Cyber Sale and a Honey Bees Freebie

Hi All!

It's time to get ready for TPT's annual Cyber Sale 

and it's arriving tomorrow 

at a computer near YOU!

My own shopping cart is over-flowing with activities I'll need to survive the next 3 weeks.  What about you?  

Will you be teaching a reindeer unit?

Jan Brett author study?

Are you searching for math centers with a holiday twist?

Whatever the need, there's a teacher-author that can fill it.

My own Reading Street products will be on sale, too!

So go get your baskets ready, 

and don't forget to use the code below 

for an additional savings!

Finally... 

if your district

uses Reading Street, 

I have a FREE true/false activity for the Honey Bees story.

I'll be using it next week.  

Please leave a comment if you have 

other Reading Street ideas for me!

Enjoy!

Clark the Shark and Back to School

Hi All!

  School is in FULL swing this week and I must say it's been an absolute joy to return to

a "normal" routine,

 first grade kiddos,

and early morning coffee.

Life can be so sweet.

Since my body hasn't completely adjusted to the early morning alarm and standing for the better part of the day, 

I'll be very brief this evening.

In fact, I just wanted to share two 

"back to school" 

kinds of things with you. 

First, I wanted to share with you my "Open House" classroom door.

I'm not required to decorate my door however, 

I like to just the same.

This year's door, though...

 did not materialize 

into the vision in my head.  

I was aiming for a soft, dream-like sequence. 

You know... kid friendly.

Instead, what I got was a flashback from Lemony Snicket's 

A Series of Unfortunate Events.

(Did you see the movie?)

It's quite dark.

Too dark for first grade.

But given that Open House was fast approaching,

I had to go with it.

Secondly...

we've been busy this week getting acquainted with one another.

While I was searching for activities to develop classroom culture,

I found THIS post by Wendy from

in which she described a back to school activity 

she did with Clark the Shark.

(For the freebie she offered, you can visit her TPT store HERE.)

Using her idea as a springboard, I ordered this book 

in which Clark learns what it means to share.

After reading, we discussed what it means to be a friend and we created this chart.

Then, we completed the writing prompt from Wendy's TPT store and finished it off with a shark craft I found at Almost Unschoolers.

If you'd like the Good Friend labels 

to make a chart of your own, 

you can access them HERE.

My own kiddos loved this project and 

I believe yours will, too!

When do you return to school?

Leave a comment if you have the time.

I'd love to hear from you!

Spring ABC Order Friday Freebie

Happy "Good" Friday Y'all!

Today is the last school holiday 

for the 2014-2015 year.  

From this point forward 

it's a mere 7 weeks 

before the end of the year.  

Has your year whizzed by 

as quickly as my own?

This week I'm linking up with 

for another week of fun.

At the request of a friend I created this springy ABC order 

(to the second letter) activity.

I hope you'll like it!

You can access it HERE.

Enjoy the Easter weekend, friends.

I'll be celebrating the resurrection of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

You're welcome to join me, too!

Hoppy Easter Linky

Hi All!

I'm so pleased to link up with

Melissa 

from

Jungle Learners

for a fun "pre" Easter linky.

To participate, Melissa has invited everyone to link up with their favorite 

spring-themed ideas and freebies.

Basically, anything that will help us all survive these last few weeks of school!

(My district is at T-minus 39 days and counting!)

So... here we go!

My teacher friends and I 

will be preparing for an art show 
the week that we return 
from spring break.  

This project is one that 

I pinned sometime ago and 

I'd like to include it 

in our display.  

It's too adorable to ignore!

Just click the picture 

to take you to the original post.  

I also have a freebie for you... 

and it has a spring-theme, too!

It's a "scoot game" called

and you can access it HERE.

Finally,

here's another scoot game 

with a spring theme.  

It reinforces telling time 

and double digit 

addition/subtraction (w/no regrouping).  

I created it to last 
more than one day.

The recording sheet 

helps your kiddos 

pick right up 

where they left off 

the previous day!

Too simple!

If you'd like to win a copy, enter here!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

3 winners will be chosen in a few days! 

Happy Spring, Everyone! 

Bat Stuff and a Freebie

It's Friday, people!

To announce it with that much gusto

you'd think I had worked all week.

However, I certainly have not.

I've been on fall break 

for most of this week and 

I won't deny that 

I've loved every minute.

My only question now is...

How many days until the next break?

Anyway...

I'm pleased as punch 

to participate in TBA's

Let's get started...

Like many of you, 

I'll be teaching a bat unit this month.

But when a quick peek 

at my current resources 

revealed only one copy of Stellaluna 

and 2 non-fiction books, 

I knew I had to hop

 over to Amazon and 

fill my cart with these lovelies.

After I placed my order, I began to think about a class KWL chart.

 I knew my kiddos would likely be more engaged if they could record the same information in 

a bat booklet, of sorts.

So, this product 

was created 

to meet that need.

There are pages to record 

several bat facts 

your kids might find interesting, 

a page to list what bats eat, 

where they live, 

and 2 others that are 

modeled after a KWL chart.

If you'd like a copy, go HERE.

What activities do you typically include during your study of bats?

I'd love to hear about them!

Enjoy your weekend, friends.

Freebie Friday

Happy Friday, Everyone!

Once again, I'm linkin' up with

TBA's

Can you believe  this is the last Friday  in the month of June?   Even more surprising,  I'll be in full "school" mode in 4 weeks. Yikes!
Anyway... you came for a freebie  and I have a lovely one for you this week.
It addresses the  common core standard 1.OA.D.8 which reads Determine the unknown whole number in an addition or subtraction equation relating three whole numbers. 
This is it...

and you can find it HERE.
Now if you could please pardon me, I really need  to get back to this mess my classroom.

Enjoy your weekend, friends!

It's Time for TBA's Freebie Friday!

It's time for another installment of

TBA's Freebie Friday and

can you believe it...

It's June!

This week, I'm contributing  a telling time "scoot" game  that I used as a review  in my own classroom. 

 

Perhaps you can use it in your own. Get it here. If you snag a copy, I'd love to hear from you!

Telling Time Freebie

I've been field-tripping

(is that a word?)

 today at a 

local nature preserve

where the

kiddos 

learned about

Tiny, the Gopher Turtle,

Barn Owls,

and an assortment of mammals native 

to our area.

We learned many new things

but this teacher just left 

"insanely tired"

and is now fast approaching 

"mentally deranged".

Would you be terribly offended if I just went straight to the freebie?

It's called

and it reinforces telling time to the hour/half-hour.  

Get it HERE.

Please consider leaving a comment if

it will meet a need in your classroom!

I look forward to hearing from you. 

Spring Break Goodness and a Freebie

It's my pleasure to link up with 

Teaching Blog Addict's

for the last March freebie.

Geez!

Where does the time go?!

Before I share my freebie,

I simply must show you what I've been up to this week.

It's been SPRING BREAK for me and 

I've enjoyed every last minute!

On Monday,

we packed our suitcases, 

a cooler, 

some groceries for the road trip,

two pups,

and we headed for the mountains.

It's my absolute favorite vacation destination.

No beach for me, no sirree!

I guess that's because the sheer

 beauty of the mountains surpasses anything 

I could ever experience at the beach.

Just my opinion.

The following photos might explain my thinking more clearly...

On our first day, 

my little family selected a trail to hike.

2.7 miles - one way.  

Moderate difficulty.

(Perhaps slightly more so, 

considering the condition of my knees!)

Anyway, the weather was slightly cool,

just perfect for a hike into the forest.

ONE MILE LATER and a tad bit higher in elevation,

we experienced an ever-so-slight change

in the weather.

Did I say slight?!

The temperature dropped considerably and 

it began to snow quite heavily.

This wouldn't have been a problem if we had expected

the shift, however we were NOT dressed for the occasion.

Not.at.all.

I packed mostly short-sleeved shirts, for goodness sake!

It was spring break, after all!

 In any case, isn't it beautiful?!

So, let me get to what brought you here in the first place...

Here's a simple scoot game I created to reinforce

telling time to the hour and half/hour.

A handful of my kiddos needed the additional practice.

12:30 and 6:30 seem to get them every.single.time.

I hope you enjoy it!

Go get it HERE. 

Please leave a comment if you are able to use it.

I'm driven by kind words.

Thank you and enjoy your weekend!

February Highlights and a Freebie

I'm linkin' up with the lovely people at

Teaching Blog Addict

for another
Friday Freebie.

February was an absolute blur to me.

Somewhere between our study of 

Presidents' Day, 
dental health, 

and the 100th day of school, 

I got lost in all the shuffle.

Has that ever happened to you?

Anyway... 

here are a few simple highlights 

from the month.

Not many... mind you,  

it's late and I'm just shy of collapsing.

Earlier this month, my sweet friends paused just a moment to pose in front of the "100"  displayed at the entrance of our K-1 hallway.

We were also blessed by a brief appearance by

the legendary Abraham Lincoln who cleared all of his morning appointments just so he could celebrate the 100th day with us!
Isn't he a cutie?!

Another February highlight is the completion of this silly George Washington 

"art" project, 

(if it qualifies as such).

I'll even provide the black-line master just to spare you any embarrassment by publicly requesting it in a comment.

That's just who I am.

Always looking out for my friends...

This project is best suited

for one of those nights 

when you simply don't have the time 

to cut apart

 hundreds of construction paper pieces... 
only to have your kids 

reassemble them the following day.

As lovely as those projects are, I don't always have the time.

Anyway...

he's my favorite!

.

Such an air of distinction,

don't you agree?

Get the blackline master here.

Finally, 

if you've made it this far...

I'm teaching the long i vowel sound

(spelled ie and igh)

next week.

Here's a literacy center

if you should need one.

Here's another peek...

This freebie is available right here.

If you find it useful, please be kind and leave a word of encouragement.

Thank you!

Math Tubs, Penguins, and a Freebie

Happy Friday, Everyone!

If you're like me, 

you'll simply never tire of hearing that phrase!  

At the end of a long week those three words honestly have the ability to add that extra "oomph" back into my step.

It's simply amazing, I tell ya.

Anyway...

before I get to the freebie, I have two or three things I'd like to share with you.  

If you've got the time, 
I promise to talk 

(type) 

super fast. 

First...

I've been teaching for 24 years and the resources that I've accumulated over time have all fit nicely into the filing cabinets in my classroom.
THEN, I discovered how to create my own 
activities, games, and printables 
and my filing system quickly ceased to be a "system" of any sort. 

So... I recently purchased these lovely tubs at the Big W
 where I probably paid too much 
(What am I saying?  I KNOW I paid too much!)
In any case, they made me happy and I had to have them.

Given the state of my filing cabinets, it made sense for me to organize my math centers first.  After a few hours one Sunday afternoon, I'm pleased to report they're now sorted into each of the 4 critical areas.  To categorize them a tad bit more, I used a sharpie to label each bag with the specific standard that the game/activity addresses.
With this method I'm finding that I can also identify the standards in each domain a wee bit better than before.

Second...

We've been studying penguins this week.
Like... who hasn't been?  :)
Here are two of our projects we completed.

My school didn't have the appropriately colored butcher paper to make a cutesie penguin KWL chart,
 so we improvised with this project.  
Each kiddo simply wrote two facts and I stapled it alongside his/her project.

Here's another...

along with a writing sample I collected, too.

This sweet girl writes...

Penguins can swim and they can lay eggs and they can slide on their bellies and they can huddle in groups when their parents are gone and the parents are gone for 60 days.  

Third... 

I taught greater than/less than in math this week.
My lovely teacher friend across the hall shared this wonderfully fun activity with me.  Perhaps you've seen it...

The "kiddo engagement" meter was off the charts.
I'm thinking these wonderful projects she shares with me must be  related to her membership 
in the pudding club!

Finally...

I'm linkin' up with

with a fun center to practice the 

r-controlled vowel sound

-or and -ore.

You can find it HERE.

Enjoy your weekend, friends!