Awesome Giveaway!

There's a great new blog, Clutter-Free Classroom, having an amazing giveaway! Click the link to head over and check it out. Make sure you enter 'cause I sure did!!! Fingers crossed!!! :)

Thank you!

I wanted to take a moment and say a huge THANK YOU to all of the men and women serving in our military, past and present. The dedication, commitment, and courage you have shown is above and beyond commendable. May God bless you for all you have done!

"Followers" Shenanigans!

Mrs. Saoud at Primary Graffiti figured out something brilliant...

In the top lefthand corner of everyone's blog, there's a link to follow that person. Thank you SO much for noticing this!!! I've been wanting to follow so many different people today as I browsed blogs, but couldn't because of this issue with followers.

Thank you again, Mrs. Saoud! Pure genius! :)

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Had to add this post from Amanda....because it WORKED!!!

http://thirdgradeexperience.blogspot.com/2011/05/im-genius.html

Bittersweet Ending

Today was an extremely emotional day for me. It was the last day of school for the kids, but it was also my last day as a teacher at my current school. After some soul searching a few months back, I made the very difficult decision to switch schools. My kids, both past and present, weren't too thrilled about this. They were so confused. So many of my past students (and even some that I don't even know) come by my room religiously every morning to say hey. This afternoon, each one of those kids stopped by my room before getting on the bus. They were crying uncontrollably, which of course led to my own flood of tears.

I'm so upset about having to leave these precious children. I know they don't get it. I reminded them of the mailing system within our district. I told them they can write me or send me drawings free of charge as long as they ask their teacher next year.

Yes, I'm an educator and I'm supposed to fill their brains with knowledge. But I also feel like a second mom to some of them. I'm aware of my place in some of their lives. I pray that I've left a lasting impression on my students. I pray that I've been a positive role model.

As MLK, Jr. said, "Faith is taking the first step even though you don't see the whole staircase." Here's to new beginnings and new adventures...

Butterfly Book Report

I recently saw this in a Scholastic magazine. I liked it, but I wanted to change it a little bit. I created this (by the grace of God!) in Word and added the categories I wanted my kids to focus on.

Click the picture to snag your own copy!

TpT Sale!

With the year quickly coming to an end, there are deadlines, checklists, cleaning, packing, and stresses from every direction. Grrr! To celebrate the end of the school year and hopefully brighten someone's day, I'm having a sale at my TpT store! I don't have much :) but what I do have is 20% off until Monday!

Click the link below to check out my store. Hopefully you can find something that's useful for you and your kiddos!

Dishing It Out

Hey guys! Blog fever is sweeping through my circle of friends and colleagues. I have two friends who have teamed up to start their own blog. Courtney teaches kindergarten and Katie teaches 1st.

Head over to Dishing It Out to check out their blog. They're in the beginning stages, but what they have so far is adorable! Can't wait to see more! :)

Elapsed Time

I created a mini-unit on elapsed time. It has 7 pages which include 12 activity cards (for centers or small groups), 2 printable activities (including reading a schedule and a time chart), and teacher keys to both activities.

Here's a sneak peek of it:

You can get the entire unit from my TpT store.

Making it BIG!

Woohoo, Lesson Plan Diva!!! One of her activities is listed as the 10 Free Downloads in TpT's email newsletter. So happy things are going great for you!

Click here to check out all the great downloads!

Economics Unit - finally finished!

I shouldn't have promised this unit at the end of the school year! :) But it's finally finished and up on TpT. There are 16 pages. It's geared toward 3rd graders, but can be adapted to other grade levels.

Click the picture to check it out!

Got books?!

Oh what an awesome Saturday this has been!

It all started at 9am at the Chick-fil-a Dwarf House. It's the only one around that has a buffet (that I know of)!!! So the girls from Dishing It Out and I ate some yummy, totally not healthy breakfast and fueled up for our next stop.

Next we headed to the Gwinnett Center. We were so pumped to go to the Scholastic Book Sale! We couldn't believe it was so close. We get there, go in, grab our bags and get ready to shop 'til we drop. Well, not so fast. We walk in only to see one small room of books. What a letdown. The girls and I knew that the sale in Kennesaw was an actual warehouse and there were a GAZILLION books there. So we had to regroup. We knew what we had to do. Kennesaw, here we come!

So after a quick drive, we arrived at the mecca of children's books. We walked in, got our buggy, and went through aisle after aisle, shelf after shelf of picture books, informational books, and chapter books. It was teacher heaven!

After a few hours, we had made our way to the last aisle. It was time to total up the damage. My total came to $316! But I know it was well worth it. :) I bought 16 sets of chapter books (5 in each set) and an entire second box of individual picture, chapter, and informational books. I can't wait to use them next year in my classroom library and during Reading. The sets are going to make excellent Literature Circle books!

So if you live anywhere near a Scholastic Warehouse Book Sale, GO! You can sign up online for the fast pass and get a coupon for a discount (depending on how much you spend).

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Little Literacy Learners

If you're not a follower, start NOW! Mrs. Mc at Little Literacy Learners has so many amazing things going on over at her blog! Please check her out! Her games are awesome! I wish I would've found her sooner! :)

Hope everyone has a great Friday! We only have 6 more days of school!

Classroom Labels

Ok ok. This just shows how OCD I am. But I label EVERYTHING! I had a teammate giggle at all of my labels last week. I can't help it. :) It keeps me organized. It also helps the kids remember where to find things and where to put things when they're finished.

I created these labels for some of my centers. I'm going to print them on cardstock and laminate them. I'm also including a sheet of blank labels if anyone wants to add their own text.

Reading/Language Arts Book Report

This is an activity I created for my kids this morning. They loved it! They chose a book from our class library, read it, and then completed the book report. It was hilarious to sit back and listen to their conversations. "What do you mean? There are TONS of adjectives in this book!" They had such a great time completing it, not to mention it was an excellent way to review certain Reading and Language Arts topics.

Click here for your own copy!

8 more days of school!!!

Word Search Project

My kids LOVE word searches! I created a template for my students to create their own word searches. First we discussed the title or category (sports, food, colors, etc.) of the word search. Then we discussed how to fill in the words and extra boxes. Finally, the students added a picture to the word search that matched their theme. They had a blast!

While completing their word searches, I had an idea. Why not make a book out of all the word searches?! I could make a copy for each child and then make a book that the students could take home over the summer! The kids were stoked about this!

Here's a copy of the word search template. I hope everyone is enjoying their last few days of school. I know they're usually full of paperwork, deadlines, and stress, but try to see the light at the end of the tunnel. :)

Locks of Love

I know this may be a little off topic...

I got my hair cut today for Locks of Love. I had inches and inches of hot, heavy hair that I didn't really need. But I know there are so many people around the world dealing with illnesses and treatments that have taken their hair away. Why keep the hair and be annoyed by it when I could give it to someone who would deeply appreciate it?

I preach (and I mean preach) to my students that they need to be good people. "Good people do the right thing when no one's watching." "Do the right thing, even if no one's there to praise you." So today, I practiced what I've been preaching. I hope this can be a teachable moment to my students. I hope it's a teachable moment to anyone and everyone I come in contact with, whether in person or on this blog. One small deed can make an enormous difference in another person's life.

Here are my before and after shots:

Multiplication Booklet

I created this booklet for my Math friends. I wanted them to have a way to practice their facts and have a resource to use when they're at home. This booklet covers all the facts (from 0-12) and even has a few that use the commutative property. Here's a sneak peek of the multiplication booklet...

I'm going to download the document to TpT tonight when I get home from our Science Night.

Parts of Speech Scavenger Hunt!

Mrs. Randall's Learning library did something similar to this last week, but with common and proper nouns. It was such a coincidence because I was thinking of doing the same exact thing, but with nouns, verbs, and adjectives!

My kids did this today and loved it! Many of them asked for a second page because they were finding so many AND they didn't want to stop! :) Gotta love those moments! Click the link below to snag your own copy. I'm also going to post it on my TpT store as a freebie as well!

Parts of Speech Scavenger Hunt

Happy hunting!

"What's Missing?" - cause and effect

Here's a quick, yet helpful review of cause and effect. The students are given a cause or effect. Then they must create a statement that corresponds with the original statement. The format of this activity allows for a little creativity. :) Forrest Gump said it best, "You never know what you're gonna get."

Head over to my TpT store to get both pages.

Mother's Day

The kids and I have been preparing for Mother's Day. One idea we've worked on is from Second Grade is Splendid. I bought white tiles from Home Depot and the kids decorated them with Sharpies. Fabulous idea! It's not expensive AND the kids had a blast creating them!

Another project we worked on were acrostics. I created this one for both my mom and dad. I'm so excited to give it to them this weekend! I feel five again! I've always felt bad for dads because we're never in school to make Father's Day gifts. So we included the dads this time!

Mom and Dad Acrostic

Hope all the moms out there have a very special Mother's Day! :)

Econ Unit

Today was a "whoa" kinda Wednesday. "I think I can. I think I can." Two more days...we can make it!

Anywho, I'm working on a 3rd grade Econ unit. I have 12 pages so far. I'm super busy with grad school, but I'm honestly more pumped about finishing this unit. :) So here's a peek of it. I'm going to put the entire unit on my TpT store as soon as get the "free time" to finish it.

Econ Sneak Peek!

FANBOYS Freebie!

I'm still waiting up, trying to do the TpT thing. Rrrrrrrr!

So while I'm waiting, I wanted to share something that was so graciously shared with me. One of my colleagues sent me this file at the beginning of the school year. I changed the font a little, printed them in color, glued them to coordinating sheets of construction paper, laminated them, and hung them on the wall for my kids. HUGE HELP!

So here ya go! Freebie!

FANBOYS posters

Scheduled Maintenance?!

I just got home from a day at school and a night at grad school only to discover the TpT site is down! Is it because of the traffic from this amazing sale?! I hope everything gets fixed because I have a super long wishlist and can't wait to scoop up these little goodies!

Lesson Plan Diva/Plug-n-Plan

Hey guys! I have two friends and colleagues who just started their own blogs. You should check them out:

Lesson Plan Diva

Plug-n-Plan

They're both first grade teachers. Their amazing artistic and creative juices spill out into their classroom! Happy blogging!

Division Vocab

My kids kept getting the vocabulary of division mixed up. I don't blame 'em! Quotient is pretty easy to remember, but divisor and dividend?! Not so much. :) So we watched the BrainPop video on division again...very helpful reminder! One of the activities called for the kids to use a visual tool to identify the parts of a division problem. So I whipped up my own activity and the kids loved it!

Head over to my TpT store to check it out!

Identifying Parts of a Sentence

Now that we've finished the CRCT and the year is winding down (20 more days!), I'm going to start reviewing 3rd grade AKS and previewing some 4th grade AKS.

I created a center to help my kids review all the parts of a sentence. Here's a preview of it. Snag the entire center from my new TpT store!