Happy Memorial Day and a Big Thank You!

So glad to get a day off to sleep in!  Kansas has some seriously rainy weather which is perfect for sleeping in.  I didn't get up early even though Watson wanted to party.  Tiny dog doesn't seem to remember summer vacation.  He seems to need a reminder that we don't need to be up at 6:00am EVERY morning.

 

Another great thing about Memorial Day this year - oldest daughter, aka Navy girl may get to come and visit before she'd shipped out to who knows where.  He she is in her dress whites. 

 She's super smiley because her man, let me clarify her Marine, was on his way back to the states.  He made it back after a L-O-N-G tour.  Yesterday they got to hang out together on the beach!

 

 

Aren't they cute? 

 

Anyway, here's a BIG thank you to my favorite Navy girl and Marine!  (Also, a BIG Thanks to my Dad, Alan Nelson, retired USMC!)

 

Love for Ms. Lander!!

This was our last full week of school and I am simply exhausted!  I really don't think any of you need more explanation.  I know you are there too.

 

Here's some of the random Ms. Lander love I received this week.  Here's love from Tuesday.

 

 

 

 

 

You need to know that I do not give out candy regularly.  I do give out one of those ridiculously large pixie stix attached to a birthday balloon cut out for the kid's birthdays.  (Miss Kate is my daughter-- she does pick up the pizza when we have pizza parties.  Of course we had one the day this was written.)

 

On to Ms. Lander love Day 2, Thursday.

 

 

I love it that they want to stay with me.  I would loop in a heart beat, but I have such a great team - it would be hard to move on.

 

One more AWESOME picture from this week.  AS many of you know I am a Jayhawk fan.  And all great Jayhawk basketball fans learned some wonderful news with the addition of Andrew Wiggins to the 2013-2014 team!!  Here's a pic of one of my kiddos sharing the jubilation!

 

 

Rock chalk Jayhawk!

 

Happy Mother's Day

I wanted to wish all those moms, grandmas, and teacher moms (I know you think of those 21 kiddos as your own!)  a Happy Mother's Day!!

 

Here are my lovely girls!

 

Ali, my Navy girl!

 

 

Kate, my ESU college girl!  Yep, she's going to be a teacher.

 

 

Here's my baby Libby, before the Winter Formal.

 

I am so glad I had three delightful girls.  I couldn't have had a more wonderful life raising these awesome kiddos.  I am so proud of all their accomplishments.  It surprises me everyday how completely different they are.  I am a lucky mama!

 

Teachers Pay Teachers SALE!!

I am all over a great sale and I am definitely loading up for next year!

 

I don't have many items in my Teachers Pay Teachers store, but I am having a sale.  

 

What are you buying?  I am loading up on Poems and Songs Through the Year by Jodi Southard, Common Core: Writing All Year Long in Second (Bundle) by Anna Brantley, and Hope King's Dig into Learning: Summer Practice. 

 

A Camping we will Go!! (Day 1)

Today I introduced our end of year adventure --- Camping!

 

Let me remind you that I have at least half of my class that are English Language Learners.  One of my little guys really thought we were headed out to camp!

 

We started with an easy graph of have you been camping? yes or no?

 

Turns out that 10 of my students had not camped and 9 had some sort of camping experience.

 

We moved onto our writing lesson, Terse Verse.  I read One Sun: A Terse Verse by Bruce McMillan.

 

 

We made a list of possibilities.

 

 

Then we wrote our own!

 

 

Snack Pack

 

 

Bent Tent

 

 

Bike Spike and Fly Sky

 

 

Deer Fear and Spoon Noon

 

 

Bright Light and Pole Goal

 

 

Bent Tent and Foul Owl

 

 

Sky High, Bee Tree, and Fly High

 

 

Bee Tree, Fish Dish, and Frog Log

 

 

Cat Hat and Bike Hike

 

 

After lunch and specials we moved on to learning about Skunks!!! 

 

We read Smelly Skunk.

 

and

 

Backyard Wildlife Skunks

 

 

 

We wrote down some skunk facts on our anchor chart.

 

 

 

Then we made the cutest skunks ever!!!  Thank you Cara Carroll!!  Her craftivity was just perfect!

 

 

Please note some skunks have bows and crowns!  The kids just crack me up.  Needless to say today was a complete success.  I survived teaching ALL day, without my most awesome student teacher.

 

Happy Monday!

 

 

 

 

May Currently

 It's time to get back into the bloggy world, I can think of no better way than to link up with Farley over at Oh' Boy 4th Grade and complete the May Currently.

 

 

 

 

So you may have caught on to the NEW house reference!! 

 

YEP, I am totally buying a NEW house.  I am super excited to get out of my teeny, tiny apartment.  The girls and Watson are super excited too!  We may even get another furry companion.  Who knows?!

 

I am READY for the end of school, we have 13.5 days of school left.  I have a ton to do!  I have to start teaching again on Monday.  The MOST awesome student teacher ever is leaving me.  She has been a trooper, because I have the most challenging class EVER!  (Seriously --  I stopped blogging the minute I met this group.  I cried the first two weeks of school, and I never cry.)

 

 Needless to say the group has come a long way-- I really will miss them.  (While I am on the deck drinking grown up drinks soaking in the sun's glorious rays!!)

 

For the last 13.5 days we will be going on a camping adventure.  Thank you to Cara Carroll's Camping Capers as a starting point for our adventure.

 

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Camping-Capers-Math-Literacy-Science-Activities

 

My dearest co-worker got a s'mores maker for Christmas and we are going to try it out!

 

What are you doing to end the year?