Thematic Thursday Linky...Friendship Themes in Upper Elementary Novels and a FREEBIE

I am linked up with my friend, Carla from Comprehension Connection this week for the Thematic Thursday Linky on FRIENDSHIP!  I love the following quote...

Such truth about those friendships that are so essential in our lives, right?!

As an upper elementary teacher, mom, wife, sister, daughter, coach, troop leader, and friend, I find that friendship is a focus of so much of my day.  If you teach 6th grade, you might spend a great deal of your planning time, lunch time, and after school working out friendship issues.  This might take place between girls or boys, problems arise no matter the gender.  Some days I feel more like a counselor than a teacher of a content area, but working out issues comes with our territory.  If this sounds like you, be sure to grab the FREEBIE below!

I try to be proactive with the texts that I select and share with students in order to give them examples of true friendships.  Here are a list of books that are ideal for upper elementary that I love to share with my students because the theme of friendship is so apparent...

Crash is about a boy named John Coogan, AKA Crash who struggles as a bully for the majority of the novel.  Crash struggles to recognize the selfless acts of Penn Webb, until his family is dealing with his grandfather's health scare. He then realizes he has been wrong all along about Penn and that he has always shown how to be a true friend.  It is a hilarious and heart-warming novel that will have your students reflecting on their own friendships with others. Grab the novel unit here... Crash Novel Unit

The Lottery Rose is a book about a lost soul, Georgie Burgess. He is a little boy that is abused and has never learned to read because no one has ever taken enough of a liking to him in order to get beyond his tough exterior.  Finally, he is shown kindness by others and he begins to thrive even when he tries to push them away.  Your students will be cheering for Georgie and the strides he makes once he is given- a new place to live, food to eat, books in his hands, and the kindness he has always deserved.  Get your tissues ready! Grab the novel unit here... The Lottery Rose Novel Unit

Wringer is one of my all-time favorites.  Palmer LaRue is a boy that is dreading turning ten because that is the age he must become a wringer-a boy that wrings the necks of birds that are shot and downed at the annual Family Fest.  He wants desperately to fit in with others, but it is an unlikely friendship with a pigeon and Dorothy Gruzik that get Palmer through his peer pressure struggles.  Your students will definitely rethink those friendships that are most important after reading this text.  Grab the novel unit here... Wringer Novel Unit

Be sure to check out each of these AMAZING novels with FRIENDSHIP themes to engage your upper elementary readers!  Finally, here is a FREEBIE! I find that I am always dealing with friendship issues in my 6th grade classroom.  Friendships among students can be tricky at this age and I am always in search of ways to help my students navigate their friendships as optimistically as possible.  Click the image to grab this resource and keep me posted on how you utilize it in your classroom.

I would love to hear about any texts you LOVE that focus on the friendship theme in your upper elementary classroom!  My students can use all of the tools I can get!  Happy February!

Giving Back to Norwood Connection

As teachers we may feel like we are overstretched very often.  It is times like these where we need to take a step back and realize how grateful we truly are for what we have.  Our time may be of the essence, but we have love, health, family, shelter, food, clothing, and the other essentials and not-so-essentials to get us through our trying days.

I have taught my entire teaching career in schools where: the majority,75%+ of students were on free or reduced lunch, many parents struggled to provide proper clothing for the cold-weather seasons, and where I provided students with the school supplies they needed to learn.  It is eye-opening, to say the least.  As a teacher in this type of school setting, you want to help every student and work to improve their situation.

I have had the privilege and honor to work with one of the most generous individuals.  Having taught 6th grade for many years and seeing the struggles of our building families, my teammate, Christian, began a non-profit called Norwood Connection.  Norwood Connection’s mission is to assist families classified as working poor who are under stress and who have children in the Norwood City School District.

I could go on for days about all of the things that Christian and his wife, Randi, have done for the families of our school district community...providing beds for kiddos that have slept on the hard wooden floors for far too long, getting the necessary strollers, car seats, and cribs to a mom of twins in need, providing a stove so a family could eat warm meals...his work is tireless and incredible.  He is always seeking out donations and working toward getting one more family back on their feet.  In fact Christian is the kind of guy that could convince you to give him the shirt off your back because someone he knows is more in need.  He is truly able to make AMAZING things happen for these families.

While I have donated baby items that are no longer needed in my household, I would like to do more.  On Sunday, December 14th, I will be donating 50% of my TpT store profits to Norwood Connection.  Please help me in making that amount be as great of a donation as it can be.

Thanks in advance and take a look at all of my other GENEROUS teacher friends...

An InLinkz Link-up

What are your children hoping and praying for this Christmas? Black Friday Wish List and Giveaway

So the flyer madness has begun in my household.  Before the mail carrier can even get the toy flyers into our mail slot, he is almost ruffed up and tackled to the ground by my five year old daughter.  OK, I exaggerate a bit, but the girl is nuts for these things.  She gets the booklet from the mailman, races to the kitchen table, busts out her tub of markers, and becomes elated with each toy she circles.  She is almost out of marker ink at this rate!  I have already informed her that there is NO way Santa will be bringing her everything on her FROZEN wishlist.  Baby Jesus didn't need a life-size Elsa doll...

The wishlist for my oldest son is an iPad Air and Beats headphones, holy Moses at 8, the expensive items already get added.   My littlest son has no clue and is very delighted with any Matchbox car he has in his hand and loves the new bell he acquired because he got to put a dollar in the Salvation Army bucket.  My daughter simply needs to relocate to Disney World so she can live with Elsa and Anna, the Frozen sisters. 

Teacher Friends,
I know that this is an especially crazy time of year for you!  You are busy creating the best working environment in your classroom with engaging lessons.  The holidays are coming, so you are doing all you can to get everything in that you have planned to teach before the winter holiday break.  Your students are starting to get just as excited with the anticipation of everything!  In addition, I know you have 60 bazillion things going on outside of school to prepare for...family gifts, travels, meal planning and making, etc.  Your list is endless!  I feel your joy and pain!

I am not one to make a list, but shopping through teacher stores, I have a few things I can't wait to purchase for my classroom as soon as these items go on sale...I am obsessed with all KG Fonts and Tracee Orman knows her Hunger Games Trilogy stuff.  Her units are amazing!  I am not tackling the mailman or furiously circling.  Instead I am just crossing my fingers for a sale!

If you are not into fonts and middle to high school novel units, here are some items that I am thinking you might like.  I will be giving all 4 of these away and will also be planning a sale in the coming days (wink wink)!  As a special gift, I would like to give away this bundle of products...enter the giveaway below.  The giveaway runs from November 24-November 28th!  Enter the Rafflecopter and good luck to you!  Enjoy your Thanksgiving!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I would love for you to share any awesome gift ideas or teacher things that are on your list.  Comment below to share because I may need to update my wishlist!

Head to the Primary Pack and enter to win more goodies...

  

Supermarket Saturday Task Cards: How are you using them in your upper elementary classroom?

As an upper elementary reading teacher always on the hunt for resources and tools to motivate my students, I have been busy creating.  I find that I am always in need of teaching tools that are engaging and motivating, capable of being used in a literacy center, incorporated into Daily 5 instruction, small group, or even whole class work, and can be utilized with minimal prep time on my end.  Does that sound familiar? Or like any type of resource you could use?

I have found task cards to be one of these sought after resources.  They are a perfect way to be able to reinforce a concept and meet ALL student instructional needs.  Here is a peek in to how I have found them to be most effective.

PREP...
First, print them and have students cut them out.  I know that there are always a few students that I can heavily rely on for secretarial work each school year.  Pass this job along to those students that like to come in early, stay in for recess, or spend a little extra time with you in your classroom.  While there is not a ton of prep in organizing these for classroom use, students love to be put to work and help out.  Have students cut out the task cards, you can laminate them so they can be re-used, then re-enlist students to cut out the laminated cards, and use as you see most suitable for your classroom.

Ready for student cutting!

IDEAS FOR USE...
Task cards are an easy tool to incorporate into your classroom any day.  I have three sets that you can grab for $1 today only and start using immediately to enforce reading literature skills and vocabulary.

These Character Analysis Task Cards are perfect for deepening student understanding of how characters are feeling based on information that is shared in the text.  These cards have a mini-lesson and allow for students to support their understanding of the different feelings of characters with evidence.  Understanding characters can be a bit complex and I need my students telling  me more than just that a character might be feeling "sad."  I need to know why they are feeling sad and what information from the text made them arrive at this conclusion.

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Thematic Thursday Link-Up: Thanksgiving Ideas for Upper Elementary

I am not sure about you, but my family is holiday obsessed.  Any reason to put up decorations, we are in...here is a look at our turkey friend gracing our front yard.  Just wait until you see what Christmas brings...

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Celebrating Veteran's Day-Upper Elementary to Middle School

It is Monday and the perfect day to find an ideal mentor text to share with your students.  This week's focus is Veteran's Day.  Whether you have a special veteran in your life or not, this is one of those holidays that is essential to share with our students.  We must help them understand all that our veterans have sacrificed for our country and continue to do so in order to maintain our freedoms.  So here is my idea for you...

While there are a number of great reads and read alouds, this is one that is most meaningful to my upper elementary students because it involves a dog.  I am not sure about you, but the majority of my students are pet owners and animal lovers.  This text is engaging because it is about a feral dog who forms a bond with Major Brian Dennis, a Marine fighting in Iraq.  When Dennis' troop is relocated, Nubs travels over 70 miles to find his special human friend.  It is a story about the kindness of a soldier and the strong-will of a dog who is seeking the perfect owner.

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Five for Friday Linky Party

I just love this weekly linky that gives me the opportunity to think about all of the great things that happen during the course of the week.  Check out all of the fun we had in my household...I guess it was much busier than I thought!

 Last Sunday we went to a really fun Green Market at Gorman Heritage Farm.  I went with two of my other mom friends with six of our little ones.  My oldest son chose to stay home to practice his football hits with my husband.  The fun we had making healthy treats, seeing farm animals, and walking through flower fields was a blast.  This was my favorite pic...my littlest digging in the garden.  At 17 months he is EVERYWHERE!  He couldn't have been happier digging in dirt and loading it in a wheelbarrow!  I HEART these kind of events for kiddos.

Here is my "Holy, Moly, When-Did-This-Happen?" moment of the week!  My son has started tackle football this past week, and my daughter, in addition to soccer, will be cheerleading.  I feel like it was just yesterday they were itty-bitty, and here they are posing for pics in their uniforms!  Slow down, time!

 Do you have Touch-A-Truck events?  I loved these when my oldest was a toddler and now I love the fact that my oldest is showing my littlest around all of the trucks.  His current favorite is the garbage truck.  I think the recycling driver in my neighborhood thinks I am in love with him because on morning runs with my littlest I seem to be running down every street he is getting recycling from.  Oh well, a momma's gotta do, what a momma's gotta do!

I finally took this novel unit from looking like the pic below with a bazillion pages of notes to a completed, ready-to-use classroom resource.  I love those productive days!  I love poetry and this is an awesome book!

I was really excited to get this guest blog posting spot on my friend, Diane's blog.  She is an awesome teacher and blogger.  This was a fun opportunity!  If you are looking for any tips or tricks to start the year and incorporate Daily 4 in your upper elementary classroom, check out my post! 

Happy Friday!  Don't forget to link up!