Sunday, November 30, 2014

Cyber Monday Sale


Cyber Monday Sales at TpT!!!!!

Use this code at the checkout

TPTCYBER

My store is also on sale Monday and Tuesday.


So be sure to check out those items that have been on your wishlist for a while!

Happy Bargain Shopping!

Friday, November 28, 2014

Celebrating Birthdays and a Friday Flash Freebie

I love celebrating birthdays in my classroom, but in the past, have struggled to stay organized and on top of each student's birthday (especially those summer half birthdays we celebrate in the winter).
I thought I would share how we celebrate birthdays in our classroom!  It is a "can't go wrong" system!  I promise!


Create a bulletin board where each student has two cards recognizing them for their birthday. 




The top card is their "ticket" for a birthday surprise.  When it is time to celebrate their birthday, they get to tear off their ticket and turn it in for their surprise.  



The bottom card stays up all year long.

No one will be forgotten and it makes it easy to remember!

One might say it is foolproof!

Click on the picture for a FREE birthday sign.







Today's Friday Flash Freebie is an early elementary unit on hibernation, migration, and adaptation.


It is a fun "winter is coming" unit!

It includes an interactive student booklet.




It also includes a no prep interactive lap book.


There a fun review activities!



And more!



Page 1 - Cover
Page 2 - Copyright
Page 3-6 - All About the Desert Writing
Page 7-14 - Migrating, Hibernating, Adapting Interactive Lap Book
Page 15 - Hibernating Animals Worksheet
Page 16 - Winter Alphabetical Order
Page 17 - Winter Writing
Page 18 - Winter Words

Enjoy!


Friday, November 21, 2014

A Thanksgiving Class Recipe Book and a Friday Flash Freebie

Thanksgiving is next week and already I am thinking of that amazing, once-a-year dinner!  Thanksgiving is a time of traditions, thankfulness, and, of course, food!


So, I thought I would share a little writing project we did last year as a class.  It takes a little time and preparation, but it is worth it!  I promise!

We spent one lesson having group discussions on Thanksgiving traditions.  What we do with our families, what our traditions are, what food we have at our feasts.  

Then each child was asked to think of their favorite Thanksgiving recipe.  They were to bring this recipe to school.
Then we wrote!  We wrote about our family Thanksgiving traditions and what we remember or think of when looking at this recipe.
We went into the computer lab and each student typed up their own recipe and paragraph. (I proofread!)
I gave each student the opportunity to choose a clip art picture to go with their recipe as the finishing touch to their cookbook page!








I sent to our local ESU to be printed and bound and we were able to send home before Thanksgiving break!


These were a huge hit with my families.  The writing piece at the bottom of each recipe really made it worth it.

This year, we are doing this a holiday gift for parents.  So even though you may not have enough time to do this before Thanksgiving, you could have it done in time for your Christmas or Holiday break!



Today's Friday Flash Freebie is an oldie but a goodie.

My Cause and Effect packet is a set of activities meant to teach and reinforce the concept of cause and effect in a variety of ways.





Page 1 & 2 - Cause and Effect Practice Sheet and Answer Key
Page 3 - Cause and Effect Short Story Activity
Page 4 - Cause and Effect Picture Activity
Page 5 - Cause and Effect Trees Activity
Page 6 - Cause and Effect Puzzle Activity
Page 7, 8, & 9 - Cause and Effect Card Game
Page 10 - Cause and Effect Activity using the picture book "Tuesday" by David Weisner
Page 11 - Cause and Effect activity using a book of your choosing
Page 12 - Cause and Effect Transitions worksheet


Enjoy!

Friday, November 14, 2014

Favorite Freebie Sites and a Friday Flash Freebie

Check out these AWESOME sites that offer freebie downloads EVERY teacher can use!

Finding the best sites is hard because there are literally millions of them out there.  Here are my Favs!

Doodle Art Alley offers fun and unique free printables that students can color.  The variety is amazing and goes from the various holidays to different subjects to motivating phrases.


Here is a fun site that offers free fonts that can be used in the classroom!


We Give Books is an awesome site where you have access to thousands of books for free.  Just sign up for a free membership.  The nice thing about this site is you can project the books on your Smartboard and read them together as a class.  There are plenty of books for upper elementary as well as primary grades, so head on over there and check it out!


I am not a huge fan of showing long videos in class.  However, I do think videos can add so much to a lesson.  PBS Learning (also called Teacher's Domain) gives you free access to thousands of educational video clips.  You can search by grade level, topic, and subjects.  



Math-Aids.com is a nice site to go to when you need extra Math practice in a certain area.  I actually do not use this site a whole lot for classroom work, but I do share this with parents who are looking for extra Math practice for their children.  It's free!



I am going to be honest,  I have not been using this next site for  very long.  However, I love it and know I will continue to use it.  A teacher friend recently told me about GoNoodle which is a nice site for 5 minute brain breaks.  It gets students out of their desks and moving which, let's face it, they need!




And....saving the BEST for last is TpT!  I feel like this is an obvious one but I had to list it.  This site is my #1 go-to when I am looking for something.  There are lots and lots of FREEBIES, but there are also bazillions (that's a word, right????) of reasonably priced resources.  And you get them instantly!  Memberships are free so if you haven't been there, check it out!




  


Download this Divisibility Rules poster for FREE a FLASH!





Friday, November 7, 2014

Clip Art Favs!

I love, love, love adding clip art to my products!  What an easy way to jazz up any parent note, assignment, or newsletter!

I have spent the past several years collecting clip art and here are a few of my favorite places to get fantastic cute images and fonts!

My Cute Graphics is an excellent site to get FREE clip art.  This site asks only that you give credit to their work.  You will fall in love with this site!  Guaranteed!


I also love ScrappinDoodles!   This site offers reasonably priced clip art that you can use for personal or commercial use.  You can purchase directly from their link (click on the picture to head over to their website) or you can purchase much of their clipart on TpT!



Graphics From the Pond is another of my favorites.  Again, this clip art is reasonably priced and there are some freebies at their store as well.  Head on over to their TpT store and see what you think!



Last, but certainly not least, is Melonheadz.  I had the privilege of meeting her this past summer at the TPT Conference 2014: Supercharge Seller Success!  in Las Vegas. She was a presenter and her story of success is truly amazing.  Melonheadz offers beautiful clip art at reasonable prices.  There are a few freebies as well!  



Hello Literacy (Jen Jones) is my absolute favorite place for fonts.  Check out her store and install the fonts on your computer.  You will fall in love with her creativeness and it is super easy to have fun fonts!





This week's Friday Flash Freebie is my Classroom Response Movie Pack.  





It is No Prep - Ready to Use as an enrichment tool for any educational video you show in the classroom!

Enjoy!