Tic-Tac- Toe

Due to the fact that we are in crunch time for the MCT2, we are only using sample test items to prepare the students for the MCT2. Well, if you know anything about 10-11 year olds, you know that going through test items for 3- 4 weeks, all day, is not an option if you care to keep their attention. This little issue has caused me to get creative. Since the kids do not want to work on sample test items, they are constantly asking to play a game. Today, they wanted to play tic-tac-toe. I immediately said, "not a chance." Then I retracted that statement. Here is a run down on how you can use something simple, like tic-tac-toe, to teach skills.

Materials:
1 poster board with a tic-tac-toe board drawn on it and then laminated (or made dry-erase)

2 dry- erase markers

sample test items

eggspert (or some other type of game show buzzer)

bracket for a double-elimination tournament

Rules:

The teacher divides the class into small groups (i divided mine into 4 groups).

The first two groups step up and are each given an egg from the eggspert and a marker.

Each group is assigned to be an X or an O.

The teacher reads the question and the first one to buzz in gets to answer the question.

Upon giving a correct answer, the team is allowed to play their X or their O (until today, I never knew how intense a game of tic- tac- toe could get).

The first team to get 3 in a row wins the round and plays the next team.

In my class, the tournament champions either get points to the store or a popcycle.

The other teams all sit around and listen to the questions and answers while the other teams play because occasionally a question will repeat itself.


I used this with reading questions, but it can be used with any subject. This has been the most engaging game (for all 53 students) that I have come up with, thus far. They love it! Who'd a thunk tic-tac-toe would be so engaging?!

Peace and Geaux Tigers : )

MCT2

If you live in Mississippi, you know what the MCT2 is (well, i guess you don't if you do not have kids in  public school). For those of you who are not aware, MCT2 (Mississippi Curriculum Test, second edition) is the state test for third through eighth grades. For teachers, it can be a pain in the rear-end. By this part of the school year, you are entirely over the letters M, C, and T. That is how I feel now. I am very tired of the state test, tired of looking at sample test items, tired of anything relating to the test. However, this is not the attitude I can show in class because I have to pump up the kids and get them ready to do their best on the test! After all, their scores reflect my teaching. Therefore, we are trying to put up posters, door decor, and order some fun t-shirts to get them motivated! 

Here are a few of our efforts to motivate the students.

This is my coworker's, Mrs. Woodside, door.

This is part of the mural that is outside of my door. There is also a basketball goal to the right. A similar drawing will be on the their May Day t-shirts!! 

Grill Night : - )

With summertime quickly approaching, and 80 degree, sunny days in full force, I felt the need to have a grill night at my house. My dad doesn't really like chicken, which is what I tend to cook, so tonight I decided to mix it up a little and cook (well, have him grill) steak (is it bad that in my brain i am saying complex, compound, or simple sentence, then labeling the conjuction, type of conjuction, and the clauses - anyways, i will get back to grill night now).

I am a little obsessed with Bobby Flay and his style of cooking. It is definitely my inspiration in the kitchen. I love how he grills everything and it is all tex- mex, which happens to contain all of my favorite flavors! With that said, he was my inspiration for tonight's meal - Grilled steak on a bed of grilled salad with the most wonderful vinegarette, courtesey of Emily Babb, grilled bread, roasted corn (yes, again... I LOVE it), sweet potato fries, hand- squeezed lemonade, and a peaches and cream pie for dessert. Can you feel summertime yet?

Grilled Steak Salad with Ranch Vinegarette

1 flat iron steak seasoned or marinated to your likings - i just salt, pepper, and tony's it up!
1 head of romaine lettuce
olive oil
your favorite salad toppings
vinegarette of your choice, i recomend you make this one (click on the one!)
1 loaf of french bread
melted butter

Cook steak to desired temperature, let rest, then cut into thin slices.
Cut lettuce into 1/8 longwise, brush with olive oil , place on grill for about 45 second on each side, take off grill and chop into bite-size pieces.
Butter both sides of bread and place on grill for about 45 seconds on each side, remove from grill.
Layer romaine, steak, and salad toppings on a plate, top with vinegarette and serve with a slice of bread.

Peaches and Cream Pie

1 can of peach daquirre frozen concentrate
1 pack of cream cheese
1 bag of frozen sliced peaches
      1/2 diced 
      1/2 in slices
2 containers of cool- whip
2 pie crusts - i prefer dutch ann because they are a local company

Place pie crust in oven and bake on 350 degrees for about 10 minutes.
In a bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth.
Add peach daquire and diced peaches, and mix until all is combined.
Fold in cool whip, do not over mix.
Pour 1/2 of the mixture in each crust. Top with sliced peaches and decorate with ready- whip.
Place in freezer for several hours to harden. Store any that may be left in freezer.

*you can replace peach with any fruit or flavor!

I must get back to the NFL draft now. I am waiting to see who picks up Tim Tebow and Colt McCoy. Also waiting to see who the Saints pick up. Who Dat?!

Mother- Daughter Brunch

Saturday was our AWANA mother- daughter brunch. We had a lot of fun! We kind of went with a princess theme. We had food, entertainment, and a make and take session on edible arrangements.

For the brunch portion, I made several things. The list will follow.

Grits Casserole
Mixed Berry French Toast Casserole
Fruit Salad
Blueberry Muffin Cake
Pigs- in- a- Blanket
Powdered Donuts
Brownies - in the shape of a flower
Pink Milk
Fruit Punch
Coffee Punch
Lemon Water

Here are a few pictures of the food.

This was the little Princess' table. They had a separate menu.

Punch Table

Please do not laugh too hard- this is my attempt at carving a peacock out of a watermelon....

The food line. 

For the entertainment, some of our girls and leaders shared poems and scripture. They did a wonderful job.

This was the performers table. Here, Natalie is reading her poem, "Mother's Day."

For our special entertainment, we had a make and take edible arrangement session. I will start the same way as I did Saturday at the brunch.... I am not in any way a master of the edible arrangements. I gave everyone the same direction that i had. It was a lot of fun making the arrangements and seeing everyone's creative side!!

Natalie and Allyson carving bowls from cantaloupe! 

Mrs. Jolyne, Bethany, and their creations! 

(sorry about the sidewaysness.) Adrianne making her super cool fruit arrangement! 

A few of the little one's creations.

Mattie Paige hard at work!! 

As you can see, we had a lot of fun!! 

Classroom TV Game Shows

Question? What do you do when you have your class and part of another class for a day. Keep in mind that you do not have enough desks, no air conditioner, and it's Friday.

Answer? You create TV game shows that include some type of test prep.

Here are a few things I came up with on Friday.

Game #1: Wheel of Fortune

Now the pictures I have show my not so creative first edition. I haven't taken a picture of the newer one. This is just what I threw together Friday morning to give myself something to do.

I played using words like conjunctions, adverbs, and other parts of speech so that could be my category and we could tie in language arts. We also did a few spelling words from their 5th grade list. You can do really whatever words you want.

Game #2 : Jeopardy

I am sure many of you have seen similar games to this. The main difference here is, I used MCT2 levels instead of money so it is more related to their test. The questions we select for each category are the levels on the outside of the envelope. I attached clips so the categories are detachable so you can use different ones for all subjects.

Game #3 : Who Wants to be a Millionaire

I changed this one significantly, but the idea of the game is still the same. I renamed the game, "who wants to become a star student," since they will not be competing for one million dollars. On one side, you will see life lines. I went with 2 life lines- 50/50 and ask the audience. On the opposite side, you will see the winning levels. Once again, I used MCT2 levels to mark their winnings. The more questions they answer, the more difficult they become based on the difficulty of questions the MCT2 offers. I placed a "bank" option after they complete each level. For the questions,  I am using MCT2 sample test items that will be blown up and placed in the middle section of the board.

The kids are dying to try out the last two, and we will probably do so this week!

Fiesta Chicken

What a week?! Started off sick on Monday and have been suffering from insomnia since. The effects of insomnia have officially sunken in today, however. By 9 a.m. this morning, I thought 3:30 would never come. It was the longest, sleepiest day that I can remember having at school. This may have been caused from my marathon shopping trip to Walmart last night for the mother- daughter brunch on Saturday. Imagine buying 15 pineapples, tons of grapes, 10 cartons of strawberries, watermelons, melons, and 8 cantaloups, amongst other groceries for the brunch portion of the morning. I had a good helper with me,though, so I didn't have to do the loading and unloading all by myself. I will blog more about that after Saturday.

Tonight was my night to cook and I found several recipes this week that I wanted to try, so I managed to pick just one. I decided on Fiesta Chicken with a pepperjack dipping sauce. It was sooooo yummy. The link you may have just noticed is the basic recipe, however, i managed to change it to my likings-which you will see below. With the chicken, I paired loaded mashed potatoes, roasted corn on the cob, and blueberry lime-aid. YUMMO : - ) 

Fiesta Chicken and Dipping Sauce

1 pack of boneless chicken strips

1 packet of taco seasoning 

1/4 cup of flour

1 stick of butter

1 bag of crushed tortilla chips

2 tbs of butter

1 shallot, minced

2 cloves of garlic, minced

3 tbs.  of flour

12 oz. of heavy cream

1 block of shredded pepper jack cheese

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line baking sheet with foil.

In a bowl, mix taco mix and flour. Melt butter in a separate bowl. 

Coat each chicken strip in flour mixture.

Coat flour covered chicken in butter.

Coat butter covered chicken in chips.

Place on baking sheet and bake for 30 -40 minutes. Flip tenders after 15 minutes.

In a small saucepan, cook shallot and garlic in butter until soft. 

Add flour and stir until you see a light brown color - a roux.

Add cream and stir until sauce begins to thicken.

Add cheese and stir until you have a bubbly cheese sauce. 

Loaded Mashed Potatoes

1 3 lb. bag of red potatoes, chopped in quarters

1 stick of butter

1 8 oz. tub of sour cream

1 bag of shredded cheese

1 clove of garlic, minced

1 packet of ranch mix

bacon bits - real or fake is up to you. 

chopped green onion

splash of milk - if needed

Boil potatoes in salted water (i like the skins on, but that is up to you). 

Drain and return to pot.

Add garlic and mash potatoes, leaving them a little chunky.

Add butter, sour cream, and ranch packet. 

Add a splash of milk if your potatoes are still really thick and hard to stir. 

Fold in 2/3 of the cheese, bacon bits, salt, pepper, and green onion. 

Serve alongside your favorite dish. 

Add remaining cheese, bacon, and onion for garnish.

Roasted Corn on the Cob

This may be one of the easiest, best tasting, summer dishes that I make!! Nothing reminds me more of summer that roasted corn. 

Corn on the Cob

3 tbs. of olive oil

a dollop of butter for each ear. 

salt

Place corn on a cookie sheet.

Drizzle with oil. 

Place a dollop of butter on each ear.

Sprinkle with salt. 

Place in oven and bake for 20 -30 minutes or until golden brown. 

Serve with butter and a little more salt.

Blueberry Lime- Aid

Another one of my most favorite things in the entire world - lime-aid!! LOVE all sorts of lime-aid!!!! I have made this all sorts of ways, but I will give you the easiest recipe!

1 bag of frozen blueberries

2 containers of frozen lime-aid concentrate

water

1/4 cup of sugar

Mix each can of lime-aid with 2 cans of water ( 4 cans of water total). 

Add sugar and mix well.

Add bag of blueberries (including any juice that may have been created). - also i like mine still a little frozen so I can use them as ice. 

Mix and serve over ice. 

So that was a little long, sorry. I have a bad habit of forgetting about school on Fridays. It would be nice if they would just cancel school on Fridays, but that will never happen so I should just stop wishing.

Grad School!

So...... I decided on my birthday that I miss school. Now, I know you may be wondering how someone can miss school when they are at school everyday. Well, I miss being the student. I have always loved school. When I got an e-mail about the University of Texas' masters of education in literacy studies, I became really giddy about going back to school. Literacy is what I am currently teaching - reading and English. It's also what I love! Therefore, this degree is something I was very excited about pursuing. The more I looked into it, the better the deal was. Not only was I in love with the courses, they were all geared to middle grades, which is what I also teach.

After about a month of consideration, I applied the week before spring break. Yesterday, I was pleased to check my e-mail and find an acceptance letter from UT saying that I would be starting May 24th!! I am soooooooo excited!!