Foodie Friday

Okay...you're probably confused.
You might be looking for a foldable or a great anchor chart.
You're wondering how you can tie cream cheese and Pesto into your math lesson.
You're starting to think that maybe you clicked on the wrong link.
But wait!

A teacher has to eat right?  I mean, in between all the blogging planning and grading you might be asked to bring a yummy appetizer to a New Year's Eve party.  If you do I promise this will be a hit.  It is so easy and so yummy.

Here's all you'll need:

Spread the cream cheese in the bottom of your dish (go ahead...it's okay, the resolutions don't start till Sunday).  I used a quiche dish but you can use a square 8x8 pan or something close to that size or smaller.  Spread 1/4 cup of pesto on top of the cream cheese.

Dice a plum tomato and sprinkle on top.

Sprinkle 1 cup of Italian shredded cheese on top.  The original recipe calls for 1/4 c of cheese but can you really ever have too much cheese?  Especially if it's warm and bubbly. Just trust me. Go with a cup.

Now bake it for 15 minutes at 350 and you will have this:

And everyone will love you.  I promise.  You can serve it with Triscuits but I *heart* white bread.  The high carb, low fiber kind...and we have one more day before resolutions start.  We already settled that.  I can't think of a better way to spend my last few calories.  Followed by something rich and chocolaty of course.

Click here for a printable version of the recipe.

11 in '11 Linky Party

11. Favorite movie you watched
Captain America - I love any movie I can watch with my kids that's not animated. We all loved it and I loved that it was pretty much squeaky clean!

10. Favorite TV series
I have to agree with Kristen at teeny tiny teacher on this one. I love Parenthood. It's like riding an emotional roller coaster every Tuesday night. And boy do they have teenage girl characterization down...not that I would know because I have one that would give me a look like that or anything...just seems awfully realistic.

9. Favorite restaurant
Papouli's - They serve the best gyro you have ever had but come hungry because it is hu-uge. I try to get the hubs to share but he is just not a fan of that idea so... I have to eat it all because to do anything else would just be rude. Right?

8. Favorite new thing you tried

I think I need to join a twelve step program. Seriously. Check out my boards I'm sure you will find a fun project or two...or three...or more....

7. Favorite gift you received
Hands down the Silhouette Cameo. To make it even sweeter, since things are tight, it was purchased in large part with a gift card my hubby got for HIS birthday. So stinkin' sweet. I knew there was a good reason I married that man! I feel a new Pinterest board coming on...

6. Favorite thing you pinned
These are the pins that help me justify my addiction. Can I get an amen?

5. Favorite blog post
Well...since I am new at this and there are only a few to pick from I think I'll pick this one. It's like a really cool way to say hello and I love meeting new people!

4. Favorite accomplishment
Surviving a puppy's first year. Last year's Christmas surprise was the cutest puppy ever and with the exception of a few shoes and the toboggan that she currently has locked in her iron clad jaws, we have all survived.

3. Favorite picture
Summer camp with my kids. So.Much.Fun! GO RED TEAM! Girl on the right and boy on bottom right belong to me : )

2. Favorite memory
Borrowing a pop up camper, piling the family in the car, and camping our way up to Washington D.C. and back. So many memories! Yes there was a line all the way down the street for D.C. Cupcakes and yes we did stand in it. We might or might not have eaten all 12 cupcakes in one day.

1. Goal for 2012
Try to be an abiding women not a super woman (see favorite pin #6)


I'm so glad I was invited to the Linky Party! I'm excited about meeting some new bloggy friends!

Word Work Wednesday

Finally we get the vowel sounds down - the short vowels - the long vowels - and then it happens.  Bossy R comes along.  Now those vowel sounds we were so sure about are not the same!  This always seems to cause my students to *stall* so I'm taking the bull by the horns car by the steering wheel to help them practice and master these sounds.  Since we will have to *park* here for a while I thought it might be fun to burn a little rubber while we're at it!

Click on the link below to download your parking lot, directions, and bossy r word cards.  Now all you need is a Hot Wheel from the bottom of the toy box and you're ready to roll.  I know.  I know.  The car puns were a bit much but I couldn't help myself.  I'll try to hit the brakes next time.  

Really I will.

Let it Snow!

We don't get much snow down here in the South ya'll but when we do...We.Are.In.Love!  I mean there are some serious I-can't-concentrate-'cause-white-stuff-is-falling-from-the-sky issues going on for the students (and the teacher).  Being in the South means it doesn't take much to keep us all home and I am SO fine with that (not that I would stay up late to watch the weather forecast or get up every hour through the night to peek out the blinds or anything). When a few of those white flakes fall I just love to cozy up to a nice fire with some hot chocolate in between throwing snowballs, sledding, and of course making snow angels.

In honor of snow days and with the hopes there will be one in our future, here are a few activities that revolve around those oh-my-word-I-can't-contain-myself weather systems!

I always like to start with a book and I love Snowflake Bentley.  

This text is perfect for covering these Common Core State Standards relating to informational text:

• RI.2.1. Ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when, why, and how to demonstrate    understanding of key details in a text.

• RI.3.1. Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers.

 It is also a great story for analyzing character traits covering these CCSS:

• RL.2.3. Describe how characters in a story respond to major events and challenges.

• RL.3.3. Describe characters in a story (e.g., their traits, motivations, or feelings) and explain how their actions contribute to the sequence of events.

 I *think aloud* while I read the story and model using information from the text to make conclusions about Bentley.  When I am finished reading we talk about some of Bentley's most obvious character traits like curious, determined, friendly, etc. After that, we use a thesaurus to help us make some lists of more exact words we can use to describe the character.  These are such good qualities to focus on!

Here's a game for the little guys
It's really crazy how much my kiddos love this game.  They beg me to let them take it home.  Seriously.  It couldn't be any easier to make or play but they love it.  I used words that reviewed CVC and CVCe patterns but you could add your own sentence cards and focus on any skill you'd like!  Click the pic to download a copy.

Maybe all this snow thinking will pay off...I have my fingers crossed!

The Rainbow Rule

Recently we were rockin' it rainbow style in reading!  What kid doesn't love rainbows right?  They seem to be magical, so magical in fact, they even make learning the two-vowel rule fun.  And let's face it, making phonics rules fun does require some magical powers.

We started with a rainbow book.  We talked about how the word rainbow in the title made a long a sound but didn't have a sneaky e like the long vowel words we have seen in the past - hmmmmm.  I explained that this was because there are two vowels together and when two vowels are walking the first one does the talking and since we discovered it in the word rainbow we'll call it the rainbow rule.  While we read we were on the lookout for more words that followed the *rainbow rule*.

After our story we made a list of some long vowel words that we thought might fit the rainbow rule.  We found out that some long vowel words follow patterns like -ay and -ight and some are oddballs like great and heart.  We wrote all the words that fit the rule on post-its and stuck them on our rainbow.  Now we can use our rainbow as a literacy station for sorting rainbow rule words.


To reinforce the rainbow rule we made rainbow chains.

(won't these look cute hooked together hanging from the ceiling?)

 We played Build-a-Rainbow.

Click the pic to download a copy.
To build your rainbow you can use colored beans, bingo markers, or, if you want to eat your rainbow, Fruit Loops!



Finally, we looked for the pot of gold under the rainbow!  This is that super easy game that my kiddos just love.  You can find the snowflake version that reviews CVC and CVCe patterns here.  For the rainbow version I made a full sheet for each card.  This way you can run the cards off on colored paper to get a rainbow colored set.

Hope this helps learning about Bossy R a little more magical...Cue Kermit singing while strumming his banjo...