Alexander Graham Bell and a Freebie

Hi All!

This post will be super fast.

 I promise.

With 5.5 days remaining in this school year, 

I still have several unfinished projects yet to complete and 

there's no time to be long-winded.

In any case...

my Scott Foresman friends will understand when I say

it's Alexander Graham Bell week.

It's certainly not my favorite story

but we're too close to the end 

to worry about it now.

This week is all about the aw / au vowel digraph 

and I'm using these mini-books 

to hammer that pattern home.

I use them at the beginnning 

of my small groups 

and my kids practice reading 

while they wait a moment for me 

to join them at the table.

Once I sit down, 

a friend is seated beside me 

and I listen to him/her practice reading 

the aw/au words in context.  

Each page in the booklet 

features a word or two with the given vowel pattern 

and the cute graphics lend support 

for those kiddos who need it.

Some of my booklets hold as few as 12 sentences.

Others hold more.

It's all based on my kids' needs.

You can read more about it HERE.

Other Alexander activities we've enjoyed this week include

this short and sweet video

and

my kids enjoyed this one as well.

After viewing the two videos,

we completed this pocket chart 

fact and fiction

sort.

My kiddos thoroughly enjoyed it, 

especially when I added the element 

of earning points for correct responses.

Oh, my goodness!

They were off.the.chain. in an effort to participate.

Would you like a copy?

It's available HERE.

And finally,

is your countdown in the single digits?

October Currently

It's not unusual that I'm late 

to Farley's

Currently

party.

Somehow the first of every month 

seems to catch me 

when I'm not looking!

Am I the only one?

Anyway...

Listening: My husband sings frequently throughout the day.  It's always random stuff and usually quite loud.  To me, it's a happy kind of noise. 

Loving:  My youngest is a freshman in college these days.  She returned home this weekend to spend her fall break with those of us who love her the most.  We enjoyed some "girl time" yesterday with an overdue trip to the mall for new clothes and ice cream. 

Thinking:  My district included a fall break in the calendar this year and boy, am I grateful!  Did I mention it starts tomorrow?

Wanting: Seriously, I need someone to step up to the plate tonight and volunteer to cook supper. Any takers?

Needing: To buy groceries and finish the laundry.  Boring stuff.

Treat: I'll be teaching my non-fiction unit on Spiders when I return from our fall break.

Last year's first graders simply could not get enough of this study. 

It's currently on sale.  

Pardon the pun... I simply couldn't resist.

You can check it out HERE.

Deanna's Book Linky and a Give-Away

This week I'm linkin' once again 

with Deanna Jump's 

book linky.

This has been great fun, yet I have to be honest here... it has not been kind to my

Amazon account!

Geez!

This week I have an old favorite.

It's called...

Have you read it?

Amazon's description reads...

Natasha isn't really a bad girl. 

It's just that she wants 

to play on the swing now, 

not after the wash has been hung up to dry. 

And she wants her soup now, 

not after the goats have been fed. 

Looking after Natasha keeps Babushka, Natasha's grandmother, very busy. 

Then, after lunch, 

Natasha notices a doll 

sitting on Babushka's shelf...

a doll Babushka tells Natasha she played with just once when she was a little girl.

When Natasha plays with the doll while Babushka goes to the store for groceries, 

she discovers why once is enough with Babushka's doll.

She also discovers just how tiring it can be to take care of a child who wants everything now.

When her grandmother returns, 

Natasha tearfully explains how she was so mistreated by the spoiled doll.

She vows that she does not have any desire to play with it again.

Once was certainly enough.

If you're interested in purchasing a copy for yourself, you can get it HERE.

 Before I close for the evening

I have a freebie or two I'd like to share.

First,

This is ONE component I'm adding to my calendar routine this year.

It reinforces counting by 1's, 5's, and 10's.

Here's a quick picture for you...

I'll give away 3 copies.

Leave a comment with your email and I'll send it along to you shortly.

And if that's not enough...

this is a new product, too.

It's an author study based on the 

following 3 books:

Curious George

Curious George Rides a Bike

Curious George Goes to the Hospital

and I'd love to share it with 3 people.

Simply leave a comment about your favorite author study and my dear hubby will select 3 winners in a few days.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Two for Tuesday - Week 4

Happy Tuesday!

Once again,I'm linking up with 

The Teaching Tribune's

Two for Tuesday

summer bloggin' fun!

To participate,

I've been asked to discount

two products 

in my store for today only,

The two that I've selected are products

that I use with

Accelerated Reader.

First up...

This product was adapted 

from a display I had 

in my classroom for years.  

  One day though,

I needed the wall space for other things, 

so I took it down and converted it

into a personal log book that tracks the students' reading progress. 

In a nutshell, here's how it works...

Each level features an animal 

with 10 circles on it. 

Kiddos read a book, 

then take and pass an AR quiz.  

They're then given one of these 

handy-dandy stickers for their chart.

10 stickers = 10 quizzes

Each page also features 

a fun fact about the animal, 

a graph for recording the types of books they're reading and 

most importantly...

a badge for having completed that level!

It kinda makes me think 

of the 

 badges that 

Boy / Girl Scouts receive, 

except... well, it's not. 

The second product I've discounted is

another favorite in my own classroom.

This is a display for tracking AR points

in your classroom. 

Here's a peek at the product 

on the wall 

in my own classroom.

(You'll have to provide your own READ letters.

Hobby Lobby, craft stores, and Walmart all sell something comparable 

to the letters in the pic.)

Each kiddo is given

 a cave"boy" or cave"girl"

image with his/her name on it.  

The clipart is moved from poster to poster as he/she accumulates points.

My own students love it!

These two are on sale today!

Grab your copies HERE and HERE.

Danny and the Dinosaur - An Author Study

Hi Everyone!

If what I've seen 

on other teacher blogs 

is an indication of a common practice 

in classrooms from the east to the west, it's

author studies...

and I have an oldie, but goodie,

for you!

My own kiddos always loved reading the

Danny and the Dinosaur series.

Maybe that's because they're easy to navigate and first graders seem to have a natural curiosity about the big beasts.   

Plus, the author tosses in 

plenty of the silly stuff 

to make it highly engaging 

and just plain... 

FUN.

We simply needed to know more about the author so I created this product.

Here's a sneak peek 

at most everything I included...

I'd love to share it with 3 people.

If you're interested, leave a comment

(with your email address)

about an author study you 

conduct in your own classroom.

If you would still like a copy after the freebies are gone, you can find it

here.

Word Workin' Witch and a Spring Cleaning Sale

Like so many others,
I heard there was a "spring cleaning"
sale currently underway at TPT
and I wanted to participate, too!

Who doesn't love a good sale?!
Especially when it involves 
shopping for your classroom?  
Can anyone else get on board with that?!

I find that shopping for chart tablets, 
dri-erase markers, cap erasers (in every color of the rainbow) 
and pocket folders 
simply makes me happy.
 How about the smell of a new notebook? 
Is it not intoxicating?
It's weird, I know.
My parents tell me I've always been that way.
  

In any case, 
not only will I be purchasing 
a few must-haves to 
carry me through 
the remainder of the year, 
I also wanted to pop in and tell you about my newest product that I've used daily 
in my small groups for months.

It's called Word Workin' Witch 
and it's a collection of mats 
in which the children 
manipulate letter tiles 
* at your direction *  
to form words. 
(Simply put, it feeds my love 
for teaching phonics. ) 

As you can see, 
I recently taught the oa/ow vowel digraph so we're using both mats 
to practice our new words. 
It's fast, efficient, and my own firsties 
seem to associate the letter pattern with the adorable clipart just a tad bit better than before.

I'd love to give away 3 free samples.
Leave a comment telling me your favorite subject to teach and I'll send 
a copy right along.
Don't forget your email address!





  

A Freebie, A Funny, and New Products

Hello Friends,

Sometime around October 6th, 

(the date of my last post), 

I seem to have fallen into a swirling vortex of Halloween, 

Red Ribbon Week,

laundry,

fundraising at the BEAST level, 

teaching, and

life in general.

Did I mention laundry?

Can you relate. at. all?

If any case, I do have a few things to share with you today.

If you've got the time, 

I'll start with a funny or two.

Just recently

in my classroom,

I overheard one first grader 

explain to another...

"Japanese and Chinese people are the same.

They ALL speak Spanish." 

Or what about my incredibly impulsive friend who walked into her speech teacher's classroom where she squealed with delight at  the picture of an ocean animal she recognized on the table.

Little friend began to s.h.o.u.t.

"I know what THAT is!  

It lives in the ocean!

I KNOW what that animal is!

It's a coctupus!"

I'm sorry to inform you 

speech class will be delayed today. 

Mrs. Speech Teacher 

had to step out for a moment.

Next up is an unusual freebie for you.

I developed this checklist for a young friend in my classroom who needed more frequent

feedback than the traditional clip chart I use for behavior management.

You'll need to draw in your own happy, straight, and sad faces in the circles before you copy it.

I admit I was a tad bit distracted by the laundry and this was one of those things that just didn't get done.

I hope this saves you a bit of time.

Go get it here.

Next up... Thanksgiving stuff.

Last week, I read this delightful story to my little friends.

You can read the reviews 

if you're interested, 

but basically...

 Turkey is in trouble.

He is scheduled to be consumed for Thanksgiving dinner unless he can

disguise himself.

First graders were then given a copy of a turkey to disguise for themselves.

The results are always wonderful surprises!

Here are a few for your viewing pleasure...

How wonderful is THAT?!

Hold on, we're nearing the end...

I just completed two new projects.

(I took a 7 week break from that, too.)

First up is a Fly Guy study.

My firsties have recently discovered this series and like so many before them,

they l.o.v.e. Fly Guy!

This collection actually includes activities for 5 books in the series.  

You can go here to read more about it.

If you'd like a FREE copy, be one of the first three to leave a comment (with your email address) and I'll send along a copy just for you.

I also just completed this for my Reading Street friends.

 If you'd like a FREE copy of this product,

be one of the first three to leave a comment and it's yours.

After that, you can find it here.

I hope you'll like it!

In closing, 

I wish you a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday!

 

Let the Reading Begin!

Our library has officially opened its doors for the 2013-14 school year and I couldn't be more excited.  

It's time to... Let the Reading Begin!

 

You see, my school celebrates reading with the use of Accelerated Reader and while the program has its detractors, 

I rather like it.

Kids who reach their goal are rewarded at the end of the grading period with bingo games and bubble gum, an ice cream sundae, or a variety of trinkets.

  

(Of course, had AR been around when I was a child I would have been one of the few who read for  the sheer pleasure of reading. However, I was smart enough to know the value of a good trinket for goodness sake.

Say what you will.  It's just how I roll.)

Anywho... 

This is my newest product and it's all about motivating kiddos to read.

 I've taken what was once a display in my classroom for AR quizzes and converted it into a student resource.

Now my kids can keep track of their own progress!

Here's how it works...

Each level features an animal 

with 10 circles on it.  

Kiddos read a book, 

then take and pass an AR quiz.  

They're then given one of these 

handy-dandy stickers for their chart.

10 stickers = 10 quizzes

Each page also features a fun fact about the animal, a graph for recording the types of books they're reading and most importantly...

a badge for having completed that level!

(Kinda reminiscent of Candy Crush, 

except... well, it's not.)

There are 20 levels to complete.  

You may or may not want to include them all.  It's all up to you!

 

I'd like to give a copy (or three) away.

Leave a comment to enter - complete with your

 email address.

I'll announce the winners next Tuesday night!