Monday Made-It - Synonyms Board and More!

It's COLD here!  School was called off today because of the bitterly cold temperatures.  I ventured out this afternoon and my car thermometer said -13 degrees.  And that was at 3:00 in the afternoon.
We got called off for tomorrow, too, since this cold spell is hanging around.

I am so happy that I had the time to hook up with Tara's Monday Made-It Linky, which I haven't done since the summer.
I wish it were summer.

Anyway - we've been working on synonyms and last week I introduced the concept to my third graders through an online game called Sam's Synonym Lab on the PBS Kids Website.  We rated the synonyms on a scale of 1 to 4 stars as we played the game on my Interactive White Board.
I had the bones of this bulletin board already up, and the students already got the concept of rating the synonyms as to how good or unusual a word choice it was.

Then the students worked in triads to find synonyms for the words posted on this board in a thesaurus.  It was the first time using a thesaurus for most of them.
Then as a class we listed the words they found, and rated them.

Sorry for the slightly blurry picture.  I'm hoping the students use the posted words in their writing.

 

I found this frame at JoAnn Fabric & Crafts in the clearance section for $3.

I added some snowflake stickers to the top and bottom, and used scrapbook paper to print the message.



I like snow more than cold!

This is the newest product in my TpT store!  It's a packed full of activities for sorting words with -tion.
There are two levels of word sorts and acitivities included in the resource.

The packet includes pictures of how I used the sort in my classroom.

Hope you'll check out all the creative ideas on Tara's blog!
Stay warm everyone!

Cute Christmas Gifts and Giveaway

I'm joining Little Warriors in her Best Teacher Gifts Ever Linky Party.  While her gifts were totally awesome (you should check them out on her site!), mine were pretty clever, too.

1. 

I think this one was Pinterest-Inspired!  I need new socks, and love Bath & Body Works lotion, so it is totally appreciated.

Two pairs of socks and some lotion

2.
This unique cookbook from schools across the country has some yummy looking recipes.  I will love reading the dog book, too!



A Taste of Home cookbook with recipes from teachers!
Dog Lover's Devotional book

3.
Do you have a Culver's near you?  It's a restaurant that's famous for their delicious custard.  The packaging of these gift cards was so cute!

Culvers gift card with in one of their cups with white raffia inside to represent ice cream.

3.
A grandma of a student who works in my classroom presented me with this decorative plate!  It matches the colors in the my kitchen so it's perfect!

Love this wooden plate from my class - they all signed their names on the back.


I'm taking part in a New Year's Giveway with my friend Jen from Sparkling Second.
Each item in the giveaway is brand new from some creative bloggers.
My contribution is a word work week-long unit for the -tion chunk.

We use Words Their Way but don't have any of the books so have to make up the sorts and activities on our own.
This packet includes two levels of word sorts so you can easily differentiate instruction.
The titles for each of the activities includes a -tion word, too!

Suggestions for reading -tion words!

There are word sorts for the classroom, and for homework, too!



I also included some math work with the sorts!  There are two levels of this activity included, too!

You can find this product in my TpT store here.
Or,
check out Jen's blog to win this product and others by December 31!