Sharing Sunday - Prepping for Poetry

Poetry month is quickly approaching.  I know many of you are reviewing and squeezing everything in as quickly as possible before testing.  Poetry is a great tool to use to review reading and language standards.  It's also fun to read and write poems.  Here are some poetry resources that I hope will make your planning for the next two months a little easier! Click here to download a pdf with links to all of the resources.

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

Currently - February

Today I am linking up again with Farley for Currently February.  I can't believe it is already February.  I hope that Groundhog predicts and early spring today! I also want to wish my parents Happy Anniversary today. And my sister and brother-in-law a Happy Anniversary on Sunday.  This is definitely the month of love for my family.

Listening/Watching: I finished watching Parenthood in December.  I loved it so much that nothing I watched held my attention longer than 5 minutes.  This past week I discovered Broadchurch on Netflix. It is a murder mystery. (**And after the latest episode I think I'm done with this one. I think I'll go back and rewatch Parenthood.)

Loving: The other day on the way to take my kids to preschool we listened to Alt Nation.  (Love that my kiddos get my music) and we heard Nothing But Thieves cover of Where is My Mind.  I fell in love from the first note.  The kids did too and my 3-year-old asked later if we could listen to the "Mind" song again.  It was an exclusive song and we can't find it anywhere.  I HAVE to find it somewhere! 

Thinking: That Groundhog better have good results to or else! I'm so tired of cold, wet, gray days! My family loves the outdoors, but all of the "winter bugs" have taken over with lots of sickness.  I have never been more ready for summer.  We all desperately need days where we only see the inside of the house to sleep.  

Wanting:  A Horse!  I've asked for a horse since I was little.  I recently started riding again and my daughter has started riding too. My little, no-fear, child has already started posting.  Although we only ride once a week and don't own a horse (we do by heart just not financially), it is so much fun for all 3 of us.  

Needing:  To take some stuff off my plate.  I am sure I don't need to explain more as we all need to start doing this one! 

Swooning: The Crossover by Kwame Alexander.  I love, love, love this book. The words, the rhythm, the characters, all of it!  It is a combination of family, friends, basketball, and poetry.  I promise your kids will love it.  The words literally dance on the page.  

Sharing Sundays - Planning for Perimeter and Area 3rd - 5th Grade

This is the time of year that I like to really focus on Perimeter and Area.  Even if I have taught the standards previously, this is a great review.  Why do I like doing perimeter and area at this time of year? Well I get to teach and review a lot of standards!

- Adding of greater numbers
- Adding with multiple addends
- Shape review
- Critical thinking
- And of course the obvious perimeter and area

Here are a few lessons, freebies, books and blog posts to help you teach perimeter and area.  Just click on the image to access a PDF file.  Download the file and you can click each link you want.

Head back to the Primary Peach for MORE February fun and freebies.
Happy Teaching!

Weekly Notes for January 29 (Books, Freebies, Lesson Plans, and More)

Welcome

Book of the week

Last Stop on Market Street by Matt De La Pena

The current Newbery Award Winner and a Caldecott Honor Book!  Wow, what a book. This is a great book that can be used so many different ways.  The details in this book! This is a great text to use in getting students to dive deeper into descriptions.  You could also use this book to introduce any service projects your school or class may be participating. Last Stop on Market Street is one you can use again and again. 

Lesson of the week

Groundhog Day is approaching. Although it's not a holiday to take up a lot time, I love it. It makes me start the countdown to longer and warmer days. To help teach kids about Groundhog Day I like to use this Poetry Literacy Center. The kids get to have fun while learning.

Fabulous Friday Freebie

Are you still holding on to winter? If so, then check out these Snow Paired Texts created by Ideas By Jivey. She shared this awesome resource on the Primary Peach Blog.

Recipe of the Week
For Christmas my husband got me a bread machine. I have said for years I wanted to try to make my own bread. There is something weird about the way I buy a loaf at the store and a month later it is still hanging around with no mold on it. My daughter loves PBJ sandwiches and I cringe every time I give her a sandwich wondering what preservatives are in the bread. Now I don't have to worry because I know all of the ingredients going into the bread. I found this recipe on allrecipes.com and after two tries (I read the helpful reviews and adding the vital wheat gluten, baked it on white bread setting, and used butter instead of shortening) and WOW! My two-year-old eats the bread by itself. It is that yummy. Check out this bread recipe!

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Click this Image to Pin for Later. 

3 Books You Need to Read Right Now

The past 7 months I have learned so much about writing, creating, and marketing.  I feel like I got a business degree without the guidance of a syllabus.  After months of feeling like my list was growing longer and my mind was racing out of control, I was led to these 3 books.  If you are looking for finding creativity, learning how to connect with others in business, and wanting to find a way out of that giant to-do-list, then you have to read these 3 books.

1. Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear by Elizabeth Gilbert
This book spoke to me from the first sentence.  I felt like Elizabeth Gilbert was sitting beside me on the couch coaching me through my need for perfection and my fear of not having perfect words.  I love that she says that creativity doesn't have to be something you are great at and it doesn't have to reach the masses.  I love creating and I feel that I have to be perfect for people to want it. I love the freedom of just being able to create for myself.  No perfection, no marketing, just plain old creating for the fun of it!


2. How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
I am horrible at walking into new situations,  horrible at small talk with the cashier at a store, and horrible about starting conversations with strangers. I don't know where this fear came from, how id developed, or why it still haunts me at 39.  But, this book helped me realize how much I am on the right track.  What gets stuck in my head is the right thing to say.  I care deeply about other people, but I am always afraid that I will offhandedly offend someone.  I now know why this book has been popular for almost a century.  I just comes down to making others feel important.  A simple smile, a kind word, a nice note.

3. Make it Happen by Lara Casey
So I am sticking with this theme of getting over being perfect.  And this book pushed that issue as well.  I love the freedom of perfect.  That freedom has allowed me to write 23 posts in 23 days and freed me from the fear of pushing publish.  Honestly, what horrible thing could happen?  I write a bad sentence, I miss a word, yep that isn't what a publisher or editor wants, but right now my goal is to write and put my words out in the universe.  Lara Casey has dealt with the demons of being perfect many times.  Her advice is amazing and her tips on tackling a to-do list are life and time-saving!

Weekly Notes for January 22 (Books, Freebies, Lesson Plans and More)

Happy Friday everyone! This week has been a whirlwind of a week. I am always amazed at how a 4-day week can seems crazier and busier than a 5-day week. I hope you have weekends filled with joy and time to relax and enjoy.

Book of the Week

Circus Mirandus by Cassie Beasley

A fabulously woven tale about a boy and his sick grandfather. A belief in magic leads this mystery in discovering the miracle that can save Micah and his grandfather. This is definitely one that your fantasy lovers will enjoy.

Lesson of the week

This week I am looking at Perimeter. This is one of those measurement lessons where you get to review your addition strategies in combination with geometry and measurement. This blog post will give you examples to use in your classroom, along with a practice page download, and a suggested performance assessment.

Fabulous Friday Freebie

This Winter Coloring Book by Krista Wallden is fabulous. It has saved me on cold, rainy days. And my kiddos have something to color other than my walls and floors.

Pin of the Week
I have been working on mastering and creating pins. Here is my newest update on my Poetry Unit.

Recipe of the Week - Seaton Sunday Chicken from Once A Month Meals
A Sunday night repeat in our house. This recipe is perfect for a clean eating night and Monday leftovers. The original recipe for this called for soy sauce and we still use that to combine with the mustard. This chicken is so tender. I like to add carrots, an onion, and small potatoes around the chicken to add to the meal. This one is great for cooking with my kids. They love to help add the veggies and create and pour the sauce.

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.

November A Poem Each Week

This post has moved to my new website. CLICK HERE to access your FREEBIE!

October Poems

This article has moved to the new site.  

Sneak-A-Peek with a Peach: My At-Home Classroom

The past few years my classroom has become my playroom.  Check out my post on the Primary Peach to see how I turned to playroom into a toddler classroom.

http://primarypeach.blogspot.com/2015/09/sneak-peek-with-peach-notes-from.html

Plan With Me Sundays - Downsizing

Planning, to-do lists, and organizing are all things I LOVE to do.  However, they are also the things that keep me from getting things done.  I just spent the last few days at the Teachers Pay Teachers conference and one of the biggest takeaways came from Chris Kesler of Kesler Science.  He referenced a book called The One Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results by Gary Keller and Jay Papasan.  I couldn't resist a new read, so I downloaded it on my iBooks and started reading.  The book talks about the one thing you should put your energy into each day.  For me a stay-at-home mom who blogs and creates products for Teachers Pay Teachers I have a lot of directions to go each day.  Here is a look at my week last week.

My heart is pounding out of my check just looking at this!  I had no clear direction and the daily stress to get it done was overwhelming.  My take for now is that each day I need one focus.  Today my one thing is getting my house back in order. This may be why I am writing this sitting on the bathroom floor while one kid is going to the potty and the other one is doing the buckles on his high chair for the 4 millionth time.  Tomorrow, I have a babysitter coming in the morning and that will be my creation time.  I am not leaving to go to a coffee shop.  I am going to sit at my desk and create.  I moved my collaboration time with Snazzy in Second to a Goggle Hangout where I could meet and talk with her during nap time.  And with the screen share option on Google Hangout, I can show her everything I wanted on the computer.  This way I can focus on talking with her without feeling the stress of creating and vice versa.  Here is my plan for this week.

Yes, it isn't just one thing, but for a planner like me I am taking small steps. This one is a list that I feel I can complete!  To help keep my mom brain in order I made a Weekly List separate from the what I was doing each day so I wouldn't forget some of the little things my family needed or things for me to work on that didn't have to get done.  (Thank you DRG ceramics for my favorite mug.)

My next step for planning this week is to get a grasp on social media.  I have felt swamped with social media and the need to learn and use it all.  But guess what, I don't have to do it all.  Such a simple thought for some people but for me this was a huge ah ha moment.  I have downsized a lot of my social media.  Instagram and Facebook are easy for me.  I have created a list of hashtags in my notes section of my phone (thank you Miss Kindergarten and Apple and ABC's for that tip), and then I can just copy and paste any I need.

I have been doing the free trial of tailwind for Pinterest and made the leap to the paid version. Now, Pinterest can be a once a week thing and keep me from scrolling and making notes and then forgetting to pin in my prime hours.  Twitter has scared me for a while and it's the one I know the least about.  I want to learn more about it and Twitter is now going be my learning zone, not a focus for my week.

On my planner I noted times to check and post to FB and Instagram and days to focus on pinning and learning twitter.  Now I don't feel the need to have my phone in hand all day.

There you have it, my ways to plan less and do more.  What tips have you found to help reduce planning and time on social media?  I need to keep downsizing my daily list.

Happy Sunday! 

Jessica 

Plan With Me Sundays

About a week ago we were heading home from the beach and I felt stressed.  I needed organization and I needed it quickly.  Luckily, I came across a blog post titled Plan With Me Sundays by Keeping Up With Mrs. Harris.  She and Kreative in Kindergarten had started a link up about planning and it was the perfect thing for me.  After reading the first post in the link from Keeping Up With Mrs. Harris, I came home and bought the Hello Teacher Planner from the 3am Teacher.  What a life saver! Now instead of notebooks, post-it notes, and piles; I have everything in one spot.  I even have all of my Teachers Pay Teachers Vegas conference notes printed and in the notebook!

I then got my office organized and set up in a way that I could see the house, see outside, and enjoy my new blue walls with white trim.  I even managed to set up a space for Gabriella to "do her work." We even took the time to place her notebook and pens where her little brother couldn't reach them.

Everything I couldn't put in my notebook or I had on the multitude of post-it notes (which would mysteriously disappear) are now on a spreadsheet in my google drive.  No more disappearing.  Plus, I get satisfaction out of deleting something I have accomplished and having more white space on the screen.  Thursday night the list of things on the left was all the way down to 32!  Ecstatic that the list is up to where I can see it all at once!

Two years ago I took the leap from teaching for 15 years to being a stay-at-home mom.  I have had the hardest time going from knowing that I ate lunch at 11:52 to figuring out how to fit it in between the laundry, kid lunches, and the numerous things that just don't happen at home.

When I made this leap I had a 10-month-old and another one quickly on his way.  I have also tried to keep up my teachers pay teachers store, my blog, run a house, clean a house, keep a blog, and finish my EdS in School Library Media and Instructional Technology.

The degree is now done and I am finding my way through the laundry and dishes back to my blog and store.  Thankfully Plan With Me Sundays have given me the opportunity to make time to focus on organizing the Zannini household, my blog, and my store.  I want a give a special thank you to all of your who have shared your planning ideas and allowed me to find my way back to this lovely space!

This week I head to Vegas for the TPT conference and my plan for next Sunday is to organize a way to maintain my social media.

Happy Sunday! 

Jessica 

New Design Coming Soon!

I am so excited! I am working with Designs by Kassie to create a design that reflects my work! I've seen a sample and I feel like a kid waiting on Christmas to have it all in place! 

You can also follow me now on Bloglovin'.