Memorial Day Celebrations

We're in DC for vacation and we couldn't have picked a better time. It's Memorial Day and the city is going all out to show remembrance and respects to all who have served or who are still serving our country. It has been amazing going from monument to monument, memorial to memorial, learning more about our country an showing my respect and appreciation. I hope any celebrations you're havin are fun and safe ones. But please remember the true reason for the holiday.

Looking for Missing Assignments?!

Try this idea!

                                                    Source: teacherspayteachers.com via Dana on Pinterest

This is a freebie/pin that I will absolutely use next year!
Everyone will want to be a pickle!!!

No Techie Tuesday...But How About FREEBIES?!

I created some fun activities for our end of the year party and thought I'd share them with you!  We had a beachy theme and KPM Doodles had these adorable little sea friends!  

I was also inspired by my buddy Lorraine at Fabulous 4th Grade Froggies.  

We made these adorable straws, but with a beach twist!

Click the picture below to download our beachy silly straw cards!  There are two versions:  one black/white and one with color.  You chose!  

And here are two more freebies for you!  I created a word search and a crossword puzzle using these fabulous sea friends!  For both activities, their is a black/white version (for kids to color) and a color version!  

So many freebies and choices!  Enjoy!  :o)

Motivation Monday and Father's Day!

Talk about helping out and making someone's day!  I saw this about a month ago on NBC Nightly News and cried the entire time!  How sweet for a teacher to think of something so simple, yet so significant in these high schoolers' lives!  Check out the video below:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

I also wanted to remember the dads out there!  It seems like they always get the short end of the stick because we're always out of school when Father's Day rolls around.  Well, not this year!  I'm making sure my kids have something to give their dads (or any father figure)!  Click the picture below to check out the sports craftivity we completed!

Target Swag!

Have you ever ran across something in a store and thought, "OMGosh!  That's SO me!!!"

I had that moment, but for my blog!  Here it is folks.  

3rd Grade Gridiron home decor from Target!!!

I almost squealed when I saw all of this!!!  I wanted to call corporate and ask if we could work out a branding deal!  L-O-V-E!  I have a home office and plan to do a FULL makeover this summer.  Pics will definitely be shared!

All of these items were $2.50 in the little section that's right there when you first walk into Target.  And no, Target's not going to work out a deal with me.  But it's ok to still dream, right?!  :)

Bubble Blast!

Try bubbles!  I'm not kidding!  

My colleague found a fabulous idea for using bubbles in this book:

The kids had a BLAST!!!

All you need are plastic plates, straws, bubbles, and rulers!  Once the kids get started, they don't want to stop!  See for yourself below!

And of course...giggle, giggle, he he he!  They were all cracking up at this one...the "booty bubble!"  (When I look at it, I see Garfield, the cat.  Do you?!)

And the biggest one of all!

Here are two super short clips of the kids in action!

They had such a great time, it kept them engaged, AND it matches our standards!  Can't beat that!  :)

Memory Book Mania!

Many of you are WELL aware that finding engaging activities these last few days of school is tough.  The kids know that my grades have already been finalized and the party is only 3 school days away! 

So I put together a memory book for my kids.  While completing these, they'll be able to hang out with each other, talk to each other, and get something accomplished in the process!

If you would like a copy of our memory book, click the TpT/TN buttons below:

What kinds of activities are you doing to keep your little ones under control?!

Techie Tuesday and GIVEAWAY WINNERS!

I saw this post last night on TBA and couldn't help but to share it!  Leslie from KindergartenWorks is AMAZINGLY tech savvy!  When I saw her post, I knew I wanted to share it with any of you who may have not seen it!

Click her button below to get TONS of tech tips for your blog!  

Don't let the "code" scare you!  She makes it super easy!

Hope this helps in your blogging ventures!  :)

And now to announce the winners of my Springtime Buggy Bash pack giveaway!!!


Congrats, guys!  Check your email!  :)  And thank you to all who entered!

Motivation Monday!

Hang in there, y'all!  I can see the light at the end of the tunnel!

We are SO stinkin' close to wrapping up this school year! 

Seven more days!!!

YOU CAN DO IT!!!

(Thanks to Erica Bohrer for pinning this fabulous find!)

Springtime Buggy Bash Giveaway!!!

Happy Sunday, friends!  And Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there!

Today is my last "Planning Sunday" for this school year!  :)  I've been doing a lot of searching for engaging and meaningful activities that my kids would love.  Here's an activity pack I just finished last night:

It's 52 pages, jam packed with Math and Literacy activities!

The math activities include:
- Fact Practice
- Elapsed Time
- Word Problems
- Graphs
- Perimeter/Area

The literacy activities include:
- Parts of Speech
- Fix-It Sentences
- Subjects and Predicates
- Possessives and Plurals
- ABC Order

Each activity comes with:
- cover page with directions
- center cards (or pages - graphs)
- recording sheet
- answer key

And to wrap up Teacher Appreciation week and the school year, I want to give this away to five of my awesome followers!  Enter using Rafflecopter below and I'll choose the winners early Tuesday morning and announce them Tuesday night!  

Good luck and enjoy the rest of your weekend!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Mother's Day FREEBIE! (and a Techie Tip!)

I saw these adorable Mother's Day coupons from Michelle at No Monkey Business...LOVE!!!

And here's a quick tech tip for y'all:

Mother's/Father's Day FREEBIES!

Hey guys!  I was trying to relax tonight after a long day...field trip and a district Math meeting, but I couldn't! 

Here's a freebie that includes read aloud ideas, sequencing and writing activities, and craft ideas from amazing individuals!  I wish I was that creative!

Here are the two books:

Click the picture below to snag it for yourselves!

Hope everyone has a FABULOUS Friday!!!

Amazing Teacher Appreciation Finds!!!

Throughout all the shopping and downloading this week, I've found TONS of great resources!  I thought I would share them with you!

This money packet came from Sara at Smiling in Second Grade!  

What a fabulous review for my kids at the beginning of the year!

This summer writing packet came from Monica at The Schroeder Page!

What a great way to keep my kids writing over the summer!

This base ten block packet came from Patti at A Series of 3rd Grade Events!

It is JAM PACKED with awesome activities!

There were SO many more, but there isn't enough time in the day to post them all!  I hope you've been racking up the same way I have!  :)  And link up with Erica Bohrer to see everyone's awesome finds!!!  

Happy Teacher Appreciation Week!!!

Techie Tuesday - Interactive Whiteboard!

How many of you have an interactive whiteboard?!  Whether it's Mimio, SMART Board, Promethean, or whatever else is out there...I'm curious!

I currently have the Mimio and I L-O-V-E it!!!  It makes things so much more fun!  You can put in reveal boxes or play Jeopardy-style games.  The kids are so hooked!  One of our Math centers is the Mimio and they love to play games from CoolMath.com!  There's also a great site to find tons of Mimio lessons already put together!  Click HERE to check out MimioConnect!

And if you use a Promethean board, there's a great website for resources as well!  Click HERE to check out Promethean Planet!

And if you're a SMART Board user, there's a resource site for you too!  (I feel like that commercial..."There's an app for that!")  Click HERE to visit SMART Exchange!

I truly hope those of you who have this technology utilize it (the best way you know how!).  And if you're having trouble, ask a teacher buddy!  I know the "tech lady" at my school has Mimio classes after school once or twice a month.

Motivation Monday!

Happy Monday, y'all!  I know many times I have things planned out and it all seems so perfect.  But there are times when that plan gets foiled.  Here's a great pin I found that can help you get back on track!

                        

Source: babaloud.com via Dana on Pinterest

Hope everyone has a great week!  :)

TpT/TN Teacher Appreciation Sale!!!

Hi, teaching buddies!!!  To say a HUGE thank you to everyone, I'm throwing a Teacher Appreciation sale in both my TpT and TN stores!!!

My TpT store will be 28% off from May 6th-8th.  

Use the code TAD12 at checkout.  

I'm extending the 20% sale until May 10th!

My TN store will be 20% off from May 5th-11th!  

No code necessary, just great savings!

I hope you all realize just how awesome you are and how much you're appreciated!!!  I hope your students, parents, colleagues, administrators, and anyone else tells you that not only this week, but all the time!

Scrambled States and a FREEBIE!

Since we've already taken our state test, we've been reviewing certain skills.  One of those skills is map skills.  

We started with a grid map of Washington, DC.  We went over:

- letter/number grids

- compass/directions

- map key

- map scale

Then we moved on to the United States.  

We read The Scrambled States book!  

L-O-V-E!

There's a DVD as well!

I knew some of the kids were still having trouble naming and finding some of the states, so we started this activity:

Our county provides globe/map kits for each grade level.  

It comes with this book:

It's full of great vocabulary, vivid pictures, and really helps the kids better understand map skills.  Then I gave each student a blank US map and asked them to label and color it.  (Click the picture below to download a FREE blank US map from Super Teacher Worksheets!!!)

After labeling and coloring the map (we haven't finished yet), I will give my students two options:

(a) I can laminate the map, or

(b) they can cut the states apart and use it as a puzzle. 

The kids are really enjoying this!  It's really helping their awareness each state's location and size relative to the other ones.  Hopefully you can use this activity with your kids and have a blast as well!  :)

Fun Math Games...And TN's Giving Away Moolah!!!

We have 14 days of school left!  Woohoo!!!  I was looking for fun and exciting ways to wrap up multiplication and division and found these:

She has a set for addition and subtraction, but she also made a set for multiplication and division!  FAB-U-LOUS!!!  Here are pics of how we used them:

I spread the gameboards around the room (there were over 20 different ones!) and let the kids pair up.  They sat at each game board for 5 minutes and then rotated to the next one.  I had them spread out in a pattern...orange gameboards were multiplication and pink were division.  They kids had a BLAST!!!  I totally recommend getting this set (whether it's the add/sub one or the mult/div one)!  Totally worth it!!!

And as if the TpT Jackpot wasn't enough, Teachers Notebook is throwing a teachers appreciation celebration as well!!!

Seriously?!  This is AMAZING!  Definitely check out the details and good luck!!!  I'm also going to run a sale at my store as well!  It's a win-win!  :)

Teacher Appreciation Jackpot!!!

Teacher Appreciation Week is coming up next week!  
We're kicking things off with a HUGE event Sunday, May 6th!  

You'll be able to blog shop 'til ya drop and snag TONS of freebies!  There are over 130 bloggers participating!  The details are pretty simple:  swing by each participating blog this Sunday and download a product that is normally priced!  This is estimated at over $500 in freebies!!!

Because so many bloggers are participating, the event had to be divided into three groups. Each of those smaller events is being coordinated by one blogger as shown below:

PK - Grade 2 - April McNair on A Modern Teacher

Grades 3 - 6 - Laura Candler on Corkboard Connections

Grades 7 - 12 - Adrianne Meldrum on The Tutor House

I'll be participating in the 3-6 group!  I can't share any more info yet, but make sure you check back each day this week to see the events unfold! Watch for blog posts tomorrow from your favorite bloggers to see who is participating in this amazing event!Thanks so much for all you do!  We appreciate your commitment to your students and your dedication as an educator!

Here's my FREEBIE!!!