Timeshare Rentals - The Secret to a Luxury Vacation on a Budget Giveaway Ends October 6, 2013 at 12 am

Who am I? 

I find pleasure in the simple things life has to offer.

It is just three of us now- my sweetheart, our spoiled cat, and me. The children are all grown and have started giving me grandchildren that I can dote on.
I enjoyed looking for freebies and sweeps to do so I recently decided in July to start blogging about The Best in Sweepstakes, Giveaways, and Freebies that I found. 
During one of my searches I found  BizArk Deal and fell in love with the site. I applied for one of their trials was so excited to receive the cutest little ducks to do my first review on. 

I received an email from BizArk Deal Customer Service with the subject "Congratulations! You get a free trial from BizarkDeal.com" I couldn't believe I was so lucky. I followed the link in the email and easily confirmed my trial.  Soon I receive an email with all the shipping information from BizArk Deal. Just as promised within a few days my package arrives. We have company over and proceed to open it with them all watching. I felt like it was my birthday. I remove what has to be the cutest little ducks in the world. Everyone wants them! 

As I am showing them to the grown-ups the big rubber duck squeaks. This gets the attention of all the children. They come running. Now, they all want them too!

We begin checking them out and YES! the little guys have the cutest squeaks too! I made a deal with my grandchildren. If they raked my yard, they could help me with my trial.  l would let them play with them when they took their baths that evening. As I sat drinking a cup of coffee with their Mom, I could hear the squeaks of  the ducks followed by the giggles of happy grandchildren playing in the tub.

I would highly recommend quality made Yellow Mini Cute Ducks Bathtub Swimming Ducks Baby Toys from BizArk Deals. They were a big hit with both the adults and children. Besides with these guys around, I'll never have to rake my yard again!

Be sure to check out all the great buys at BizArk Deals. They offer a fast, convenient, and friendly shopping experience.

Please give my reports a like. Thanks!

11.6" Samsung Chromebook with WiFi
Specs:
Samsung Exynos 5250 Dual Core Processor
2 GB DDR3L RAM
16 GB Solid State Drive
2 USB Ports: 1 USB 3.0 + 1 USB 2.0 HDMI Port
Built-in dual band Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n

Teachers pay Teachers is offering some great resources for homeschoolers. Visit them HERE.

Argumentative Essay Assignment

This assignment is aligned to CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.1a-e (Argumentative Essay) for the 9th and 10th grade band. 

The document includes…
• 8 prompts for argumentative essays 
• A research graphic organizer
• A scaffolded outline telling students generally what information should be included in each paragraph
• A rubric aligned to the Common Core State Standards

Because students write best about issues that matter to them, each prompt focuses on a school-related issue, such as school security, technology use, single-sex education, homework, and dress code. Each prompt poses a question and encourages students to use facts and research to support their opinion. 

Read More Here

Captain Grammar and the Semicolon: A Readers' Theater Skit and Prezi

Grammar can be fun! This is a readers' theater script that lets the students deliver the instruction. It begins with a character who's writing a research paper but doesn't understand how to use a semicolon. Captain Grammar--played by one of your students--swoops in to save the day by giving a brief explanation. You will have a chance to go in to greater detail with the Prezi. 


A Prezi is also included that displays the sentence discussed in the script. It goes on to show how a semicolon is used and gives four examples. The preview file provides several tips for using Captain Grammar skits in the classroom. 

My students loved the Captain Grammar skits--they're happy with anything that makes grammar a little less boring. For me, this is one of those lessons that makes me love my job. I go home feeling like the kids are taking an active part in their learning AND having a good time with each other. The script is in a Microsoft Word document, so you can edit it to fit your needs. Also, if you haven't used a Prezi in your classroom, now's a great time to try it out. It's a little like PowerPoint but much more dynamic. Adobe Flash Player is required to use it. 

Read More Here

More Free Downloads:

Swap the Squiggle Writing

A fun collaborative writing activity where students take a random squiggle line and create a picture. After students swap and draw several times, the final picture then becomes the springboard for a creative writing story. This file includes 5 premade squiggle templates as well as a blank template.

Fraction Freebie: Mixed Practice Word Problems 5.NF.1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7

Challenge students with these fraction problems that cover all four operations. Instead of knowing ahead of time that they will be adding or subtracting, multiplying or dividing, students must use their best critical thinking to decide what the problem is asking before solving. There is plenty of space for all modeling and work.
Great for Morning Work, a quick assessment, or homework.
Answers are provided.

Matching Graphs to Quadratic Equations Activity (Free Version)

Students can graph the equation then look for the matching graph, or they can take a graph find the matching equation. Equations are in both standard and vertex form. You can also have student match the equations together to work on changing equations from one form to the other. This sort can be used if you have the students graph using transformations or if they find the vertex and 4 more points.

Alternate Ideas and Uses for graphs
- Match equations together (vertex to standard)
- Have student decide from the graphs if the determinate is positive, negative or zero
- Students can identify the x-intercepts in order to find the zeros of the function
- Students can identify the vertex, axis of symmetry, minimum or maximum value
- Students can find domain and range

This sort (matching game) has 4 levels (only level 4 is included in the free version)

Level 4: Set D
- Includes all types of transformations: translations, reflections and dilations.
- a = anything
- This is a combination of the 3 previous sets.

This matching sort is designed to reduce chances of getting it right by guessing. The cards are very similar. For instance, 1 card shifts to the right 3, another to left 3, another up 3, and another down 3. Students must know which direction to shift based on the equation and not because it was the only one that moved 4 units. Also I have switched some values around to make sure student understand where the shift is up or to the right (right 2 up 3 or right 3 up 2). You will have a good idea if students understand the concept after they have completed the matching exercise.
Differentiation Options

Each level can be used individually
after the lesson on that particular topic (translations, reflections, dilations).
They can also be used for differentiated instruction. As a class you may be on reflections, but some students are still struggling with translations. So when the class is doing the level 2 sort, those students can be completing the level 1 sort. As far as everyone is concerned they are completing the same assignment, they don't realize that they are working at different levels. Having students work at their own level increases their confidence.

Possible Uses:
- Review station for test
- Math Station for student that have completed their work
- Mid-Lesson Practice
- End of Lesson Check for understanding
- Alternative to homework