All Posts by Michele

March Madness Book Edition – Part 2

Here’s part 2 of the March Madness Book Edition! See how the books advanced and the students earned their points for their individual brackets :)

March Madness Book Edition – Part 1

At the end of March, my students took the standardized state PARCC exam for the first time. They worked SO hard for so long and I wanted to reward them with something after the exam. Enter the first annual March Madness Book Edition!

A Few of My Favorite Things: Silhouette Portrait

One of my new favorite toys that I am OBSESSED with is the Silhouette Portrait. This machine is the ultimate crafters dream! A few months ago, I saw a fellow teacher post about a contest to win a Silhouette Portrait on Instagram and I was intrigued. I never heard of the Silhouette machines before so I looked into it and immediately decided that I needed to have one.

Since the purchase of my new machine, I have made a ton of various crafts for my own personal use and to sell! Read on to find out more about this fabulous little piece of machinery.

Chicken, Broccoli, and Quinoa Casserole Recipe

Casseroles are one of my favorite things to make because it means that you have a lot of food for the week and it’s all done in one dish! Less clean up, less time cooking individual meals.. it’s a win all around! This casserole is mainly composed of chicken, broccoli, and quinoa. Enjoy!

Frankenstein Compare & Contrast Project

The Common Core Standards are placing a large emphasis on comparing and contrasting in the Upper Elementary grades. Students are responsible for being able to compare and contrast different characters, settings, plots, and themes within a single text and across texts as well.

In order to teach these high level skills using grade level texts, students first need to learn a foundation for comparing and contrasting. This was the perfect Halloween project that allowed students to practice these foundational skills in an engaging way.

Morning Meeting with Upper Elementary Students

Every morning after the students arrive in the classroom, we designate about 10 minutes to morning meeting. Morning meeting is a really great way to start off the day. It sets a positive tone in the classroom. This year, my morning meeting is completely student run! I used morning meeting to help empower students, improve vocabulary, teach character education and build a strong classroom community.

Categorizing Character Traits in a 5th Grade Class

We’ve successfully transitioned into our Character Study unit and I’m liking the direction it’s going so far! To begin our unit, the students worked cooperatively to create a list of character traits to refer to when reading and thinking about their characters. Once the list was created, they sorted it into positive, negative, or neutral traits in order to help identify appropriate traits that match their characters.

Healthy Creamy Curry Broccoli Soup {Dairy Free}

This recipe for creamy curry broccoli soup uses nutrient rich and dairy free coconut milk instead of heavy cream to create the creamy deliciousness in the soup. It’s a nice light alternative for a favorite comfort food!

DIY Easy Burlap Wreath

I love the look of burlap. I think it’s perfect for the fall and matches everything! I had an empty wall that I needed fill in my dining room and wanted to put up a seasonal wreath. When I checked out wreaths in stores, I was shocked at how expensive they were! Some were $60-$80! So I decided to make my own. This is a really easy DIY project that looks a lot more complicated than it actually is! Trust me! It’s very hard to mess up.