Fourth of July Favorite Foods

Hello, it's Shelly Rees of Appletastic: Blossoming in Fifth Grade! I'd like to take a little break from teaching for a bit and talk about one of my favorite subjects: FOOD. Who doesn't love a good cookout on the Fourth of July? Fireworks, parades, red, white, & blue, get-togethers, picnics, barbecues..... see how that list moves toward food? Ahhhh!!! The smell of the backyard barbecue, hamburgers sizzling, fresh strawberries and blueberries, homemade lemonade, and chocolate cake with delicious, drizzled frosting. Mmmmmm.  Is your mouth watering yet?

Join us for a link-up of our favorite Fourth of July recipes! I am sharing 2 recipes that have been summertime favorites for many years.

Texas Sheet Cake

Bring to a boil:

2 sticks butter

1 c. water

Pour over mixture of:

2 c. flour

1 1/2 c. sugar

1 t. salt
1/2 c. baking cocoa

Add: 2 beaten eggs

1/2 c. buttermilk

1 t. baking soda

1 t. vanilla

Bake in a sheet pan @ 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes.

Icing: 

1 stick butter

1/4 c. baking cocoa

1/4 c. milk

1/2 bag of powdered sugar

Melt butter and cocoa. Beat in milk and powdered sugar. Ice cake while warm.

The Best Chicken Marinade

Ingredients:

1/2 c. vegetable oil

1 c. white vinegar

1/4 t. pepper

5 t. salt

1 1/2 t. poultry seasoning

1 egg

Mix well. Soak chicken in the marinade for several hours or overnight before grilling.

We'd love for you to share one or two of your favorite Fourth of July recipes! Simply write a simple blog post, where you share the recipe, and link it up below!  Keep it short and simple--this is a no-stress link-up. We can't wait to try out some new summertime recipes!

An InLinkz Link-up

5 Ways to Use Sidewalk Chalk for Learning

When the sun is shining, the grass is green, and summer is on the horizon, it can be hard to keep students' attention in the classroom.  Why not take your classroom OUTSIDE?  One great way to keep the learning alive outside is to use sidewalk chalk!  My name is Shelly Rees, author of Appletastic: Blossoming in Fifth Grade, and I am happy to share some ways that you and your students can use sidewalk chalk for learning!  Students LOVE using sidewalk chalk, so head on outside and try one of these ideas:

1. Vocabulary Word Practice

Write a group of vocabulary words on the sidewalk.  Call out a definition and have students stand by the word to which it belongs.  You could also give each student an area and a piece of chalk, read a definition, and have them write the word!

2. Math Problem Practice

Have students write specific types of math problems with their chalk.  Then, blow a whistle and have them move to another problem and solve it. Blow the whistle again, and students move to a solved problem and check it with the inverse operation.  Repeat the process.  Students love the fast pace of this activity and it's wonderful practice!

3. Character Mapping

Have you and your students read a good story or novel lately?  Take them outside and allow students to trace each other on the sidewalk.  Then, have them write a main character's name above the outline.  Next, students write various adjectives to describe the character.  This not only helps students to better identify with their character, but it also helps students develop their vocabulary and use of synonyms.

4. Spelling Word Scramble

Move outside for spelling word practice.  There are several ways you can approach this. Give each student their own space, call out a word, and have them write the word. You can also allow students to scramble a spelling word, move to the next word and solve the scramble, then repeat! 

5.  Create a Timeline

Studying a particular sequence of events in history, a novel study, or science?  Why not have students work in small groups to create a timeline of those events?  It's fun, engaging, and academic! My students recently created timelines of the major events of the Revolutionary War. It was a nice break from our normal classroom routine, and it provided great reinforcement of what we had been learning.  Win!

Sidewalk chalk isn't just for artwork anymore!  Grab a container of those colored chalk sticks, take your students outside, and get to work! Enjoy!

Spring Has Sprung! Kind of...

Hoppy Spring!

Here in northern Pennsylvania, it may still be cold, rainy, and dreary outside, but at least Spring has sprung inside our little elementary school building!  If you are in the same boat, you may enjoy warming your heart with a little tour of our colorful, bright, and cheery Springtime decorations! Before you know it, the great outdoors will be blooming, too!

 What a fun way to display springtime poetry!  Right in the middle of these cheerful flowers!

 Don't you just love these cute, little bunnies?

 This class made a little flower garden right at floor level.  Clever!

You can't look at this display of colorful eggs without smiling!

Little chicks are chirping and yellow bees are buzzing!

If you are looking for a poetic way to celebrate spring with your intermediate-level students, check out Shelly Rees's April Reading/ELA Packet.  It is packed with informational text passages, games, activities, poetry, and writing activities all related to the month of April! 

Top 10 Ways to Make Your Bulletin Boards POP!

Bulletin boards have come a long way!  No longer are they just a space to cover with paper and hang student work; bulletin boards are interactive, 3-dimensional, and fun to look at! My name is Shelly Rees, author of the Appletastic: Blossoming in Fifth Grade blog, and having been a classroom teacher for over 20 years, I have a confession to make. I'm kind of a bulletin board junkie.  I love those rectangular spaces waiting to be turned into a work of art!  I also have a problem: I'm not very artistic (trust me on this....my students find it hysterical when I try to illustrate something on the board). So through the years, I have learned some tips and tricks you can use to make your own bulletin boards POP, even if you don't feel like you are the most creative, artistic teacher in the world. Here they are; my Top 10 Ways to Make Your Bulletin Boards POP!

1.  Use Dimension in Your Title

Straight pins are perfect for helping you add dimension to your title. Print your title in whatever font you like, add a fun frame, and laminate. Instead of stapling the title to the board, push a straight pin through each corner of the title, and then pull the words away from the board a bit, leaving space between the words and the board. It creates an eye-catching effect and your board will get a lot of attention!

Like this bulletin board?  Pop into My TPT Store and find it there!

2.  Use Your Favorite Fonts

It used to be that teachers had 2 choices for bulletin board lettering: die cut machines or pre-made letters that you punched out. The world of fonts opens brand new doors for teachers when creating titles on bulletin boards. Tami at O-H So Blessed! used her favorite KG Fonts for the title on her "If I Lived in a Snow Globe" board. She explains how in this POST.  I love both the before AND the after!  Also, the extra embellishments of the coordinated snowflakes scattered along the edge are eye-catching. The background is wrapping paper, and the border is actually 2 borders layered. So clever....love those snow globes, too!

3.  Banners are Beautiful!

I use a lot of banners in my classroom. I love the way they look and they add some much-needed color and decoration to an otherwise dull space. Funky in Fourth uses banners to top off her bulletin boards. What a great idea!

4.  Make it Interactive!

Bulletin boards can have a valuable place in your classroom for providing additional practice, reinforcement, and motivation. Add foldables, flaps, clips, activities and other interactive features to your boards. Your students really will love it! Diary of a Not So Wimpy Teacher (love her name!) uses interactive bulletin boards throughout her classroom. Her "Tackling Tough Numbers" is an interactive arrangement of math vocabulary cards arranged on rings according to domain. Find out how she made this touchdown of a bulletin board HERE.

5.  Create a Faux Bulletin Board

Have very limited bulletin board space? Think outside the box and create your own faux bulletin board on the walls, old chalkboards, or doors. Simply adhere your background paper or fabric (I have one friend who dips fabric in liquid starch and smooths it onto the wall.) and then add a border. 

Aris of Sailing into Second created this absolutely beautiful "Tweet Heart" bulletin board on her door (left) and Meredith from Creativity to the Core brightened up her blank walls with some faux boards (right).

6.  Crinkle Paper for a Fun Border

While store-bought borders have come a long way, and there is now a great variety available, sometimes it is fun to make your own. One way to achieve an unusual look is to create a crinkly border using long strips of bulletin board paper. Cut long strips of paper in whatever width you desire, crinkle a bit by hand, then staple to board in a crinkly (sorry for the over-use of the word "crinkly" here....I can't seem to think of a good synonym!) fashion. Voila! A creative look! Thank you to Julie J., who shared the photo of her musical bulletin board. :D 

(The teacher who created the bottom board changes her student work samples often, so she staples clear protective sheets to the board and just drops in new work every week!)

7.  Use Tissue Paper

Stephanie of classroomdiy.com has a super tutorial for using tissue paper to add dimension and color to any bulletin board. Find her tutorial HERE.

8.  Tilt Title Letters at Different Angles

I have never been able to create a straight line with bulletin board titles. An easy solution for me was to purposely tilt the letters at various angles. I like the whimsical look this achieves!

You can buy this Boggle set HERE.

9.  Use Fabric for Your Background

When my sister first tried to get me to use fabric, I balked. I pictured a wrinkly background that would look too homemade and unpolished. I was wrong. She came to my school and helped me create a cohesiveness in my classroom by using the same fabric on all 3 bulletin boards in my room. The result was really nice and quite professional-looking. Want to learn how?  Luckily for you, Performing in Education has written an excellent tutorial for covering your bulletin boards with fabric! Check out her post HERE.

10.  Use a Variety of Materials

Add extra embellishments and materials to your bulletin boards to really make them stand out. Take a look at this sweet bulletin board created by Martha Hach of Mrs. Hach's Owl Spot.  The use of cotton for the smoke of the train really draws attention to the board!  Love it!

There you have it - my Top 10 Ways to Make Your Bulletin Boards POP!  I hope you're inspired to create something new...I'm already thinking about my next bulletin board adventure!

December Memoirs: Down Memory Lane

Children are a special part of my life.  Not only do I have a classroom full of fifth grade children, who I think of as my own, but I also have been blessed to have 4 boys of my own.  For me, they are what makes Christmas so special. From the time each of them was born, my husband and I enjoyed creating new memories and helping them to feel the magic and joy of the holiday season.

First, there was Joel, followed 4 1/2 years later by Gabe.  Aren't they the cutest?

When Joel was little, he would not leave the ornaments on the big tree alone.  He kept taking them off and moving them, trying to do his own "decorating" of the tree.  ;)  So....I took a trip to the dollar store, bought a cheap little tree and ornaments just for him.  He loved it, and my problem was solved!  He spent a lot of time playing with that little Christmas tree!

Chubby-cheeked Gabe was a lot of fun at Christmas time.  Once he realized what presents really were, he wouldn't stop touching them.  He wanted to open them as soon as he saw the wrapped boxes!  Christmas morning couldn't come soon enough for Gabe.  

 Joel and Gabe in their Santa Hats

A few years later, Tristan came into our lives, followed by Justice.  

They were the cutest little boys!

Tristan was a sensitive, serious child with a mischievous side. ;)  He always wanted to make sure we not only had cookies and milk out for Santa, but that we left out carrots for the reindeer as well.  Every year, without fail, he would remind us to do this.  One of my favorite stories of Tristan at Christmas time, though, is from the time he attended Christmas Eve Mass with my mother-in-law.  Partway through the service and after singing several sacred Christmas songs, he leaned over to my mother-in-law and asked, "Grandma, when are they going to sing Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer?"  Hahaha!  That still makes me laugh today!

Justice was born shortly after the attacks of 9/11, which is why he has such a strong, wonderful name.  Like the rest of the nation, our family was still feeling a great deal of emotion from the attacks when Christmas arrived.  I can still remember holding my little baby Justice and feeling the goodness, love, and peace that surrounds a newborn.  It was a reassurance to me that light and 

righteousness will prevail.  To this day, Justice lives up to his name.  

He stands for the right and works hard in all he does.

Every year, we take a picture of our boys in front of the Christmas tree.  

This one is from the year 2001.  Seems just like yesterday!

Last year in 2013, we were lucky enough to travel to Colorado over Christmas break to see Joel graduate from CU in Boulder.  This is our Christmas Day picture of our family.

It's hard to believe how grown-up they are!  I am so grateful we have the Christmas memories that we do.  Just writing this post made me tear up quite a bit....time flies and it's not always easy to see it going as quickly as it does.  I love my family!

Now, go make some of your own wonderful Christmas memories!

Much love,

Shelly Rees