Saturday, January 25, 2014

A Peek at My Week {1-26-14}

Brrrrr....Baby, it's cold outside.  The polar vortex has returned to Wisconsin....again. The forecasted high temp for both Monday and Tuesday is -3 degrees.  At this point, I'm reluctant to share what I've got going on this week at school because there's a good chance that we will have a snow day or two heading our way.

But the snow must go on.  Oops, I mean "show!"
Monday is my birthday!  (A good reason to have the day off of school, right?)  It's not a major birthday, but every year on earth is a reason to celebrate!  I received a very cool bracelet in the mail today from my niece, Gracie, who moved to Dallas this past summer.
It's called "Rose Garden" and she wrote a note with the bracelet to not let my daughter Kara steal this one because she worked "really hard" on it.  I can tell!

To celebrate my big day, why not throw a sale in my TpT Store???  Now through Monday, my entire store is 20% off.   This would be a great time to pick up my Word Parts We Know program to help your students master some vocabulary or my Reading Challenge Genre Tags to motivate them to keep reading!

This week at school, I plan to begin working on text structure with my students.  I'm going to tie writing in with this and as we study one kind of text structure, we will write a short paragraph to demonstrate that structure.

I also wanted to give you an update on Writing Circles that I wrote about last weekend.  I have to say, the students are REALLY enjoying them!  They love that they are not tied to any one project for longer than two days, they still get a choice in what they write, and they can give and receive feedback from their friends.  I love that it has gotten even my most reluctant writers writing!  We are going to keep doing Writing Circles through this week.  Then everyone will choose one of their drafts from a Writing Circle, revise it, and publish it for a grade.  Can't wait!!

And perhaps the best part of this week is that we will be sending January packing and welcoming in the short month of February!  Winter is a very tough time for me.  I don't do well with the short days and being home bound because of extreme cold, especially with these polar vortexes coming around.  February means that March will be here soon....then spring.  Ahhhh...I can do this!  :)

Wishing you a blessed and warm week!  :)

14 comments:

  1. Happy almost Birthday!!! We had crazy weather here today - sideways snow, 65 km/hr wind gusts... Definitely the weirdest winter in my life!
    -Lisa
    Grade 4 Buzz

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  2. Hi Jennifer! I hope you have a great birthday. And yes, it would be nice if the world would shut down for it, so that you could get some well-deserved down time! Your Writing Circles sound like a great idea, and I'm glad they're working the way you'd hoped they would.
    Marion
    MentoringintheMiddle
    P.S. When I clicked on your Reading Challenge Genre Tags, it took me to Word Parts We Know.

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  3. I am hoping to get to come into your room this week to see the writing circles in action... I'm so excited that they are loving it and it's going well! Keep those updates coming! :) Happy birthday (early) hope to see you on Monday!!
    Ana
    Mrs. Bentin's Blackboard

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  4. Happy Birthday!!!!! I knew I loved you for a reason....my birthday is on Tuesday! xoxox
    Alison
    Rockin' and Lovin' Learnin'

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    Replies
    1. I love you for many other reasons too....not just because of your birthday! Lol!

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  5. Happy Birthday! Stay warm! I am up north wrapped in a blanket...sitting by a fire...an still cold. Enjoy your special day!

    Renee at the Science School Yard

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  6. Happy Birthday! I'm afraid to even look at the weather here. Thank you for throwing the sale. I'm off to get "Word Parts We Know" off my wishlist and into my cart.

    Mary
    Fit to be Fourth

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  7. LOVE this linky party- cute idea!!!
    Vanessa

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  8. Happy Birthday Jennifer! I LOVE your new bracelet - you can tell it was made with a lot of LOVE!
    I got that writing circle book through the interlibrary loan - now I just have to read it.

    Hope it warms up soon!

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  9. Happy Birthday Jennifer! Hoping you get a "snow" day for your special day :)

    Jen
    Cupcakes & Curriculum

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  10. Happy Birthday Jennifer!! Hoping you get a "snow" day - better call it a "vortex" day for your special day :)

    Jen
    Cupcakes & Curriculum

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  11. Happy Birthday! Thank you for hosting! I hope your day is fun and full of celebrations!

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  12. Happy Birthday! It is cold here in OK, but I can't imagine it being -3 degrees! My goodness! Hope you get to spend a day or two inside this week being cozy and warm!
    Life As I Know It

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  13. Please check out LIFTPackages.blogspot.com. It is a teacher exchange program in which you meet teachers and send packages. Please feel free to sign up and pass our name along!

    Thanks
    -LIFTPackages

    LiftPackages.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete

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