Still alive.... I think....

Hey friends... 

so

uh

....

long time no post? 

I'm here. 

I have a great post (in my head) about our Charlotte's Web unit and culminating activity....

Lots of ideas for book companions...

Just NO time! 

ugh!

Just in case you haven't heard - tpt is doing their huge Cyber Monday sale (and tomorrow too...) My whole store is on sale for 20% off and tpt is adding an extra 8% if you use the code : TPTCYBER

So go grab some fun stuff! 

On my list ...

Melonheadz

Moffatt Girls (those no prep packets have saved me so many times!)

and literacy centers from Jen Ross - Teacher By the Beach

What are you picking up? 

Gingerbread, Gingerbread…..and a Product Swap!

A few of us are getting together to swap some of our favorite products... and we wanted to share them with you! Our swaps are going live!
Check out the links at the bottom of my post to see the other fabulous bloggers who paired up! :)

I am reviewing  Can't Catch Me - A Gingerbread Thematic Unit from the Applicious Teacher. If you check out the teaser post (last Saturday) you can see the preview pages from tpt (also on her blog)

There are 12 center activities in all in this unit. I was really impressed with her resource page which had links to all of her favorite gingerbread books, videos, and music that can be used with this unit! There were a few gingerbread books that I've never read before - so those were ordered! :) {Like I need an excuse to order more books….. pssssshhhhh…..}

So - here are a few of the activities that we worked on …. in my classroom and at my house with my own child….

First - The uber cute cookie math hunt - for my ell's I circled the number words and the addition or subtraction words to help them locate the important information within the word problem {This can also help your lower readers when it comes to math word problems - so they focus on the mathematical components and not get stuck on the reading.}

Next up - Sweet Treats!

I did this with my younger kids so we did the primary version 

{Ms. Leigh included two versions for instant differentiation….}

In this version they picked a few pieces of candy and added them up… I had them count out the change and 'pay' for their candy. In the more advanced version - they {my addition...can roll dice} to decide how many pieces or scoops they will get… then add it….AND figure out the change due! 

WOW! That component blew my mind - my kids SO need practice with counting back change and this will be a fun way for my older ones to practice that skill. 

{I can't tell you how bothered I get when a cashier won't count back my change….pet-peeve}

 Here are pictures of the synonym center. 

'Synonym Cookies'

You will notice in many of my posts - My kids will practice with these a lot before I give them the recording sheets. I do this for a few reasons…. 

1. Practice, Practice, Practice….especially with ell students

2. I want this to be a 'risk-free' activity for them and not worry about right or wrong. 

{I am in a situation where I don't assign grades…so this is different then many of you in regular classrooms….}

3. I have [MAX] 8 kids in a 45 minute segment - so my kids get a lot of small group and one - on - one time. It is easy for me to see very quickly who 'gets it' and who doesn't. 

 Here is the 'Gingerbread Words' ELA activity.

This was a great review for my 3rd and 5th grade ell's. My 2nd graders LOVED the graphics and backgrounds. 

[Heck - so did I!]

I was pretty blown away by the amount of material you receive for the minimal price… 50 cents a center? DEAL!

I will be using this for the next two weeks of school - The CCSS are already linked to the activities for me - my planning is easy!

Now… I just have to worry about Christmas shopping…. THE HORROR!

One of my favorites - that I didn't' get to showcase here …

Gingerbread Man Sweat Treats printables - they can be used with SO MANY gingerbread stories! 

Check out her homophone freebie…

Follow her store…

and her blog...

Cyber Monday {and Tuesday}

so….

It's cyber Monday. :) 

I just finished leaving feedback on some prior tpt purchases (get free credit toward my next purchase!)

Filled up my cart…

I had 135 things on my wish list…

WOWZA. 

I went through and realized that I already had a lot of it - and most of the others were freebies that I wish listed … so I could locate them again in the future…

BUT

here is what I filled up my cart with: 

Here are a few links to the products I purchased as well. 

Polar Express for Big Kids - Primary Polka Dots

Holidays Around the World - Cloze Reading - Ashleigh

Holidays Around the World - {Chinese New Year too} - Tangled Up In Teaching

Santa's Confusing Christmas - Primary Polka Dots

My First Grade Helper - Michelle Oakes

My Second Grade Helper - Michelle Oakes

What did you pick up during the sale? 

Don't forget to add the code word - CYBER {all caps} for an extra percentage off! :) 

Before I go - I wanted to share a hilarious 'hey girl' picture I saw today… my friend at 4mula for fun made this little meme…. and I had to show y'all! 

AND

Don't forget to check out the Educents bundles! I am part of the American History bundle! Woohoo! :) 

freebie... {for february}

Yay! I think I have a little creative mojo back. I'm not sure how long it will last - so I've hit the ground running. ;) 

This morning I recreated my contraction center and posted it in my tpt!

Here is a preview

I just love those hats and mittens! Thank you Oodles of Doodles!

And here is my freebie - another calendar, blog planner, to do list... use it how you'd like!
If you've found your way from tba - I love for you to follow me! {or my tpt, ot pinterest... just saying... :)}

Or - the direct link - https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B6UKZYCSpmtoaDR5RHFLS3hmOE0

This will open in google docs - not tpt, but I'd love to read any comments or suggestions you have! I hope you all are having a wonderful weekend - I'm off to be crafty - SMASH BOOK TIME! :) 

Sale, Sale, Who Loves a Sale?

I'm prepping for Cyber Monday - a huge sale from Teachers Pay Teachers AND I've added 20% off everything in my store too! That gives you a total of 28% off anything in my store! Michelle at the 3am teacher has organized this awesome little linky - Just don't forget to add the tpt code from the button below when you check out!

I'm going to show you some of my newest creations and give you a peek into my wishlist - just a peek though, because at 91 items - we'd be here for DAYS....

I've been working like crazy to fill my store with winter things :) Some of my new additions -

 This is a ready to go center - laminate and cut - recording sheets included! I am absolutely in love with the way this one turned out. I lost my tpt mojo for a bit, but this brought it back :) Love Scrappin' Doodles graphics:) 

 The Snowman Plan is geared K-1 - but can easily be used in 2nd, or 3rd - This is a great value, it's over 40 pages and has two centers included. There are vocabulary cards with pictures and comprehension questions for each chapter. This unit DOES NOT have a comprehension test like many of my other units (at this time... I'm working on it!)

And last, my favorite series - The Magic Tree House! I'm getting ready for President's Day with this unit. At this time, it's over 90 pages, but I keep thinking of things I want to add! 

AND MY WISHLIST....

 from Lori Evans
 from Surfin' through Second
 and my teacher crush - Kristen Smith - her centers are amazing!

Sunday Shout-Outs

It's that time again! 

I love doing these Sunday shout-outs - however, my wallet doesn't :) 

Hehe! But I have some super cute centers and a very helpful CCS checklist to showcase today!

Make sure you "LIKE" my facebook page to get my updates! 

Or you can click on my logo with the blue background and it should take you there! 

Thanks for your time

thanks for your patience

but most of all

thank you!

I like sales!

I'm throwing a 20% off sale at my tpt this weekend, so please head on over there and get some great stuff!

PLEASE - I love feedback! If you see anything that could improve my product, or any ideas that would make it better - shoot me an email! I'm a complete people pleaser (yes, I know...) But, I can't fix or improve units without honest feedback!
Good is better and better is best, right? :)

Have a great weekend!

New center activities! AND A FREEBIE!

I just uploaded my 20 page gingerbread center unit to tpt... please go check it out! I am offering one of the centers as a free download here and on tpt.

First 3 to follow my blog or leave feedback on my blog,  and tpt(free center)...can have the unit for free! :)

It's the little things...

Yay! New resources!! I found a great new blog - AND found a link to a freebie on tpt!








So today was .... interesting.... ? :) I guess that is the best way to describe it anyway. We made some great solid shapes using superteacher.com. I love that my kiddos can do some hands on with these - We colored the faces yellow, edges green, and vertices blue. (Since they meet, they get darker....) Here is a link to the cube, but there are a ton of other shapes too...

Warning - rectangular prism did not line up correctly and I had to do some last minute, freehand cutting. :) But the kids still <3 ed them and wanted to make more - so we did. Can't have a better learning experience than that!

Freebie

I've been busy creating a parts of speech center for my kiddos to practice nouns and proper nouns... even in 2nd grade we are still getting those confused. I have hopes to add verbs and adjectives to it, but for now it is what it is! Please let me know what you think - I would love feedback so that I can improve/change anything to make it more useful or helpful.

Side note - my car will be back today! Hooray!