My Fabulous Finds..

                               
I'm linking up with fun in room 4b to tell ya' about my fabulous Friday finds!
What a fantastic party! Link up with Elizabeth & show everyone your Fabulous finds...


My first find that I can't seem to stop obsessing over - are these adorable notebooks.

My next find that makes me smile from ear to ear, is my 1st day back icebreaker activity.  

I'm thrilled that my class will have something FuN to do. 

(will look simply adorable displayed on their desks)

reallygoodstuff.com

Last find for that I can't live without is sitting in my backyard! We finally found such a steal at Macy's Furniture outlet.  Hubby and I snagged a beautiful table and chair set, it was half price. (bought the floor sample, no cushions.. but yay!) 
Ok.ok..I have one more find that I have to share not work or home related, but check out these super cute Juicy wedges...A steal from their 4th Of July sale!

                                                                  

Happy 4th Of July..

                 
 Happy 4th of July!  It's time to celebrate this national holiday with red, white and blue, fireworks and parades, stars and stripes, flags, picnics, hot dogs and BBQ's. Here are some fun facts to share with your family & friends about the birth of our American Independence..
                                Did You Know:
-The 4th of July was not declared a national holiday until 1941.
-The first 4th of July party was held at the White House in 1801.
-Over 150 million hot dogs will be consumed today.
-America's second President John Adams was the first one to light the fireworks for Independence day.
-In a remarkable coincidence, former Presidents John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and 
James Monroe all passed away on the date July 4th. (different years of course)
-Betsy Ross, according to legend, sewed the First American Flag in 1776 as commissioned by the Congressional Committee. 
-The first Macy's Fourth of July Fireworks show in NYC occurred in 1958. (simply amazing)
                                      

I'm getting ready to CELEBRATE! I'll be laying poolside with my kiddies, hubby, family and friends and then we will watch the FiRe-WoRks... Hope you have a fantastic Fourth of July!

My 1st summer trip to Target!

It's been so lovely being on summer break.  I'm having lots of fun with my family.
My children just love that I am home, we have been spending lots of time outside, playing and swimming, but today I made my first summer trip to TARGET! I kinda knew it would be a little bit dangerous...but I had no idea - I would do some back-to-school shopping!!  Our last day of school in NY was just a week ago!  However I still managed to buy all sorts of fun stuff..


               how adorable are these notebooks and folders..

two gigantic bouncy balls for the kids..

& we needed to purchase a gigantic swan float!

end of year project

  It's the end Of the School Year today.. & we had a "ball "

      

  
      This was a fantastic, fun way to have an 
autograph party with my fabulous 3rd graders.               

Guest Blogging!

I am making my debut as a "guest blogger" on my fellow teacher friend's blog! Melissa and I share a LoVe for super-cute printables for our classes. It's amazing how there are so many creative teachers posting all the things they've designed, and I've always wondered how it was done. I recently took a peek at Ladybug's Teacher Files video, "Creating Printables with Powerpoint"and then tried out my very first printables! With the help of free graphics from Graphics From The Pond on www.teacherspayteachers.com....here are my very first creations I shared with Melissa (who then asked me to share them with you!)....

 

Thanks to Maria from Charmed in Third Grade who came up with a great idea about 

Surfing the Web Check out Maria's Blog...

We are laminating and keeping this near our computer center! 

Also a good resource to send home to parents!

Since many of our planbooks in our school are teacher-created to have more space, 

I usually keep this in the front as a reference page. 

To put in the spine of our large 2 inch binders to house tests, benchmarks and running records :)

for a leveled library

Well, that's all from me for now. Thanks for reading, and a special thanks to Melissa for asking me to share! ~Kim

Happy Wednesday...

I'm Loving my newest purchase...

                       I'm also LoVing my other new purchase.... Spike the Punch Necklaces.They are incredibly hard to get your hands on, but I was able to snag a few... to order :etsy

                                    
                                   




                                                                                    So these are the things I'm LoVing this Wednesday..What are you loving today? Link Up: this kind of love

What I'm loving Wednesday!

          
                 I'm in LoVe with lace shorts..
My obsession started last spring, I found adorable lace shorts at Free People and Zara.
This summer it seems like they are a wardrobe staple, I love how everyone is pairing them with long sleeve loose tops -  to dress them up while still looking fabulously casual! Recently I've picked up a few pairs at H&M and Anthropologie..  I found these style-ish pictures courtesy of Pinterest.
                                                       
Check out jaime & Link up every Wednesday!

This year I worked on a year long project 
with my 3rd graders!
We did an in-depth fairytale unit based on the story of "Cinderella".
Here was our essential question?

Why do different cultures have similar fairy tales?
Of all the fairy tales ever written, why has the story of Cinderella been the one to capture the hearts of so many generations and cultures?

Keeping this in mind we began our magical journey...

We read & loved all different versions -
We charted similarities and differences.
Used tons of graphic organizers, and plot maps.

After reading we placed a glass slipper on the country the story came from.

We had a fair share recently and presented our projects, all students created their own version of the classic tale.

Some students created an original play and acted it out.

While others presented with a slide show.

Many wrote original Big Books - 

They enjoyed writing about the countries their families came from!

Others developed story lines based on topics they enjoy!

All of the students were really creative, and the lessons continually led us into discussions about cultural importance, customs, family structure, and values.

(things we always want to talk about)  

They came up with an amazing chart with some answers to our "essential question" most said that this story gives children hope, 

it teaches children to be nice, and shows that good always wins over evil. 

(I loved reading their thoughts along the way) 

Before starting the year long unit I did a simple fairytale baseline and the growth was amazing! 

(I can't believe these are the same writers) 

It is definitely something I'd love to do again.

Does anyone else do a year long project in their school instead of a formal observation?