The Reading Corner

I have a fellow teacher and blogger who absolutely loves The Reading Corner blog. She has told me numerous times about it and that I need to follow it, but I always forget and never have UNTIL now! Funny thing her blog is The Reading Corner, but she does  a ton of math things and she is having a math giveaway. Renee shares a lot of ideas for Daily 5 Math, which I am very interested in going back through her posts and learning more. She has only been blogging 6 months, so if you don't follow her you need to. She is a grade 1 teacher from Canada!

Here is a pic of her giveaway click on the picture to take you to her blog. You can follow her for a chance to win a copy OR better yet, blog about her and she is going to send it to you for FREE!!!!!!!

So I am heading back over to check out her previous posts. Come join me! 

~Heather~

Wordless Wednesday

Math Journals

I am super excited....well.....maybe.... that I was asked to be one of the presenters at the UETCM or Upper East Tennessee Council of Mathematics meeting coming up on Monday, November 12th @ our local high school. Each county in the area gets to host the meeting one month a year. I was part of the team who presented last year and loved it and was honored to be asked to do it again this year. 

Last year my coworker and another kindergarten friend in the county did the K-2 group and we presented on math stations. I enjoyed it because in the process we made new things to implement into our stations and the people who attended seemed to enjoy it. They were not familiar with Math Stations so it was good.

This year, my kindergarten coworker who did it with me last year is doing it again and so is my 1st grade friend who blogs over at First Grade Rocks! I am super excited to hear her part because she is showing us an introduction to Daily 5 Math. She loves it and honestly I have no clue what it is except that the sisters started it and they are wonderful so it has to be good! I am eager to learn about her part. 

My kinder friend is going to share some new ideas on math stations that we didn't cover last year.

And now on to me...... I am going to share about math journals. I LOVE them. I don't know what I did prior to using math journals and math stations in the morning while my kiddos are coming to class. 

I use the notebooks that I have had cut in half because we don't need a whole sheet of paper for a little math journal. I purchased Deedee Wills's Math journal prompt bundle while it was on sale a few months ago and absolutely love it. Click on the picture below, sorry it is blurry to check it out on TPT.

All I do is print out the prompts at the beginning of each month. Cut the strips and put each sheet of prompts into a baggie and each morning, place the strips into a cup beside the journals and read the prompt. The students them illustrate the problem and have an answer. 

My kiddos are already doing addition and subtraction and we haven't really talked about it in class. You can review any topic you have covered in class and it takes all of about 5 min. 

So I am just curious what do you do for math journals and if you were to come to my presentation, what would you want to know about them?

Thanks!

November Currently

I can't believe it's November already. We have already celebrated the 50th day of school, and with Thanksgiving and Christmas just around the corner it will be January before we know it. Anyways I have sadly been neglecting my little blog with so much other things I have needed to do. My goal is to post at least once a week. Start small and maybe I can do it. I have loads of things to post, but no time to do it. So here is to November.

So we get a fall break super late. But at least we get one. We needed it about 3 weeks ago.

I love Cades Cove. It's just past Gatlinburg, TN in the Smokey Mountains. I went all the time when I was a kid and am hoping to start taking my girls more frequently. You drive through and see deer and sometimes bear, and all kinds of other animals. There are numerous hiking trails and old cabins. It's a really nice place to get away to for a few hours. If you ever get the chance go!

I earned Rising Star in the Visalus company, so now I need to help the people under me help get more people to join the Visalus Challenge. We are helping people get healthy one person at a time. Whether they want to lose weight, gain energy, get more lean muscle, or just to eat healthy for a cheaper price. I love the shakes! 

Skyfm is an online radio station type thing. It has all kinds and genre's of music. I love to put it on during class, and when I am alone in class I can listen to my country and not have to fight my radio to find a signal.

So What are you currently up to? Hop on over to Farley's blog and link up!

Body by Vi 90 Day Challenge

So this post is not going to be educational from the classroom setting, but my one and only post about a new product I have been introduced to and am truly amazed by!

I have been on them for two weeks and am amazed at how much energy I have! I can come home from work and fix supper and actually feel like playing with my two little girls. My husband is also taking the challenge with me and he has lost 9 pounds and 2 inches in 2 weeks. I am doing the shakes for energy and to gain a little muscle, since I am skin and bones to begin with, he is doing it for weight loss. 

The best thing about this challenge is it is for EVERYBODY! Whether you want to have more energy, lose weight, or build muscle. AND it is great for the kids as well. They just get one scoop of shake mix instead of two and they have a healthy meal also. I give my oldest a shake on the weekends and she loves them.

You mix it with water, almond milk, skim milk, or any kind of juice. Add some peanut butter, or fruit, or a spoonful of dry jello pudding mix, then some ice. And you are ready to replace a meal with a shake! Read on to find out more. Then if you are interested and want to know more email me @ higgystyx@yahoo.com or visit my webpage at 

http://heatherhshelton.myvi.net/

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Have you heard of the Body By Vi™ 90-Day Challenge?  If you haven’t yet, you will.  The Body By Vi 90-Day Challenge is exploding across the nation as a means for individuals to get together and participate in a weight loss, weight gain, or get healthy challenge with others.  As you may know, when you have support on your journey towards a healthier you, the chances of you succeeding are MUCH higher!

Here is a rundown of what comes in each Body By Vi™ Kit (remember that you can order items separately but you do save more if you order the kit on autoship, this way you won’t run out of your products and risk falling off the challenge!)

The “Balance kit” is designed to help you begin your journey by giving your body good nutritional balance. This kit contains 30 servings of balanced nutrition with our Vi-Shape™ Nutritional Shake Mix for once-a-day balanced nutrition. The kit includes an assortment of our Health Flavors, to add flavor variety, and added health benefits to your shake. Included is access to our online Health Member website for recipes, menus, nutritional information, exercise tools, and more. Save over $28 off normal retail prices.

The “Shape” Kit helps you to see results and start shaping your body. This kit contains 60 servings of balanced nutrition with our Vi-Shape™ Nutritional Shake Mix, so that you can have 2 meals per day of this great-tasting shake packed with powerful nutrition. The kit includes an assortment of our Health Flavors, to add flavor variety, and added health benefits to your shake. To give you even more tools for success, we also include access to our online Health Member website for recipes, menus, nutritional information, exercise tools, and more. Save $45 off normal retail prices

The “Core Kit” supports your lifestyle with a patented anti-aging and energy formula, balanced nutrition, and hydration and energy without the jitters. The program is founded on keeping your nutrition in balance with one shake per day, to help your body fuel itself with lean protein, digestive enzymes, fiber, calcium, and prebiotics to support your bodies normal regularity. Combine that with our comprehensive Vi-Pak, for sound nutritional support from head to toe, and patent-pending Neuro Smart Energy drink mix, to support healthy brain function and keep you sharp. No other system can compete to support your optimal physical and youthful health! An assortment of Health Flavors is also included, to add flavor variety, and added health benefits to your shake.  Saves you $88 off normal retail prices.

The “Transformation” Kit is packed with the ultimate in shaping and nutritional ingredients to help you see and feel maximum results. This Kit contains a 30-day supply of  everything needed to help transform your body for a healthier, happier you. Included in this weight loss kit: 2 (30-serving) pouches of Vi-Shape™ Nutritional Shake Mix; an assortment of our Health Flavors, to add flavor variety, and added health benefits to your shake,1 bottle of Vi-Slim™ Metab-Awake Tablets; 1 box of Vi-Trim™ Clear Control Drink Mix; 1 box of each flavor of ViSalus NEURO™ Smart Energy (Lemon Lift and Raspberry Boost flavors); and 1 bottle of our Vi-pak Omega Vitals capsules. Saves you $100 off of normal retail prices.

All you do is sign up then refer 3 more people to sign up under you and your next month is FREE!

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http://heatherhshelton.myvi.net/

Visit my webpage to learn more about how you can become a customer and join the challenge OR how you can become a promoter, join the Challenge, and get PAID to help other people get healthy! The product honestly sales itself, all you do is answer questions and help people get healthy one shake at a time!

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Top Banana's

I am super thrilled to share with you how my class has been doing with Marsha over at A Differentiated Kindergarten's Top Banana Alphabet Recognition System! I bought it over the summer and am so glad I did! I have been honestly amazed at how awesome it is. I started a few weeks after school started, and the first week I tested I had 2 students earn Top Banana. Now to earn a Top Banana Award, the student must identify all uppercase and lowercase letters AND produce the sound of each letter. They must produce long and short sounds for all vowels to get a banana on the tree! 

Boy was it magical after the first ones got their banana's. The following week, I had 4 students earn top banana. And my favorite thing was that one little boy came into kindergarten knowing none of his letters. He earned Top Banana the 2nd week I tested, of course he was motivated by my telling the class WHEN we all earn a Top Banana, I will provide the class with a banana split party. He went home every night and worked on his letters and sounds and was able to get it. He had already made progress from the beginning of the year, but once I introduced Top Banana. He exploded!

So the 3rd week, I had two more students earn their banana's. By now 90% of my class knows all the letters uppercase and lowercase, but are struggling with vowel sounds. So we work on it all day long. 

The 4th week, I had 5 earn bananas! I am thrilled, I test during rest time, and sadly the students don't really rest because every time a student get's his/her Top Banana, I start banging on the table and the students start cheering and clapping for the student!

A big thank you to our art teacher who took a piece of clip-art that I found and recreated it on a poster board for me.

So head on over to Marsha's TPT store and check out Top Banana's!

Fall Festival

This has been one crazy week! I feel like for every one thing I mark off my to-do list, I add two more! Do you ever feel this way. 

Anywho.....

Just want to share my favorite thing of the week. Our PTA held a Fall festival this year, the first year we have attempted it! There was a poster contest to promote it and the winning class in the whole school won a pizza party donated by a local pizza shop! With the gazillion things on my to-do list, I chose not to create a poster. It wasn't academic, and I am in the middle of report card testing, fire truck coming to visit from local fire dept, not to mention attempting to teach! 

But...... when all the other teachers in my grade level chose to do a poster I decided I wan't going to be the only one without one. So literally last minute...I made it Thursday after lunch with my kiddos, and it was judged first thing Friday morning.

I drew a tree on a blue poster board and outlined it in green and brown. I let the students take turns using markers to color in the tree. While we were taking turns everyone was drawing a picture of themselves falling. The only colors they were able to use were brown, yellow, red, orange, and green. Then we taped ourselves falling out of the tree. Some were in the tree, some in mid-air, and some already laying on the ground. 

It turned out super cute! I was very excited. Not at all thinking about winning, just that it turned out better than I imagined and the kiddos liked it as well. 

So we put it up and I didn't think nothing else about it! 

Until......

We are outside listening to a fireman and looking at one of the fire trucks when one of the other teachers yelled out the door at me. "Mrs. Shelton, your class just won the poster contest!" I was shocked! Very excited, but shocked! I never win anything at school. Sadly we didn't get to hear it over the loud speaker, but I told the kids and they were excited as well. 

So Red Ribbon Week is next, wonder what I could come up with for it! Typically we do a door contest for it. Guess I need to start thinking, or I can do like I did this time and wait till the last minute!