TAKS... yay ((sarcasm))

SO if you live in Texas...
you know what tomorrow is!!!!
It is the Writing TAKS!!!

For those of you that do NOT know about the TAKS...
it is our FaNtAbULouS
(say fantabulous in a snarky sarcastic tone)
state test.
Tomorrow the 4th graders will be taking the
writing portion of the test
AND being the BESTEST 3rd grade around...
we made them good luck goodies!!!

Are these NOT the cutest little goodies for the

WRITING test!!!

I can't take ALL the credit...

I got the idea from Cookies and Cups when she featured them

as a neat Valentine.

We made ours out of Rolos and Kisses!!!

YUMMY!!!

I'll tell you the truth...

we had parent volunteers

(3 of them)

come in and help us make them.

AND then the kids got to write their messages.

Each 3rd grade classroom

adopted a 4th grade class.

We delivered our goodies today

& the 4th graders loved the surprise!!!

We also made extras for ALL of the teachers

that will be helping with the testing.

LOOK at those surprised SMILEs....

they loved their TAKS goodies!!!

Do you do anything special for your testing days to boost the kids spirits???

Let me know about it!!!

Leave a comment~ I would love to know!!!

Give Away by my new BFF

My NEW BFF
(I am hoping we are now Blog Friends Forever)
has a wonderful give away going on at her blog...
ONE EXTRA DEGREE.
Head on over and check out her give away
and FaNtAbULoUs blog. 
& if you are a NEW follower THANKS so much...
I hope you will be able to find some things you can use!!!

Still Doing Van Allsburg

 As you might have seen in one of my other posts,
we are in the middle of an Author Study...
Chris Van Allsburg. 
to see the previous scroll down about 2 posts and you will see it :)

Anywho...
Here is my Interactive Door
and this is where I have my Strong Verb/ Weak Verb Chart.
We talked about how Van Allsburg uses VERY strong verbs in his writing to make a stronger visual image in your head!!! I usually keep my Interactive Door up for a week BUT

the kids have had so much fun searching for STRONG VERBS in their books...

it will stay up another week.

 APOLOGIZING for the sideways pic... too tired to download it to my laptop and it won't switch for me right now... just tilt your head slightly :)

This is a Travel Tracer activity that my kids worked on for 2 days.  They "traced" the travels of Ben, in Ben's Dream. Every time a setting changes it must be documented in a travel tracing activity!!! I know the kids LOVED this activity because some of them stayed in at recess and came in early to work on it!!! YAY!!!

 Next week, we have 3 more books to look at and discuss!!! My team and I talked about how much fun we have had teaching this unit and it shows in the kids work!!! KUDDOS to us!!! LOL

to do list

If you are like me I have a TON of things I have to get done each week.
I was getting lost in paperwork, meetings, parent contacts, things to do, and the list goes on...&...on
My teaching partner had a cute To Do List that she uses religiously to keep her organized and so
I looked all over Blogland for a To Do List
I finally found one I liked
BUT I had to make it FaRLeYFiEd...aka cute it out with FONTS!!!

I ran off about 20 copies and clipped them into a FaNtAbULouS clipboard.
I started using it about 4 weeks ago and it has really helped me stay on top
of things.  My teaching BUDS LOVED mine so much that I started making them
personalized ones...
and for you LUVERLY PEEPs I have one for you too!!!
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/free-to-do-list-free-118549

Hope you like it and good luck staying organized!!!
If you want to see more organization ideas head on over to Growing Kinders!!! 

LOVE AMANDA & CHRIS

I am LUV~N me some One Extra Degree, Amanda Nickerson!!!

She came up with a FaNtAbuLoUs Chris Van Allsburg Unit &

I bought it!!!

Let me tell you what....

that was the best $$$ I have spent in a long time!!!

We (my 3rd grade team) started the unit last week and the kids

BEG us to read a new book everyday!!!

We started with Jumanji and Zathura. 

The kids did a wonderful job filling out our Venn Diagrams!!!

I PUFFY HEART the one below!!!

The bottom of our trashcans worked out perfectly for

Venn circles.  I had the kids fold their paper in half and trace the TC making sure they

overlap the middle crease.

They did great!!!!!

When you purchase her unit...

you get these great labels!!!!

We made a GIANT anchor chart and I made a smaller version for them.

Here is a FREE Printable for you of our smaller version!!!

This week, we read Ben's Dream and Just a Dream.

Once again, we had great connections, conversations, and Venns (no pics sorry).

I put the kids into groups and they did a

TRAVEL TRACER

activity.  They really enjoyed "tracing"  Ben's dream and making several landmarks for their

Travel Tracer posters.

They were such hard little workers and we will continue 

to work on these posters manana!!! 

Below,

you can see what great artist I have.... and a few tracers.

They had some great conversations about the landmarks and the books we have read.

***HAPPY TEACHER***

 Some students went online and found coloring sheets to help them

draw....

 and others used the coloring pages to TRACE!!!

I am so excited that we still have 2 more weeks with this unit!!!

& so are the kids... it makes teaching SO MUCH FUN

when everyone is enjoying it!!!

THANKS AGAIN to Amanda over at One Extra Degree!!!

GO VISIT her blog

it is a must!!!

Meet the Teacher

 Thanks so much for this great meet and greet that First Grade Parade is hosting.... LUV IT!!!! HI! My name is Meghan Farley and I teach 3rd grade in San Antonio.  I have been teaching for ten years and all of those have been in 3rd grade and I LOVE it.  I have been at my WoNdErIfIc school for 9 of those years!!!  As a matter of fact I went to this school when I was in 1st grade. SEE....

I am in the very back row sportin a white shirt and vest.  (thanks mom)

I absotootly LOVE the girls I work with... we are like a big family!!!

I have been married to my FAB hubby for 11 years!! 

& we have one cute, CRAZY SMART, hilarious, 2 year old named Drew.

my lil family at the hockey game :)

Now for the Q & A

Q: What would you be doing if you weren’t a teacher?                                             
A: I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to have my own giftique like my girlfriends at Bless Your Heart but I would also like to be a stay at home momma too!!!


Q: What are your hobbies?                                                                                    
A:  I love crafting, baking, and photography... I have a craft blog you can see here!!!! (no longer :( )
So blogging might be another hobby!!! My girlfriends from Bless Your Heart have hired me to be their BLOG QUEEN so you can see that blog HERE.  and I have a family BLOG too HERE!!!! Maybe blogging should be my #1 hobby!!! LOL                                                                 

Q: When you were little, what did you want to be when you grew up?                     
A:  I always wanted to be a Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader.... I have to LOL at that!!!

 Q: What are your guilty pleasures?                                                             
 A: Real Housewives ALL OF THEM!!! TJ Maxx, ETSY, and COKE... OH and Teen Mom and I know I know this is horrible but Toddlers and Tiaras... and I probably need to add in FB too!!!

Q: What is your biggest fear?!                                                                  
 A: I am one Plus Sized paranoid diva.... thunderstorms, flying, drunk drivers, flying hockey pucks (I've been hit twice *ouch*) and pretty much all the crazy MOM fears associated with a VERY adventurous 2 year old!!!



Q: When you’re on vacation, where do you like to go?                              
 A: Santa Fe is my #1 pick because my in-laws have a house there and it is so relaxing and BEE-U-TEE-FULL
 




 

 that pic was taken in their driveway ( I secretly wish I could live in their house
FOR EVA & EVA)

SEE WHY???? this is the view from the back porch


Q: What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?                                                   
A:  you are in control of your own JOY... and... there is a difference between being liked and being respected


Q: What do you value most in others?                                                                   
A:  manners & fairness

Q: If you could choose one of your personality traits to pass down to your kids, what would it be?                                                                                                        
A: thoughtfulness     

Q: If you could have lunch with anyone in the world….living or dead…who would it be?                                                                                                          
A: I would really like to have lunch with Oprah and Rick Perry (our Governor) and Obama and the topic would be about Education focusing on budgets and mandated State Testing

Now tell us one random thing about yourself:

I JUST started my teacher blog last week!!! Like I need another blog... LOL but I PUFFY Heart all of the great ideas I have seen out there in Blogland and thought I could share some of mine as well. 

AND

I love making up my own funny words

by adding -ific & -tabulous

for example

Bloggerific

&

Blogtabulous


thanks for coming by and I hope you come back to see some of my teaching ideas and creations