Grand Slam, Teacher Appreciation, && Mother's Day

This past week for math we revisited fact families (related facts for those of y'all out there that refer to them as a different title). Since summer is right around the corner and baseball season is starting up I couldn't think of a more perfect theme for our math lessons this week than baseball. I remember staying up way past my 8:30 bed time as a kid to watch the Atlanta Braves play with my mom. I remember even clearer the squabble over the signed Javy Lopez card that resulted in my brother pinching me under the chin and the card going missing. . .f-o-r-e-v-e-r!!! (seriously, it's never been found). AND even clearer, I remember actually going to an Atlanta Braves game and being absolutely miserable because it was so hot and I couldn't hear the announcers...who knew you had to have headhphones to hear the commentary?? All I can say is hopefully fact families will stick in the brains of my kids as much as my baseball memories have stuck in mine. They did an amazing job on their formative test, but they're famous for forgetting everything a week later.   I have a few friends who are still a little shaky with creating fact families completely independently, but they're getting there. I infused my math lessons with baseball fun with a little help from my Batter Up! unit.

My boys really, really liked the baseball theme (my girls did too, but the boys were really stoked about it). It's packed with 3 different games, homework options, and a craftivity that is perfect for the end of a very long week. It's up and ready to pick up at my TPT store. The craftivity is also available as a freebie if you aren't wanting to purchase the whole pack and just want some cuteness in your life.

Speaking of cuteness, Teacher Appreciation Week was pretty darn cute. Our school organized 3 themed days for our kids to participate in (if they wanted to).

Tuesday: Our Teachers Are Noteworthy (bring in a card for your teacher)
Wednesday: Our Teachers Are the Sweetest (bring in a sweet treat for your teacher)
Thursday: Our Teachers Help Us Bloom (bring in a flower or a plant for you teacher)

It's really something special to be acknolwedged for the work that you do on a daily basis. I didn't expect anything, but 5 of my sweet things completely knocked the socks off of me. Thanks to them I now have a garden of flowers in my windowsill to greet me every morning and a handful of really sweet cards to read when I'm feeling down. The healthy eating train has also derailed due to all of the chocolate that my friends brought in (they know me too well).  Keeping the fun going, administration got us even more pumped for summer (as if that's possible) by giving out embroidered beach towels &&& we got a duty free lunch on Monday. Nothing says "I appreciate you" like a lunch free from opening ketchup packets and reminding friends to chew with their mouths closed. It must be what heaven is like!

The next 14 days are going to be slam packed with end of the year stuff. . .I'm in complete disbelief that it's approaching so quickly. We'll be reviewing EVERYTHING for the next few weeks and diving deeper into our study of the ocean with an animal research project. On top of all of the learning/teaching stuff we do have a little fun mixed in. This week is our annual Career Week and there are some pretty fun dress up days involved with it. Tomorrow is College day and I'll be representing the REAL USC...Go Gamecocks!!

Before I shut the lap top off for the night, I figured it was only fitting to share a little Mother's Day activity that kept us busy on Friday. As part of our writing lessons for the week we discussed making lists. We practiced making lists together (grocery lists/to do lists/class lists) and then we got busy making a list of reasons why we loved our moms/grandmoms/aunts (I have a really diverse class this year in regards to family make ups). We wrote our rough drafts in our writing journals and our final drafts on the fancy recording sheets (it's amazing how a few different fonts will make a sheet of paper fancy to a 7 year old). As they were creating their final drafts I was busy stuffing our treat bags with s/mores ingredients and attaching their "I Love You S'more Than Anything" tags to the bags with curly ribbons.

I have a feeling that a few of these didn't make it home intact && a few moms are scratching their heads wondering why they have a list of reasons why their kids love them s'more than anything, but no s'mores. Hey! Atleast I tried! Anyway, I'll be posting a freebie of the labels and the fancy pants recording sheet to my TPT if you want to grab a copy for next year.

Until next time...live, love, teach!