Third Grade Common Core

Aloha!  I have slowly been trying to make a dent in my To Do list this summer.  I have one more thing that I can cross off.





These are both available in my TpT store. If you would like to win a set please leave me a comment below and I will pick a winner Monday morning.

Next on my list is tackling the Kindergarten standards!  Enjoy your Sunday and mahalo for stopping by!





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July Currently

Aloha everyone!  July already!! I have a few days right?  But, Farley is a bit early and that's okay because I have some time on my hands this morning.

I am a morning person. I love the mornings, cool quiet and peaceful.  Here on the North Shore it is very country, think Third World, lol!  In the morning every bird is up and chittering about including the neighborhood roosters.  I just love the sound of the morning doves though.  I sit here and enjoy it all before the sun and kids rise.

My summer is at its halfway mark!  I really have been busy with revamping lots of old TpT products, taking a Sustainability course for school and having had my family here for two weeks.  My class is really the only thing stressing me out.  It is a lot of work and I have already fallen behind due to a mistake in one of my assignments (Insert sigh, and sad face).  I need to really focus and get my behind in gear to get it all done.

One of my sweet families gave me a gift card for a massage and I have not used it yet.  I think I will be scheduling an appointment this week.

Tips for new bloggers? Farley said it very well, don't let it take over your life.  I seriously have to schedule time that I am allowed on my computer.  I keep a planner and write out my ideas for posts and when I will post them.  I use it specifically for blogging.  I know lots of great bloggers just make their own planners, but mine is a cute one I found at Target.

I am off to get my house in order and get my girls ready.  They are camping out over at a friend's house tonight and they are very excited!  I am too. An evening to not have to cook and sit in front of the TV watching adult television!! What's not exciting about that?!






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Aloha Friday Five

It's Aloha Friday and I know that this is the last day of school for lots of teachers out there!! Hurray! 

I am linking up today with Kasey for her Five For Friday.



If you have followed me for awhile you know I have 
two sweet girls that are 9 and 11.


As in all siblings they are similar, yet so different.  My sweetie in pink is a little fireball and always full of energy!  She is super sociable, loves reading and is very athletic.  She has played soccer and is now in gymnastics.  All her teachers tell me how wonderful she is and that she is very bright.  I have never had a problem keeping her busy because she is willing to try out most activities. This girl is a Drama Queen!!

My sweetie on the left is my oldest.  She is completely opposite of her sister in many ways.  She has an incredible imagination, loves to draw, has a few close friends,  is very quiet (like her mother), struggles in school and does not like sports.  She has always lived in her own world.  In third grade she was diagnosed with ADD.  It's a nice umbrella to make sure her needs are met and that she is given the extra time needed to complete her work.  My own diagnosis is that she is on the spectrum for autism. I don't make a big deal out of it or tell her anything different.  I just find what works for her to meet her needs.

She is becoming a young woman and I really want her to be involved in some sort of extra-curricular activity.  Nothing has ever interested her. The one thing she is compassionate about is animals, especially horses.  This summer I finally found a riding program for her that I could afford.


She has been going once a week for the past few weeks and she loves it!


She is all smiles when she is around the horses.



You have no idea how somber this girl can be sometimes.  Her teachers this year thought she was very depressed, but she just doesn't show much emotion.  Seeing her smile just makes my heart burst.

 She is completely in her element on the ranch.


I am thrilled that she is learning to ride.  She loves her instructor and talks non-stop all the way home about what she did.  Finally something that will bring her out of her shell and get her to be more active and social.  

I am so thankful for my educational background and all the wonderful teachers I have met along the way who have given me more insight into to my daughters needs.  I love my girls dearly.  Each has their own special gifts and like all parents, I want them both to become confident, strong women who can stand on their own.  They also have to be able to take care of their mother in her old age!!

I hope you have had a wonderful week and that your summer days are lazy and happy! Surf on over to Doodle Bugs Teaching and check out all the great posts.





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Workin' It Wednesday

Aloha friends! For being so busy this week I can't believe I have had time to post each day. I have another quick post today for Workin' It Wednesday.


  This week I have been Workin' on some artsy things.

I had an idea for some digital papers and I decided to play around with the design.  This is what I came up with.



I wanted something new to add a pop of color to my cover pages.


I created a bunch of different color combos to use year round. There are over 30 different papers.

If you would like to win a set leave me a comment below and I will choose a winner tomorrow.

I also wanted to leave you with a sample you can use for the upcoming 4th of July holiday.

Just click on any of the pictures below to grab them in Google Docs.



Hopefully you can use these for some fun creations. 

Please link up below with how you have been Workin' It this week. I always love reading  your posts about the fun things you have been Workin' on.






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Blog Lovin' and Your Vote

Aloha Friends! It's early morning here in Hawaii and I am listening to the sounds of doves, chickens, roosters and a myriad of other bird sounds.  It is something I am quite used to, but when I have guests they always mention how loud the birds are here! So funny when you just become accustomed to certain things, you don't even notice them!

I wanted to share a few things with you today.  The first is a heads up about Google Reader.  I am sure most of you know that it will no longer be around.  I have made the switch to BlogLovin' and I have to say I really like it.  I get a daily email with all the new posts of blogs I am following and I can sit and browse at my leisure.  I have a link  in my side bar with my other social media buttons.

Just click the picture above to take you over there to sign up and follow me if you want to stay in touch.
My friend Tori over at Tori's Teaching Tips has a great tutorial and Linky posted on her blog.


The next thing I wanted to share was that I was nominated by a sweet friend for Circle Of Moms Top 25 Blogger Teacher Moms! Whew that is a lot to say, lol! It is a fun way to honor moms that are teacher's who blog about their experiences.  There are some great prizes for the top three winners, but I would be happy to just make the top 25.


Circle of Moms Top 25 Teacher Moms - 2013 - Vote for me!

If you are not familiar with Circle of Moms, it is a website devoted to all we mothers do.  I joined the site when I had my first daughter.  It is a great place to find info on all things relating to motherhood and a great way to connect with others.

I would absolutely love it and would be so honored if you voted for me. Just click the button above to take you to their site.  There are lots of great mommy, teacher bloggers out there and I am thrilled to be included.  You can vote each day until July 9th.  

Today is my last day to spend with my sister, niece and nephew.  They leave tonight.  It has been so fun having them here and I will really miss them when they leave. My daughters have really become attached to their cousins and I know my youngest will be in tears for a few days.  She has such a hard time saying goodbye.






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Happy Monday

Aloha everyone! What a busy Monday morning! I woke up to tons of emails and lots of activity happening this week.

My first announcement is that Jennifer Jenkins is the winner of my Common Core Owl Pack from yesterday!


Congratulations! Thank you so much for stopping by and commenting.

A few weeks ago I had a request for me to make my Number Sense posters up to 20 instead of 10. Well I finished those yesterday and they are now updated in my TpT store. This set comes in three background choices depending on your classroom.  If you have already purchased these, go back and redownload  for the new pages.


Since I made something I decided I would link up this post to Tara's Monday Made It.

I also wanted to give a shout out to some great bloggers this week who are having giveaways.
First up is Lisa over at Always An Adventure in Kindergarten.


Head on over and help her celebrate!

Another sweet bloggy friend Ashley is having a 4,000 follower giveaway!!


If you are a fan already or just a clipart junkie then head over there!




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First Grade Common Core Owls

Aloha everyone! I hope everyone is enjoying their Sunday.  I have a bit of quiet time before my family wakes up.  I am a morning person and love the peace and quiet before my house comes alive.

I have been so busy! I can't believe it is already June 23rd!! I have been on break for a whole month?  I have a to do list a mile long and am working to get it all done before I go back to work! My sister and her kids are still here so most school/work/blog related items are on hold.


This is my sweet nephew. He is definitely a mama's boy and didn't really bond with me until a few days ago.  We went to the beach yesterday and it started to rain.  He ran and jumped into my lap and snuggled with me until the rain stopped. They are here for only three more days, so I am making every minute count.


I had a request from a sweet follower to do my Common Core Posters for 1st grade in an Owl Theme.



Here they are!  If you are interested in purchasing these they are available in my TpT store.  I am always happy to giveaway a set to one of my wonderful followers.  Just leave me a comment below with your email and I will pick one person tomorrow morning.




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Throwback Thursday-Acrostic Poetry

Aloha everyone!  I was up early this morning and catching up on some blog reading when I came across this great linky over at the First Grade Parade.



Just link up with an old post that you think is worth sharing again.
What a great idea, since my creative brain in on vacation at the moment!

This is a post I originally created on 11/28/12


I  wanted to share a little activity with you that I did this week in my class.  We have been working on parts of speech and the kids have nouns down pretty well, but adjectives are still giving them some trouble.

I decided to use our Writer's Workshop time to write some Acrostic Poems.  I started out simple and just decided to use our names.

We pulled out the Thesauruses  and Dictionaries and I let the kids get to work.





They loved looking through these and coming up with new words.

Many of my higher students found some great words and were so helpful to some that were
having a harder time finding words.



For those who were having trouble or writing words that didn't make sense I kept using this sentence
"Child's name" is so _____________.

So when they wrote down a word like "fire", I would say " Oh, Jeff you are so fire."

Of course they all giggle and then Jeff would go back and find a better describing word.

I was really happy with how well their poems came out!









I was so excited to get them all hung up and they were just as excited to share what they had written.

I honestly helped only a few students who were struggling with this activity.  The rest was all on their own, with the help of the dictionary or thesaurus.

I created the templates that they wrote their final copies on. There are 3 different templates.  If you would like them you can grab them in Google Docs.



Thanks for hosting such a fun linky Cara!  Don't forget to surf on over and link up!  Just a quick reminder too, all my Surfed themed items in my TpT store are on sale today.






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