Teachers have to eat: Chocolate Chip M&M Oatmeal Cookies

Now that's a lot of adjectives for one little cookie! I was recently introduced to this cookie by way of one of those "cookie mixes in a canning jar" gifts. It was the favor at my sister-in-law's baby shower. Not only did it look very pretty layered in a jar, they tasted really yummy! Since it's a girl **YEAH** the M&Ms were shades of pink. My brain got thinking about how using different colored ones could make it seasonal. So, I got busy picking out the brown, yellow, orange, and red M&Ms and decided to turn them into Thanksgiving/fall cookies :) (You could always use Reese's Pieces and throw in the peanut butter flavor, but I needed these to be peanut free).

The original recipe comes from Bakerella and is shows you how to make it in the canning jars-- super cute which I may just someday try. Enjoy these yummy, super yummy cookies! And here's the thing, I know they look like they'd be a "dry" cookie, but they really aren't, which really surprised me. I mean, of course they'd go great with a glass of milk, but they're not a cookie that you have to choke down. Give 'em a try!

Ingredients:
1 1/3 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup quick oats
3/4 cup M&Ms
3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup white sugar
1 slightly beaten egg
1/2 cup butter (slightly melted in the microwave)
1 tsp vanilla

Making them:

1. Preheat oven to  350 degrees.
2. Mix all of the dry ingredients together.
3. Add egg, melted butter & vanilla. Mix until it's "dough like" and all dry ingredients are no longer dry.

 4. Roll the dough into 1 and 1/2 inch balls; place on cookie sheet.

5. Baked for about 10 minutes. This cookie doesn't seem to 'brown' very well, so you can't really go by that. 
6. Enjoy!

 
  

Read to us!

In the day and age of testing and the endless roll out of new standards, some times we forget the simpliest things... Yesterday I read a picture book to my 5th graders. They so enjoyed it, and today they asked if I could read to them again.

Fear not, Standard Sticklers, I made sure to pick a good mentor text which led to a lot of rich discussion and the practice of some essential CC skills. 

Wednesday's pick...

• Grace is a wonderful character to analyze for traits based on her thoughts, actions, and feelings. 
• Good text clues in which to make inferences
• A great story for determining theme
• Has a very positive message about self-confidence and perseverance

Thursday's pick...

• This book is great for inferring Grace's feelings and thoughts; not just what they are, but why she has them
• There is opportunity for self-to-text and text-to-text connection as concepts of family and divorce are discussed
• A few opportunities for predicting
• A great story for determining theme
• Seeing a "known" character on another adventure allowed for deeper character analysis 
• It would be easy to look at story events from another character's perspective (ie. her dad's or stepmother's)

Using Padlet in the Classroom

This year as been a bit hectic and has not been as enjoyable as some. But I must say, while trying to jazz up today's lesson for a central office visit (don't judge.. you know you do it too :)), I decided to try out Padlet.

We've been working on analogies for a little while now, and it was time to take it to the next level-- using it in a brief statement, comparing two dissimilar items (one abstract and one concrete). I found an example with a picture online, posted it on Padlet with brief instruction and directions and let the kids have at it. I was amazed by the finished product! (click to check it out). 

This was the first time they ever used Padlet, but they had absolutely no trouble. It was so easy, and they really enjoyed it. Students don't need to sign-up, no usernames or passwords, no e-mail addresses needed. Only the teacher needs to sign-up (or log-in using a google account). It took literally 5 minutes to set-up/create. I highly recommend trying it in the classroom.

Feel free to share links to Padlets you've created and used :)

Descriptive Writing Prompt

I just finished my report cards *huge sigh of relief* and was rewarding myself with a few minutes on Facebook before bed when I saw a picture (posted by Kids Weather App) and instantly had a writing prompt idea.

Here it is: a descriptive writing prompt

Have students write a description (including sensory details) about spending a night in this "camping bubble". For those that need extra support, you can provide them with a sensory chart to complete prior to writing. For those up for an extension, you can give them other requirements like including a simile, metaphor, etc.  

Teachers have to eat: Baked Gnocchi with Chicken

Baked Gnocchi with Chicken

Oh, this is so yummy. I saw the recipe a few days ago in October's Food Network Magazine and knew I had to make it. Here's a link to their recipe. I followed their recipe for the most part, although I made a revision or two to cut down on calories and due to preference.

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

8 ounces white mushrooms, sliced

Kosher salt & ground pepper

2 tablespoon unsalted butter

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1&1/2 cups 2% milk

1 cup chicken broth

1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg

 about 2 cups cooks chicken (could use left over, rotisserie chicken or just brown some)

1  package potato gnocchi (around 17.5 ounces)

1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese (I used fresh)

Pre-heat oven to 425. Make sure rack is in the top 3rd of the oven.

First, brown the mushrooms in the olive oil in a skillet. Stir in some salt and pepper. Brown for about 4 minutes. Then transfer to a bowl. Wipe out skillet for next step.

Next, melt butter in the skillet over medium heat. Add flour and whisk for about 3 minutes.

Whisk in milk and chicken broth until smooth. Simmer and whisk continually until it is slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Whisk in 1/2 teaspoon salt and nutmeg.

Add chicken, mushrooms, gnocchi, and spinach to the sauce. Stir until coated and spinach is wilted. 

Since I'm not totally sure if my skillet is oven-safe, I transferred to a small casserole dish and sprinkled with Parmesan cheese.

Pop it in the oven for about 20 minutes, till it's nice and bubbly. Switch oven to broil and let it broil until the top is lightly browned, about 3 minutes. And then, voila!

It's yummy and really not very difficult. Because I had to brown the chicken first, the whole thing took me about 50 minutes from start to eating. I think I could have saved some time if I had the ingredients pre-measured and set aside. Enjoy!

 

 

Creative Writing Prompt

With the Common Core comes the demand of complex texts and informational writing and essays that synthesize multiple texts. At the same time, we cannot totally neglect the importance of creative writing and encouraging students to express themselves through writing. Here's a quick and easy picture writing prompt which allows student to do just that :)

 If you could have dinner with anyone, living or dead, in this location, who would you choose and why?

Possible Curriculum Connections:

• Students must choose a character from a specific book
• Students must choose a person from a specific time period 
• Students must choose a person from a specific category (ex. President, world leader, famous scientist) 
• Students must choose the author of a favorite book

Photo credit: From Amazingworld Facebook page

Introducing... Quadramas!

What do you get when you take a diorama and multiple it by four? You may be thinking, "It's a nightmare, finding all of those shoe boxes!" But it's not a nightmare, I promise! What you get, my dear reader, is a simple project idea with limitless possibilities!

Take a look at some of the quadramas my students made about their favorite scenes and chapters from A Long Way From Chicago.

 Instead of shoe boxes, simple folding, cutting, and gluing (or stapling or taping) a piece of paper creates each quadrant. After decorating, simply attach each quadrant. (I used a stapler-- it was the quickest and easiest way of attaching them). This simple project could be used for a book project as I did or for science or social studies projects. I had my students construct theirs in class, but it could just as easily be an at-home project. Before you think I am a creative genius, let me make it clear that I did not come up with this idea. I found several different versions of it on Pinterest, but the best site I found to describe and give directions was Blog Hoppin'. Check out the blog for easy to follow directions.Thanks for the inspiration (& directions) Shelley!

After everyone completed their project, we did a gallery walk. This turned out to be a fun & engaging activity that was a great wrap-up to the end of our novel unit.