FREEBIE! Wonderopolis Trifold Activity Sheet!

Followers are Fabulous FREEBIE! I wanted to thank all the followers I have on TeachersPayTeachers, Blogger, Facebook, and Pinterest! You all rock and I wanted to include a freebie that I hope most of you will be able to use!

Have you heard of the site Wonderopolis? I LOVE it, and so do my students. There are currently over 900 "Wonder of the Day" articles posted, and more added everyday. They cover a variety of subjects and are interesting and engaging for students. To help guide students along, and hold them accountable, I've created a Wonderopolis Trifold Activity Sheet.

Just print this FREEBIE back to front, have students fold on the dotted lines, and then they can go to wonderopolis.org and get started! You can give students the freedom to choose their own "Wonder of the Day" but I prefer to narrow it down by having them choose a specific subject or by assigning a specific wonder that relates to what we are currently learning.

All students need to do is follow the numbers on the trifold to complete pre-reading, vocabulary, and post-reading activities.

Follow the links to download the Wonderopolis Trifold Activity Sheet!

One of the favorite "wonders" in my class has been #435, Do Potatoes See With Their Eyes?  At the bottom of the wonderopolis page there are links to their long list of categories, this quarter I will be pulling from the Space category to enhance our science unit. I'd love to hear which "wonders" your students like best! 

The American Revolution and Techie Tuesday

Yesterday I went back to work after two glorious weeks of Spring Break. One day to prep before kids (plus meetings and the district rally) is not enough! Today my kiddos returned and we jumped right in to the Revolutionary War (my favorite 5th grade social studies topic!). I started reading aloud Benjamin Franklin as a part of David Colbert's 10 Days series. We read Day 1 today, and although we stopped a lot to discuss, the students really seem to be getting into it!

Then this afternoon we started working on our American Revolution Lapbooks! This project is a great way for the students to show what they learn about the Revolution as we delve through this exciting period of American history. 

Oh, and what do you know?!  This lapbook is available in my TpT store and is my second bestseller! We also did a mini tax simulation to get the students to start thinking about what the colonists were going through that led them to revolt. The students were taxed for various things, like having siblings, or wearing a white shirt. Most of my classroom "colonists" were left with little or no money, while the King and the tax collectors took quite a chunk of change. 

Today I am linking up with Technology Tailgate to share a great interactive game find!

A teammate stumbled upon the Mission US website which has two interactive missions. The site also includes additional educator resources and activities! I only managed to play a bit of the game, but I'm definitely going to have the students try it out when we go to the computer lab next week. Students have the opportunity to make different choices throughout game play, including deciding where their loyalties lie! The site includes two missions; the first mission takes place as the Revolutionary War begins.

Mission 1: For Crown or Colony?

These missions can be played on computers or can be downloaded to mobile devices. Students will need to register (but they do not need an email address). 

The preview trailer will be a great hook to get the students excited about their mission!

Have you visited Michaela's blog We<3Edu? It's mighty cute! She is having a HUGE giveaway to celebrate 300 followers. There are several prize packs to win, and one for grade 3-5. You should totally go over there and get entered (by March 24) because there are so many prizes to win (22 in the 3-5 pack), including my own Off Limits {it's just like Taboo} game!

Drumroll...

Thank you to everyone who entered my first giveaway! It was a lot of fun. And now to the winners...

First Place goes to the lucky . . . 

Rhonda! Congratulations!

And runner up goes to . . . 

Denise and Nick! 

 I'll be emailing the 3 of you shortly, so check your inboxes!

And because I think all of my followers are winners I'll be having a great freebie soon! Stay tuned! 

Arizona Blogger

I love Fifth in the Middle's state link-up. It's great to know where fellow bloggers are from and discover new teachers/blogs from your own state! Head over there and link up too, it's easy!

Any other AZ bloggy teachers out there?

And, only a few more hours to enter my first giveaway!

Giveaway LAST CALL!

Today is your last chance to enter my very first giveaway! Don't forget to get your entries in!

The prizes:

1st Place - I'll mail you the completed Fortune Cookie Question Cards for Non-fiction that is shown above! No need to print and cut, I've already done that for you! And, to sweeten the deal, I'll throw in a $10.00 TpT gift certificate! (Must be a US resident)

Runner Up - Two lucky people will receive a free PDF of the Fortune Cookie Question Cards for Non-fiction! Plus one free item of choice from my TpT store!

How to enter (up to 3 entries possible!): 

* Fill out the simple 3 question form below. 

(Your email address will only be used in the event that you win.)

* Like Upper Grades are Awesome on Facebook and leave a comment finishing the phrase "Upper grades are awesome because...".

* Follow the blog and comment on this post with the following: name, email address, and finish the phrase "Upper grades are awesome because...".

All entries must be received by Sunday, March 17, 2013 11:59 PST/PDT.

Winner will be chosen using a random generator. 

I will announce the winners on Monday, March 18. 

Giveaway!

The prizes:

1st Place - I'll mail you the completed Fortune Cookie Question Cards for Non-fiction that is shown above! No need to print and cut, I've already done that for you! And, to sweeten the deal, I'll throw in a $10.00 TpT gift certificate! (Must be a US resident)

Runner Up - Two lucky people will receive a free PDF of the Fortune Cookie Question Cards for Non-fiction! Plus one free item of choice from my TpT store!

How to enter (up to 3 entries possible!): 

* Fill out the simple 3 question form below. 

(Your email address will only be used in the event that you win.)

* Like Upper Grades are Awesome on Facebook and leave a comment finishing the phrase "Upper grades are awesome because...".

* Follow the blog and comment on this post with the following: name, email address, and finish the phrase "Upper grades are awesome because...".

All entries must be received by Sunday, March 17, 2013 11:59 PST/PDT.

Winner will be chosen using a random generator. 

I will announce the winners on Monday, March 18. 

Fortune Cookie Question Cards for Non-fiction {and a GIVEAWAY}

Several years ago I took a professional development course on (not taught by) Debbie Diller's Literacy Work Stations for Grades 3-6. The class was excellent because it was "make and take" and by the end of the class we all had several work station  materials ready to use in the classroom. Our homework during the course was to make and present our own workstation to the rest of the class. At the time Michael's had started selling take-out boxes in their gift wrapping section and I was inspired! I made three boxes each containing fortune cookie cards that had questions to use after reading at the non-fiction work station. I've had these in my room for several years, but I didn't photograph them because they weren't very pretty and had become faded from sitting in the window for years. I finally made a brand new set, fixed it up, and updated the questions.

These cards are great because they add interest to students and they come in their own cute storage boxes! 

And these are not just for literacy work stations! They can be used with small groups and whole class! 

I just added the file to TpT, it includes 16 science fortune cookie questions, 16 history fortune cookie questions, and 16 biography questions. There is a label for each of the three genres as well. The file has a black and white version for printing on tan card stock, or a colored version to use on white card stock. 

The take-out boxes can be found at many craft supply stores (Michael's, Joann Fabrics, Hobby Lobby, etc.) These I purchased from Hobby Lobby for about $5.00. I *think* there were 8 included. I've even seen these at Dollar Tree! The pictured ones aren't laminated, but my original ones were. Just unhook the metal handles, unfold, and run through the laminating machine! 

So, I've been wanting to do a giveaway for sometime, but I'm nervous. I've never had one before and I don't want to do it wrong! Please gently let me know if I am committing a giveaway crime, I don't intend to! 

The prizes:

1st Place - I'll mail you the completed Fortune Cookie Question Cards for Non-fiction that is shown above! No need to print and cut, I've already done that for you! And, to sweeten the deal, I'll throw in a $10.00 TpT gift certificate! (Must be a US resident)

Runner Up - Two lucky people will receive a free PDF of the Fortune Cookie Question Cards for Non-fiction! Plus one free item of choice from my TpT store!

How to enter (up to 3 entries possible!): 

* Fill out the simple 3 question form below. 

(Your email address will only be used in the event that you win.)

* Like Upper Grades are Awesome on Facebook and leave a comment finishing the phrase "Upper grades are awesome because...".

* Follow the blog and comment on this post with the following: name, email address, and finish the phrase "Upper grades are awesome because...".

All entries must be received by Sunday, March 17, 2013 11:59 PST/PDT.

Winner will be chosen using a random generator. 

I will announce the winners on Monday, March 18. 

Share a Healthy Snack Week SUCCESS!

In my last post I explained how I was using the site SignUp Genius to allow parents to sign up for our Share a Healthy Snack Week, and I have to say, the week was a huge success! I had about 3-4 students bring fruit everyday last week and our counter looked like a bountiful harvest.

{tangelos, apples, bananas, & cuties}

There was enough fruit for students to have two or three pieces on some days, and it was devoured. On Friday a student even brought some cashews and shelled sunflower seeds which were also a bit hit! They begged for more and many students, without any comment or prompting from me, asked that we continue to do this for the rest of the school year. Even my math kids wanted some when they came in my room. It was great to see them enjoying something fresh other than chips/hot cheetos/cookies/processed foods.