Five for Friday

This year is definitely going to be the year where I sprint through my days.  I love busy days because you don't get bored and there is always something to keep you entertained.  However, it definitely cuts down on my blogging time.

Does anyone else's schedule look like this?
1. Get up
2. School a.k.a work
3. Dinner
4. Create/watch t.v./family time (All at once)
5. Bed

That is my schedule right now five days a week.  Routine is nice, but I'd love to throw in going to the gym, afternoon naps, and an extra hour or ten for creating.  You would think after so many years of teaching I would figure out it isn't ever all done, but no, I don't.  In my mind, one day, I will catch up.  Yes, you can quit laughing now!

Now it's time for my one of my favorite link up parties -  Five for Friday!  Now that I'm back in school, it is definitely easier to come up with five things.

#1 - Ants, Ants, and More Ants

This week I focused on ants ALL week.  We had tons of fun doing all sorts of different activities.  One of my favorite is one I saw on Cara Carroll's blog and on Erica Bohrer's blog.  I took both of their ideas and combined them to make my own little ant writing.  First, we read "Hey, Little Ant".  When we finished reading the book, we filled out the Graphic Organizer.  As I go through the year, I begin to allow my students to fill them out themselves, but this early in the school year it helps if you walk them through it the first couple of weeks.  I typically use my Activboard to do this.  Once we've filled out the Graphic Organizer, we do our rough draft, meet one-on-one to discuss revisions that need to be made, and then do our final draft.  One thing I've learned about my kids the last two years is they enjoy writing much more if it's tied into something funny or a craft.  We ended up making the boy holding the ant paper.  Below are pictures of some of my favorites.

#2 - A Few More Ants
One of my favorite books that I read to my kids was "I Saw an Ant on the Railroad Track".  I read an actual book to my kiddos, but they do have it for the Nook on the Barnes and Noble website.  The picture has a link to save you a little time.  It was super cute and I created a cut and paste sequencing activity to go with it.  Feel free to click on the sheet to go download it.

#3 - TPT Sale
Oh my goodness ya'll!  Did you guys buy as much as I did?  I went through my Scope and Sequence and bought packets that I thought would compliment what we had on the schedule.  Seriously, my wish list was seven pages long when I started.  I did manage to narrow down what I wanted which is a good thing because the original cart of "I have to have this!" was around $300.  I managed to make a chunk of cuts, but my list is still pretty full!

#4 - Primary Chalkboard
Alright friends, I am loving the collaborative blog.  Each of us is on a schedule, so we know when it is our turn to blog.  Well, our first round includes us introducing ourselves through the remainder of August.  Today it was time for Lisa (Growing Firsties) and me to introduce ourselves.  We talked on the phone a few times last week and this week and decided to play on our favorite football teams since football season is right around the corner.  Plus, my team is ranked at number five right now, so why wouldn't I want to start thinking about football?

Anyway, go check out our collaborative blog.  We worked together and tried to give you a little something fun to check out.  Oh, and there is a freebie we did together that is only available on Primary Chalkboard.  You can click on one of the pictures to go grab it.

#5 - It's the Weekend!
Okay, I know it's silly, but weekends right now mean sleep, junk food, sleep, did I mention junk food?

Quick commercial break - does your hubby ever leave you the potato chip crumbs?  You know, the broken up chips?  Well, typically that isn't a bad thing, but when you have French onion dip, yep, it is not a good thing.  So, I came up with a solution today!  I am now putting chips in my mouth and then adding some French onion dip with a fork.  Why yes, I do believe I'm a genius and might be a little ADD on Friday afternoons.  Back to my original thought.

Seriously, I love my new babies and everyone I work with, but it is nice to be able to shut down a little on Saturdays.

Hope you guys have a great week!  I'm going to finish off my crumbs chips!