Booking Across the USA ~ Montana

I'm hooking up with a group of amazing bloggers to take you on a virtual trip around the USA ~ book by book.  The project is the brainchild of Jodie at Growing Book by Book.

Where is Montana?  (Seems like a silly question, but I've been asked what it's like living in Canada while visiting other states.)

Did you know that Montana is the only state with a triple divide allowing water to flow into the Pacific, Atlantic, and Hudson Bay?  You can learn this and other Fast Facts and Trivia about Montana by clicking here.

You can also visit Montana Kids and learn facts, play games, follow the dino trail, learn about Montana plants and animals, and read cool Montana ghost stories among other things!

As usual, it was hard for me to choose one book...so I didn't!

My first book is an oldie but a goodie called M is for Montana.

I first came across this book when I was a beginning teacher and have loved it ever since.  The illustrations are truly works of art and the book will appeal to children of all ages.

After reading this book, I have my students write acrostic poems with illustrations to match.  Although their poems don't usually have any historical or factual information like the book, they are very personal and creative.  Use watercolor for our illustrations, which is what I believe is used in the book.

I also like to use this book as a springboard before we create chalk mountain art work.  Here is a simple video that explains it much better than I could.

The second book I chose is B is for Big Sky Country.

This is another beautiful book with rich illustrations.  This book has a kind of "double" format.  For smaller kids you could just read the small rhyming portion (as highlighted below in yellow) and for bigger kids (and adults) you could read the larger more in-depth portion.

Here is a link for an idea book I have not used but it looks worth checking out.

I was amazed at how many other books related to Montana came up on Amazon.  (You gotta love the section "Customers Who Bought This Also Bought"...it gets me everytime!)

Third is a class favorite called Who Pooped in the Park? which is about identifying animal scat and tracks in Glacier National Park.

This fun book has kids hooked as soon as they see or hear the title!  I have made photocopies of illustrations in the book and "hidden" them around the room.  Then the kids play detective to try and identify them.  Some even decide they have to use magnifying lenses to look closer at the details.  It's a blast!  I use the song "Scit Scat Diddily Doo" by Foster Brown with this lesson.  It's a hit too.  You can find it on this CD.

I hope you have fun visiting Montana through one or all of these books.  And better yet, that you get a chance to visit in real life sometime in the future!

Click on the button below to go to a post showing all the contributing blogs.

Silence for Sandy Hook Elementary

I Survived...Barely!

Seriously, the person who schedules parent-teacher conferences on Halloween week obviously is NOT a primary teacher.  In fact, they probably aren't even in a classroom with children of any age for that matter.

I won't go into the unmentionable things that the teachers in my building would like to do to this person or persons.  But I recall hearing something about slowly pulling out fingernails and toenails.  And that was one of the kinder unmentionables.

It was a rough week, let me tell you.

Monday the kids were wild!

Tuesday the kids were even more wild!!

By Wednesday, I don't even think the kids in my class were human.  They were more like the Dementors from Harry Potter sucking the very life out of me.

Image this is me . . .

If I'd been able to scream you would have heard it no matter where you live.  But I couldn't.  I didn't have enough energy for that even.

To top it off, my birthday is on Halloween.  Yeah, I know.  When I signed up for the teaching program in college someone should have said, "Oh, I see your birthday is on a holiday.  You are not allowed into the teaching profession for your own sake.  Sorry.  Next!"

I may have mentioned before that having a Halloween birthday was great as a kid.  Not so as a teacher.  My birthday wish has never come true.  Calm kids.  I know you aren't supposed to tell your birthday wish but since it has never come true yet I think I'm safe.

Every year, EVERY year, the darlings ask me what I'm going to be for Halloween.  The answer is always the same . . . a tired, grouchy teacher.  Then they ask what I'm going to wear.  I point to myself from head to toe and say "You're lookin' at it!"

Don't get me wrong.  I love Halloween.  It's fun.  It's frivolous.  It involves imagination.  And I don't plan on being a tired, grouchy teacher for it.  It just happens slowly, day by day, minute by minute.  And having conferences the day after doesn't help.

Halloween should be on the last Saturday of October so that everyone can have fun and not worry about getting enough sleep or eating too much candy, etc.  Parents would appreciate it, kids would appreciate it, neighbors would appreciate it, and trust me so would teachers.

Valentine's Day should probably be on a Saturday too.

That way we could have our little celebrations on Friday afternoons and go home to sleep it off for a few days.  I know it sounds like a hangover but, trust me, it's worse!

But that's just my opinion.  What's yours?

There Poster

Here is a poster to help with the spelling and usage of there.

I didn't write these just made them into the poster form.  I can't for the life of me find who to give credit to, so if you know please tell me.  I also don't know the tune, if there is one, so I just use "100 Bottles of Beer on the Wall".  :)  Use whatever works for you.

Click the image to go get it.

Last week was crazy assessment time as we have parent-teacher conferences this coming week...starting the day after Halloween.  Yes, you read that correctly!  Whoever planned that one wasn't playing with a full deck I tell you.

I'm praying that after dealing with the still sugar-high, wacko kids on Thursday I have a few positive things to say to their parents who are probably going to be tired and cranky as well.  It sounds like a win-win situation for us all doesn't it?

Saw this on Third Grade Thoughts blog and had to grab it...

Here's to us all surviving Halloween on a Wednesday!

Common Core Giveaway

Heather over at Second Grade Perks is having a giveaway for her HUGE common core pack.  We've just started common core this year so I am really hoping to win.

Go check it out and register to win yourself if you want.  (But remember I'd really, really like to win!)