Disneyland Tomorrow and Memory Book

So the end of the year is here!!! Woohooo!!! Today is my last day of thinking maps training and then 2 more days of being in the classroom. I finally see the light at the end of the tunnel....and it's not a train! Ha! My mind is seriously spinning from all the thinking maps. It's an amazing tool that kids can use to organize their thinking, which increases their learning and comprehension. It's some high level stuff that has a lot of "rigor" to it (that was the buzz word for the training) that ANY child at ANY grade level can do. I can't help but think of the TPT units that I want to make with these maps!

Sooooo... tomorrow our family is going to take a little mini getaway to Disneyland. Thanks to some friends, we have a FREE day there!! Woohoo!! We seriously just live 30 mins away from Dland but my hubby had this great idea to stay in our RV right across the street. They have a nice RV park with a pool and everything. So we are making a little vacay out of it! We will be leaving tomorrow after the boys get out of school, which means that they will miss Friday because they'll be having a wildly good time at Disneyland violently ill. Whatever illness they're going to have is PRETTY contagious... I mean it's bad... REAL bad. :) So bad that I don't think ANYONE should come over to check up on them. I would just feel awful if they caught what they  are going to have have. :) This is Karis' first "real" trip at Disneyland. She went when she was a baby then we let our passes go because it was just ridiculously priced. So now that she is a little older (2 yrs old),  she will get to enjoy all things princessy!  Well, off to make some really BIG bows for her Disneyland day. But before I go, let me show you what I just posted on TPT that my students will be working on this Monday.

It's our memory book. I LOVE this memory book because students get to reflect back on the year, write summaries about their favorite stories that we've read, draw pictures, get autographs from classmates, etc. I will be adding our class picture to the book as well as a picture of the student and me that will go on top of the poem that I wrote for them.  It's all included with directions in red. I love when my students get to work on these but my favorite activity that I added this year to the book is a "Then and Now" page.  This is where they get to see their growth in writing as well as their physical growth (we are measuring) in just one year. I will be posting pictures of these on Monday when my kiddos begin working on them. If you don't have a memory book and/or just looking for something different and fun for your students to do at the end of the year, then you've got to get this. I spoke to one of my first grade teachers today and she already started it with her class. She said that they LOVED it. Yay!!! It feels so good when you create a product where BOTH teachers and students enjoy. Take a look here:

Remembering the School Year Memory Book

I will be updating my file every year and sending out new cover sheets to purchasers. :)

You can pick one of these up and keep your kids busy while you clean/pack up your room. They will have fun while you'll be getting the room ready for SUUUUMMMMEEERRR!!!! :) Just a little excited....ya' think??!!

Off to make bows now. :)

Blessings friend,

Angela Linzay

Happy Mother's Day!

Yes! Happy Mother's Day to ALL you AMAZING mamas out there who don't get enough credit for what you do.....ESPECIALLY those single moms. You are my hero. I don't know how you do it day in and day out. I admire your strength. 

Today I'm sending you a link from one of my favorite mommy bloggers. Lisa Jo Baker has a way of writing that is both poetic and very transparent. Her Anatomy of a mother is something that I must share because it is so fitting as to what mothers do everyday of their mothering lives. So, from one mama to another...

Anatomy of a mother

Here’s to the mothers.

Here’s to the boo-boo kissers.

Here’s to the get up and warm the milk at 2am women. You are braver than you know. There is nothing ordinary about you. You make the music that makes the life that gives the rhythm to the day in and out and in again. Wonder. You are.

Courageous.

You deliver babies by C-section or adoption certificate or by push and pant and pull and wailing battle cry of birth. You lay yourself down and open yourself up and give, give, give more than you think you have. And when you’re empty, when you’re bone dry you wring out one more drop, one more bottle, one more soothing the tempter tantrum, one more opening up tired arms to the tireder teenager.

Hero.

You make a budget stretch. You clip coupons. You fight ketchup stains.

You face the awkward parent-teacher moments. You listen. You translate for your child. You do the hard work of teaching at every turn. You find a hundred new ways to answer a hundred new versions of the question, “Why?”

Champion.

You show up. You take photos. You cheer. You shuttle boys and bags of gear between sports fields and serve up french fries afterwards. You are a welcome home. You disagree with him, you make her change her skirt, but you love fiercely from beneath those unruly bangs. You learn to laugh at your reflection.

You revel in your smiley wrinkles.

Real.

You lose your temper. You yell and apologize and stamp your foot and prove that you are human. You cry. You venture out into an ocean of vulnerability with only a small dinghy and two short oars to keep you afloat when you become a parent.

And you do it more than once. A mother can get sea sick from all this turbulent love.

Anchor.

You yield your figure, your abs, your size 4 jeans but your will turns to muscle unheard of – iron hard; it grows heavy with determination. No one will wound these children without going through you first. You will protect them from yourself if you have to. You are immovable, a last harbor, a light house in the storm of Internet and Facebook and failed grades and peer pressure.

You will not be sunk.

And then one day you uncurl your desperate fingers and find that these other pieces of yourself can float. Gently, quietly, sometimes violently. They rise and fall with the swells and find their own currents.

And you let them.

Five for Friday and Currently

Today will be my first time linking up with Farley from Oh' Boy 4th Grade and Doodlebug. I'm so excited to do this!!

First up, here is my May's Currently. OK. I know I may be a *tad* late... but if you know me, I'm always fashionably late to parties. I guess better late than never, right? I'll do better for next month's Currently.

Now,  for the Five For Friday linky party. Yay! Here are 5 things that I'm highlighting this week.

1. I have only TWO more days left of being in the classroom!!! Don't hate. :) I job share so I only work Mon-Wed and next week I'm at a thinking maps training... you guessed it... on those 3 days. The following week I go to school on Monday and Tuesday is my last day. We are just gonna par-tay those 2 days (and clean up of course)! Hence the reason I said 2 more days in the "classroom" rather than "teaching" days. Ha!

2. We had Open House this week and I seriously was a little crazy China woman! It seems like every year I try and plan ahead for it and every year it STILL sneaks up on  me. I will be writing a post about it but here are just a few fun pics of the night. It was a success and my room was PACKED!

All the parents LOVED the silhouette project and the line of symmetry self portrait!

These "students" came out so cute! I love the one with the glasses!

The Estimation Station was a hit!

So FUN watching kids use sign language to sign their names and figure out our mystery message.

This was the fun table! Parent and child competing to see who could finish the math timed test first! Btw, my student beat her dad! :)

3. Because I job share, I get to stay home part of the time with my littlest little... Karis! This is her reading her bible to her Baby Cindy while I change and wash my boys' sheets.

"Try to find me Moooommmmmmmy!!"

Her and her big brother Joshua! Aren't they CUTIES???!!!!

4.  This is my other son's Mother's Day  questionnaire. I LOVE that he says that my favorite thing to do is "eat". That is TRUE!!! :) But my favorite?? "I think she's beautiful because she loves Jesus". Seriously LOVE this kid!!!

5. Not only was this week Open House, but we also gave our district writing assessment. I had them rush to get projects done and when we were done with those, I would squeeze in some writing lessons. Oh my...the week was hectic! WE needed a brain break!  This is our Baldwin Shake video (Harlem Shake Baldwin style!). Please excuse the empty cabinets in the back. This is before we put up the last Open House project. PS- LOVE my floppy hat girl!!!

Baldwin Shake Video

That's it friends! Hope you enjoy your weekend and have a fabulous Friday!!

Blessings,
Angela

What in the world???

That is the best way I can describe these past few days.... and it's only TUESDAY!!! There are a couple of things that are making me (and my class) a little crazy this time of year.

1. I don't know about the weather elsewhere but last week in So Cal it was hot and sunny. Kids were swimming and playing in the backyard. This week?? Dark clouds rolled in and it was raining.... HARD!  Today was cold and overcast, too. This weather makes my students and me a little loopy. They were a little restless today and I can't blame them.

2. Can you take a guess as to what this is?  YUP!! It's CRUNCH TIME!!! Open House is in 2 days and we are taking our district writing assessment tomorrow. So in all the hustle and bustle of last minute "Hurry-up-and-just-trace-color-cut-and oh honey, don't forget to be neat" madness, I had to do some last minute prepping for the test. I hope all the other teachers will be nice when grading my student's writing. I think I'm gonna bring them some chocolate. I mean, I could be bought with chocolate. I'm just saying.....

3. I feel like I'm running on a hamster wheel right now and someone needs to pull me off. Tomorrow is my last "real" day of teaching. I job share and work Mon-Wed. Next week I'm at a Thinking Maps training for those 3 days and then the following week is our last week of school. WHAT???!! How did that happen?? I'm trying to get last minute testing done, cums, report cards, clean up the room, organize, plan parties...ahhhhh!!!!  Someone get me off this wheel. My head is definitely spinning.

4. The GOOD thing about today is the Instagram fun I've been having.  To join in on the party, look below:

I seriously have met some amazing teachers already and today was my first day! They welcomed this newbie  with sweet comments and "likes" on my pictures. Awwww.... I feel so special. :) I am really excited to be here in this community and have already seen SO many amazing things that teachers from all over are doing. I am truly inspired.


 My classroom has been working out of my  Open House Activities Pack this week....which is on sale TODAY and TOMORROW only. It comes complete with templates and practically does everything itself! OK, not really... but it's pretty great. It has step by step instructions with pictures and templates for everything. Plus, there are 19 fun activities. Here are just a few:

Ok. Don't judge me and my homemade sign! Desperate situations call for desperate measures. Remember?? CRUNCH TIME here!!

  She may be 100 yrs old but she's dangerous! She'll literally eat you alive! You DO NOT want to meet her in a dark alley.... EVER!!!

LOVE LOVE their Mystery Math Stories! It's great for common core!

Some of my sweet friends making Open House invitations for their parents.

Seriously, hold onto your horses... check out my sweet artist doing the line of symmetry project.

WOW!!!  Isn't she AMAZING!!!

                                         
This goes on the back of their line of symmetry project. We read a couple of books and then talked about things that we love about ourselves. I love #7 - "I'm good at eating."  Me, too, my friend. Me, too. :)

I LOVE how my silhouette project came out. I have a EASY peasy lemon squeezy tutorial for that in the packet. NO tracing, NO tired arms. Just 6 short steps and VOILA!

These are just a couple pictures of my kiddos reading. It seriously makes my heart happy! I love when they are just sprawled out around the room reading. :) Reading IS relaxing and pleasurable and if I want them to grow up loving print, then they have to know this.


Hoping your week isn't as crazy as mine, Friend.

Angela Linzay