Sunday linky parties

One of the easiest ways for me to get back into the blogging routine is to join a great linky party.  So I'm linking up with 2 today.

First up is a new one from the Teaching Trio.

I love getting to know bloggers on a personal and professional level and this linky is a fun way to do that.

Have to do:

My daughter turns 6 in 2 weeks (boy time flies) and I need to order her cake this week.  Laundry is boring but a necessity.  Prepping lunches for my daughter and I is something that I'm really trying to stick to this year.  For one, I don't want to always be rushing in the morning.  Also, I want to make sure that we don't get into a rut eating the same thing everyday!

Hope to do:

My church is starting a class on the Bible in 90 days.  Unfortunately, I don't think I'll be able to make the class, but I downloaded the reading plan and am excited to begin this journey.  I know that it's going to be intense, but I'm looking forward to hearing what God has to say to me in these 90 days.  Has anyone done this challenge?

I also want to get ahead in lesson planning.  So far I have ELA, and Social Studies planned for the next few weeks.  I need to get math, ELD, and writing done.

Happy to do:

I woke up this morning and reminded my daughter that today is Grandparents' Day and she was so excited to do something for them.  She has given them lots of extra hugs and kisses and "let them" watch a movie with her.  We're headed out to dinner as soon as she comes home from the park with my dad....such a blessing!

Next up is Mrs. Laffin's Laughings Peek at my Week

This week will be my first full week since adding 4 new students last week and 3 more just for math.  We had to make a combo class so I got some extra 3rd graders (I still only have 22 kids so I'm not complaining).  They've transitioned well, but we spent time last week getting to know each other and reviewing routines.  This week we'll be hitting the ground running.

Math:
We're still learning multiplication.  This week will be spent introducing the commutative and distributive properties.  My kiddos have a good understanding of the meaning of multiplication so I'm hoping these lessons are easily accessible for them.

ELA:
We're introducing informational writing as a response to the 2 texts we've been reading.  My kiddos wrote a short paragraph last week so I could see where they're at in their writing life.  I'm excited to begin actual instruction in writing.  We'll also continue to practice close reading.  The curriculum that we're using (EngageNY) is somewhat repetitive in close reading, but the kiddos are grasping the steps and purpose so I'm hoping to start releasing the process soon.

Social Studies:
We're currently studying geography and this week we'll be looking at the 4 regions of California.  My kiddos love working on their lapbook and thanks to our Nancy Fetzer lecture notes, have a great overview of the topic.

Word Study:
This will be our first week with differentiated word study.  We spent the last 2 weeks using a simple list just to introduce word sorts.  This will be my first year following Words Their Way and so far I'm loving it.  I have 3 groups which I'm hoping isn't too hard to manage.

Reader's Workshop:
Like I said above, my district is using EngageNY for ELA, but we were previous all about balanced literacy.  I went to a fabulous training this summer about balanced literacy and I am all about Reader's Workshop.  This week, we're looking at different types of fiction and nonfiction as well as reasons readers abandon books.

I still have to plan ELD so I can't share what we're doing there, but I'm looking forward to a great week!  Off to dinner to celebrate my fabulous parents for being such great grandparents!  Have a great week!