HOT Summer SALE and a Pizza Party

I'm beyond thrilled to be home for the summer!  In the 2 weeks that I've been home, I've been able to accomplish so much!  As a teacher, I find it difficult to do "spring cleaning" because that one week we have off in the spring is usually devoted to actually breathing and taking a mental break.  

So far this summer, I've completed 95% of my spring cleaning, had several trips to our community pools (been trying to find out which one we like best), spent some quality time with my boys and husband, I actually got to lay outside to try to get some color on my white skin, AND I was able to finalize this product that I completed at the end of the school year.  

I hope that you might be able to use this super cool pizza unit, "Pizza Party," sometime during the upcoming school year!!  It's definitely a good one!!  There are 13 literacy activities that include a variety of different skills to practice.  Your students will enjoy sorting pizza themed nouns, writing about how to make a pizza, and building words using the letters in the words "pepperoni pizza".  There are 12 math activities ranging from addition/subtraction games, measuring pizza themed pictures, and counting using base ten cubes.  I was able to use these activities with my students and they LOVED learning with pizza.  We had a pizza party at the end of the week to celebrate the end of the school year.  Click on the photo below to check it out:

I am running a sale on all of my products to celebrate summer relaxation.  There are 2 sales running between my Teachers Notebook store and my TPT store.  

Enjoy 50% off all products from my Teachers Notebook store from June 23-July 23.  

Enjoy 20% off all products from my TPT sale from June 27-June 30.  

My new unit "Pizza Party" has been posted at both stores...check it out now for a GREAT price!!

Have a wonderful summer and don't forget to take some time for yourself.

Reflections and Under Water Graphing

As we are approaching the end of the school year, I have been reflecting on my year as a teacher, a mother, and a wife.  It has been a different kind of year for me with many changes:

TEACHER

I am about to finish my first year of teaching at a new school and I'm so happy that this opportunity fell into my lap.  I have made some great friendships and am fortunate to have a wonderful grade level that supports my opinions and decisions.  I can't wait to find out what the next school year will bring. I'm already thinking about how to rearrange my classroom. :-)

MOTHER

My son, Gavin, started kindergarten this year and will soon be a big first grader.  He continues to amaze me and reminds me every so often that he's growing up.  I guess he thinks it's funny to see my reaction of grief, because I just want him to stay little.  He continues to tell me that after first grade, he will be in 2nd...3rd...4th...5th...and so on!  Landen, my 3 year old, is always trying to be like his big brother.  He is intrigued in whole "going to school" thing and can't wait to come to the "big boy" school.  He's my challenge but always keeps life interesting.

WIFE

My husband and I bought a house right next to my new school and I couldn't be happier to be so close.  It makes my commute to and from school much easier!  I was recently diagnosed with epilepsy and that has caused the most changes in my life.  It has really been a challenge to deal with but my husband has been so supportive and gentle.  I am so grateful to have him right by my side, taking care of me and really focusing on my well being.  I think that this has had a great impact on me as a wife and it has allowed me to take advantage of each day that is given to me.

Now onto the Under Water Graphing smart board lessons!!  

I just recently finished this smart board presentation to go with our graphing unit.  It's one of the few products that I have posted this year.  Click on the picture above to check it out in my TPT store.  I'm hoping that I will have more time this summer to get caught up and make some new and exciting products for you to explore.  There are some really cute and engaging slides that will keep your students excited about graphing each day!  Here's what's included:

There are several videos and video clips embedded on each of the pages.  I have also included a link to an online graphing website that will allow you to create your own graph!!  It's super cool!!  

 Your students will learn about the different kinds of graphs and how to read them.  They will learn how to create a graph and how to compare the data.  The best part of the presentation will be the last two activities!!  Your students will love the spin and graph game!!  You can use this game as a math center and they can click on numerous links to play some graphing games.

I hope you all enjoy your students for the next few days/weeks of school!  Hopefully they aren't too crazy for you!  Just remember that you are leaving your mark on each and every one of them.  They will remember you for the rest of their life.  That's one of the best parts of being a teacher!  

Have a wonderful week!  Summer is almost here!

My Data Notebook

 Okay, I have finally finished the data notebook that I've been working on forever.  I think this document contains the most information that I've ever put into a product.  If you're looking for an all inclusive data notebook to start your year, look no further.  This data notebook has just about everything that you could think of when it comes to academic data recording.  Not only do you get all of the data pages but you get directions on how to use them and some information about how I have had success with each of the academic areas.

My Data Notebook is a 79 page download containing a TON on printables for you to use to create a data notebook for each of your students.  It comes with a student data notebook cover and several different data pages to choose from.  Students will keep their own data by coloring in pictures or bar graphs to show their progress.  Click on any of the pictures below to download this document for your classroom.

Data Notebooks help keep students accountable for their own learning.  They write their own goals and are able to control the pace in which they learn.  Data Notebooks allow students to observe short term goals and it motivates them to reach their long term goals. 

There are six sections to the data notebook and each section contains several subsections for students to track their own data:

Section 1: Mission Statement-students create a class and self mission statement of a learning goal they would like to reach.

Section 2: Reading Goals-students work on increasing their reading level, oral fluency, fry word knowledge, reading stamina, and maze comprehension activities.  Each subsection contains a data sheet to choose from.

 

Section 3: Phonics Goals-students work on upper and lower case letter recognition, letter sounds, phoneme segmentation, and nonsense word fluency.  Each subsection contains a data sheet to choose from.

Section 4: Spelling Goals-students work on word family knowledge as they learn new spelling sound patterns each week, and they keep track of how many words they spell correctly on each spelling test.  The word family section contains all word families that your students will learn throughout the school year and a graph to track how many words they get correct on each spelling test.

 Section 5: Writing Goals-students work on using capital letters, spacing, correct spelling, punctuation, and handwriting in their writing.  They use the writing rubric that is included to make their writing perfect.

 

 Section 6: Math Goals-students work on counting on, counting back, addition and subtraction fluency, and they keep their own assessment data based on the test they take in the classroom (weekly or quarterly)

 

 The nice thing about this data notebook is that you can choose the data pages that you use in your own classroom.  I realize that different schools have different ways of doing things and I wanted to provide enough of a variety in the data pages for you to choose the best method for you and your students. 

If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to email me at michelle83mcelhinny@gmail.com

Airport Craziness and Pond Graphtivities

Hello all, I hope you are all enjoying or have enjoyed your spring break.  I have been trying to enjoy my time away in Pennsylvania while visiting with my family.  My boys are just loving all of the family time and the attention they are getting from their grandparents.  

Let me just tell you that we had an interesting time getting here.  We flew from Charlotte on Monday and we had our connecting flight in DC...NOT the best connecting airport to go to with 2 kids by yourself...FYI!!  It took us 40 minutes to get from our arrival gate to the next gate where our plane was waiting to take us to Pittsburgh.  (Who's idea was it to have a connection anyway!! lol)  Sorry for the rant, there will be a FREEBIE at the end!  :-)

So we finally get to our gate, after pushing a stroller and dragging my 4 year old through about 2 miles, a train ride, and about 15 elevators.  No.Seriously!!  It really did seem like it took that long!  lol  I might just count my steps and the number of elevators on the way back...oh wait...I have to do that again!?!  Ahhhhh!!  Thank goodness to the man on the plane that decided to take 20 minutes out of his time to play peek-a-boo with my 1 year old during the last part of the trip!!  He must have sensed some frustration.  lol  

After a day of recovering from that "interesting" experience, I have finally had some time to get some much needed units done.  So here is the newest addition to my TpT store.  It's called "Pond Graphing" {Common Core Graphtivities}.  I love the name!!  Thanks to all you girls who are posting about "craftivities" because it SO works with graphing too!  :-)  This download is 36 pages and contains 6 graphing activities which all include a recording sheet.  

The "graphtivities" are:

Froggy Food: Adding Tallies
Leapin' Lizards: Matching Game: Tally/Bar Graphs
Ribbit!!: Tally Graph Game
Creature Feature: Sorting and Tallying
Ruler of the Pond: Tally Battle
Spin and Graph: Interactive Spinner Graphing

The feature game, "Ribbit" is available as a FREEBIE below.  Just click on one of the "Ribbit" pages and you can download it for FREE.  If you want the entire unit, you can click on the pictures below to go straight to the TpT store.

You can download "Ribbit" for FREE by clicking on the picture below: 

 

Check back soon for lots more!!  Hopefully I can be a busy bee for the rest of spring break!