Wednesday, February 26, 2014

3 Million Strong

Hey yall! Happy hump day!
 
Have you heard???
 
TPT is now 3 million teachers strong! You know what that means...time to celebrate with a huge sale!
 
 
Now is the perfect time to stock up on those Spring goodies!
 
You might like...
 
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Common-OCore-Pocket-Chart-Math-Centers-565355
 
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/There-Was-an-Old-Lady-Who-Swallowed-a-Clover-Literacy-Activities-215794
 
 
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Spring-Fling-Common-Core-Centers-631607
 
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/There-Was-an-Old-Lady-Who-Swallowed-a-Chick-Literacy-Activities-227521

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Hoppy-Spring-Literacy-Activities-221302
 
Or my newest unit...
 
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Under-the-Sea-Informational-Writing-Pack-1117140
 
This pack includes graphic organizers and writing sheets for 10 different kinds of sea creatures, including blue whales, crabs, octopi (octopuses), starfish, seahorses, clams, jellyfish, and sea turtles. It also includes an ABC order activity, word search, and writing prompt.
 
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Under-the-Sea-Informational-Writing-Pack-1117140
 
 
Click on any of the products above to snag 'em.
 
Happy shopping, yall!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


Wednesday, February 19, 2014

All in the Family

Hey yall! Happy hump day!

My kiddos have started learning about a tricky little thing called fact families.
Anyone else's kiddos struggle with these???
 
I wanted to make it fun and interesting for them, so I started out by introducing them to the Fact Family.
 
 
We discussed how the Fact Family are kind of snobby and only like to be with themselves. They don't like to let anyone else into their house.
We talked about how, since Daddy is the biggest, he will always be the biggest number. Mommy will be the middle number and Baby will be the smallest number.
 
We practiced a ton with these family cards that I made. Click on the picture below to snag them!
 
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7Fo8OLW9tuVOEo3Z1hCUlBLOTA/edit?usp=sharing
 
 
After lots and lots of practice on fact families, they are finally starting to get it! They really connect with the daddy, mommy, and baby {or doggy}.
 
But then we decided that they needed a house to live in!
So, naturally, we made them some!
 



 
They turned out so cute! I love how they are all just a little bit different :)
We didn't use any patterns, just kinda winged it, but it worked out great!
 
So...how do you teach your kiddos about fact families?



Monday, February 10, 2014

Valentine's Day Gift Tags {freebie!}

Hey yall! Happy Monday!
{Well, really, the only happy thing about Mondays is The Bachelor...}
 
I've been pretty productive today...I got my Valentine's Day gifts ready for my kiddos!
 
I snagged these adorable sweetheart crazy straws at Hobby Lobby for less than $5. Whipped up a cute little tag for them and done!
 

 
 
Cheap and easy...my kind of gift :)
 
Want to snag this gift tag? Click on the picture below! I even made them editable, so you can type in your own name.
 
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Valentines-Day-Tags-Editable-1107857
 
Now, I'm off to get ready for The Bachelor :)


Friday, February 7, 2014

Keep Calm and Have a Cupcake {Quick Giveaway!}

Hey yall! Happy Friday!
 
I finally finished my newest pack...just in time for Valentine's Day! If you are a last minute kinda teacher {like I am!}, then check out this pack. I think it's pretty sweet :)
 
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Keep-Calm-and-Have-a-Cupcake-Centers-and-Games-1102684
 
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Keep-Calm-and-Have-a-Cupcake-Centers-and-Games-1102684
 
This pack includes:
 
*Sweet Sentences: 5 scrambled sentences and recording sheet
*Compound Cupcakes: 24 word cards {12 compound words} and recording sheet
*Grammar Grams: 18 grammar cards (nouns, verbs, and adjectives) and recording sheet
*Sweet Endings: inflectional ending {-s, -ed, and -ing} word hunt with 6 words and recording sheet
*Cupcake Scoot: asking and telling sentence Scoot game with 24 task cards and recording sheet {and answer sheet}
 
Want to win a pack? Leave me a comment telling me your favorite kind of cupcake and I'll choose a winner tomorrow night!
 


Sunday, February 2, 2014

Bright Ideas: Interactive Word Wall

Hey yall!
 
I'm not sure about you, but I am always on the hunt for new and clever classroom ideas. We learn best from each other, so who better to turn to for ideas than my amazing bloggy buddies? That's why I'm so excited to be a part of the Bright Ideas Blog Hop!
 
 
 
Word Wall....everyone's got one, right?
I had never really put much thought or effort into my Word Wall. I typed up the words, added some fancy letter headers, and slapped 'em up on the wall.
 
But my kiddos were not using them like I hoped they would...or like they really need to!
So this past year, I started looking for a way to make the Word Wall more interactive for my kiddos. I wanted a way for them to be able to use the cards when they wanted and actually be able to take them back to their work stations as needed.
 
This is the system I came up with.
 
These specific word cards were for my time in 5th grade, before I switched back to 1st.
 
I used some index cards that I had on hand, wrote out the Fry's word lists, and put them on binder rings. The binder rings all hang on a simple thumb tack.
It took awhile to write out all the words, but I didn't want to waste my ink and paper to print them out...there were just too many of them!
 
The great thing about this system is that my littles have easy access to them. They can just find the word they are looking for, take it off the ring, and put the rest back.
Note: you will definitely need to show your kiddos how to unhook the binder rings...it can be a little tricky for small hands!
 
I really love this system, because it is so easy to add words as we learn them. Students can also add their own word cards and even their names!
 
Want to hear some more bright ideas? Check out Anna over at Simply Skilled in Second. She's got a bright idea about behavior management! Click on her button below to check it out.

http://simplyskilledinsecond.blogspot.com/2014/02/dont-rip-your-hair-out.html