Snowed In and Missing Penguins (and maybe a few freebies)

Okay, so we did get the big snow storm and it knocked the power clean out of central VA!  Well, maybe not ALL, but enough that most of our schools STILL do not have power from Tuesday, and so we've been given basically a 5 day weekend.  Once again, I'm grateful for putting in that generator we did several years ago - especially to entertain the kiddos and for those cold nights!  I do NOT miss sleeping on air mattresses in front of our tiny fireplace, huddling together for warmth!

Part of me cheers about this missed time.  Time to do things, at home and for school!  The other part of me groans - my kids have a tough enough time coming back after a 3 day weekend -- what will Monday be like???

So, I've headed off to a friend's school, which is one of the few to have power, to access the network, Internet, and get a few things done.

After grading papers and writing prompts (as well as rearranging my lesson plan book to make up for 3 lost days!), I started on my sticky note pile.

Do you have one of these?  I love sticky notes and any time I get an idea, I jot it down and either stick it in or on top of my plan book (depending on the urgency).  So, I've been working my way through that today (while visions of a fraction unit dance in my head!).

Part of that list was to finally polish up the Polar Unit I've blogged so much about.  Easy peasy, right?  Oh no.  First, I thought somehow my Google Earth tour had malfunctioned - as in, erased all its little stops, videos, pics, etc.  FINALLY found the RIGHT version stuck in my science folder.  Whew!  So, finished "cleaning" and thought about powerpoints - in particular, the Antarctica one where the penguins frolicked and I had some pretty cool pics of a leopard seal.  GONE.  Did a file search.  My only saving grace is if its at home on my personal laptop. (fingers crossed!).  I had 17....17!!!.....different types of penguins with pics and names listed, and I remember just how long it took me to get it done!  ARGH!

Okay, so anyway, had to vent about my lost penguins since between that and the KMZ file fiasco, I gave up a good hour. :(

So on to what I DID accomplish so far....figure if you've held on this long to reading my post, I would throw in a couple freebies.

The first one uses time dice I purchased from teachersnotebook.com.  EXCELLENT buy.  
 
You gotta love those, right?  Only thing was, after using it in group, my kids REALLY wanted them for a center (and hey, when the kiddos want a center we've done in group, I'm happy to oblige, knowing they'll play it without distractions!).  So I created an activity sheet to go along with it.  Funny as it sounds, there's 2 versions:  one with colons, one without.  I have the collaborative class this year, and as such, I do a lot of leveling with my centers.  Some of mine are doing excellent with time and don't need those silly ol' colons.  Others, well, it helps them remember that there's an hour side and a minute side.

The next sticky note I tackled was for having something for time/money for the kiddos to put in their math journal.  I have not religiously stuck to it this year, but have been trying to put in things that will help them for 3rd grade and for summer remediation.  So, hence, came up with a time review sheet and two money activities:  they have to list how many of each coin make $1.00, and the second sheet they have to come up with 4 different ways to make $1.00.  We did posters of this in class, but I thought it would be nice for them to have it to reference in their journal.

I actually do have my students reference the journal during the year, especially during review times.  I keep them in a container underneath my table so there's no "I lost mine" in the black holes of some of their desks, but they can always borrow and return them!

To access these freebies, click on the pics and head over to Google Drive to download!