Tried It Tuesday...Books in Boxes and Twerkin'...

I know the title grabbed you...didn't it?  I'm linkin' up with my buddy Holly from Fourth Grade Flipper for Tried It Tuesday.  Some of you may have noticed I have been missin'....never fear..I'm back.  Last week was filled with a whole lot of awesomeness, but I'll save that for the end. Lots and lots of pictures ahead!

Tried It #1 Awesomeness:  Book in a Box by Rachel Lynette

My kids LOVED this activity.  I sent this home and gave the kids two weeks time to complete their book in a box about the book they were currently readin' independently.  This was a great way for me to stick with my plan of gettin' rid of nightly readin' folders, but still checkin' on them to see if they are actually readin' at home like they tell me they are.  We made a deal earlier in the year and so far, they are stickin' to it.

What I love about the Book in a Box...1)It's FREE 2)It had very specific instructions 3)It had a rubric

Examples...They were all so awesome and very diverse, but I couldn't put them all up:


 Love all the materials that were added for this Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling box

More of the Harry Potter box includin' wand

 Another Harry Potter in an Invisibility Cloak and a Golden (chocolate) Snitch

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Swindle by Gordon Korman

Inside the Swindle box

The Help by Kathryn Stockett decorated with Duck Tape

Inside the box with a Poo Pie and Toilet Paper

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
 (not to be confused with the movie Alice in Wonderland)

The hole that Alice falls into next to a mini Alice's Adventures in Wonderland illustrated book

Inside the Alice's Adventures in Wonderland box.

Up close in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland box.  Love the "Drink Me" bottle

Soul Surfer by Bethany Hamilton

Look at the tiny little Bible!

12 Finally by Wendy Mass

Love that the cards are numbered for each item and have their own little pocket.

The Giggler Treatment by Roddy Doyle.  My student said this book is "LOL".  I agree.  I always love readin' this one aloud because the kids laugh uncontrollably.

The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart

Tried It #2 Awesomeness:  Twerkin'

I know what you're thinkin'....SERIOUSLY, ALISON?  It's okay...I wasn't very good at it.  Two weeks ago I told you that I tried Zumba(insert evil laugh).  I didn't have an opportunity to go last week(keep readin' to find out why), but I went again today.  Are you proud of me for goin' back? I'm sure my co-workers were thrilled(insert eye roll and another evil laugh).  I got to freestyle and I chose "twerkin".  Twerkin' has been all the hype lately, so today we(the Zumba goers) watched the Stevie TV-Twerkin' Intervention(VH1) video before we started Zumba.  If you have ever watched A & E's real show...Intervention AND you have a sense of humor, you need to find this video on YouTube. I could not stop laughin'...beware...not appropriate for children.  So...twerkin' I tried.  Of course I didn't add pictures to this again...nope, nope, nope!  One of my wonderful teammates and my awesome instructor, Ashley, makes me tired just watchin' her dance all around.  She does it more than once a week; once is enough for me.  Ashley was the one who suggested I should do twerkin' as my Tried It Tuesday.  She's so funny and I couldn't let her down.

Weekend Awesomeness: Murder Mystery Dinner, Afternoon Weddin', & Goin' Away Party

Thursday: Jerm's little brother got married this past weekend.  We had a 1920's Murder Mystery Rehearsal Dinner...so much FUN!  The bride ordered the script online and we all got our parts ahead of time, in order to know how to dress for the occasion.  My character was Rosie Marie, the owner of the Juice Joint.  I got to introduce everyone to the party and be my bossy self...love!

My(Rosie Marie's) "nephew", Cy Ramsey.

Rosie Marie(me) with one of the gangsters, Mugsy Malone aka Jerm.

The whole gang.  Couldn't have picked a better crew of people to experience this night with!

Friday: The bride and groom had a lovely outdoor weddin' at one of our local State Parks.  I had the honor of settin' up the reception and coordinatin' the order of events durin' the ceremony.  This was a TOUGH job for sure, but worth every single minute.  I thought teachin' was hard...tryin' to round up guys in tuxedos and girls in heels in Florida, on a sunny afternoon, while keepin' them all quiet...well, it was a little like herdin' cats.  I wouldn't trade this experience for any in the world.  

All the gorgeous bridesmaids and handsome groomsmen with the beautiful bride and groom!

Jerm & I at the reception.

Saturday: On the third day of special occasions and me bein' in a dress and make-up, I attended a goin' away party for some dear friends.  By this time, I was absolutely wiped out.  I THOUGHT we were supposed to dress up for a California theme, so I went with Khloe Kardashian...she's tall, I'm tall(that's about where the similarities end).  The other two girls were supposed to be Kim and Kourtney.  They say they were...just blonde Kardashians.  The jury is still out on this one.

Kourtney(my buddy Jen), Khloe(me), and Kim(my roomie Sharon)

I've got lots of laundry and blogs to catch up on.
P.S.  I've been tryin' to make some changes...I haven't had a Diet Coke in THREE days, but I did have to take a THREE hour nap yesterday before watchin' the Saints beat the Dolphins.  I earned it after such a busy weekend...don't ya think?

Have a great week!  Be sure to check out Holly's blog for everyone else's Tuesday posts!

Tried it Tuesday...oops...I almost forgot a post title...almost!

Today I'm linkin' up with my buddy Holly from Fourth Grade Flipper for Tried It Tuesday.  I am just goin' to say I've been a very bad, bad blogger this past week.  I waited a whole FIVE days before readin' all the blogs that I follow on Bloglovin'.  You want to know why?  Because I read SIX books...that's right...SIX.  Want to know the best part?  They weren't for kids.  I needed a little break and it was well worth it, but I did miss you all.

Tried It #1:

Today I tried...ZUMBA!  I'm probably the most uncoordinated person on the face of the planet, but I tried it.  FIFTEEN SONGS worth.  No lie.  I guarantee I'm goin' to be hurtin' tomorrow.  I forgot my socks at home, so I'm one of those weird people that would rather suffer and do it without shoes than put my feet in my tennis shoes without socks.  This experience was definitely full of giggles from myself and my 

co-workers as I got lost on most of the moves.  I got to freestyle "officially" durin' some parts.  Ever seen a fish out of water, floppin' around?  Yeah...you don't even need pictures for that.  I'm sure your mental images are workin' just fine!

Tried It #2

Last year, my district officially asked us to take a course before doin' B.Y.O.D.(Bring Your Own Device) in our classrooms.  Oops...I had already been doin' it.  No problem-o.  I did the online course and found this in my teacher mailbox the other day. My students and I hung this up outside our door, so others could see it when they walked in. They are proud to be a B.Y.O.D. class.

This week my class started our exploration of the Solar System.  In keepin' with the B.Y.O.D. theme, I decided to have some S.T.E.M.(Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) integration in my lesson plans.  I found this cute quick activity online for FREE:  Planet Research Worksheet 

Students were allowed to use their devices(Technology) to research the distance from each planet, Length of time for one revolution around the Sun, Diameter of the planet, Temperature, and Number of Moons(Mathematics),  learnin' different facts about planets in our solar system(Science).  It was interestin' to see that some students chose to record the distance in kilometers and others used miles.  Some of them decided to estimate the distance. Some chose to work together to find the answers and others chose to do this solo.  Either way...lots of conversations were happenin' regardin' the planets and that makes me smile.  I actually had the students do this durin' math stations at the table with four laptops.

Some of my sweet precious darlin' babies are extremely wonderful about writin' their names and numbers and then highlightin' them. Others I'm still givin' reminders...even after one whole year and five weeks of school together. 

And that is where the "Have You" comes into play in our class.  

I have posted about this before here, but thought I'd bring it back.

Have you?  

There are 17 choices to choose from.  I chose 5 that will work specifically for my kiddos.

1. Have you checked to make sure you have written your name and number?

2. Have you highlighted your name and number? 

3. Have you used your best handwriting?

4. Have you checked all of your responses to make sure they are completed?

5. Have you asked a friend to check over your work?

These are my Finished & Unfinished hangin' files.  This is where I have my students turn in work and I walk by and grab it.  The students try to keep it organized for me.

I hope you go and check out everyone else's Tried It Tuesdays on Holly's blog.

Happy Tuesday!

P.S.  I've almost reached 200 followers on Bloglovin'...definitely cool!  Thank you sweet readers!