Busy Summer Means Neglected Blog! Part 2

My blog has been very neglected this summer! For this I am very sorry! Yesterday I told you about the work I have been busy on aligning all my units to the Common Core Standards. The other big project I have had is to create a website: theteachingbank.com! 

Now don't get too excited, it is a very basic website! LOL! With some help from my husband we were able to put together a pretty basic site that can direct you to the social media sites so you can follow The Teaching Bank, find the sites where you can buy The Teaching Bank's products, and download a current product list of all offerings from The Teaching Bank. It may not be anything flashy and mind blowing, but it gets the job done and I am proud of it! 

Happy Valentine's Day!

The puppies are all mine but the fantastic graphics are courtesy of:

My Favorite Freebie

Joining in for a fun Linky Party on 2nd Grade Pad's Blog to celebrate favorite FREE products!

The product I chose as my favorite freebie is actually one I just created yesterday!

Book Report Fun! 

I created this item not for my classroom or for my customers, but for my 2nd grade son. Sam has struggled with handwriting issues since preschool and has been receiving some awesome OT services since Kindergarten. Sam has started off second grade at a brand new school with a great teacher. One of the ongoing activities throughout the year is to read chapter books at home and complete a "Book Report" form to return. Once he has turned in 10 reports he gets a prize.

Last week Sam completed his first book and we sat down to complete his report form. The form he received at school was designed with small boxes and very thin lines to write in. His teacher had found it on the internet. Sam became very frustrated and didn't want to complete his project. He said he didn't care if he got a prize. I know he loves reading and the activity itself was great, the problem was the design of the sheet. Yesterday, with permission from his teacher, I sat down and designed a new sheet that is more visually appealing and open, hence Book Report Fun!

Since this item is so very close to my heart I have chosen Book Report Fun! as my favorite freebie! Please download it for free from The Teaching Bank store.

It is great to use as Sam does, at home, or in the classroom to monitor student's independent reading comprehension. It helps those with OT issues like Sam but is regular enough for any student to use in the primary grades. I hope it will become as useful in your classroom as much as it has for us!

Interactive Science Notebook

If you have been a reader of my blog for awhile you'll know I am a bit of a NASA fan. I was very saddened to hear the news last weekend of the death of Neil Armstrong. Neil Armstrong was a true American hero and an inspiration for everyone. When reading the various stories about Mr. Armstrong over the past few days I came across this quote from him that I love:

"Mystery creates wonder and wonder is the basis of man's desire to understand."

This quote embodies what we do in the education world. We hope to create wonder in our students so that they will desire to understand and learn.

I had been working on putting together an interactive science notebook to help teachers and students organize their science resources when I came across this quote. It prompted me to add a section to my notebook that I call the Why/How Does... section. This section integrates writing into the science curriculum.  Everyday (or however often you want) students will write a Why/How does... statement. Why/How does... is a statement that asks the student to pick something that they wonder about and ask why it works the way it does, or how does it work? By creating these Why/How does... statements on a regular basis students will start looking at the world with more wonder and be on the lookout for new things to write about that interest them.

Writing these daily Why/How does... statements do not take much time. It can be used as a sponge activity or bellringer activity as the student comes into the classroom. 

My Interactive Science Notebook is now complete and I have it listed in my store. I have created three versions: 1-3rd grade, 4-5th grade, and 6-8th grade versions. The main difference in the versions is the size of the writing lines, clipart used, and some of the scientific vocabulary. The 6-8th grade version also contains a Periodic Table reference chart that the others do not.

All of the versions contain the following:
•Cover for the notebook

•Teacher Directions
•Teacher plans for the WHY/HOW DOES writing activities
•Why/How Does... writing page

•Experiment pages for note taking and reflecting

•Unfamiliar vocabulary page

•Scientific Method reference chart
•Metric Measurement reference chart
•Standard Measurement reference chart
•Neil Armstrong quote 8.5"x22" bulletin board decor

•Labels for organizing the binder including blank labels that you can customize.


This Interactive Science Notebook is a great way to keep your students organized and encourage them to write daily to increase their wonder and desire to understand! Check them all out in my Teachers Pay Teachers or Teacher's Notebook stores!

1-3rd grade version:

4-5th grade version:

6-8th grade version:

Does Texting Erode Kids' Grammar Skills?

Click the image to read more!

Summer Flying By?

Hello everyone! I don't know about you but my summer is just flying by! I had planned to do a lot of work on my products and be really productive this summer but the time is slipping away! Having my 3 kids home for the summer is taking up a lot of time. I love having them around but boy do they keep me busy with baseball, Tae Kwon Do, the pool, and running them all over the place! I feel like more taxi driver than anything some days!

Family vacations are taking up a chunk of my summer time too. My husband and I celebrated our 20th anniversary on May 30th with a Disney cruise for the whole family! We had a wonderful trip.

One interesting and educational experience on the cruise was during our 2 days at sea. The ship stopped because they saw rafts in the water. The first day we rescued 4 Cuban refugees who had set sail on a small raft in hopes of a better life. To see that tiny little raft out in the open ocean was very eye opening. To think their life was so bad in Cuba that they would risk that for something better was humbling.

Our second day at sea we stopped for another raft, but this time it was empty. I am left to wonder whatever became of the passengers. I hope they were rescued by someone else before we came along.

After returning home we had 2 weeks with a stream of house guests. It was nice to be able to celebrate my daughter's 10th birthday with the love of family surrounding us.

Upcoming we have a week at a Northeastern South Dakota lake with my parents, brother, and sister-in-law. Last we will head to Chicago to go to the American Girl store and to attend the Chicago Bears training camp at Soldier Field! Then of course it is back to school!

To help get you in the back to school groove check out this fantastic

Pinterest Back to School Board 

There are a multitude of items from some fantastic Teachers Pay Teachers sellers! 

Enjoy the rest of your summer! I promise to get back to business and blog more once school begins!

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