A FREE President's Day Poem for Kids

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Weekly Notes for January 15 (Books, Freebies, Lesson Plans and More)

This week was full of excitement - from the National Championship game (hate my tigers lost) to the announcement of the ALA book awards. An interesting twist this year was that a picture book Last Stop on Market Street won the Newbery Award!  Yes, I know I should be featuring the winner this week, but I decided to share the book I had picked to win, Echo by Pam Munoz Ryan.  (This book did win a Newbery Honor). 

Book of the week

Echo by Pam Munoz Ryan

I feel in love with this book from the first page. I usually do with Pam Munoz Ryan books but this one more so than the others. The intertwining stories take you through such different points of view of the rise of Hitler and the Great Depression. As the story progresses I miss the characters who have passed. This is definitely a read aloud for fifth grade. Love! Love! Love!

Lesson of the week - Poetry terms

Testing time is getting near and poems always make it on the test. Take some time to review or teach the important poetry terms and standards. Here is a great blog post with the information you need, plus a free poetry book to use in your classroom.

Fabulous Friday Freebie AND Pin of the Week

Need tools to help teach synonyms? This pin was one of my highest repins this month. The free synonyms lesson by Jen Bradshaw is a great tool to use in your classroom.

Recipe of the Week

The White Chicken Chili from Marty’s Musings is a staple in our household! My two-year-old loves it. It takes 10 mins to prep in the slow cooker and 4 hours later dinner is ready! Some corn bread with a little cheese added is a great side. A little sour cream and cheese on top is the perfect addition, but isn't needed especially is you are going eating clean.

How to Help Students Master Perimeter, Area, and Volume

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Weekly Notes for January 8 (Freebies, Books, Lessons, and More!)

I am so looking forward to this year. After a few years of fearing the page I have decide to buckle down and get over that fear. One of the poems from the January A Poem Each Week is Life Doesn't Frighten Me by Maya Angelou. I am not going to fear the page and when people ask me what I do I will tell them that first I am a mom and second I am a writer. A writer of children's stories and writer to inspire and make the lives of teachers easier.

Book of the week

Float by Daniel Miyares

What a fabulous book! The images draw readers in and this wordless picture book provided so much detail that my two-year-old could tell the story to me as he flipped through the beautiful pages. This is one I hope to see a Caldecott sticker on soon!

Lesson of the week

Creating character is one of the first things students should so when planning a fiction piece. Watch this video and download this handout for ideas on helping student create strong characters.

Fabulous Friday Freebie

The January Edition of A Poem Each week is ready to download. This month focuses on four poems to promote higher level thinking and having students make connections to the text. Poems you will need for this month:

Hooray! Hooray! It's New Year's Day by Kenn Nesbitt 

(found in the book My Hippo Has the Hiccups)

January by John Updike

The sky is low, the clouds are mean, by Emily Dickenson

Life Doesn't Frighten Me by Maya Angelou

Pin of the week

I have spent a lot of time lately reading about testing and assessing.  I loved this article by Mandy's Tips 4 Teachers about getting control of student assessments. 

Recipe of the Week

For New Years this year we wanted something warm and cozy. I fixed this white bean and ham soup that I found at Sweet and Simple and a Dash of Crazy. Since I am a little superstitious I added a few collard greens to bring money in the new year.

January A Poem Each Week

The Free January A Poem Each Week has moved! Please click the blue letters to learn more!

Sharing Sunday - Planning for Testing

I am teaming up with The Primary Peach to bring you the January Edition of Sharing Sunday. This month I am helping you plan for standardized testing.  

It took about 10 years of teaching to realize I need to really jump the ball on preparing for standardized testing.  I would feel the crunch as faculty meetings were filled with testing information and the date of the test drew closer.  I finally realized that January was a great place for me to start getting my students ready for testing.  

As a result of starting early, I found that we were all less stressed and were ready to dive in the first day of testing.  My students had ample time to reflect and ask questions so as the days drew closer my test anxiety kids were happier and my students who waited until the day of the test to ask questions that I couldn’t answer asked questions earlier.  

Below you will find reading and math resources, freebies, and blog posts geared toward 3rd grade testing standards. (These can be adapted to meet other grade level standards.) Click on the image to download the PDF that contains all of the links.

Sneaking these test prep activities in your lessons in January, will give students extra time to use these skills on their classroom assessments as well.

Head back to the Primary Peach for MORE January fun and freebies.