Oh May Currently!!

May is here my peeps!!! Countdown to summer! Yahoo!!! I'm linking up with the forever fabulous Farley over at Oh' Boy 4th Grade.  Be sure to head over to her blog to link up.

Here's my May Currently .... 

 

* Listening - Music, music, music!!! I couldn't live without it.  

* Loving - Starry Night Art!! This art project is an oldie, but a goodie.  I do it every year and always love how it comes out.  It's super easy and looks great!

* Thinking - Mother's Day is right around the corner.  I have everything prepped and done with my students, but now I need to think of my own mom.  What are my awesome blogger friends getting their moms this Mother's Day?  The only thing I know I'm getting my mom for sure is yummy little bundt cakes.  A sweet treat for my sweet mom ... 

*  Wanting - New jewelry!! Charming Charlie is a great store where all accessories are color coded!!! Love it!

* Needing - My students have been busy finishing their Mother's Day cards this week.  I found a website called Vocaroo.  It's an online recording service.  Audio recordings can be linked to a QR code.  So exciting!!!

I decided to record my students reading their Mother's Day letters.  I'm going to place the QR codes inside their Mother's Day cards.  This will probably take awhile, so I need to get cracking. 

* Surprise - Check out Jessica over at The Teacher Talk.  She's adorable.  I love reading her blog and following her on Instagram.  She has great ideas, cute products, and an awesome sense of style.  Her blog is hands down one of the cutest around.  Go check her out!!!

That's it friends ... don't forget to head over to Farley's blog to link up and check out many other amazing bloggers!!! 

Counting down the days until summer vacation and enjoying the sunshine,

Academic Fair (aka Open House)

My school had our Academic Fair a few weeks ago.  I wanted to share some of the fab learning and projects my students showcased.

Our central theme was SOLAR SYSTEM.  I was blown away by how much my students learned.  They did such a great job of showing their parents around.  I'm a proud teacher!!!

 My students grabbed an iPad when they entered our class and began their tours of our classroom.

* QR Code Scavenger Hunt - I had these posted around the room.  Each QR code linked to a question or task for my students to complete.  "What causes the Earth's seasons?"  "Describe the phases of the moon."  My students and their families had a great time with this interactive activity.

 * Tellagami - I know I've mentioned this awesome app before .... but I'm going to mention it again.  This app lets students design their own avatar and record their own voice.  They can choose any background (i.e. image from the web, picture from photo library).  Each of my students shared important details about the solar system.  This was a huge hit!! Many parents requested to have their child's Tellagami emailed to them.

* Student Work - We were working on narrative writing.  My students had to write about a spaceship landing in their backyard.  They did a great job with figurative language.

 New Planet Discovery - My students created their own planet.  They had to describe their planet's size, temperature, surface (atmosphere), and location.  They also designed their own planet and brought it to life with the ColAR Mix app.  Awesome!

* Earth Day connection - My students wrote down important details about Earth and ways they can take care of our planet.  Click here for a FREEBIE.  We used pointillism for the Earth. 

 * Constellations - My students designed their own constellations.  Here are a few of my faves!

 * Solar System Lapbook - My coworker found this gem from Amber Polk on TPT.  It's amazing!!

* Powerpoint presentation - I had this showing on my smartboard.

* Charts, charts, and more charts!!

* Decorated classroom - Voila! Here are some pics of my entire classroom and some cute decorations. 

May the force be with you,

Five for Friday - Spring Break!!

Happy Friday! My spring break is quickly coming to an end.  Boooooo!!! Big thumbs down! However, I had a great time.  I'm linking up with Doodlebugs Teaching to share five random things from my week.

Here goes ....

My spring break started in beautiful Palm Springs with my bestie.  We had a great time!! It was a perfect way to kick off the week.  We stayed at the new Hard Rock.  Great location right in downtown!

 

  

On Tuesday, I went fishing with my brothers and uncles.  Yes .... my brother has a boat!!! The boys in my family are obsessed with fishing.  Here they are in their fishing zone!!!

 

Look how calm the water is ..... it was so peaceful and beautiful!! We were fishing off the shore of Palos Verdes.  We were lucky enough to see a whale and a LOT of dolphins!!! It was amazing!  

 

 Of course one of my random things has to be techie related!!!! I met with a coworker from a different school site this week to set up a group Edmodo account.  I've been using Edmodo in my class and I love it!!! 

Our third graders are going to collaborate with each other.  This will kind of be like 21st century pen pals.  They will be "E-pals"!!!

We decided to call our group "3rd grade Collaboration Cuties".  Next week, our students will simply get to know each other by sharing a little bit about themselves.  In the future, we plan on using this collaboration tool for students to share their learning and ask each other questions.  Eventually, we want students to edit and revise each other's writing.

I will let you know how it goes.  We're super excited!!

 I plan on ending my spring break with some planning for next week, blogging, and finishing up a few TPT products.  One week goes by way too fast!!!  Here's a sneak peek at a few of my products that I've been working on.

Last year at this time, I was in beautiful Japan for my cousin's wedding.  I can't believe a year has gone by already.  We were there for the gorgeous cherry blossoms. 

Feeling relaxed,