It's a blog hoppin Saturday!

A lot is going on in teacher blogging world lately. There are so many linky parties it is hard to just choose one so today I'm joining in on several I found interesting. I've just started getting back into blogging so this a great way to find other blogs to follow. Click on any of the buttons to be taking to the host of the linky party. The first one is a Back to School Bloglovin hop.  The purpose is to find other teacher blogs on Bloglovin to follow.

For anyone just finding me through a blog hop today, I'm Jamie, a sixth grade teacher in NC.  Learn more about me by click the About me tab up top. I'd love for you to follow me as a share my journey as a middle school teacher.
 The next linkup I found is optimum organization with Fun in Room 4B & Ladybugs teacher files.  This is all about how to organize your classroom.

 

Today's main topic is about how to keep parents informed. Last year I used a classroom website, email and newsletter to inform parents of what we were doing in class. I also had a folder with parent information in it that got a little messy.  I found some great ideas on Pinterest that I plan on using this year.  The pin below is for a free parent contact log I found.

On to the next linky party with Ms. Nelson.  I love this linky because I love taking pictures! Thank goodness for smartphones!

I love taking pictures of pretty clouds.  This week it was almost all clouds and rain.

This is my favorite flower, hydrangeas. 

 I made a lot of frog friends by the pool this week.  We get some out almost daily.

     Finally, you can click the links below to visit my Middle Grades Bloglovin' hop or my Plan like a Pirate hop. Blog hops are a great way to get to know other bloggers so excuse the multiple linky parties but I just can't resist.

  

Back to school Sales!

     It is that time of year when office supply stores start putting out great back to school sales.  I have rounded up some of the best deals starting this Sunday, 7/7/ through 7/13.  I'm only listing items that I think are worth buying, there are many other sales going on at each store.  I will post other ads as they become available!

All SCHOOLIO Paper Folders 1¢ Must purchase $5 first
OFFICEMAX® 4-oz. White Glue 1¢ Must purchase $5 first
1-Subject College- or WideRule Notebook, 70-Sheets 5 for $1
OFFICEMAX® Solid-Color Composition Book 50¢

SCHOOLIO 1" or 1.5" 3-Ring Poly Binder $1

AVERY Permanent Glue Sticks $1
SCHOOLIO 5" Blunt Scissors, 2-Pack or 7" Pointed Scissors $1
All PAPER MATE® Clearpoint™ Mechanical Pencil Starter Sets $1 with in-ad coupon
SHARPIE® Fine-Point Black Permanent Markers, 12-Pack $1 with in-ad coupon
All EXPO® Chisel-Tip Dry Erase Marker 4-Packs $1 with in-ad coupon
All SCOTCH® Expressions Tape Single Rolls $2
All OFFICEMAX® 3-Subject or Poly Assignment Notebooks $2

Mr. Sketch scented markers 12-pk - $3.99

Five Star Poly Clearview Folder - $1

Staples® cap erasers, 12/pack 1¢ each, with $5 minimum purchase
BIC® Round Stic® ballpoint pens, black, 8/packs - 1¢ each, with $5 minimum purchase
1Staples® ruled 3" x 5" white index cards, 100/pack 1¢ each, with $5 minimum purchase 

Avery® insertable dividers, 5 tab - 25¢

BIC Matic® Grip 0.7 mm assorted mechanical pencils, 6/pack - $1
Staples® glue sticks, .26 oz., 4/pack $1
Westcott® 9" recycled scissors $1
Westcott® 5" scissors, 2/pack $1

Don't forget as you are planning lessons this summer to link up to Plan like a Pirate.

Why study history?

    I have been thinking hard about how to start my first social studies unit. In my county our first unit is about history and geography. Our goal is basically to get students to understand why and how we study ancient civilizations. Last year I started by defining social studies words we would be using all year and then making a foldable about people who study history. This year I want to start by explaining why it is so important for us to study history. Below is the lesson plan I have came up with so far. If you have any suggestions for making it better I would love any advice. At the bottom is a link up to my new linky party called Plan like a Pirate. If you have a lesson plan you would like to share feel free to add it!

Why study history?

Goal:  What are some benefits to studying history?

Warmup activity-  Describe a past event that you have learned from and how you changed after learning from that event occurring.  For example, I now keep an extra pair of shoes in my car because I once broke the straps on my flip flops and had to walk around bare foot.

 

Lesson:  Students groups will become “reporters” that will be figuring out how a person in history shaped the modern day world.  Each group will get a bag with clues and their job is to come to an agreement as a group about how the person or event in their bag shaped history.  

Example bag:  A picture of the destruction of Pompeii, definition of a seismologist and an article about volcano eruption warning signs

After students have had about 10 minutes to discuss with their group, have students share their findings with the rest of the class.

Show what they know:  Create a class anchor chart that lists why studying history can be beneficial.  Ask open ended questions to help them.  Example answers:

1. It helps to shape our identity.
2. Helps us see viewpoints of other people.
3. Encourages you to ask important questions
4. Promotes good decision making skills
5. Can learn more about other subjects while studying history

Closing:  Have students turn and talk to share their warm-up activity further explaining how learning from the past is important.

                                   

Plan like a Pirate

    After reading Teach Like a Pirate I am on a mission to create more engaging lesson plans. I will admit that most of my lessons for studying ancient civilizations last year included brainpop videos and edhelper articles. Reading TLAP made me really question what I was thinking. Now I am on a mission to create engaging lesson plans and I would love to collaborate with other bloggers who want to do the same.  This is where Plan Like a Pirate comes in.  This linkup is not for a certain day but for whenever you create an engaging lesson you want to share with others.  It can be any grade or subject that you want to link up.

Get the code to place the linkup on your own blog.

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What I'm Loving Wednesday & Pinteresting!

I'm loving having time to blog.  I'm probably spending too much time on blogger right now but I just can't help myself.  I started a middle school bloglovin linkup for anyone with a 5-8 blog.

I'm also loving getting to try new recipes.  Today I made sun dried tomato chicken and penne pasta.  All I did was use Lawry's Sundried Tomato & Garlic Chicken seasoning mix and bake the chicken and pasta for 45 minutes.  It was super easy and pretty tasty.  Next time, I need to remember to add more water than what the package on the mix says.

Finally, I am loving image-maps.com. I made a graphic to link up to all my social networking sites. I then used image-maps.com to get the code to map each link on the graphic.  I highly recommend this site, it is free and so easy to use!

Now to link up with my other addiction besides blogging, Pinterest!  To join in with this linky party, just click the button below and share your favorite Pinterest finds of the week. Mine are very random this week.

Book Whisperer Chapter 5

     As many of you know from my numerous posts about The Book Whisperer & Teach Like a Pirate, I'm really enjoying reading right now. For any teacher who is teaching reading The Book Whisperer is a must read. All teachers can benefit from Teach Like a Pirate no matter what grade or subject you teach.  Lorraine at We Read, We Blog, We Teach is hosting a book study on The Book Whisperer that I wanted to participate in.

This week she is covering Chapter 5 which is called What Does Reading Mean to You?  Here are my thoughts on this chapter.

    While reading this chapter I thought about myself as a reader and how my love for reading has grown on my own.  During school, I can't really remember a time when a teacher encouraged me to read what I wanted to read.  The most vivid memory I have of reading was making my first C on a test based on The Island of the Blue Dolphins.  From that day on, I didn't care to read for fun.  I just wanted to try to please my teachers on their tests.  What is really discouraging is looking back on my first year of teaching last year and realizing that I was doing the same exact thing for my own students! Thank goodness only one year of teaching has gone by and I can start encouraging my students to read.

 

This quote from the chapter made me think about my approach to teaching reading last year.  My approach was skills-based and I admit that my goal was mainly to help students read well enough to pass the test. Miller has encouraged me to take a different approach to teaching reading next year.  I will be reading more on my own and talking to my students about all the great books that are available for them to read and learn from.

 

Miller goes on to talk about ways we can show our students that we are enthusiastic about reading.   One way we can do this is by showing them that we read everywhere.  Talk to them about reading at home and what you like to read.  During class read while they are reading.  Next year I plan on reading both books my students will be interested in reading, and books that I enjoy reading myself right in front of them.  I want them to see that I don't read just because I'm a reading teacher, I read because I enjoy it.

This quote comes from Miller's suggestion to create your own reader's notebook.  She suggests reflecting on what you are reading to help make recommendations to students and friends.  I am going to start doing this immediately.  Now to find a cute notebook to record in!

Have you read The Book Whisperer yet? If so, join in on the book study at We Read, We Blog, We Teach.

Finally, don't forget to join in on my middle grades blog hop if you teach 5th-8th grade.

Middle Grades Bloglovin Hop

    I noticed on another blog that there is an elementary blog hop going on today now that Google Reader has shut down.  I wanted to create one for middle grades so that we could easily find each other on Bloglovin.  If you want to join in then add your Bloglovin page below.  You can find the exact link to your Bloglovin page by going to look at the html code for your Bloglovin button.  The first link in the code is the link you will want to use for this Bloglovin hop! After you have added your blog, post the Middle Grades Bloglovin Hop button to your own blog for others to find.

   If you have been reading Teach Like a Pirate then you may be working on lessons that your students would buy tickets for.  I know I will be working on making as many as I can over the summer and I can't wait to share them with everyone.  I'm also hoping to be able to "hop" to other blogs and find great lesson ideas.