Where in the World has Ms. Winter been?

Well I have been a totally MIA blogger. My goal for this year was to be better about blogging on a regular basis, but I back to school has certainly gotten the best of me. I am making a commitment to be better in the next couple of months!

I am totally loving my class this year. They are incredibly sweet and are catching on to routines and procedures so well. My one major battle this year-- organization. When I tell you to put it in your writing folder and the next time we go to do it, it should be in your writing folder. Some of my students will swear up and down that they put it in the folder when I told them to, only to find it later in no folder just in their desk. This is my battle right now, and I feel as though it is an age appropriate one, third grade is one of the first years that students are taking more responsibility for their work.

Another thing I am battling these days is pure exhaustion. I have been SO tired. I am trying to get my immune system up and running again, but so far it has not caught up. I am hoping this month I can get it together!

This year has been a wonderfully productive one though, I think I may finally have the hang of this teaching thing (*background laughter*)! I am finding all sorts of things that I have ALREADY made! Hallelujah! Nothing feels better than computer searching a skill and finding a plethora of resources from TpT or that have already been made! I am now in the process of getting them ready for sale in my store. For tonight, I have the first revised product. 

This writing prompt is appropriate for the upper elementary/ middle school classroom. It is a text dependent prompt that will introduce students to the reason that fossil fuels can not be the sole source of energy in our community and introduces students to three renewable energy resources: solar energy, wind power, and hydroelectricity. I like to accompany this text and prompt with videos explaining each of these energy options to help students better understand. Also included with the prompt is a powerpoint with the text on the student sheet and colored pictures to help the students better understand the concept. 

My students really love this type of opinion writing, it gives them satisfaction to make a choice and argue it.. maybe I have some future lawyers in the making! :) 

I am going to post again this week with some pictures of what we have been doing in class, but I just wanted to check in! Have a happy Monday :)