Favorite Things Sunday

Glad that you have joined me!  Every Sunday I share some of the best ideas I have found throughout the week.  I missed last Sunday, so I am combining two weeks. 

A Few of the Slices I Loved...

I would like to feature some of the slices that really spoke to me in the last two weeks.  There are around 200 people participating in the challenge.  I wish I had the time to read all of them because the ones I do are always wonderful.  Exposing a piece of your soul every time you write is very personal and can be a bit scary when put out there for everyone to read.


Multiple writers gave personalities to ideas:   

• The Voice of Winter by Coffee Filled Musings - She gave winter a very distinct voice and I was able to fully visualize winter having a conversation.
• "Writing waits for me." by Birds and Trees of the Mind - Writing becomes a person who is waiting for him in a coffee shop.

Whale Tales by Teacher Girl Talk - First graders say the funniest things.  I laughed out loud.

Wonder Box by Keep in Touch - She writes about how she uses a card catalog.  I would love to use this idea in my classroom.


Writing Treasure by Pondering Preschool - A fantastic poem that would serve as great writing invitation for students.


I learned about myself by Just for a month - She shares a slice of life from a nine year old...a very vivid piece of writing where the student describes the teacher.  One of my favorite lines:  "walks like a butterfly."

Confidence by She Writes Because... - She tries a different type of poetry inspired by Bob Raczka.  She gives step by step guide for how she wrote her poem.

Slicing Away
Gaining confidence in sharing my writing with others is one of the greatest gifts of the Slice of Life Challenge hosted by the Two Writing Teachers each March.  I have received the best encouragement from other slicers and I have had the greatest slices to gather inspiration from.  

SLICE OF LIFE

Slicing about life

Gives energy.

Reading slices

Gives inspiration.

Commenting on slices

Gives encouragement.

Math Talk Strategy

Mrs. Lyons from Thinking of Teaching shared a great strategy that had her students talking about math in a kid-friendly way.  She used a strategy called Picture Talk.  This is how she explains it:  "The idea is that it helps students who may not be comfortable expressing their ideas in writing or in conversation, instead they can show their understanding in a picture."  Once the students have shown their understanding she uses two different colors to highlight glowing understanding (demonstrated understanding of the concept) and growing understanding (misconceptions or mistakes).  Click on her blog button below to be taken the post.  She provides her example and student work to really show you this strategy in action.

Set Up for Success

Third Graders, Dreaming Big shared ways to help set up students for success on the days of the "BIG" test.  One of my favorite was the Encouraging Snacks.  She sent home brown paper bags that were labeled before test and after test.  She asked parents to fill the bags with a healthy snack and an encouraging note for their child before the test and a fun snack and encouraging note for after the test.  I am thinking how could my teachers do this for their students.  I am going to share the idea with my teachers and see what they can come up with.  To see a picture of the bags and the parent note she sends home to explain, click on the image below.

New Blogs

Math's Coach's Corner has a great page on her blog called "Blog Hop."  Go there (by clicking on her blog button below) and check out a bunch of great blogs.  They are arranged by grade level.  Also you can add your blog.

I hope you have enjoyed "A Few of My Favorite Things" and come back each Sunday to see what other fabulous finds I have gathered for your enjoyment and to add to your resources.