It's Friday!!

Hey there!  How was your week? 

Ours felt pretty busy, but I think it's that time of year, and I'm sure you all have been busy in your classrooms as well!!

Here is what we have been up to!

1) We finished our unit on light.  Here they were using concave and convex lenses to inspect a jellybean and how many spots it had on it.  :O)

2)  If you read our blog, you know we have been studying the American Revolution.  This week, we learned about George Washington's role and how he became commander-in-chief.  We also read this book:

This book is full of facts about both Georges.  The kids actually really like it.  I do NOT read it all in one sitting because that would be TOO much but I read bits and pieces to give them information about them.  They filled out a compare/contrast H (I feel like 4th graders have graduated from the Venn and that middle section of the Venn is so awkward).  Then, I had them choose either George Washington or King George III out of a cup.  They did not tell anyone who they had.  I made this All About Me (George) poster for them to fill out.  They needed to fill it out in a way that the other students would know which George it was by the information on the sheet.  I am going to have this as a freebie on Monday, so come back and check it out!

3)  We are still working on fractions.  But, they finally seem to get improper and mixed numbers...mostly...

They took their test today, so I will know very soon how it went.  Stacia found this cute, free game, on TpT and my kids really like it.  It's just a different way for them to practice it in a different way.   It's a I have, Who has game but they can play in pairs or quads and make a spiral.  It's called the Mixed Number and Improper Fractions Spiral Card Game.  Click the link and it will take you to it.

4)  Stacia and I had to spend some money that our district had given us for some classroom supplies by Jan. 31st and our orders came in this week.  Our head custodian brought my box down and I clapped and told him it was like Christmas!!  I think he thought I was crazy getting so excited about supplies.  But you guys are with me, right!?!  New supplies IS like Christmas!!

So here is what came in Stacia's box:

 Here is what came in mine:

So, do you see anything wrong with these pictures????  I do!!  I see that I was cheap and tried to get the most for my money and I got generic, nonsmelly markers!!!  I see that Stacia was smart and got the best markers ever, PLUS, now they have mini-smelly-markers, too!!!  Who knew???  I think I learned my lesson.  What was I thinking??????  I wonder how much bribery it's going to take to get Stacia to share her markers with me?

The good news is, I still have one more box that should have some really fun pens in it, and I didn't go cheap this time.  So, I guess the bad came before the good and so I'll do my happy dance when that box comes too!

5)  Finally, even though I'm cheap, I'm super excited about this purchase!!  

We do have a laminator at school that we can use, but with my luck, it's never on or hot when I need it.  It's a bit of a hike to get to the media center from my room (we have a big building) and half the time I forget to take my stuff down there when we are traveling to specials.  Anyway, it's just been a process for me to get my stuff laminated at times.  So, I saw Noelle from The Frizz in First Grade mention this last week on her Five for Friday and she so sweetly replied to my comment and gave me more info.  I got this laminator for $25 at Target.  It's the kind that you put the paper in the pouch and it goes through, and VOILA!  Done.  It took no time to warm up!!  I didn't want to spend a ton on a laminator since we have one at school and I really just wanted it as a "spare" for when I just can't get my stuff done at school.  This is the perfect solution!!  I went to SAM's and got 200 sheets for $20.  I feel pretty good about it!!  And, it's the HARD lamination, not the flimsy kind!  I've almost talked Stacia into one!!  :O)

A great big thank you to these two ladies for letting us link up!

Kacey at Doodle Bugs Teaching    

Amanda at Teaching Maddeness

So, do you think my awesome laminator outweighs my not-so-awesome markers???