Conjunctions and Compound sentences - Anchor chart and freebie!

Linking up with Crafting Connections for my very first Anchors Away Monday!

This week, I've been talking with my kiddos about compound sentences. I thought that conjunctions would be mostly review, but I was surprised to find that my students needed some review. We reviewed the conjunctions using everyone's favorite acronym, FANBOYS.

Then we talked about joining simple sentences (also known as independent clauses) using conjunctions and commas. I have some seriously gifted mathematical students in my classroom who have a comparatively hard time grasping topics in ELA, so I wanted to try to create something they could relate to. Cue the music- I decided to try an equation!

Simple sentence, + conjunction + simple sentence = compound sentence.

Seriously- it worked! Prior to this lesson, my kids were struggling. Whenever they saw a conjunction they were assuming it was a compound sentence. We had this lesson as a sort of "last effort" the day before the quiz. ALL my kiddos got a 90 or better. ALL OF THEM!  Seriously pleased with this one.

I also created a fun compound sentence sort card set. It's a fun activity that my kids really enjoyed. There are several simple sentences, and a page of conjuctions and punctuation. Check this FREEBIE out!

The Sunday Scoop

Linking up with the Teaching Trio for the Sunday Scoop!

My "happy to do" is something I just learned about- the TM Halloween Scavenger hunt on IG! I am so out of the loop- didn't even know it was going on. I'm going to start tonight! I'll be going IG crazy the next few days. :)

"Look Who's Popular" - say whaaaat Photobucket?!

That cute icon above is what the Blogs by Grade Link up is supposed to look like... but, if you came by lately you may have caught a glimpse of this:

Oh no! I am not sure long it was like that. Apparently, I exceeded the limit of bandwidth that I receive each month. This hasn't happen before... that I know of! I didn't get an email from them and I wonder how long it would have gone on if I hadn't noticed. Eek!

So, now that I've fixed that, it seems like a great opportunity to add your link to the Blogs by Grade link up! I love checking out all the new link ups. It's nice to have a place to go to check out all the other grade level blogs, too! So, wait are you waiting for? Link up!

Monday made it!

Linking up with 4th Grade Frolics for Monday Made it!

This is totally late, but I have to share my calendar. I am seriously in love with it! I purchased a planner from Tanya Rae designs and I haven't regretted it for a second. Her stuff is cute and really practical. Just about everything I could want is included in this file- and usually there are a couple different versions of each document. I'm a huge fan! I printed it at home and had it bound at staples. 

Anyway, once I got my planner printed and bound, I decided to get serious about my calendar. I don't know about the rest of you moms out there, but I have found that I am way more forgetful now than I have ever been. Maybe it's because my mind is always on my little guy, or maybe it is just because I a am sleep deprived. ;) Either way- something's gotta change! Being the visual person that I am, I decided to make my calendar beautifull 

 I used color coded washi tape to mark off meetings, deadlines, and no school days in my calendar. I wrote the important information on the washi tape, too. Some of it was kind of waxy and hard to write on, but for the most part it came out pretty well!

The tape is repositionable, so when our curriculum meetings date for the whole year changed after I had created the calendar, I could easily move it. No crossing out or erasing! I was afraid it would leave a little gummy paste behind, but it didn't.

Isn't it fantastic? I just love opening up my calendar and being able to quickly know what to expect. Like, for instance, look at December. I can see that I have two weeks off for Christmas vacation. Wahoo! I can also see that I sadly have a staff meeting and two PM conference nights the first week of December. :( 

I also add the washi tape to the lesson plan section to remind myself about important events and meetings. Without this, I would probably be lost. Maybe even literally, walking down random hallways instead of showing up to the right meeting.

To keep my scattered brain in check, I also included a key with all the colors what they mean. I tried to use the same colors on my family calendar, too, for the sake of sanity! Of course, I won't need things like "marks close" on our family calendar, but I do need to know when I have after school meetings and days off. If you look at the tape closely, you can see that the orange and beige striped tape was one of the waxy ones that was hard to write on.

Sharing the inside cover of my planner for Made It #2- my little guy! Snuggled up with a teddy bear at his newborn photo shoot.

So, how do you keep your calendar organized?

Working Moms

All you working moms out there, tell me... how do you do it? I'm a mess! I feel like I'm always behind in something. The papers aren't graded, or the house is a mess, or I haven't been running all week. How do you manage? I'm only four months in, and I am drowning!

On the bright side, I have been keeping up with my resolution to stay only 1 hour after kids leave every day except Wednesdays. I say an extra 2 hours on Wednesdays to get all caught up and ready for the next week. I love it, because I don't get that "sunday night" feeling anymore! It's fantastic.

Hope you are all having a good week!

Five for Friday**

Hi Friends! It's that time again.., linking up for Five for Friday!**

**- on Saturday. Oops!

I just signed up to participate in a blog swap again this year! I LOVED doing it last year, and can't wait to participate again! This year, it's being hosted by Miss, Hey, Miss. Check it out here.

I'm totally jealous of all the blogger meet-ups I keep seeing online! Is anyone else? We should totally do a Massachusetts teacher blogger meetup! Bloggers in Southern NH, RI, or even CT and ME could join us, too. Love it! Click here to sign up and get more info.

The countdown to back-to-school is on! Two weeks from Monday teachers report, and the next day is student report day. I can't believe summer is almost over! It flew by this year... and I didn't even get a good beach day in! I have to fix that before school starts up again. 

This totally ins't blog related, but I have to share. In Massachusetts, we have a small family owned supermarket chain called Market Basket (although it used to be called DeMoulas, so everyone still refers to it as that!). They are headquartered north of Boston, but have stores throughout New England. The shares are divided between many family members, but 2 cousins are the primary leaders. Strangely, they are both named Arthur. Arthur S is the "evil" cousin, and has fired Arthur T- who is much beloved among customers and employees. Arthur T is known for his compassion and kindness toward employees. When the stock market crashed, he replaced over a million dollars in lost stock for employees so they wouldn't lose their retirements. Long story short, thousands of non-unionized employees have been on strike since Arthur T was fired! The stores are empty and sales are down 95%. Customers are "on strike" too- no one I know is shopping there for anything. It's pretty crazy, and it's currently at a stalemate. Read more from Boston.com here.

I finished a new little something for my TpT store!

It's an "Under the Sea" ocean themed behavior management clip chart. Students start on "Ready to Learn" and move up or down based upon their choices. My little darlings reset weekly, so every Monday is a fresh start! It's on sale for $1 for a few days... but watch for a flash freebie! :)

Have a great weekend!

August Currently

Wait, how is it August? Where did July go? I think this means the countdown to back to school is officially on... :( Linking up with Farley for this month's Currently!

Listening: I've recently discovered So You Think You Can Dance. Seriously, how did I not watch this before? So good! I binged on the re-runs On Demand (or XFinity... or whatever it's called now!) during late night feedings, and now I'm hooked.

Loving: My new little guy. How has 8 weeks already gone by? It's the strangest feeling because it feels as though he was born yesterday, but at the same time I can't remember life without him. <3 p="">

Thinking: I am just FULL of ideas for this year! So much going on, so much to do, and so much to be excited about. I'm psyched to go back and try it all out!

Wanting: I can't wait for hubby to get home so I can go out for my run today. I got a running stroller (the BOB- it's fantastic!) but I think that my little one is just a bit too small to go with me. A few more weeks and he can join me. :)

Needing: Seriously, how does someone that weighs 12 lbs make more laundry than my husband and I combined? It's insane!! 

1st day back: Teachers report on my birthday this year! I've never, ever worked or gone to school on my birthday. Not once in my whole life! What a terrible time to start... my first day away from the baby is also my birthday.  Boo!