Myths - Currently

Hey all! I'm super excited to be joining my first linky and what better linky to start up with then Oh'Boy 4th Grade's monthly Currently?  I have 8 more days of school so I've been really busy trying to plan, create, and organize end of the year activities for my cherubs. I also have progress reports to work on, butttttt knowing the procrastinator in me, those will be completed next weekend.  Waiting till the last minute is a reaaaaaally bad habit that I'm aware of, but seriously need to start working on immediately... and by immediately I mean next week ;)  So here is my July Currently:

   

I have the worst double ear infection and I missed days from school this week because of it.  I was totally bummed because A) these bad boys hurt like woah and B) I had SO many fun activities planned for our Greek myth unit that I wanted to be there for!  Double bummer.  We've been studying Greek myths for the past two weeks and my kiddos are having SO much fun acting them out, reading them, and analyzing them.  Yes analyzing them.  It has been the easiest unit for me to teach because they are so incredibly engaged! Have you all heard of the series "Stickman Odyssey: An Epic Doodle" by Christopher  Ford?  If you haven't then check them out on Amazon below.  My third graders are OBSESSED with these comic books.  Think Diary of a Wimpy Kid meets Odysseus, minus the foulness.  These two books have been a hit as well and are full of various myths with appropriate illustrations.  Now that we've been working on myths for the last two weeks, I find that as I introduce new myths, my smarties are telling ME all about these gods, goddesses, and their interactions with humans before we even begin! I love that they are active participants in their learning, they love these myths and don't look at it as work, WIN WIN right?

I'm also working on an activity for this week based on the myth of Icarus that will cover my ELA and Art content for the week.  Are any of you familiar with Matisse's Icarus? We're going to learn how to "paint with scissors" this week just like he did!  I'm hoping that they love it!  I always try to integrate my lessons across the curriculum and this was a perfect fit!

As soon as I reach 10 followers, I'll be emailing my Icarus ELA/Art pack to my first 10 followers as a big thank you for supporting me as I embark on this new blogging journey :)  You have already been so kind and welcoming, so again thank you SO very much!

*Work in progress*

I hope your summers have been relaxing, rocking, and enjoyable so far!  I'm jealous! I can't wait to get my toes in the sand at the beach and get my groove on at concerts rocking out to my favorite bands!

Don't forget to head on over to Oh' Boy 4th Grade to see what everyone else is currently doing this July!

 Light and Love,

"The only way to do great work, is to LOVE what you do!"

Hello all!  I am SO excited to begin my venture into the blogging world and I hope that you will all join me for this experience!  I couldn't think of a better way to begin my first blog then by sharing these words of inspiration. I LOVE quotes.  I use them all of the time in my classroom to inspire my little ones. This quote by the late Steve Jobs is one that rings especially true to me and I'm sure to many of you as well :)   As educators, we have the beautiful gift and tremendous responsibility of preparing our young ones to become not only life-long learners, but well-rounded human beings. This goal becomes a cornerstone of our lives and to so many of us, brings tremendous satisfaction.  The love that we have for teaching inspires us to challenge ourselves to do better and to be greater educators for our children.  I . L O V E .  T E A C H I N G.  While I may not be the peachiest person to be around at 5 AM,  I do have the reward of loving what I do everyday.  How many can say that about what they do?


I have been so incredibly inspired by so many bloggers over the past two years.  Like many of you, I have spent countless hours avoiding lesson plans and paper grading to uncover ideas on Pinterest, search for activities in blogs, and create resources that would help my lessons come alive for my students.  TPT brought me to a whole new level of resource/inspiration stalking and I just knew that I had to get more involved!  Sooooo, here I am, ready to share some great work and what I love with you! I hope that you take an opportunity to get to know me a little better by spending time here at Kdot's Learning Spot :)

A Little About Me
My name is Katie, but some of my closest friends call me Kdot so I hope that you will too!  I have lived in NY (Go Yankees)  and CT my entire life.  I attended UConn (Go Huskies) and currently live in CT. I  work in the Bronx in an AMAZING school.  Right out of college I started at my super star school and have never looked back! I spent my first year in 2nd, looped with my kiddos into 3rd, and have remained in 3rd ever since.  Third grade rocks my world!  My classroom, like yours, has quite a variety of learners in addition to a large population of ELL/ESL students.  The past 5 years in my classroom have taught me a great deal about my students, learning, and myself!  Everyday brings new and exciting moments to reflect on (which I usually do on my hour+ commute while listening to my favorite music :)


My Resources
The resources I create are made with my students in mind, therefore you will find a variety of rigorous materials that are scaffolded to help enhance your student's learning.  In my school I am responsible for teaching all content areas gym, art, and music included (yikes I know).  In addition to aligning my teaching to the Common Core Standards, my school also follows a rich curriculum that has exposed my students to the arts, diverse literature genres, sciences, and more starting right from kindergarten!  This curriculum has REALLY helped us in the transition to the Common Core. I try to achieve meaningful learning through the inclusion of visuals, cooperative work tasks, and cross-curricular projects in my resources. You can check out my TPT store to see some of the resources I have begun to post, but make sure to check back often because I have TONS more to share once they have been spruced up a bit.

Check back in at my blog often because I will be offering many new products as freebies to teacher friends who first respond to the associated blogposts ;)

Happy blogging!