First Day

Howdy!
We were extremely busy at school last week attending meetings and getting our classrooms ready. The construction saga continues. There was jack-hammering right outside my window for most of Friday which led to headaches and dust. Just what we needed on our "Work in your Room" day.

I hope y'all have a great week. And if today is your first day with students, may the force be with you!
I love me some Star Wars =)

~lisa

First Ever Back To School Sale!!!

Hello everyone! We will be participating in our first ever BTS Sale at TpT!!

Everything in our store is 20% off. Then use the promo code at check out and get an additional 10% off. That will make your savings 28%! Wow. It begins at midnight. Just click on our TpT store on the sidebar.

My wishlist is full of wonderfulness! Can't wait to do some shopping =)
Thanks to Krista Wallden at The Creative Chalkboard for sharing the cute sale button. It is adorbs. 

~lisa

Working On Vocabulary

Hello everyone! I'm wishing I could already be in my classroom. Construction problems at our campus are not allowing teachers to work until we report back for trainings. Oh. My. Word.  This is scary. 

Anywho, to keep my mind sane, I have been focusing on vocabulary development. (Everybody does this, right?) Our students in 3rd grade struggle so much with vocabulary. Especially when asked to choose the correct definition of a word based on a sentence. We have tried many approaches over the years because the basal readers don't do enough for the kiddos.

Needless to say, vocabulary development is a huge focus this year!

In our latest unit, Owen, I have changed up our vocabulary. It looks good so far! We have a vocabulary focus for our Reading Interactive Notebooks. Students will generate their own definitions after we study the words and pictures. We also have a homograph worksheet. The students will read a sentence and then pick the correct definition for the sentence.

Do you know the story of Owen?
Owen by Kevin Henkes~ The story of a carefree mouse who loves his blanket. When his parents tell him he can't take Fuzzy with him when he begins school, Owen is inconsolable. Luckily, his mom comes up with a great plan.

You can purchase this unit by clicking on the pic above.

This unit includes~

Vocabualry Cards

Favorite Things Tally Chart and Graph

Vocabulary for Reading Interactive Notebook

Story Map

Sequencing 

Venn Diagram of Owen's Blanket and My Special Thing

Homograph Worksheet

Journal Entry Question

I love this story so much. It reminds me of a special girl. Jaden and her grandpa would walk her brother to my third grade classroom every morning. She was a sleepy 2 year old who always had her blanket. Years later, she was in my third grade classroom. I told her how I remembered her walking with her blanket. She confided in me that she carried her blankie every day~ in her backpack! Too cute =)

Good luck to everyone for the upcoming school year!

~lisa

Five For Friday for the First Time

Hello friends! 

I am linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for Five for Friday =)

1. San Antonio

My kids are in San Antonio visiting their grandparents. It's so nice not to have to slave in the heat of a Texas kitchen I really miss them =)

2. No Classroom Decorating Yet For Me=0

Found out on Monday that we cannot get into our classrooms on the 12th. There is construction happening at our campus which led to broken pipes, and now we might get in on Sunday, Aug.18. We report back on Monday, Aug. 19 with a week full of training and 1.5 days in our rooms. Whaaattt?!?!?!?!

Needless to say, I am freaking out! I was hoping to have my room ready by the 19th =(

3.Liebster Award~

Lindsey from The Journey of a Beginning Teacher nominated us for this award.

Tina and I were so excited. As we were filling in the requirements, we laughed the whole time.

Thank you Lindsey! We happen to love your blog and wish you luck this school year!

4. Ikea, The Container Store, and Red Robbin in Phoenix, Az=)

Last Thursday, I went to Phoenix for the day with Tina and 3 other awesome teachers.I seriously do not enjoy shopping. When lunch discussions are about my buddies' latest shopping sprees, I try to pay attention but usually my eyes glaze over and I begin daydreaming about butterflies and glitter.

But this was different!

~The Container Store is my kind of store. I loved every aisle. And it was huge.

~Red Robbin was delicious. I wish we had one where I live.

~Ikea~ Oh my! This was huger! I was a little worried that I wouldn't have the stamina 

that my buds have, but I can't wait to go back.

And it was a road trip (12 hours round trip) filled with laughter and music. So much fun. I love my buds.

5. Finished Units

I finished my Wemberly Worried pack! Yay! I can't wait to use it=) I am working on a Kevin Henkes unit. I begin reading  aloud with his books. Just love his stories. 

Tina finished The Legend of the Poinsettia by Tomie dePaola. We love his stories too. 

They are perfect for third grade. She is going to work next on The Legend of the Bluebonnet and The Legend of the Indian Paintbrush. In September, we always read Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge by Mem Fox. It is such a sweet story and Tina revamped this pack as well. Seriously, it needed a make-over and now it is so cute. I.Can't.Wait.

Lastly, I made a Monster Behavior Clip Chart. I began making it for Tina to use this year, but then I realized I would love to update mine and trade out a few things.

If your interested, just click on the pic to go to our store =)

Thanks for reading and go check out everybody's Five for Friday by Doodle Bugs Teaching by clicking on her button up above!

~lisa

Busy Beavers

Hello! Tina and I have been very busy, again, and now we are pooped! We have been cute-ifying some of our units for the new school year.













We updated 3 of our Reading Units. Check them out below! Click on any pic to visit our store.

Legend of the Poinsettia by Tomie dePaola

Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge by Mem Fox

Wemberly Worried by Kevin Henkes

We uploaded a science lesson for the beginning of the year =)

We uploaded a Monster Theme Behavior Clip Chart! Can't wait to put mine up in my classroom =)

Blogging Besties and a Liebster Award!!!!

Hi, This is Tina and Lisa blogging together for the first time.  We have some exciting news.  We were nominated for the Liebster Award.  Thank you Lindsey from The Journey Of A Beginning Teacher for nominating us. 
The Liebster Award is for new bloggers that have less than 200 followers.  That's Us!!!  The rules:
1.  Link back to the person who nominated you. Check out Lindsey's blog at missjohnstonsroom.blogspot.com

2.  Answer the questions from your nominator.
            1.  If you weren't a teacher, what career would you have?
                 Tina- a volunteer at the Humane Society      
                 Lisa- A volunteer at a children's hospital.
            2.  Who was your favorite teacher?
                 Tina- My sixth grade teacher Mr. McCabe.  I was in love with him even though he was like
                 in his late 50s. He was the coolest and most innovative teacher at that time.
                 Lisa- My college professor, Mrs. Kiska.  In children's literature she would read aloud to us
                 everyday. She emphasized loving children and loving books.
            3.  Share a tip for newbie teachers.
                 Tina-There are times you will need to chuck a lesson plan because it is not working.
                 Don't feel you failed- try another approach.
                 Lisa- Make sure you laugh everyday with your students.
            4.  Cats or dogs?
                 Tina- Love them both but I only have dogs right now.
                 Lisa- Dogs
            5.  What is your favorite board game?
                 Tina- Settlers of Catan
                 Lisa- Sorry!
            6.  What is your fondest memory of your teaching career?
                 We both think that there are so many that it is too hard to choose just one.
                 Memories are made daily when you are teaching in the classroom and out of the
                 classroom with coworkers!
           7.  Why did you start a blog?
                Tina- Lisa made me.  But now she inspires me to continue.
                Lisa-I have enjoyed blog stalking for the last two years.  I have been inspired by so many
                bloggers.
            8. What is your favorite school supply?
                 Tina- Markers- I whip them out for EVERYTHING!
                 Lisa- Sticky notes.  You can never have too many =)
            9.  Besides your current grade, what other grade would you want to teach?
                 Tina- Second    
                 Lisa- First but I have to be next door to Tina so maybe second.
          10.  What is your favorite school related PINTEREST pin?
                 Tina- Anything dealing with taking photos in the classroom.
                 Lisa- Anything that related to teacher humor.  I love me some Ryan Gosling.

3.  Share 11 Random Facts about yourself.
             1.  Tina is afraid of birds.
             2.  Lisa has the humor of an 8 year old.
             3.  Tina is an identical twin.  Her twin is also a teacher.
             4.  Lisa is an 80s chick.  Enough said!
             5.  Tina is infatuated with Shamar Moore from Criminal Minds.
             6.  Lisa is infatuated with Keanu Reeves.
             7.  Tina absolutely adores her family.
             8.  Lisa absolutely adores Tina's family as well as her own.
             9.  Tina and Lisa are huge Dallas Cowboy fans.
            10.  Lisa always has dancing and singing fever.
            11.  Tina cries a lot.  When she's happy, sad, angry or frustrated.

4.  Nominate 5 or more blogs with less than 200 followers.  We are so new to this that we don't know how many followers each blogger has.  So we hope this will do.
             1.  The Pinspired Teacher
             2.  The Polka Dotted Teacher
             3.  Teacher Trap
             4.  Two Friends in First
             5.  Whole Brain Teaching in the Ladybug Club
             6. Second Grade Serenade 

5.  Pose questions for your nominees.
             1.  Tell us about an embarrassing moment in the classroom.
             2.  What is your favorite drink?
             3.  How did you come up with your blog name?
             4.  How many students is your ideal number?
             5.  If you could visit anywhere in the world, where would you go?
             6.  What is your favorite dance move?
             7.  What kind of music do you enjoy?
             8.  What is your favorite thing about teaching kids?
             9.  If you were a super hero, who would you be?
            10.  What is your favorite subject to teach?

Thanks, Lindsey for the nomination.  We enjoyed answering and posing the questions.


Peace Out
~tina and lisa =)