Lovin' the Love!

Hey yall!

Guess who finished her second class in the specialist program? Me!!!

I seriously wrote a 23 page paper today and presented it tonight to my class.

I'll let that sink in for a minute....

23 pages yall!!!!!

It was some serious business. But now I have 2 classes down, and just 1 more to finish up for the summer. Than I'll already be a third of the way through the program...whoo-hoo!!!

Some little birdy told me that it was an easy program....lies!

But I'll make it :)

Ummm....did everyone melt today? Seriously...it was HOT!

When I got in my car to go to school, the temp said 120 degrees....say what?!?! Once I got going, it eventually settled down to about 106...yikes!

I just had to share this funny little card I saw today. I may or may not be guilty of this...

Ok, so real quick, I wanted to thank everyone that has been purchasing my Owls and Dots collection...you guys are amazing!

I am working hard to create some coordinating pieces, and I have placed a couple for sale in my little TPT shop the last day or so.

This little pack is full of schedule cards!

There are 27 different cards, and a few blank cards to write on. Each card also has a little clock for you to draw the time! Pick these up from my shop here.

I posted this one today....it is a coordinating word wall pack!

It includes all 220 Dolch sight words, as well as letter headers. You can get these from my shop here.

Oh, and before I go, tomorrow is the last day to enter my little giveaway...click the picture below to enter!

Sweet Stories from Guest Blogger Brooke!

Hi I'm Brooke from Teachable Moments, guest blogging for Natalie today. I wanted to give you some ideas about how to get your students writing great stories (or narratives if you like the technical term).


In my school we all use the same approach to literacy and part of this is a 'formula' for writing different text types. For narrative we try to give the kids some steps to follow rather than just say "Go write a story" which we know is extremely hard, especially for young kids.


Firstly we plan our story. For this we use a graphic organiser. I encourage the kids to plan their story with pictures, rather than words as this gets them imagining what their story will be about and gets them 'making movies in their heads' - ie. visualising.


The headings we use for our organiser are Character, Setting, Event 1, Event 2, Event 3, Climax. 

I like the students to then flip the page over and write a few words to describe each picture, just in case they forget what they have drawn :) Click on the graphic to get your copy.

The character and setting forms the 'orientation' of the story which is where the students try to answer the "W" questions of Who? What? When? Where? The orients the reader to what the story is going to be about and sets the scene for what is to come in the story.

The plan is designed in such a way that it is meant to indicate that each 'event' in the story gets more exciting/dramatic/scary and it builds up to the climax, which should be the most exciting part of the whole thing.

Once the plan is done, then we start to write. Each box (character and settings are considered 1 box) represents one paragraph, so that by the end, they should have 5 paragraphs (hopefully!) We also talk about that each paragraph should have a variety of sentence types (simple, compound and complex) to increase the readability and interest in their story.

The other thing that we discuss at length is adjectives and adverbs and how important they are to make an interesting story. I use a lot of visualisation during these discussions and give examples. I might start with a simple sentence such as "The boy ran away". Then add adjectives and adverbs to increase the excitement and add to the visualisation. "The little frightened boy was wearing a blue tshirt. He ran away quickly because he was being chased my a big, angry dog". I have found this gives students ideas about how easy it can be for them to add some more info to their writing.

Teaching year 2, I usually write a story over the week, doing one part each day until we have a finished story.

Hopefully this has given you a few new ideas on how to get your students writing better stories. 

Thanks Natalie for having me :)

                                                       

 

Admission is the first step...

Hey yall! Happy hump day!

I have something to admit to you guys.

I think I may have a problem...



Seriously? Did I go way a little overboard?

This is my haul from today. An old friend from college and I met up for lunch, and then went shopping! She said she needed to get some storage containers for her room, so I knew just where to go...Dollar Tree!

I am loving all the bright colors this year, and they match my new classroom theme PERFECTLY!!!

The only thing I'm missing is orange....

Why did I take this picture outside, you ask?

It most definitely may be because the hubs doesn't know that I purchased all this, and it went immediately back in my trunk before he could see it....

You gotta get what you can get, right?

Ok, so remember when I posted this the other night?

Well, I had a couple of requests for a sign without the owl for those that have other classroom themes. I most definitely think you should just change your theme to match the sign, but alas...I guess not everybody is into owls :)

So, if you click on the picture above, I have added a blank sign, as well as one with a cute little sun on it.

Don't forget to enter my 300 follower giveaway!!!



300 Followers Giveaway!

Hey yall! Guess who has 2 thumbs and 300 followers?

This girl!

Actually, 303 followers :)

Thank you sooo much for all of your wonderful selves out there. I cannot begin to express the gratitude I feel for each and everyone of you.

I wanted to do something B.I.G. to celebrate this mini-milestone, so I gathered some of my absolute favorite bloggy buddies to bring you this amazing giveaway!

Here is what's up for grabs:

 

Awesome stuff, right? I soooo wish I could enter my own giveaway...ha!

There will be six lucky winners, one for each prize. The giveaway will start today and last through 12:01 am Sunday morning.

Here's how to enter:
1. Follow all 6 blogs and leave one comment (required).
2. Like all 6 pages on Facebook and leave one comment (required).
3. Follow all 6 TPT stores (optional).
4. Follow all 6 TN stores (optional).
5. Share the love! Post about this giveaway (optional).

You will need to use the Rafflecopter to enter this giveaway!!!! Then you can comment below telling me which ways you entered :)
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Please make sure that you follow ALL the directions in order to remain eligle. Incomplete or false entries will be deleted :(

Oh, and do you see that cute little set from me up there? It's my brand new Owls and Dots Theme Classroom Set!

 This is the set that I created for my own classroom next year, and I LOVE it!!! Hope you guys do, too!

If you just can't wait to see if you win a set, you can purchase this from TPT :)

Welcome Freebie!

Hey yall! Did you guys have fun at the party last night?

The Facebook party, of course!

I had such a blast, and downloaded a TON of free resources! Hope you guys did, too!

This post is FULL of good stuff, so I'll just get right to it.

First up, I am linking up with Tara at 4th Grade Frolics for her weekly Monday Made It!

Here is what I made this week...

 

Sorry for the crappy quality :(

Here is a close up so you can see the cute polka dots.

 

I know you guys have seen these all over, just as I had. They were really easy to make, and there are already tons of tutorials out there, so I won't bother with another one. I love them, though! I found the perfect colors for my classroom, and they will look so great hanging on my walls!

I had seen some that put a ribbon border around the letters, and I really thought about doing that. But I couldn't find any ribbon that I was in love with, so I left them plain...for now :)

Next, I am linking up with Classroom Freebies for Manic Monday!

I have really come to love Mondays this summer....we'll see how that goes in the fall!

I am just putting the finishing touches on the classroom theme set that I made for myself, and I made this sign to go along with it. I am planning on framing it and hanging it right outside my door :)

I left the owl's tummy blank, because that's where I am going to write my name. I also included a sign with just a plain owl, though. Click on the picture to get your classroom sign!

Finally, I know that everyone is getting in on the mustache craze, but I didn't realize how huge it was until last night. My niece wanted to go to Claires, and while we were shopping, we stumbled upon the biggest collection of mustache paraphanalia I've ever seen!

But guess who forgot to take a picture of it? Yep...that'd be me.

I did manage to snap one of my niece with some great 'stache glasses, though!

We had also found these cute little stickers to put on our toes....but that was a total fail.

So we decided to go get our toes done, and see if the lovely ladies there could help us out.

And guess what? They did!!!

The sweet nail lady was a little giddy, because it was her first go at a it...and I think she did an excellent job!!!

So....I mustache you...do you like our nails???

Party Time!

Hey yall!

If you are here from the Facebook party, welcome!!!

Look around, check out some of my past posts, and grab a TON of freebies! You can find all those by clicking on the Freebies label on the right side of my bar.

Don't have time to download them all right now? I get it! It's a party, and you've got some mingling to to.

No problem! Here's a little something for you to get right now. This is only available as a freebie until 11 pm (or until I go to bed, whichever is later :)



This literacy unit should be used with the book "There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Shell" by Lucille Colandro. Click on the picture to get your copy!

Thanks so much for stopping by! Come back tomorrow for yet ANOTHER FREEBIE!!!

Lunch Choices from Guest Blogger Laura!

Hey all you Teachery Tidbit Fans! Natalie is off today and I am so excited to make my first guest blog post! This is Laura Davis from Tattling to the Teacher, here to share a little management freebie that was a lifesaver for me last year.

I don't know about you, but at my school we have to send down a "Lunch Order Form" every morning, telling the cafeteria what our students are buying everyday. The cafeteria sends home a monthly breakfast and lunch calendar with 2 choices for each meal. Of course, we have kids that bring lunchboxes too! Since I have to keep track for the cafeteria, I came up with a way to take attendance and record lunch choices all at the same time.

Sorry for the poor quality... Cell phone pic!

I put all the kids names on clothespins and clipped them to a long ribbon right by the door. I made three choices for them: Lunchbox (brought your lunch), Lunch Choice #1 and Lunch Choice #2. In the middle of the Lunch Choice #1 and 2 there is a little piece of Velcro. I would Velcro pictures of the choices everyday on those spots. Each morning the kids come in and move their clip to their lunch choice. This was a very effective way of taking attendance and lunch orders without having to ask every morning. Does your school turn in lunch orders daily? If so, you're in luck!

A freebie for you today- my lunch labels and a lunch order form. There are 25 different lunch choices with 2 blank ones (for those unusual lunches!). Click any of the pictures below to get the freebie!

 

 

Thanks to Natalie for letting me share this. Please come check me out for more freebies on my little bloggy:



Thanks!

My Sunshine :) plus a freebie and a giveaway!

Hey yall! Happy hump day!

Today has been a terrific day for me, because guess what?

It's my anniversary! And no, not my blog anniversary...we still have a ways to go before that :)

My wedding anniversary! The hubs and I have been married for 4 whole years!

It seems like just yesterday :)

I don't normally share a ton of personal pictures, but I thought I might today.

Feel free to scroll on past, if you'd like. There is a little non-teaching freebie at the end :)

Babe, if your reading this (which I'm sure your not), I love you to pieces!

Soo....the hubs and I are getting ready to move into our new house! It should be ready for us in a couple of weeks, and we are sooo excited!

I thought it would be fun to redecorate our bedroom with the new house, so I have been on the hunt for some good stuff. We already had a gray/pink theme, but since I love the gray/yellow color scheme so much, we are switching over to that!

I was pinning today, and ran across this sign.

Perfect for our new room!

But instead of shelling out the $20 to buy one, I decided to make my own :) and I made 2 signs!

I am planning on printing these out, buying some pretty white frames, and putting them on our bedroom walls :)

Click on either picture above to get your copy. If you have a gray/yellow scheme in your classroom, this would be pretty cute for that, too!


I also wanted to let you guys know about an awesome giveaway that Katie over at Dirty Hands and Lesson Plans is having. You can win some awesome prizes from some fabulous bloggers, including my owl themed classroom set!





And guess what else you can win???

Say what? How awesome is that???

Head on over now to enter Katie's giveaway :)