CATCH MY WORDS to find help with teaching strategies, resources, or to enjoy a laugh or music. Blog connected to Catch My Products, the gifted department store with resources for K - 12.
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My humorous thoughts about life.
"My Humorous and Helpful Thoughts About Teaching / Educational Resources for Your
Classroom / Music and Random Fun"
I've joined in with some fantastic sellers to #RingIn2020. Just go to Teachers Pay Teachers, tomorrow and search the hashtag #RingIn2020 for fabulous sales!
Can you believe it? I feel like my life is speeding up and perhaps it is. After all, a year is an eternity for a toddler. Looking at a year as half of your life is huge. 1/58th of it, not so much. The older we get, the faster time flows. It's Einstein's theory of Relativity.
by Ron Leishman
So what are you going to do to make this year better than the last one? We always resolve to lose weight or get healthy, don't we? I wonder how many people I've lost and gained in my lifetime. That means, looking at weight loss and comparing it to the poundage of a human. I've certainly lost and gained many chihuahuas in 2019 alone.
How about the kindness resolution? That's a good one. It's often difficult to ignore stupid comments on Facebook, but I'm trying. I think I'll resolve to spend less time on FB to begin with. It certainly is a time suck that steals from my business. As a self employed person, the more I work the more I make. So, that's it. Time limits on Facebook.
As a former teacher, I know that teachers need all the time they can get to work on lesson plans, evaluations, grading papers, and everything else that goes along with the thankless job. So here you go! Resolve to spend time wisely.
Finally, here is a favorite song from a favorite scene from a favorite movie, 'It's a Wonderful Life.'
Also, I have two new products that I've listed within the last week.
There is nothing more difficult than being in a classroom right before Christmas except being in a classroom right before summer break! Let's face it. All kids are nuts, right now, and teacher are becoming crazy, too! So to make life easier for teachers, I am participating in TWO dollar deals on TpT.
#happyholideals takes place today and tomorrow. Just visit Teachers Pay Teachers and search #happyholideals or click:
I assume most of you only have a week or less until break. If it's more than that, your school board will probably be visited by ghosts because that's cruel!
Musical Monday Moves Me
Now, it's time to rock on with another group of fun bloggers who post music every Monday! This month's theme is Christmas music, which can sometimes be tough on a Jewish gal who doesn't celebrate Christmas. However, I always told my kids that when you go to a birthday party, it's not YOUR birthday. Same with a Christmas party. Nothing wrong with wishing a Merry Christmas for those who celebrate. I'll post my Chanukah music next Monday, since December 22 is the first night of Hanukkah. (Notice the change of spelling? It doesn't matter!)
Merry Christmas!
Did you know you can watch a fire and listen to music continuously on a YouTube station? You can comment on the song played, but it will probably be a different one for each of you because this is like a radio station that plays live all the time. Pretty cool. Enjoy your holiday!
Seems like this time of year, all kids want to focus on is Christmas. With that in mind, we can adapt any subject to the holiday season. I find the easiest way to teach with a Christmas theme is with math word problems. You can take just about any word problem and adjust it to Christmas.
For example:
John visited the candy store. While there, he bought 8 Jolly Ranchers at 15¢ each, 6 packs of M&Ms at $1.25 each, and 3 packs of bubble gum at $1.45 each. If he handed the cashier a $20 bill, how much change did he get?
Abra Cadabra Chrismafy:
John visited the candy store to buy Christmas presents for his friends. While there, he bought 8 red or green Jolly Ranchers at 15¢ each, 6 packs of holiday M&Ms at $1.25 each, and 3 packs of Santa Bubble Gum at $1.45 each. If he handed the cashier a $20 bill, how much change did he get?
Want to know the answer?
If so, you need to sign up for my email and get a FREE Christmas math problems worksheet (on Wednesday) along with a lot more! . . . or hey, do the math!
I have joined with some talented teacher-authors to give a few FABULOUS gifts for you this December. We all can use a little break this month, right? We gave you freebies in November along with a $400 giveaway. Now we are giving some of our best resources to you for ONLY $1.00! Many of these you won’t see at this price again. http://bit.ly/2Oz4xdqWe appreciate you and the hard work you do. Enjoy!
Please click on the link to find all sorts of deals for only $1!
I have joined with some talented teacher-authors to give a few FABULOUS gifts for you this December. We all can use a little break this month, right? We gave you freebies in November along with a $400 giveaway. Now we are giving some of our best resources to you for ONLY $1.00! Many of these you won’t see at this price again. http://bit.ly/2Oz4xdqWe appreciate you and the hard work you do. Enjoy!
We just got back from my brother's home. Getting together every Thanksgiving with all of my siblings (and now their families) goes back to our childhood! Though we're sad that our parents are no longer with us, we now enjoy multiple children named after them. We had a great Thanksgiving, and I hope your holiday was wonderful, too.
TpT Sitewide Sale
In case you didn't know, today and tomorrow is the Cyber Monday TpT sitewide sale. Everything in my store, and many other stores, is 20% off. If you add the code CYBER19, you will gain an additional 5% to receive 25% off, with the exception of my new Who Was Frederick Douglass? Book Studies which are at 50% off. https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Catch-My-Products
What is it about making inferences that is so difficult for kids? I wish I had the answer. I've found the best way to achieve this skill is to constantly model and practice it. Give your kids reading passages in which they are asked to draw conclusions from the story. Next, follow up by saying, "What makes you say this?" You will find that soon your kids will answer questions by stating their thoughts and give reasons behind those thoughts.
The reasoning behind thoughts is important because every time you or one of your students tells how they drew a conclusion, it models the skill for the entire class. Therefore, you are actually accomplishing more than just making inferences. Students are drawing conclusions using textual evidence, too.
Inferences Through Photos
You can also teach inferences through pictures. Why does this puppy have so many toys in his mouth?
Your kids imaginations could go wild as to the reason! Actually, when we got home last night, we brought my daughter-in-law's grandmother's dog's toys. Jack has too many toys and doesn't play with these anymore. Benny had no stuffed animals because he ripped them up. Don't get me wrong, he loves stuffed animals but is still a chewer and a puppy. He was so excited to have new toys and put them all in his mouth at once. That is not to say that a child can't think of another reason for the toys. Even a creative answer would work. Maybe, Benny is cleaning up the place by carrying his toys to the bin. Yeah, right. Or, he could be grabbing all of them so that the other dogs can't have them. That last one could actually be right. ;)
