Cooking Up Some Yumminess {and a freebie} for the Holidays!

Happy Holidays!! Welcome to Miss V's Busy Bees. If you've jumped over from the Elementary Grapevine, welcome!! I DO have to thank Krystal from the Good Enough Teacher for organizing this AMAZING hop!!

I do hope you enjoyed Lory's post on her classroom snowball fight and all the other ladies' posts so far, as well!!

You've made it to my blog now and you're here because you want to know all about that YUMMINESS!! You also probably want the freebie, too :) keep reading, we'll make it there!!

Being that I absolutely LOVE sweets and I am from Ohio, and I love Christmas like no other, my holiday sweet I'm telling you about is going to be Buckeyes. No, not the nuts, but they look like the nuts that come off the trees!

If you like peanut butter, and you like chocolate, then you will LOVE these babies. They are easy to make and each batch of ingredients puts out about 150 pieces of yumminess. HOLY CANNOLI, I know.

But, you'll also be eating them as you make them AND your friends will ask for some, so you won't be stuck with those 150 pieces of deliciousness for long.

Below is the process to complete the Buckeyes. I'll be honest, it's REALLY redundant. And it gets boring. But, throw on some Christmas music, dance around, and eat some Buckeyes and you will be A-OK! I promise :)

Buckeyes are absolutely delicious and VERY easy to make.

What a better recipe than to make these babies with your own students in your classroom or your own kiddos at home. They'll LOVE it!! I mean, how could someone NOT like the deliciousness below??? We made some last night and they taste DELICIOUS!!!!

To help assist you, I whipped up this quick "How-To" writing about how to make Buckeyes for a writing activity. My students love procedural writing. Using procedural writing about something as great and yummy as Buckeyes? PERFECT. Click the picture below to head to TPT to download the freebie! :)

Once you've downloaded your freebie, keep hopping! Your next stop is going to be at Ride Away With Mrs. Ridgway's blog where she's talking all about an RAK Parent Christmas Gift! I know my kiddos love doing RAKs, so I'm personally excited for her post!

Click the picture below to head on over :)

Thank you for coming by, and Happy Holidays once again!!

Another Bright Idea: Post It Notes!

So, you're back for another monthly installment of BRIGHT IDEAS!

One of my very, very favorite link ups out there.

So, here goes!

Let me start with what truly inspired this post. I was on Facebook one day and someone posted a picture of a treasure box. And I thought, well, wonder what's in it? The next day, they posted what was in it and I'll just say… it was TEACHER HEAVEN. A box full of different kinds and colors of post it notes. Oh my goodness. Perfection in a box.

So what did I do? OF COURSE. I ordered myself one of those beauties.

When it arrived, I was as giddy as could be. I was so excited to delve right into it to see what different kinds I had received. I'm not going to lie… some of the ones I received, I was like, "How in the WORLD am I supposed to use these? What would they be used for??" but, I figured that I'll find a place for them - duh! 

So, we found out that we could use the post it notes for many things. The list below is NOT all that you can do with them, but some ideas:

-Exit tickets

-Use during guided reading to write about parts you liked/didn't like

-Mini-summarizing

-Bookmarks (oh yeah… my kids love that they stick to their pages!)

-Labels for your classroom items

-Notes to other teachers/educators

-Quick games (I Have, Who Has?, Guess the Person, Guess the Word, etc)

-Short running-records or conference notes

-Think Math! responses

-Sticky-note graphic organizers

I want to elaborate a little more on the last one… if you type in sticky-note education on Pinterest alone, you'll pull up HUNDREDS of ideas. Now, type in sticky-note education on Google, and you'll pull up THOUSANDS more! Well, I wanted my students to individually choose a book that they wanted me to purchase (with Scholastic points) so what's the best way for them to write up on a GIANT piece of paper their responses without everyone going up at once? Oh yeah, sticky notes!

Right now, my lonely little sticky note that I used as an example is the only one up there… because we ran out of time, BUT needless to say, my students will be choosing a book that they'd like to be added to our classroom library so that they can no longer say, "I can't find anything to read, Mrs. Unroe!"

I love the endless possibilities that you could have with sticky notes. They provide your students an interactive way to continue learning instead of focusing solely on paper and pencil activities… what better way to learn than manipulate a tiny, fun piece of paper that sticks anywhere?!

What do YOU do or would you do in your classroom with sticky notes?? Share in the comments!

Next, head over to Pinterest to follow me for more ideas to use in your classroom.

Once you've done all that, check out the blogs below for THEIR bright ideas. Us teachers have to stick together, y'all!

An InLinkz Link-up

A Fundraiser Giveaway for Our Friend Jen!

We teachers know all about journeys.  Many of us are getting ready to journey back to our classrooms to prepare for the new school year.  Each school year becomes a journey of sorts, with its own set of students, challenges, and rewards.

We teachers also know all about support.   Year after year, we give so much of ourselves to help our students learn, build confidence in their abilities, and empower them to become the future our world needs.  We also support our fellow teachers, our families, our communities.  In the midst of it all, it becomes easy to forget that, simply put, teachers touch lives.
 Every. Single. Day.

Graphics credit to Melonheadz;  Font credits to Hello Literacy, Miss Tiina, and DJ Inkers.  Thanks to Joey Udovich for designing!

While many of us are thinking of back-to-school, Jen Bengel and her family have been preparing for a journey of another kind.  They will soon be traveling to Uganda to adopt a child!  Check out Jen’s blog post HERE! (Prepare to be inspired!)

A number of fellow teacher-bloggers have joined forces to offer a measure of support to Jen and her family as they prepare for their special journey.  Each of us has chosen a resource from our store that, between now and August 31, a portion of each sale’s proceeds will be donated to Jen’s adoption fund!

This is the resource I have chosen:

Between now and August 31, I pledge to donate $1 of each sale of this resource (my best seller!) to Jen’s adoption fund.

Hop around to the blogs featured below to see what my friends are pledging!

Apple Slices

Apples & ABC's
Beyond the Worksheet
Crafting Connections
Create Teach Share
Flapjack Education
Learning with Mrs. S
Miss V's Busy Bees
One Stop Teacher Shop
Tales of a Teacher
Teaching Trio
The Teacher Desk 6

We hope you will find this to be a win-win opportunity, where you can purchase some great resources for the upcoming school year, knowing that you are supporting a meaningful cause at the same time!

Note that Jen also has a fundraising bundle available at her store. Don’t miss checking this out, too! 

Finally, to make it worth your time to check out all the resources, we are also hosting a raffle giveaway!  The winner of the giveaway will score a great prize package, full of resources from our team – just in time for BTS!

From me, the giveaway winner will receive:

So, hop around, check out some fantastic resources, support a cause, touch a life!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Library Organization: A Bright Idea!

It's time! Time for the third round of the Bright Ideas linky! 150 bloggers have teamed up this time to bring you some more bright ideas to help make things in your classroom go 150% easier!

My bright idea has to deal with library organization - your classroom library!

{GRAPHIC CREDITS: Krista Wallden (Creative Clips) & KG Fonts}

My kiddos enjoy reading more than any other children I have ever met - therefore, our classroom library is stocked full of tons of different books across all different genres.

To name a few, we have biographical, science fiction, non-fiction, fantasy, folk-tale, and so on!

So, I needed a way to organize those books. 

{GRAPHIC CREDITS: Krista Wallden (Creative Clips) & KG Fonts}

Meet my classroom library bins. They're no longer this organized… but you can walk in my room and tell my kiddos love reading!!

I got the bins from Big Lots at the beginning of the school year and have LOVED them ever since. Easily stores most chapter books and each bin stores around 20-25 books. Perfect solution.

Then, I arrange my bins based on the series rather than genre - this makes it easier than having 15 bins for fiction and 17 for non-fiction. Instead, we've got bins for Magic Tree House, Who Was/What Was series, Junie B. Jones, and so forth. The kids know which books go where and if they are in search of something, they read the tags and find it really quickly!

{GRAPHIC CREDITS: Krista Wallden (Creative Clips) & KG Fonts}

THEN beyond that, my kiddos and I are all about Accelerated Reader, otherwise known as AR. 

Each time they read a book, they then take a short comprehension quiz on the storybook. This shows whether they understood what they read or not. I, as the teacher, get a detailed report of each students' progress on EACH book's quiz they take. I love it, and they love looking at the data that they receive AFTER they complete the test.

We also rely heavily on our AR levels - otherwise known as our ZPD levels. This level is what helps my students choose their books that they can read AND understand.

To help solve the issue of not knowing which books are at which level, I have begun (never too late!!) to label each book with their AR level and how many points their quizzes are worth.

BACKTRACK: I set a goal for each of my students to reach a certain amount of points by taking AR tests. That's where the point obsession comes into play.

But, I am running out of steam when it comes to writing the words "AR level" and "Points" in each book, so I created these to help save some time and energy:

VERY easy and simple! Now I just have to write two numbers, peel it, and stick it. DONE!

These are just two SIMPLE ways to organize my library to truly keep MY sanity! And, to make it easier for my kiddos to find that JUST right book :)

What are some things you do in YOUR classroom library to make it easier for your kiddos? Sound off in the comments below!

And for MORE great ideas, please look below and browse through the link-up, choosing the topics/grade levels that you'd like to check out! But, I won't lie to you - you may want to check out EVERY idea… they're all SO brilliant!

An InLinkz Link-up

Hands-On Science Project

Hey there!

Welcome to the 2nd installment of the Bright Ideas Blog Hop! There are roughly 185 bloggers participating this round and I KNOW for a fact that there are some more fantastic ideas. That's what's great about teachers… we're full of ideas!

So, you saw my title says hands-on science project.

Well, in our 3rd grade classroom, we're learning all about landforms and the water cycle. To make the landform concept more concrete for my own students, I had them complete a landform Play-Doh project.

This activities allowed for the abstract concept of a variety of landforms to become hands-on and more visually THERE… especially for those students that haven't seen an archipelago or a volcano besides in a picture. It's almost as though the landforms were in their own backyards!

The only materials needed for this project were some sort of cardboard box for the base (I used post office boxes I had in my spare room from another project) and some Play-Doh. I'll be honest - I spent quite a bit of time trying to find the perfect colors for the project but then found a box of colors that had anything from pink to black to orange to green.

As you can see in some of the pictures, there are pink islands, red and yellow mountains, and a variety of other mismatched landforms to what they are typically colored. My students understood that there really aren't pink islands, orange mountains (well… if you count Arizona soil/dirt, then it would be red/orange!), and so forth.

Regardless, my students had a blast and wanted to do another topic in Play-Doh. I'm constantly trying to find ways to keep my students engaged and involved in their education, and this project… well, it was a home run!

Excuse the glue bottle and the Zoobreak book… the were gluing their labels on to their landforms so that I could tell which landform was what. They loved it!

What kinds of hands-on activities do you do in your classrooms? Even if it's not in Science, I'd love to hear about the projects!

But, now - what about storage?? What teacher doesn't need EXTRA storage for all their junk… er, I mean learning tools… in their classroom? Lydia from Owl Be in Kindergarten has a FANTASTIC post on finding that space in the tiniest of ways (and one of the cutest and easiest DIY ways). Head on over to her blog post by clicking her button below.

And if you'd prefer to just hop from one topic to another instead of from blog to blog, feel free to check out the linky below! There are two separate linkies - one for "K through 2nd" and one for "3rd and up". Each person that has linked up has linked up by their BLOG POST title - not their specific blog! So, it's much easier to find JUST what you need. But, I suggest going from blog to blog because you'll find FANTASTIC ideas! :)

Happy Hopping!

An InLinkz Link-up

An InLinkz Link-up

Dog Days of Summer Giveaway & Hop!

Hey y'all! With the endless heat, the endless rain, and the endless to-do list I've got... I wanted to do something FUN! SO, when Teresa e-mail me, the "founder/owner" of Teaching Blog Roundup (the collaborative blog I am part of), and asked if I wanted to participate in a fun summer giveaway & blog hop, I jumped right up on it!

{Graphic credits go to Michelle @ The 3AM Teacher}

So, here's the scoop.

First, head on over to Teaching Blog Roundup by clicking the image above and enter yourself into the giveaway to win 14 prizes! Yup, 14 different authors are giving at least ONE thing away :) now, who wouldn't want to go shoppin' at 14 different stores with BTS upon us?!

Once you've done that, start hoppin' by goin' through the linky below! Many authors are either offering a sale at their TPT store, a freebie, or both!

What am I offering??

I am offering both. First, my ENTIRE store is 15% off from today (Friday) until Sunday.

As for my freebies, I'm going to point you over to a couple of blog posts over at Teaching Blog Roundup where I was the author for the day AND I gave away some freebies. Click the pictures below to be taken to their respective posts.

While you're over there, check out some other posts and go ahead and follow us! The authors over there are just AWESOME and I'm so happy to be part of such a great group of teachers.

What ya waitin' for? START HOPPIN'!

blog hop & giveaways!

My giveaway starts in just TWO days! A little side note... there's LOTS of fabulous goodies up for grabs :) don't miss out!

Here's a fabulous blog hop going on for newbie bloggers :) go join if you're interested!

With this blog hop, there's a total of 5 questions you've gotta answer! So here they go :)

1. What state you are in
I'm in Ohio!

2. Your current teaching position
I am not currently teaching - just graduated! But, I'm applying in multiple districts for sub positions so hopefully I'll hear back soon!

3. Your teaching experience
My teaching experience is limited to the student teaching I had - preschool, kindergarten, and 2nd grade.

4. When you started blogging
I started blogging in June of this year.

5. Share a blogging tip/blogging resource
A blogging tip that I have is to comment if you see something that intrigues you/interests you! Everyone loves receiving comments, and loves talking and getting to know other bloggers by responding to your comments! This is also how you make great bloggy friends.

On another note (again) - I went to see The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel yesterday with my Nana - AMAZING movie. Makes you stop and appreciate your own life, as well as the lives of others. Definitely one to check out if you're ready for a good laugh and a cry! :)

GIVEAWAYS

Have a good night, y'all!