There was a lot of buzz about this in the blogging world last summer. I am STILL excited about using this tool in my classroom... It is an amazing (FREE) site and the students do LOVE it! My problem is that I haven't used it since January. Every year after Christmas, the panic sets in.  The test is only a few months away! Do students get to type on the test? Nope. Did Kidblog take a big chunk of time when we used it? Yes, definitely at the beginning.  The students want to add an avatar and make their page customized.  They want to comment on their classmates blogs.  Who cares if what they write is meaningful? hmmm...It was like a chat room and that was not how I envisioned it!  Part of me was so excited that they were excited and another part of me was thinking, this is taking forever!  Only a couple students were tech savvy enough to do make an avatar on their own (without asking me first!) and then everyone wanted an avatar.  So, being the nice teacher I am and not wanting to squash their excitement, I walked them through going to photoshop to make an avatar.   Well, we were in the lab, and if you have ever taught in a computer lab while the students are on the computer, it is quite a challenge when you are not used to it! Anyway, one tweak I made to Kidblog (when we were using it) is this post to my students:

As I sit here on a lovely Sunday afternoon watching a Bills game and reading your progress on the November Book Reviews, I am compelled to write about a few issues I have seen occurring on our blog.

1.  Please do not use neon yellow, blue, or green for colors when writing your posts or comments.  It is too difficult to read on the monitors.

2.  You must write using CUPS as you would on paper.  The computer alerts you when a word is misspelled by underlining it in red.  So, why am I seeing so many spelling errors?

3.  Using proper CUPS means that we do not use 5 exclamation points or 3 question marks instead of one on your posts.  

4.  Don't forget that you will be graded on your book review and this includes proper use of CUPS.  There is a time and place to use texting shortcuts but our blog for ELA is not one of them.

5.  I will be developing a rubric to grade your use of kidblog over the course of a semester (starting this 2nd quarter since the 1st quarter is over).  If you stick to clean, meaningful comments and posts using proper CUPS, then you will receive an A for this writing grade. 

Here is a sample book review from Jackson that is a great model for what I expect.

Title: The Sea of Monsters

Author: Rick Riordan

Genre: fantasy

What is this book about?  The book is about Percy Jackson who goes on a quest to save his best friend Grover. Grover is trapped on an island that is home to a cyclops. Percy also has to go to the island to get a golden fleece to save Camp Half-Blood.

What is my favorite part?  My favorite part is when Percy finds out that he has a half brother that is also a cyclops. He found he was a cyclops in the second chapter of the book. His name is Tyson.

What is my overall recommendation and why?  My overall recommendation is that it is a great book and read it if you like fantasy stories or Greek Mythology.

We discussed my post above in great detail as a class using the SMART board.   BUT, I still get students who like to test me (as if I won't see it eventually...the teacher has to approve all comments before they are visible).   These comments are waiting to be approved:  

That might be REALLY flattering (THE BEST YEAR EVER....), but it goes against my rules!  I also love how they capitalized "LARGE" but not "john".  Yep, that has to go!

I am not "trashing" the comments yet because when we go back to the lab, I will bring this screen up and give the students a friendly reminder of what NOT to do:)  

It just bothers me because in the time it takes them to write the obnoxious amounts of characters, they could be doing something more educational.  I know kids will be kids...

The last post I had the students write about was their New Year's Resolutions.  They all worked on them at different times during Work on Writing (I have four computers in my classroom).  They had to write about two resolutions, one for home and one for their writing.

The students have done a nice job overall and I may finally get around to grading all of the entries over my spring break:)  It takes hours to go through each assignment, make comments, and approve comments from other students.  It is worth it though.  The students love to see the notes from the teacher and their classmates!

And another...same student who didn't follow the rules about the exclamation points is writing in neon green...a no, no in my rules:)  Again, spending too much time on making the text look like a rainbow instead of proofreading.

So, the bottom line is I love kidblog, the students are excited to use it, but its management and the pressure of the state test has taken away some of the time I could devote to it.  

However, when and if the PARCC tests roll out, they are "supposed" to be all digital.  

I can feel confident that using Kidblog in writing IS helping students prepare for the assessment expectations.

What do you think?  Be sure to check back and see the other link ups!

In Need of Opinions! Hosting My First Linky Party Tuesday!!

 I am TRYING IT!  My first linky party!!  Yay! 

                       Design #1                  Design #2

Originally, I was planning on hosting the linky on Thursdays, but then the AMAZING, TALENTED Michelle from 3AM Teacher started working on the buttons above for me!  I just LOVE them and thought maybe the linky SHOULD be on Tuesday!  Michelle agreed since there are a lot of end of the week linky parties already.  Tuesdays it is!

Click on the link above to take you to 3AM Teacher's blog store!  Her work is truly inspiring and she works so fast (I guess that is how she got the name "The 3AM Teacher"!).  She also updated my comments section and I finally have the "reply" button...yay!  

If you like the comment set-up, check out this service by Michelle here!

I need your help!!  Being the amazing designer she is, Michelle sent me OPTIONS of buttons to choose from (actually four different ones!).  How can I decide? I narrowed it down to these two and they are BOTH wonderful!  So, I thought I would see what my followers think.  Design #1 is easier on the eyes and not "so loud" but, at the same time, I like the colorfulness of Design #2.  What do you think??  Please leave me a comment and help me make up my mind!  If the vote seems to be split, I could always offer your choice of which button to link up...Is that taking the easy way out?  

I hope you will stop back this Tuesday and link up for the first "Tried It Tuesday!"  

You might be wondering, "What is Tried It Tuesday?"

My idea is that you can do a quick link up (I am all about quick link ups in the middle of the week) of anything you have "tried" and tell everyone how you LOVED it...or maybe how it was an EPIC FAILURE...haha!  Anything goes!

...you tried a new lesson plan or teaching strategy

...you tried a new teaching product (you can promote your product or another's!)

...you tried a new management strategy

...you tried a new technology tool

...you tried a new recipe at home

...you tried out a new website 

ANYTHING GOES!

I thought this linky would go well with my "Flipper" theme since teaching is all about trying new strategies and ideas all the time...borrowing and tweaking them to your style. 

Sometimes they work out and other times they don't.  

Also, we all have things we "try out" in our personal lives and those are fun to read about too!

So, which link up button do you prefer??