Three fer Thursday... Grading 28 assessments in 4 minutes!

Grading.  It can be KILLER!

BUT... I use "Snapshots" each week to assess my students on a grammar concept and a comprehension skill... and I'm so happy to report that I can grade a class set of "Snapshots" in under 5 minutes... and, since each "Snapshot" is targeted to one Common Core standard, I can find out exactly who is successful and who needs more support so I can provide intervention right away!

So... here's the stack and the timer at zero...

And, here's the graded stack and the timer at 4 minutes and 21 seconds!

I teach ELA to two sections of third graders so, if it wasn't for these assessments, I think I'd spend every weekend grading!  I also love that students can complete these in about 4 minutes and 21 seconds too, so, even though we do two every week, they don't feel "assessed to death".

Since today is Thursday, it's a THREE fer THURSDAY!!!  I couldn't decide on which three "Snapshots" to place on sale at 20% off, so I'm sort of cheating... ALL "Snapshots" products are on sale today but I'm justifying it by saying that since they are available for three different grade-levels, I'm still staying with the rules of the three fer!

Click the banner below to check them out on TpT and snag them for 20% off... today only!  There are some sample packs available too- you can find them by clicking the link.  They're free and offer you a peek at one math, grammar, and comprehension snapshot for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grades!

Three fer Thursday is BACK Tomorrow!

Stay tuned tomorrow for a...

Here's a hint... one of my favorite favorite favorite easy easy easy line of products is on sale for 20% off.

Need one more hint... find out what the papers and timer are all about tomorrow!

And... a new product was just added in my store!  It's an Interactive Grammar Notebook Add-on for the Writer's Notebook!  It CAN stand alone if you don't have the writer's notebook but is a GREAT addition to the grammar already in the writer's notebook if you DO have it!  Grades 3-5 is done now... look for the 1st/2nd add-on coming soon!  It's on sale for $2 off right now!

Blog Post Rewind... Halloween Time With Freebies!

Happy Halloween!  Click the cassette to find some Halloween goodies!

File Update... Letter Writing Isn't Dead!

Do you have my Interactive Writer's Notebook pack?

Check out the 1st/2nd grade pack OR the 3rd-5th grade pack on TpT

If so... there's a new surprise inside for you!

A letter writing add-on pack!

The format is the same as the other pages- a "teach me" anchor chart type page to glue in on the left and an interactive "my turn" page for students to glue in on the right.

We LOVE our writer's notebooks in my room!  We're wrapping up our opinion unit next week and our writing has improved so much this year since using this resource... I know you'll love the add-on pack too!

Character Traits Posters {Freebie!}

We've been working on character traits for a few weeks and my kiddos have gotten very good at it!  We did the activities in my character traits pack...

In fact, I shared these funnies last week from the "What Would You Do If You Were..." activity in the pack...

And we wrapped up the unit by creating our own character traits posters.  Students worked in pairs to choose a character from a book or movie (or created their own).  Then they had to select four character traits for the character and prove the trait with evidence.  We created posters on large pieces of construction paper and presented them to the class.  Here are some pics of us working away!

You can snag this poster project for free!  Click the pic to download and don't forget to leave feedback if you enjoy it!

There's still time to enter the giveaway for my new idiom book too!  Check out yesterday's blog post by clicking the pic below!  All you have to do is leave a comment on yesterday's post and use an idiom in your comment!

Timer Winners Announced... and IDIOMS Giveaway!!!!!

Congrats to Krystal, Kim, and Sally... you've won a TimeStick in your choice of color!  Woot Woot!

If you missed the giveaway, check out my review and see pics of this timer.  I LOVE IT!  Just click the pic!

Now for an Idioms Giveaway!  I finished this pack up last week as we needed a resource like this in class.  We started it today and my kiddos were so excited!  It's on sale for $1 off until tomorrow but you can win a copy!  It has 24 idioms with pictures and passages for students to read to decipher the idiom in context.  There are also 8.5"x11" posters of each idiom to display.

Click to check it out on TpT...  You can get one poster and practice page for free when you download the preview file!

OR... leave a comment that uses some sort of idiom.  I'll choose a random winner tomorrow and send you the pack for free!

Character Trait Laughs and a Super Cool ThermoWorks Giveaway!!!

It's been quite a WEEK... and it's only Tuesday!  There's no better way for me to feel better than to share some funny character traits laughs and hosting a GIVEAWAY for some super cool timers!

First up... character traits!  We've been working on them for a few weeks now, and we've gotten pretty darn good at determining them.  We made this little chart...

And have been doing activities out of my character traits pack:

Today we did this "What would you do..." activity where students had to think about a trait and write how someone with that trait would respond to a situation.

These two were my favorites!

In the first one, the student got "sneaky" as the trait and had to respond to how she'd handle her brother playing music loudly when she needed to study for a test {she's going to sneakily hide her brother's musical device and then pretend to be very innocent!}... click the pick to enlarge and read!

The second one cracked me up!  She got "creative" as the trait and had to respond to how she's react it if she took the class hamster home from the weekend and lost it!  {She's so creative she's going to make a robotic hamster that looks and acts like the class' hamster!}

I loved grading these and seeing my students thinking critically about how different character traits make people respond to situations differently!

Now... who doesn't love a giveaway???

Look at what Jesse at ThermoWorks sent me last week... I even got some jellybeans!

In the box were three amazing timers (Timesticks) in pink, blue, and purple.

Can I say how much I LOVE these timers????  Not only are they MAGNETIC, but they have a lanyard and are super lightweight.  They're incredibly easy to use, can count up AND down, and... if you look at the pic above with the yellow arrow, they have a bar that gets smaller as time decreases.

I'm loving using these as visual reminders to some of my kiddos who need help to complete tasks on time.  They know how to set the time, put on the lanyard, and can keep track of how much time is left for them to complete their task

You seriously MUST get yourself one (or two or three) of these timers.  They come in so many colors and are seriously one of my new favorite classroom gadgets!

My friends at ThermoWorks are even going to give away THREE here on my blog!  Just enter the Rafflecopter below to enter!  Be sure to check out ThermoWorks' website and Facebook page too!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

A Birthday Sale!

Real post coming soon... suffice it to say that this has been an odd year for me.  If you follow my blog, you know I've had some big life changes and this is my first birthday after the changes... so it's an odd one!  I am headed out for some fun this weekend... yay!

So to celebrate the birthday and the fact that, after this birthday, I never have to have a birthday like this one again...

Click the pic to check out my store and thanks for celebrating the end of the birthday of 2014.  Can't wait for a different birthday next year!