How to Print Bigger!!!

I've had a few people mention that the name plates in my store print too small and it's difficult to read them, so I thought this post was necessary.

Did you know it's super easy to print anything bigger?!?  I just learned this not that long ago and it's a great trick for any teacher!

First, if you are using an editable file (i.e. PowerPoint) you will want to save it as a PDF file.
Then open the PDF file.  When you go to the print screen, you will want to click on "Poster"

Then click on the box beside "Tile Scale" and type in a number bigger than 100%.  I like 125%.  Whatever you do, don't type 150%!  That's huge!

Switch to portrait so they fit.

This will print on two 8 1/2" x 11" pages because it's bigger than 11".  It actually prints half on each page, so it's easy to trim and tape them together.

If you choose 125%, the new name plates will print 12 1/2" x 3 1/2" which is perfect for desks!  The regular printing was 10" x 3". (Please ignore the colour - my printer's almost out of ink!)

If you find that too small/big then you can adjust the tile scale as you need.

Super easy!  

Hope that helps,

~Melissa

"We Remember" - 2015 Legion Remembrance Video Contest Entry

This was made by one of our high school students.  He's entered it in the video

contest for the Legion.  So amazing!

Good Copy Song

I'm a little obsessed with all things Taylor Swift at the moment, so with writing the Punctuating Song, thought I'd take a stab at turning a Taylor Swift fav into a song about writing.  I love it, and have been singing it all weekend, can't wait to teach the kiddos tomorrow!

Here are the lyrics:

Here is a link to the original video, I found it easier to listen to Taylor singing in the background when I started learning it:

And here is a karaoke version to use in the classroom:

Here is the link to download my song lyrics for "Good Copy":

Good Copy lyrics

Punc-tu-a-ting! Song

Soooo I've been doing some YouTube stalking of The Ron Clark Academy lately, and combine that with reading Kim Bearden's book, "Crash Course", and following every one of their teachers on Instagram, watching Hope, Adam and Kim's Periscopes and watching The Ron Clark Story, I guess you could say I'm a little obsessed ;)

And with all the inspiration I decided to try my hand at song writing - partly because I was on Pinterest looking up teaching punctuation ideas, and came across this cute Australian video called punctuation with kung fu fighting.  Now, I immediately thought of the song and went - "Hold up - that would totally work!" They were getting these tiny people to punch the air for full stops and so on, but I knew I could make it into a song.

So I copied the lyrics into PowerPoint, and inserted a text box to the right of it and as I listened to the song on YouTube, I started to play around with the lyrics until they reflected what I've been trying to teach my 2nd graders.  I know, there are always kids who will NEVER remember periods - it's the bane of every teacher's existence - I used to joke I was going to get one hand tattooed with "Capitals" and the other with "Periods" so I could just hold up my hands.  But it's still early in the year, and any effort is worth a shot.

So anywho, here are my lyrics:

Here is the video with lyrics and vocals to get a sense of how to sing it:

And here is a karaoke version, which is what I will use in class to sing along to:

To download my lyrics click here:

Punc-tu-a-ting! Song

Ahhhh!!! New Job

Ok, so first - I have decided I want to blog this year.  I know, I know - I said this when I started the blog, then I skipped a whole school year (2013/2014).  But I have an excuse - (don't I always?) - last school year I wasn't teaching.  Partly because I wanted a break, (I figured most female teachers my age where taking maternity leave and since THAT wasn't happening...), partly because I wanted to come back to the island, and partly because my dad had cancer (Cancer free now!) and partly because I'm just to lazy to work too hard at getting a teaching job.

So, last year I worked at a high school as an aide in the Special Ed department, which was pretty cool.  Except the money was much, much smaller than what I was making as a teacher, so I had to supplement by tutoring high school students after school for hours.  So here I thought it would be a year "off", and it ended up taking more of my time than teaching five grades at once did.  Sigh.

This year, I was determined to go back to teaching.  So I applied.  And I applied.  And I applied.  I even interviewed.  Then I turned down jobs. "WHAT???" you ask?  Well, I thought I would be offered better ones.  And ones with more pay.  I don't plan on working 2 jobs this year.  Of course the teacher strike in the public school system didn't help with finding a job.

And wouldn't you know it, but Friday, five days ago, I was hired.  HALLELUJAH!!!!!  Of course, it was August 22nd, and school starts September 2nd.  Not a lot of time.

So Friday, to get ready, I shopped.  What else did you think I would do?  I went to Michael's 3 times.  Staples once.  I went clothes shopping.  More shopping.  And more.  Until I was shopped out.

Saturday I packed.  Luckily, I hadn't really unpacked since moving the year before since I lived with my brother this past year and wasn't teaching, but it still took all day.

Sunday picked up the trailer from U-Haul and packed it with the help of family and friends, I knew they were good for something ;)  

And Monday I drove.  Took the ferry to the mainland.  Drove for hours.  Drove all day.  Finally arrived at a hotel.  Yeah, the school is about a day trip away from the island.  And I don't have a place to live yet.  And I have an over-a-hundred-pound-dog.  She's staying in doggy day care during the daytime.

Tuesday I went into school and met everyone, we were in meetings till 2, then I started setting up my class. Then I picked up the dog, looked at 2 houses, walked the dog, got back to the hotel, looked at my list of stuff to do for school, worked on that for hours, fell asleep, woke at 2am, looked back at teacher blogs/Pinterest/TPT, and here I am.  4:45, waiting for the alarm to ring.

Welp, that's about it.  Except that I have a grade 2 class of 22 students, the classroom was used as storage last year (already took out the piano), and it's a mess.  I am a little too.  But it's ok.  There's still six more days until the kiddies come.  Though I have to find a place to live.  And move there.  But whatever.

Here's some pics:

from the road

empty classroom

with my boxes thrown in

so much in the cupboards to go through - but there is a bathroom!

Extra boards!

starting to get set up

my reading corner - so far...

using a Jungle theme this year

Finally Moved

Yes, I am finally back on the island and it is so nice to be home!  I got all my stuff moved into the storage closet at my sister and brother's house Sunday and even returned the U-haul before closing time.  It was so nice to be able to go out for dinner, run to Wal-Mart for some things I needed and get frozen yogurt for a treat - it`s amazing to have all this so close to home!
Anyways, Monday was Canada Day and my birthday, so my sister and I walked the dogs then had a nice lunch and wandered through downtown Victoria, which was pretty busy, but it was nice just to stretch the legs after the insane traveling on the weekend.  We found out Tuesday there were terrorists at the Parliament Buildings when we were there dropping bomb bags around the grass - don't even know what to think of that!
Since then, I've been relaxing, applying for jobs, doing phone interviews, got my eyes checked and ordered contacts, got groceries, and took the dog on hikes everyday.  I don't know what it is, but it's so nice being able to go out in the woods and hike up hills and really feel my quads working.
And now it's Friday and I've decided that I should really start making some more products to sell on my TPT store and finish up the lot I had begun a month ago.  After all, it may be my main source of income come September ;)

River

We lost a brave, beautiful, caring student to teen suicide last week.  My thoughts and prayers go out to the family and his friends who are mourning his loss.  RIP River, you will be missed.

FREE! Avengers Non-Linear Measurement

This is a cute little pack, it's actually taken from a bigger Superhero package available in my TPT and TN Store.

It contains 6 Avengers characters with lines drawn to show the students where to measure, and rulers with Tony Starks on them so the students measure the height of each of the characters in Tony Starks and record on the recording sheets.

Download for free by clicking {HERE}

Leprechaun Stories - by the Grade 2/3's

The Lost Gold

by LaShaye

The funny leprechaun and his bucket of gold were playing outside on a snowy day.  The funny leprechaun went inside to get hot chocolate then he came out of the house and his gold was gone.  He said, "Oh no!"  The funny leprechaun went upstairs and looked under the bed, and the gold was not there, so he went back down stairs and looked on the couch, and it was not there.  The funny leprechaun went outside and he looked in the backyard, and it was not there.  Then he went back inside and he went upstairs and the gold was there.  Then the leprechaun was so happy.  The funny leprechaun wanted to go outside to play so the funny leprechaun put the sparkly gold under the bed then the funny leprechaun went outside on a sunny day and he went to the swing.

Frank the Leprechaun

by Logan

 

It was a bright morning and Frank was running with his pot of gold.  Then the next morning he looked for his pot of gold.  Frank was sad he didn't find it.  Frank was not happy because he lost his gold.  Frank was worried because of his shiny gold.  Frank looked at the bar and Frank didn't find his gold.  "I can't believe I went in the bar," whispered Frank.  He felt frustrated.  Then Frank found his gold.  The Frank said, "Gold, gold, " and felt better.  He looked through the front door.  Frank said, "My gold, my gold."  Frank said it two times his face looked yellow.  Frank was very happy.  Then he went back to his house to drink a bear potion to make him bigger.  When he drank, his face looked heavy.  Then Logan came then Frank and Logan were fighting because they hated each other.  Then Logan won the fight and that's the end.

 

 

The Gold

by Leland

 

One sunny day Leland the leprechaun went outside with his gold.  He went inside to get a glass of water.  "Oh no," yelled Leland, "I can not find my gold.  I should look for it."  He was enraged.  "Have you seen my gold?"

"No," cried the flower slowly.  The flower was curious. 

But Leland kept walking.  Maybe it is under a miniature tree.  No it is not.  My gold is still missing, he thought.  "Now I think I'm near to my gold," agonized Leland.  "I found my gold, yeah!" yelled Leland.  The gold was behind the tree.  Leland was upbeat because he found his gold.  Leland picked up his gold and he brought it home and he was happy.

Poor Deer!

I took the kids out for recess and there was a deer lost inside the basketball court.  Poor thing, couldn't remember how it got in. 
It panicked for a minute, then figured it out, but not before I got some pictures.

Math Poems

I just got this new book in the mail from Amazon:

 

 

And the grade 2's and 3's wrote Measurement Poems based on the ones inside while the grade 4's wrote Fraction poems. 

 

Here they are: 

 

 

 

 

 

KidBlog is Awesome!

So as I said before, I finished a 2-week course on Blogging, courtesy of PLP which is something I had never heard of before.  But it was crazy - there were teachers from Australia, the US, all over the world.

Anywho, after taking it I started my class and the other class on their own blogs through KidBlog which is super easy to set up and perfect for little uns - junior high. 

So far, the kids seem to love making new posts and are learning to tag their posts, get new avatars and themes for their blogs and make thoughtful comments and questions on each other's blogs.  I love it!

 

You can check out our Blog by clicking {HERE}

Lazy Snow Days

Okay, okay, I know I've been slacking on the blogging lately.  But really, I have a whole list of excuses, so here you go:

1)  Winter is here.  Still.  I know, it's the end of April, and we are getting so much snow even today that the buses didn't come to school and we have no students, thus why I have time to blog now.  But I am sososososo sick of the white stuff.

2)  I've been teaching full-time again, now that my Student Teacher is gone, and it's a lot of work!  I want her back.

3)  With teaching more I've been making more products to use to go with my lessons, therefore my TPT store is growing like crazy and that takes a lot of time.

4)  My internet at home is a stick.  Like an expensive, pay-for-every-little-thing-you-do stick that likes to cut out a lot and not work a lot.  Therefore, doing anything on the internet is a pain in the patootie.

5)  I've been doing lots of Webinars like my normal ones for being Literacy Lead and an ECS teacher, as well as tech webinars.  I just finished a course on Blogging which was cool, and now starting 21st Century Lesson Plans tonight and Google Docs on Thursday.

But I'm back!  And will try to blog more.  I've got LOADS of pics to share from the last month.  Fun, fun, fun.

Treasure Map Measurement

This treasure map measurement has a recording sheet for cms or inches included.

Have students estimate and record the length of each path using string and a ruler to figure out which path would lead to treasure!

I've put it FREE on my TPT store for 24 hours, but I'll leave it FREE here for 3 days, till Friday April 5th.  PLEASE comment if you enjoyed it!

Click on the picture to download for free!

Different Languages, Anyone?

Who knew French Immersion followed by 7 years of French in a private school, completed by being a French Coordinator for a school would one day come in handy?!?

Then there's taking first year of Spanish in university, and now living in an area where Cree is the second language.

What can I say, I've always been pretty good at picking up languages (not to brag...) but I've started creating resources in different languages, finally posted the Cree package of Brown Bear and decided I might as well change it to French, and while I'm at it, make some months of the year headings. 

Ahhhh.. now to make some resources I wil actually use this spring, like some measuring, subtraction, multiplication, division, decimal, and bug stuff! 

Gotta love Spring Break!

Mix-and-Match Poetry

It's Poetry Month!  To celebrate I made 2 different sets of mix-and-match poetry, one for grade 3-6 and one for grade 6-12.  The idea is that each student gets a sheet of paper with words on it that have been cut up.  They rearrange the words to make a poem that they can then glue on a sheet or write onto paper.

For a FREE TEASER click {HERE}

New Sight Word Games!

I just finished a Sight Word Game that is too cute! 

It is dog-themed, with each player choosing a dog to move around the game board.  As students play, they pick up bones and read the words on them.  If they read them correctly, they get to put the bones on their dog bowls until all the spaces are full.  The first player to cover their dog bowl wins!

I made 2 different versions, one has the first 100 Fry Sight Words, and the other has the Pre-Primer and Primer words from the Dolch lists.

I am planning on making more, with the next 100 Fry words and the grade 1-3 words from the Dolch lists. 

               

 

Click {HERE} to go to my TPT Store and purchase the Fry version!

 

Click {HERE} to go to my TPT Store and purchase the Dolch version!

Easter Egg CVC Words

Ok, so I've been busy making Easter Egg word families, cvc words and math today, and want to give the cvc words for free!

Here are the two I've made:
The first one has 21 slides full of different CVC words.  The idea is that the students can mix-and-match the eggs to make different words - as long as they make real words and are sounding them out!
There are 10 slides with words written on them, then 10 blank slides for you to write your own words on.  You could even put consonant blends/digraphs or vowel blends on the egg shells if you want to make it more challenging.  For older students, you could even write prefixes and suffixes on the bottom and top of the egg shells!  So many possibilities!

Click {HERE} to download the first

The second was just a quick make - only a handful of slides to match the egg shells and make -at words.

That one is {HERE}

Easter Egg Word Families

I just made a quick Freebie - it's Easter eggs cracked into 3 pieces, with an -at word written over the three pieces.  The students have to find and put the pieces together to read the word. 

  

Click HERE to download.

So Cute!

Okay, so I admit I kind of stole this idea off Pinterest, except the teacher was using an inchworm.

I bought a package of clipart off TPT, and made a package of...

Measuring Centimeters with Centipedes!

It's so cute!  I can't wait to use it in the classroom.  The idea is the teacher cuts out, laminates, and hides the centipedes around the classroom, then the students take their recording sheet and measure the centipedes to the nearest cm.

                     

 

 

Click HERE to go to my TPT store and purchase