Christmas Cheer! New craftivity!

Hey guys! I wanted to share a new product I just loaded. We got to use this in third grade right before Christmas break and the kids loved it! They turned out so cute!! You could use this in January too (especially if you live somewhere that winter actually lasts longer than a day haha).

Ms. Jumonville completed this in her holiday rotations. We read the book "Snowmen at Christmas" stopping every once in awhile to orally think aloud and ask questions. Afterward, the kids each got the templates for the body and the arms. They filled out the title, main idea, and 2 details to support the main idea from the story. They used the arm templates and also drew their own face details on themselves. They also added details around as time permitted.

If your kids are not ready for main idea and details don't worry! The resource also included basic story elements (character, setting, problem & solution)! 

Here is an overview of the resource:

Winter is such a great time to have some fun and get creative! Use this with a snowman book or any winter/holiday book fiction or nonfiction!! 

It covers two different skills:
-main idea and supporting details
-Story elements (setting, character, problem, solution)

You get to choose which template works best for you! 

What's included:
-two templates (as described above)
-list of snowmen books (to get you started or use any book of your choice)
-picture examples of kids work
-templates for body parts or tracers (optional)
             

Click here to take a look for more! 

Have a BLESSED week!! 

If God is for us, who can be against us?

Romans 8:31

Easy, Healthy, and oh so delish! In 5 ingredients or less!

Are you like me and loathe cooking? No? I probably am the 1% of the population that basically just loves to eat but hates the prep work. I would think that after having a stay at home mom who basically taught us our way around a kitchen that it would have rubbed off or something...or something eh? Now I am so very grateful and blessed to have been able to be raised on good home cooking but it just didn't seep into my bones to want to do it myself lol. I just really need to be in the mood too. And you can forget about any recipes that have more than one ingredient...haha just kidding, but for real, it needs to not be a very intricate recipe. We do a lot of crock pot around these parts. I am a dump, stir, wait kind of girl at the end of a long work day. Well, crock pot does get old too after awhile and I need variety so we decided to branch out. haha. This easy little chicken "stir-fry"ish recipe is super easy and very tasty!!

Ingredients:

-ground chicken (2 lbs is what we do to have left overs)

-chopped broccoli (fresh is best-but we had frozen on hand)

-Riced cauliflower (substitute for rice-my friend showed me this and it is AMAZING!)

-salt/pepper/onions/butter (to taste) 

-olive oil (we use avocado oil)

1. Toss some oil in your skillet

2. Brown your chicken

3. Dump your broccoli in and stir

4. Sprinkle in your riced cauliflower and stir some more

5. Sprinkle in the salt/pepper/onions/butter as needed and stir

It should only take about 10-15 minutes maybe 20 including browning meat time. You can tell when that meat is good and cooked.

We also love to sprinkle cheese on top while it is still hot!! 

The great thing is the oil, butter, and the riced cauliflower makes everything moist and creamy. The best part is this is low carb from not using actual rice and high protein with your veggies included!! YUMMO! See what I mean when I say I am a low maintenance gal when cooking. Well and my hubby was the one who whipped this one up too! Love him! 

Let me know what you think of this if you make it! Hope it helps make dinner a little easier and faster for all the peeps on the go! 

Hope you all had a BLESSED Christmas!!

"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." Matthew 28: 19

Easy Ornament DIY

Ever have an interest in making your own ornaments? They are super easy and can be easily within a budget! 

Here is what you'll need:

-Mop & Glo (some people use poly acrylic)

-Funnel (not pictured)

-Glitter (colors of your choice- Hobby Lobby has a great selection, but I have also purchased from Walmart)

-Clear ornaments (Hobby Lobby is where I find the cube ones, many people use the rounded ones, it is all preference. I have found applying the vinyl is super easy with the flatter surface)

-Vinyl/Silhouette Machine (optional- if you don't have this item then you can always buy pretty stickers!)

So here is how easy it is!

1. Open the top of the ornaments

2. Pour some Mop & Glo in (I eyeball the amount every time-but you don't want a ton)

3. Put your finger over the ornament opening and swish the Mop & Glo around really well to cover all of the inside of the ornament

4. If you have extra liquid you can pour it out

5. Use the funnel to pour your glitter into the ornament (you'll want enough to cover all of the inside of the ornament without any bare spots so you may need to play around with the amount for yourself)

5. Shake it all around really well

6. If you see any bare spots you can add more if needed

7. Let it dry over night 

Now if you have a vinyl machine then you can measure and cut your choice of decoration for the outside as I did, if you don't you can always use sharpies to decorate and get creative. I have also used pretty stickers as well! 

See how easy?! Now go make some ornaments! 

Hobby Lobby had a 6 pack of the clear ornaments on sale this week for 66% off of $6!! You can't beat that! So I stocked up for next year! 

Hope you have a BLESSED week!! 

Next up: Christmas Wrap up-a ton of activity ideas you can use for next year!! Keep your eyes peeled!

"For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him." John 3:17

FREEBIE, Giveaway, Collaboration, & Christmas Spirit

Hey everyone! Just a quick check in- this time of year is chaotic for all! Most of the following updates I already posted through my FB page, but in case you don't follow that, then here are some updates of the Beierleland world! 

PS. You might want to follow the Facebook page to get regular updates and see giveaway's and freebies that I may not do here all the time! 

New song!!

If you don't follow my FB or Twitter (@blessedocdiva) pages then you might have missed the new song! So my third grade team and I were planning for the newest unit of study in January and it is mainly about character development, analysis, comparisons, and how our stories are like mountains. One of the third grade teachers started singing "She'll be Coming Round the Mountain" as a joke, but I took it a little seriously and got super excited and told them I'd make them a song for it! Well I went home and started singing and humming and I laid in bed thinking of all these lyrics and fell asleep only to not remember anything in the morning. *sigh* BUT, have no fear, I came home again with my voice memo and walked around the kitchen and created something better than the night before. 

I wanted it to be something they could easily teach and hit the concepts they were trying to incorporate. One of my 3rd grade teachers just so happens to live two houses across from me and once I finished we were in the street singing for all to hear haha. 

Even though it was created for third grade, it really could be used in multiple grade levels-even if taught in sections. :) At this point I have gotten over the embarrassment of singing-maybe from years of first grade or maybe just because I don't care because I am having so much fun creating and sharing. So with that said, feel free to use the download with your kids so you don't have to sing, or use it to model and then sing along! The link below will take you to the audio file and downloadable lyrics as seen here. 

You can also visit FB to listen to the song audio file before downloading below.

 (it was too big to load here)

Click HERE to go to TPT and download your FREE tune and lyrics!

So if you've known me for awhile, then you probably have figured out how important the element of collaboration is to me. #soapbox. I truly believe that we can not reach our full potential for ourselves but better yet for our students unless we are collaborating and sharing. I saw this quote and it just spoke to my collaboration soul. When I was team leader one of my goals each year was to make sure we were collaborating and adjusting our abilities. This field of education encompasses so many aspects and could very easily swallow your every waking hour. So why not spread that weight across people? Why not support each other? Why not help others? There are so many amazing ideas out there and so many different ways to teach concepts. Don't be an idea hoarder. Sometimes it may be hard to share because you may feel what you have to offer isn't worthy or people may not like it or use it, but the truth is how will you know if you don't share? 

Our third grade team has made their community area very festive for Christmas. They had the kids create little ornaments for the tree.  Funny story, I walked out of my office to find my crate of books had gone missing. I was like "Someone stole my crate!" I mean I guess they needed it more than I did. Well I walked into the 3rd grade community area and found it sitting under the tree with the books in it to help the tree stand. I found the culprit and thank goodness I love her ;) but actually we started talking and realized it was super cute under the tree and next year probably have books around it too! 

 I love using Vista-Print each year for our holiday cards. Well they always seem to get me at the end when I am checking out-kind of like the road to the checkout at TJ Maxx, Homegoods, or Ross. All those little fun trinkets and food they place in all the most convenient spots to tempt you on your way to checkout. Vista-print does the same thing! And of course I gave in and added to my order. I added a custom mousepad with my blog series and logo.

Lastly, Guess what is knocking on our door? 2017!! Can you believe it? It is that time you are hitting mid-year with the kids and you may want to update parents on student progress but you are short on time to hold 24 conferences all over again. That's what these progress notes are meant for! To give updates on all your kiddos right before holiday break, or even right when they get back! They are easy to fill out and cover behavior as well as academics. Easily adaptable to fit your needs! 

A winner will be announced Saturday!      

Go over to my FB page to enter asap! It is super duper easy in 3 steps!

Have a BLESSED weekend! Christmas break is SO close!!

"Therefore, since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God."

2 Corinthians 7