Do you GoNoodle?

I love the power of Google. I remember looking at a bunch of summer posts about the Vegas teacher conferences/meet-ups and almost everyone mentioned GoNoodle. Had never heard of it...and no, I don't live under a rock. Honestly, I'm so out of touch with current music, celebs, and news that I might as well. That's all besides the point. My point is...I Googled GoNoodle and I'm so glad that I did. 

GoNoodle is a website that hosts a variety of brain breaks. Some energizing, some relaxing. All of them super fun. The great part is you get a little class avatar person (I think they have a real name, but I can't think of it at the moment...grr, hate when that happens!) that morphs the more breaks you do. 

Here is one:

Okay, while I was inserting this picture I remembered the little creatures are called Champs. 

Another plus is that if you're watching a brain break from YouTube, you don't get any of the ads. Those ads can always be tricky in class...you never know what might pop up!

Here we are doing the Surfer Dude yoga pose. 

I love it. Kids love it. It's a win-win situation. Click here or on the GoNoodle image above to check it out. 

Monday Made It

Okay, so today is my FIRST Monday Made It of the summer. I cannot believe I just typed that!

 

Before you read on too far here is my disclaimer: No paints, glue, glitter, Mod Podge, frames, ribbons, crates, stamps, fancy stickers, magnets, sequins, burlap or fabric of any other kind were used in the making of any of these "Monday Made Its". 

Ugh. I cannot believe I just typed that either!

Ok, so nothing that I made is extremely "pinteresting" or even pin inspired...well, except for one thing...BUT,  I worked hard on these little projects (I have the aching fingers to prove it!) and above all they were made with L-O-V-E love which in my mind qualifies this post as Monday Made It material. 

Without further ado...my first (and possibly only) Monday Made It of summer 2013:

This first one was something I pinned oh so long ago from First Grade Glitter and Giggles:

 

I tried to make mine a little smaller and a bit more 3rd grade friendly. Thanks to My Cute Graphics for the darling images I used.   

Here's where the aching fingers begin...

I typed 322 high frequency syllables that I'm going to use for a word study program I'm implementing this year (more on that in a future post). 

But it didn't stop there. 

Not only did I have to type all those words, I had to cut out 322 flash cards, laminate all the flash cards (and I can't really take credit for that...huge shout out and many hugs to Karen in my school office who totally rocks and did it for me), then cut all 322 out again! 

 

So sad to think of how long it took to fill that tiny little Ziploc....

As if that wasn't enough punishment for my fingers, I cut and laminated these two activities also.

 Check out that stack! Can I get an "ouch" from anyone out there!?

Update: These poke cards are from Flapjack Educational Resources. 

Click HERE to get them free. 

I love that it's a self checking activity and it was a freebie I found last summer. I just can't remember who I got it from. 

 

UPDATE: It was a flash freebie from Hooty's Homeroom,
but you can still purchase it from her TpT store by clicking here.

I can't remember where this one came from either...YIKES. Anyone have a way for managing this stuff. My brain can't hold all the information. It's amazing that I even remember my own children's names any more! (If either activity belong to you please let me know so I can link up appropriately!)

And yes, those are frosting cans. I actually had this printed last summer, but it took me that long to remember to save those stinkin' cans. I remember that being a suggestion on the blog I found this on...I think...either way it's so clever, huh.

 

This is a huge pile of all the things I need to start my Multiplication and Division Boot Camp from 3 Teacher Chicks. I know I didn't really "make" this, but that was a lot of copying, cutting, and paper clipping. It just feels so darn good to share something I've checked from the To Do List! And...I also copied all of my Bible tests and spelling pattern take home pages for the year...glad I could sneak that one in at the end ;o)

Head on over to Fourth Grade Frolics and see what everyone else has been up to this week.

More and Less- A Math Activity

Every year the unit on place value, number sense, regrouping (for number sense, not computation) and rounding gives my kiddos such trouble. I need a lot of resources in my aresenal to allow them to work with place value concepts. 

This more and less activity where students draw out a card, write the number in the middle column of their recording sheet, and then fill in the more and less column was a great way to accomplish this. It helps students think about how place values change and what happens to numbers when this occurs. 

And with adorable ladybugs, perfect little polka dots, and the beautiful bright red color, you can't help but feel cheery while you're doing math!

 

I like the idea of having those little blanks before more and less so I can decide if I want everyone doing 100 more and 100 less, 10 more and 100 less, or if I want to individualize for each student. If I don't want to use the cards I'll just fill in the center column before running my copies.

The cards can be kept in a plastic baggie or container and set in your math center.

I started creating this resource way back in the beginning of the year and for whatever reason it never got finished. Probably because life and school happened! Earlier this month I was able to put the finishing touches on it. I'll definitely be using it when we get to review math center activities.

You can check it out here.