Booking Across The USA

When the opportunity arose to represent Oregon for Booking Across The USA, I had to take it. Blogging, books, and my state coming together? Yes please!

Myself and at least one blogger from every state is participating!

It's put on by Jodie from:

Picking one book to represent my state was hard. There are several great Oregon books out there like Weird Oregon,  Goodnight Oregon, and B is for Beaver.  I also own two of the three and love them, but I would suggest Weird Oregon for 2nd grade and higher.

I ended up choosing O is for Oregon written by kids for kids. I have this book and love it!

   

 The book description says: O is for Oregon combines photos with fun and informative couplets which describe the pictures and offer clear picture/word associations. Intriguing facts will add to the non fiction learning experience.                                                 

 I love this book because it shows some of the best parts of Oregon from the Oregon Trail  to Mt. Hood. And I also love the rhymes for each picture, written by kids.

I've created a freebie to go along with O is for Oregon. Inside are three activities and a fact sheet for Oregon, that correlate with the book!

Here is a peek at some of the pages. There are more!

Just click either picture to go to the document!        

And there is more! You can enter two giveaways going on at Growing Book by Book. One is 2/25 (today!) for a 3 month subscription to USA Little Passports from Little Passports. The second is tomorrow 2/26 for a United States Bingo Game from eeBoo. Go check it out and enter!

All the other blog/states participating:
Alabama: Everyday Snapshots  Alaska: Little Wonders’ Days   Arizona: Simply Kinder Arkansas: Homeschooling in Arkansas   California: Juggling with Kids and The Outlaw Mom  Colorado: Learners in Bloom and Living Montessori Now   Connecticut: The Teacher Park   Delaware: Mama Miss   Florida: Teaching Stars Georgia: Fabulously First   Hawaii: Teaching With Style   Idaho: True Aim Education Illinois: Growing Book by Book   Indiana: Teach Preschool   Iowa: Surviving a Teacher's Salary   Kansas: KCEdventures   Kentucky: Chicken Babies   Louisiana: New Orleans Moms Blog   Maine: Maine Adventure Mom and Country Fun Child Care   Maryland: Picture Books and Piourettes   Massachusetts: Mama Smiles  Michigan: Play DrMom   Minnesota: The Wise Owl Factory Mississippi: Hey Mommy, Chocolate Milk   Missouri- Ready. Set. Read!   Montana: The Honey Bunch Nebraska: The Good Long Road   Nevada: Boy, Oh Boy, Oh Boy Crafts   New Hampshire: Elementary Matters   New Jersey: The Pleasantest Thing  New Mexico: Enchanted Homeschooling Mom  New York: What Do We Do All Day   North Carolina: Realistic Teacher Blog  North Dakota: ND HealthWorks   Ohio: Smart Chick Teacher’s Blog   Oklahoma: Herding Kats in Kindergarten   Oregon: Journey of a Substitute Teacher  Pennsylvania: Land of Once Upon a Time   Rhode Island: Smiling in Second Grade   South Carolina: Cookies and Kiddos and JDaniel4’s Mom   South Dakota: The Wise Owl Factory   Tennessee: No Monkey Business   Texas: Curls and a Smile and Kid World Citizen   Utah: Teach Beside Me  Vermont: Burlington Vt Moms Blog   Virgina: Once Upon a Story and The Freckled Homeschooler  Washington: Home Learning Journey and Boy Mama Teacher Mama  West Virginia: This Week @ Great Peace Academy and Mamas Like Me  Wisconsin: Reading Confetti  Wyoming: No Twiddle Twaddle   USA: The Corner on Character    

    

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Pens Please!

I love pens and markers!!! Loving office supplies must be a teacher thing :)

I loved all these products and all the pens had grips! 

This is the BIC Atlantis Ballpoint Retractable Pen. Pretty and blue and a grip!

Up next is the BIC for Her Retractable Ballpoint Pen. It has a grip too! And it was a pink pen with purple pen in the pack.

These BIC Velocity Roller Ball Retractable Gel Pens write so nice and smooth!

The pack of BIC Mark-it Grip Permanent Marker Set came with 2 black markers, and a green, blue, and red marker. 

Finally is the BIC Wite-Out EZ Correct Correction Tape. I am loving that it is pink for Breast Cancer Awareness, since I'm into Relay for Life and on a committee myself.

Love these BIC pens! They write smooth, are stylish looking, and I love the grips.

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100th Day Fun

Yesterday I subbed in 4th grade and it was the 100th Day. Now, it seems that K-2 are the only real big 100th Day fanatics at the school, but I  REALLY wanted to do something, because come on, it's something special!

So what did I do for the 'big kids'? I only had 3 activities, all from TpT!

My message for the kids :)

They loved this! Thanks to Lesson Plan Diva.

This is also from the same pack. They thought it was hilarious to be on the 100 dollar bill.

There were 10 sets of 10 words they had to do. I loved hearing "ooh multiply, factor, and percent are math words!"  Fun and learning at the same time! Thanks to Mr. G!

Another 4th grade teacher saw the 100 words and asked for a copy and gave it as homework! And the 5th graders were a teensy bit jealous the 4th graders got to do stuff!

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Hall Pass

Today was a bit hectic. I subbed in a dual 1st grade and it was late start. But I got to arrange her class library. I'm a dork I know, but I was excited! Tomorrow is the 100th day for my main school district and I'm subbing! They're 4th grade, but I want to do something in case their teacher doesn't, so I'm scrounging around TpT to save my hiney.

I'm linking up with Reagan for her Hall Pass Linky.

Product....my favorite product has to be my Reading Activities for Any Book.

I love it because it can be used with ANY book, picture or chapter book and is a variety of ideas. And Common Core aligned. It's saved my butt a few times too!

Area I love...well this chick has no classroom. So my fave area at home is my bedroom! I love the color and my decor I did.

This will go in my class some day!

Signal... 

I like to use 1-2-3 eyes on me. Or a clapping rhythm. The class today has a chime and a maraca. Another class I've been in had windchimes. Or turning off the lights to quiet them. I also like "If you can hear me, touch your nose, touch your head, etc."

Sanity: I carry a sweet treat with me. Depending on the school, I've got some buddies' rooms I can go hang in and vent with. And since I'm usually at this one certain school, that happens. Some days after subbing, I just want to go crawl in a corner and hide ahhaa!

Or I hop on Facebook and chat with blog friends. They help keep my sanity!

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Extracting Files Video Tutorial

Ever get a background set or a clipart set that is just numbered? Want to be able to see what background you want in a second? Well I'll show you how in this quick tutorial on extracting!

Don't mind all my background/clipart folders, you know I am an addict!

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Winner and Buggy For Blends

I'm a sucker. I like to be giving and generous. So I decided to have two winners for the All You Need Is Love Giveaway.

The frames are from Bubbly Borders and More.

The backgrounds are by me! They're not up yet anywhere, but I'm thinking about it!

Ladies, I sent you your emails already!

Second, I've been working on this little (or big) packet of blends.

   

TpT and TN

And the preview has a freebie page for you to test out!

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The Tiny Seed

Ok, here is my educational post I promised! Well it's more artsy, but still educational!

I love me some Eric Carle! I've been subbing for the same teacher the last three days (yes that includes Valentine's Day, party and all!)  and today I read The Tiny Seed.





 After reading the story, we talked about how Eric Carle does his pictures and pulled copies of other Eric Carle books so they could look. We liked his art and how he used paper for his pictures.

So then I told them that they were going to create their own flower with painted paper. They could choose to cut out rectangles or round petals.

I managed to snap some pics of their beautiful flowers!

I love that the boy added a cloud and sun :)

Here's mine:

I think I like theirs better!

Oh and as they were working, I heard some side convos. These are kinders mind you!

Boy 1: Do you have any girlfriends?
Boy 2: No, do you you?
Boy 1: Yeah a few in this school!

Student 1: Did you know a meteor hit the Earth today?
Student 2: Yep.
Student 1: Well did ya know that I've seen a satellite at night before? And that they take pictures of the Earth?
Student 2: Yep.

That convo cracked me up, one kid with many words, one student with one lol.

Happy Friday!

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All You Need Is Love...

Ah tomorrow is Oregon's Birthday! Yay! Oh yeah, and it's Valentine's Day hehe :)

So a buddy of mine, Jessica from Mrs. Stanford's Class,  had a good idea....sharing some love with a giveaway!

Here's the scoop: I am giving away an item and so are some other bloggers! Below is thethe list of all who are  participating :)

I'm giving away any one item to my store!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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What's On The Menu?

I promised I will blog about something educational this week, but I have to share this recipe I found from Skinny Taste that I made. It's so good!

Ingredients: 

• 5 1/2 cups cooked spaghetti squash (from about 2 small)
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1/4 cup minced onion
• 1/4 cup flour (use 2 tbsp corn starch for gf)
• 2 cups skim milk
• 1 cup fat free chicken broth (vegetable broth for vegetarian)
• 8 oz Sargento 2% reduced fat mild cheddar
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 4 cups (about 4 oz) baby spinach
• 1/8 cup grated parmesan

Now let me say that spaghetti squash is sweeter tasting, so it's not exactly like spaghetti. I usually put marinara on it and usually cook in the microwave.

So this calls for cutting it and then placing rind up in the oven for an hour. Next time I'll cook it in the microwave a little to soften it for cutting because, boy, MUSCLES in action!


Preheat oven to 375. Cut spaghetti squash half lengthwise. Rind up and cook an hour. Leave the oven on though, for baking the dish!

I flipped it here so you could see it baked.

Next, grab a fork and make spaghetti!

Place in a bowl and save for later in the recipe.

Heat butter and olive oil in the pan over medium. Add onions and cook for about 3 minutes. Stir in flour  and reduce to low, cook and stir continually 3-4 minutes.

Add milk and broth and whisk. Raise heat to medium-high until it boils, about 2 minutes stirring. Season with salt and pepper.

When it's thick, remove from heat. Add in cheese and mix until blended. Adjust seasonings if needed (I didn't but you might :) ) Add spaghetti squash and spinach and mix.

Pour into baking dish and sprinkle parmesan cheese. Bake 25-30 minutes.

Yummy and delicious! I really love the cheese and onion flavor.  Great with salad or veggies on the side.

For those of you on WW, 1 cup is 5 PP :)

Linking up with On The Menu Monday from my pal Jen!

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