A sale, a freebie, and HAPPY December!

     Happy December!  I hope you had a Thanksgiving full of blessings, laughs, family, friends, and lots of yummy food!  I was feeling most thankful for my maternity jeans after all the food I ate this weekend.  Yikes!    (I am still trying to figure out why all pants are not made with those glorious stretchy waistbands.)

     My long weekend was extended an extra day because I am patiently awaiting my ultrasound appointment in a few hours to *hopefully* find out if our little sweetie is a boy or a girl!  You could say I'm just a taaaddd excited!  I may or may not have already checked out some cyber Monday deals online so I can do a little pink or blue shopping this evening. ;)

     I think we got our fill of all things TURKEY last week in first grade,  and now it's on to Christmas...so hard to believe!

 These scrapbook paper turkeys turned out to be one of my favorite projects we did. Adorable! 

If you are getting an early start on Christmas projects like we are...here is a little freebie to get you started.  We are participating in the Macy's "Believe" Campaign as a school.   We are all sending letters to Santa to support the Make a Wish Foundation.  Our local paper also publishes their letters...so our deadline is soon.

Here is a template for your Santa letters.  Click to download.

We are working on asking vs. telling sentences this week so in our letters, we will TELL Santa something, make two wishes, and then ASK Santa something. We also talk about *nice* ways to ask for something so it's not an I want, I want, I want letter. ;)

Here is an example from last year...

Dear Santa,

I am in first grade now and I lost two teeth!  I would like a Monster High doll.  I would also love to have a stuffed kitten with blue eyes. How are your reindeer doing?

Love,

a first grader :)

Do you have this book??

It is a precious read aloud to use when you are ready to write your Santa letters!

I am participating in the big TPT sale today and tomorrow!  20% + 10% off....yes please! 

Here are some Christmas & Winter math stations, games and activities galore to get you going this holiday season.  Click the images to check out the free previews!

Don't forget to use the code CYBER for an EXTRA 10% off from TPT on your purchases!

OK...almost time to head to my appointment! Yippee! Fingers crossed that our little booger cooperates (and his/her legs are NOT crossed!) ;)

Boy or girl?? Any guesses??

Happy Monday & Happy Teaching to you!

Last day for Amazon giveaway & a FREEBIE!

Don't miss your chance to enter my bloglovin' giveaway!  Two winners will win any 3 items of their choice from my TPT store and one winner will win a $10 gift certificate to Amazon! I just stocked up on printer ink from there today to get ready to start printing all of the fabulous things I'm finding on Pinterest and TPT for "back to school"! 

 

Tomorrow is the last day to enter! The link to follow my blog on blog lovin' and facebook are on the right side of the screen.  It only takes a second. :)
 

                                                             a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

I went on a cleaning spree today at my house so I think now it's time to settle down on the couch with the pooch and work on a few TPT things that I have in the works that I'm VERY excited about!  Stay tuned!

I'm making a folder full of all of the things I can print ahead of time for the new school year (basically everything that doesn't have a list of student names).   I ran across this desk fairy note.  I am going to go ahead and print out a bunch and add GLITTER so that I don't have to do it throughout the year.  Here is a link to grab it if you like it! (glitter not included ;))

 

After I have my post gum-graft appointment tomorrow morning (ick!) I am headed to visit my sweet niece tomorrow and do some shopping at Hobby Lobby with her. We don't have one where I live...isn't that the saddest thing you ever heard?

 

I CAN'T WAIT to love on this little cutie pie!

 

 

HAPPY SUMMER to you!

 

 

FREEBIE Friday :)

I linked up with What the Teacher Wants last year for a behavior management linky party and ever since, this little picture has been pretty popular on Pinterest! 

I wish it wasn't such an awful picture! Ha!  It was before my Canon came into my life. ;) 

Anyways, this is a super simple concept that you can use in your classroom daily to encourage good hallway behavior.

Just pick a name (cards, chips, popsicle sticks...anything works) before you leave the classroom and look at it, but don't tell who it is.  The idea is that you will watch this person very carefully the whole way to your destination and back.  If they do an excellent job in the hall...they get a "ticket" or small prize.

(I also encourage them to line up quickly and quietly without throwing elbows and the other strange things they do to be "first" by saying I will only pick a mystery walker if they are lined up and ready by the time I get to the door!)

FYI: The colored chips in this picture are from Staples (in the teacher section) and I use these tickets from Creative Teaching Press for my behavior management system in my classroom so it's very easy to give a ticket to my Mystery Walker. 

My students collect these tickets for monthly raffles for fun coupons and prizes.

About halfway through the year last year, I also started picking a "secret student" on occasion...especially when we started doing more independent work. Same concept...just pick a student and tell them that you will be watching them do whatever activity you are working on.  After that activity, if they did what they were supposed to do...ticket!

I've had people ask me...and no, I do not call the "mystery person" out if they did not earn the ticket!  I just act extremely sad and say something like "Oh well...maybe my mystery walker will earn their ticket next time when they remember to keep their hands to themselves in the hall..."

(in my best teacher voice, of course)

Since these little ideas worked so well for me last year, I revamped my signs for my classroom and you can give them a try, too!  Click the picture to download the mystery walker sign FREE on TPT.

(and click the link below the picture for the secret student sign)

Secret Student Sign

Happy Friday!

Amazon GIVEAWAY & Binder FREEBIES Updated for 2013-2014!

So my HUSBAND (still getting used to saying that and LOVIN' it!) came home from Lowe's yesterday with a plastic pool for this little beach bum (and maybe me). 

 

Ridiculous. 

 

I have a funny feeling we are going to be the talk of the neighborhood soon.  I could totally see all 3 of us ending up in that thing one hot afternoon in the near future. HA! 

 

Pictures to come...maybe. ;)

 

It is a nasty, cloudy morning...so instead of splashing in the pool, I am catching up on laundry and clicking around on my laptop.

 

I updated my "binder covers for everything" for the 2013-2014 school year.  I've had a lot of people asking when these would be ready so I put them on top of my list!  Mine are printing now. :)

 

 

Go get 'em so you can feel organized...even if you're not.  It's June...you shouldn't be organized yet!

 

They are FREE and I'm more than happy to change 'em up a bit if you need something different.  These are just the ones I needed last year and decided to share...had no idea so many people would be interested in using them.  Just get in touch!

 

PS - Don't forget to...

 

 

Google Reader is going bye-bye on Monday.  Keep up with this little blog and all your favorites on bloglovin'!  I must admit...I pretended like this wasn't happening for as long as I could because I just didn't want to deal with it...but it was actually super easy and I (gasp) like bloglovin' better than google reader!

 

 

Just go to www.bloglovin.com and make an account (easy) and make sure you "import all your favorite blogs from google reader" so you don't miss out on anything!

 

Click here to follow my blog on bloglovin' if you're not already a follower.

 

 

 

 You're done!
 

 Also...as a "thank you" for taking the time to make the switch...a lot of bloggers are doing some awesome giveaways for their "new" bloglovin' followers!

Enter below.  THREE winners will be selected to choose any THREE items from my TPT store and one lucky winner will win a $10 gift card to AMAZON.COM!

You can get a couple extra entries if you like my brand new facebook page as well...figured I might as well do it all at once! ;)

a Rafflecopter giveaway


 

Now go check out all of these other fabulous bloggers who are having bloglovin giveaways!  You're bound to win something cool! ;)




Money Bugs!

Is anyone else working on counting coins this week??  I just finished making a few activities that I can't wait to use with my kiddos. My laminator is warming up as I type this!

 

My kids LOVE "read around the room" activities this year so I made a "count around the room" money game called "Money Bugs."  Get it? Like money bags? 

 

Get it? Get it?

 

 

I thought I was really clever but Andy just gave me a strange look when I told him.  Sigh.

 

If you are interested, check it out at my TPT store.  It includes dimes, nickels, and pennies but NOT quarters. Just FYI! :)

 

 

 

We have been enjoying an absolutely perfect Sunday.  I've been busy, busy, busy on plans after a long walk with the pooch and a grocery store run. Andy is busy studying for a BIG paramedic test for work tomorrow. 

 

lazy.

Today, I am thankful for the electrical outlet on my screened-in deck because it doesn't make me feel so bad to spend the entire day on school work when I can enjoy the fabulous weather and a cool breeze!

 

I am also thankful that yummy fruit is starting to be in season.  I can hardly stand to buy it in the winter when it doesn't even taste like real fruit!

 

Oh yea...and riesling.  I'm thankful for that too. ;)

 

I am also thankful that you decided to stop by my blog today so I have a FREEBIE for you.  This is basically the game of "WAR" with coins.  I just don't like calling it war...don't ask me why, I just don't...so I call it "top-it." 

 

Students will pair up and take turns turning over the top card on their stack.  The person with the highest amount gets to keep both cards...you know the drill.

 

This is war top-it of the coin variety and it's yours if you would like it!

 

Click Here to Download from TPT

 

This also includes mostly dimes, nickels, and pennies.  The last page does include some quarters in isolation that you can leave in or take out but it does not include a lot of practice with counting quarters. 

 

So if your kids are smartie-pants and already know how to count quarters with dimes, nickels, and pennies...SORRY!  hehe.  We're not quite there...yet...

 

but...practice makes progress!

 

Happy Monday and Happy Teaching to You!

XO

What's the BIG idea??

Spring Break has officially come to an end and I am SAD about that but going back means I'm getting closer and closer to May when I get to marry this handsome guy! 

 

 

Then, of course, glorious summer days ahead!  I think I can do it!

 

Spring Break was productive, but not busy.  I had plenty of days to sleep in and work on some wedding projects at home.  It FINALLY warmed up yesterday and spring decided to make an appearance in my little corner of Virginia so I spent the day getting a little (too much) sun and reading a book.  It was a REAL, grown-up book.  I don't read those much from September-June!  I read "Gone Girl" by Gillian Flynn.  WOW. I highly recommend.  I finished it in two days...couldn't put it down.  It's definitely not a "feel good" story...pretty disturbing actually, but quite good!

 

 

I also had a chance to FINALLY finish up a new unit I've been working on for quite some time. I had a really hard time in the past teaching main idea to my first graders as a reading strategy.  I feel like I've finally come up with some ideas to help them grasp the concept.  This year was the first year I felt truly  successful with it, so I decided it was time to share!  This is also the first year that I feel like I've truly used the concepts of main idea and details to help my students as writers.  I am shocked at how it helped many of even my reluctant writers feel confident writing a short paragraph with multiple sentences on the same topic....YES!

 

I also noticed that as I shopped on TPT, there were a lot of resources out there for upper elementary grades...but not so much for primary. So if this is something that you are working on this spring with your little ones...I hope you can use it! 

 

It is on sale this week for $4!

There is a lengthy preview available on TPT so you can see exactly what you are getting. Just click the picture below to check it out. :)

 

 

I'd also love to give away a copy to the first 3 friends to leave me a comment.  On your mark, get set...go!

 

For now...I'm off to watch the Country Music Awards and gear up for my kiddos tomorrow! 

 

Happy Monday and as always...Happy Teaching to you!

 

The Day I Was Called Nana...

It's been a while, friends!  Sorry!

 

The 100th day of school, Valentine's Day, an 11 hour parent-teacher conference day, and an "emergency drill that turned out to not be a drill" to top off the week on Friday afternoon will do that to a girl! 

 

I don't have tomorrow off for President's Day...but I know lots of you do so ENJOY and stay in your jammies for as long as humanly possible tomorrow so I can live vicariously for you.

 

I still have some school work to do to get ready for the week so I'm going to let the pictures do most of the talking!

 

We played tons of math games this week to work on new stuff (skip counting, numbers to 100, patterns on a 100s chart, etc.)  as well as to review some old stuff that was a little shaky on the last cumulative test.

 

My kiddos were still struggling with ordering 3 numbers from least to greatest and greatest to least.  I made a simple litle sheet for them to practice and used a deck of cards to spice things up a bit.  They worked with a partner to draw 3 cards, build cube towers for each of the cards, and order the 3 numbers from least to greatest before recording on the sheet. 

 

 

They LOVED this little fact family activity (more review).  It is available in my TPT store for 2 bucks!
 

We partied hard on Valentine's Day!  We kept the food simple because let's be honest...the kids are WAY too excited about those silly little paper valentines to care much about eating.  We did make these little Valentine Floats (lots of versions on pinterest!) as a fancy-schmancy drink!

They were a hit!  I used a scoop of vanilla ice cream, cherry 7-up, LOTS of whipped cream, and fun sprinkles!  I'm not a huge fan of anything cherry but the kids slurped them right up (and I may or may not have eaten a cup full of whipped cream and sprinkles).

 

I did glowstick valentines (thank you Target dollar spot!) and the kids loved wearing them as bracelets.

 

My favorite part of Valentine's Day was (and always is)  the "Bucket Books" that I make for the kids.  It's a kind of a pain-in-the-rear project that I always end up being glad I did once I make them and the kids read them.

Over the years, I've simplified it a little bit and it's really not so bad.

 

Basically, I call each kid up one at a time (you need to start a week or two in advance)  and ask them to give every member of the class a compliment...something to "fill their bucket."  They come up with some great things...some need a little prompting, but it's actually amazing what they can usually come up with on their own.

 

I type each compliment on a blank page of labels (in MS Word).

 

Then, I print them out and stick each label on a half sheet of paper.  I put all of the half sheets in a gallon ziploc bag and we take an afternoon for the kids to illustrate all of the pages of compliments that they came up with.

 

Then, I sort them by student so that each kid gets an entire book of compliments about themselves!

 

 

You should just see their sweet faces light up when they start reading through them. They're shocked at some of the things that people think about them! 

 

Here are some sweet examples of the kinds of compliments that my sweeties came up with.

 

Total sweetness.

 

Now...my LEAST favorite part of Valentine's Day was when a child called me "Nana" by accident.  Don't get me wrong...I get called "mom" every other day but "NANA"??

 

Sheesh...time to look into some new concealer and wrinkle cream, I believe.

 

The only redeeming part of this little cutie calling me Nana was that he also brought me a red rose and gave me this card.

 

My heart offically melted.  He can call me Nana all he wants now.
(and he gets an A on everything from now on forever and ever, amen)
Kidding...kinda.

 

On a completely unrelated note...look what I got in the mail yesterday! 

We are now officially ready for the wedding (hurry up, May!) because our "son" has his attire!

  How handsome is this little dude?

 

Stud. muffin.

 

 

Happy Monday!

 

Happy teaching to you!

 

Super Duper Sunday Sale (and a freebie)

Hope you're having a fantastic weekend!  Mine has been good so far...except for the fact that it is FREEZING. 

 

I hope that little rodent was right this morning and that spring is on its way in a hurry.

 

Speaking of that little rodent...we read some fun stories yesterday about Groundhog's Day and learned a little bit about them, graphed our predictions, etc.  My favorite groundhog story is "Substitute Groundhog."

 

 

One of the writing activities we did went along with "Wake Up Groundhog."

I told them that they could write any ideas they had about how to wake up a groundhog AS LONG AS they didn't HURT him.  I've had some traumatic experiences with my sweet little darlings writing horrific things they would do to wake him up in the past.  NO HURTING!

 

My kiddos this year had some...interesting ideas.

 

 



 

Yes...you read that right.  Stick him outside "nacked." What in the world!

 

I would find a big "simbl" and hit it.  I would throw snow at him. Ruthless, I tell ya!

 

 

 This is great.  Step 1: Get kids  Step 2: Give kids sugar Step 3: Make kids yell

That'll wake him up for sure!

 

 

This one is hard to see but I had to show you.  This little guy is super serious...always doing the right thing.  He wrote "I would poke him with a "nif" (knife) "jitley" (gently). 

I said not to hurt the groundhog...so he added gently!  Violence = not funny....but this made me giggle.

 

We also finished up our pattern unit with some fruit loop necklaces!  I just used plastic ribbon (the kind you can curl and put on packages) and taped the end to their desk so the fruit loops wouldn't slide off into the floor. It worked GREAT!

The best part is, now I have half a box of fruit loops to finish up.  I never let myself buy sugary cereal like that but if it's leftover, I can't let it go to waste...right?!?!

 

So, Andy has to work tomorrow which stinks...because I don't think it's socially acceptable to make a ridiculous amount of junk food to watch the game if you're at home by yourself, even if you share a little bit with your dog...

 

Luckily, some friends are having a little get together so I think I'll head over there for the first half
(to watch commercials and eat).

 

Speaking of the SUPER bowl...Are you ready for the SUPER sale tomorrow??

Thank you Ashley Huges for the ahhh-dorable button.  If you haven't checked out her clipart...wow.  It's fabulous (and in my cart waiting for the sale to start!)

Well...here's a little secret.  My sale has already begun (20% off PLUS an extra 10% from TPT)...so you can start shopping on Super Bowl Eve if you like. ;)  I'm also going to extend the sale to the 4th as well. (Ya know...just in case you're in a food coma tomorrow and can't get your fingers to click the right buttons. It happens.)

 

I added a few new products to my store recently...mostly math.  Click the pictures to find out more.

 





 

 

 

I had a bunch of requests to offer my geometry materials separately from my "Hello Winter" pack and I was more than happy to offer that as a brand new "Shape it Up" Mini-Pack!

 

 

It includes the super fun "At first it was a shape" activity (a personal fave!)

 

  

 

*Just please note: you should NOT purchase the "Shape it Up" pack if you have already purchased my "Hello Winter" pack.  I don't want anyone to be disappointed to find duplicate activities.  If you have the "Hello Winter" pack, you already have these geometry materials as well. :)*http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Shape-it-Up-A-Geometry-Mini-Pack

 

 

Perfect for Valentine's Day...

(or anytime because I surely don't need a special occasion to enjoy a cupcake!)

 

 

 

 

 

I didn't forget! 

 

Is anyone else celebrating the 100th day this week?  Ours is Friday!  Last year one of my favorite projects of the whole year was our "100 year old portraits."  There are lots of ideas floating around pinterest.  We put our own little spin on them and are planning to do them again.  I'll post pictures when they're done!  The kids did an awesome job last year of describing themselves at 100.  The writings were downright hysterical.  I'm hoping for more of the same this year.  If you are doing any variation of this project and need writing paper...here it is!

 

The second page has empty space at the top so that you can tape the first page over top of it (and overlap) so that it looks nice hanging in the hall.

 

Click the pics to download.

 

 

 

 Happy teaching to you!