FREEBIE as Promised :)

Hello Friends!  It's a hot one here in Chicago... Sunny and 95!  Our weather has been so strange the last few months- in a few days it will be 60 and overcast.  Only in IL will it drop 35 degrees in one week!


As promised, I am including the plant reading incentive I mentioned three posts down.  It is FREE in my TpT store!  Here is a sample:

Click pic for freebie!

I am SLOWLY learning how to create better products.  It's hard work to keep up with the {Amy Lemons} of the world! :)  So, if you do download this and like what you see, I'd LOVE for some feedback!  Also, if you are not a follower of my blog or store... please do that too!  Thanks so much for stopping by!  Enjoy the rest of your weekend... I'm going to go cool off! :)  Oh last thing.. don't forget to check out the Memorial Day Sale-- 20% off in my TpT store... good until Monday 5/28!!

SALEabration!

Happy Memorial Weekend! Let's celebrate with a SALE!  I'm linking up with Kindergarten Lifestyle and having a Memorial Day Sale starting right NOW and going through Monday (5/28).  All items in my TpT Store will be 20% off! Yipee!  MANY others have linked up too! Check them out, stock up, and save!  Have a great weekend!

Freebie!

Days left!!  Are you as worn out as I am??  Boy am I R-E-A-D-Y to begin my summer break! :)  I must be getting old because this is the first year that I am seriously counting down the days!  My class is counting too... but as much as I try my hardest to keep their focus and attention (by creating a 3 ring circus act!) their focus is on swimming, playing outside, and of course no school.  

So... in honor of my 7 days left... I'm giving away this Awesome activity to the first 7 followers to leave a comment with your email address.  I LOVE this activity that was all a buzz on Proteacher.net last summer.  It is called "Brain Bubbles" and the kids in my classroom work on this when they finish their work and need something to do.  I put the activity cards (like task cards) in vending machine containers, however if I were to do it again, I would use plastic eggs or something easier to open.  Here's a pic of what they look like: 

I created my own activities that went inside the little containers.  They have a mix of math, reading, and writing.  They are easy enough for the kids to do independently which was important to me as I did not want to explain how to do the activities to the kids who were done with their work.  I have a sample of the activities in my TpT store.  Here is an idea of what some of the activities look like:

My class LOVED getting a "bubble" to crack open and see what they'd be working on.  Each container had a number written on it, and that number was then written in the box on the recording sheet so they could keep track of what numbers they had previously.  The sheets were then kept in their W.I.P folders (work in progress).  I put first and second grade activities (above) because I think it would be the best fit for those grades, HOWEVER, I think your high K and lower 3rd could also enjoy these too!


Ok lucky 7... if you are interested in a copy of this for your next year's class... come on down and put your comment and email below :)


**I know I promised the plant reading incentive "freebie" (mentioned in the post below).. I'm working on it and will hopefully add this weekend! 

Flowers in Bloom!

Grass seed, pinto bean, and lima beans in cups.  Avocado seed in front

 Second grade is BLOOMING!  We have begun our plant unit and have our plant cups ready and waiting for some sprouts!  I'm hoping for some good growth like I had last year (I do NOT have a green thumb and my teammates like to rub it in ...yet somehow I had the best growing cups last year-- hehe)!

Flowers are growing!

 In conjunction with our plant unit, we also do a reading incentive where the kids get to "grow a flower by reading!"  For every 30 pages they read, they get part of the flower.  For example:
30 pages- soil
30 pages- roots
30 pages- stem
30 pages- leaves
30 pages- flower

The kids must also fill out a book report to earn their plant parts!  I will be adding all of this as a freebie in the next day or two (when I can get my act together!).  The kids love watching their plants growing by reading along with their actual plants growing in their cups :)  Awwww... 


And for those over achiever readers..
'cuz I know you have those too...

I have "extras" they can earn to add to their flower picture.  Like the grass, bee, bird, sun etc.  They like to see how many extras they can get to add.  I have a competition in my room right now to see who can get all 17 extras first.  Hey, some healthy competition to get them READING can't hurt...right? :)

The year is FLYING!  11 1/2 more days!  (not that I am counting!).  How many more days do you have?  Or are you done? (lucky!)  Have a GREAT Monday :)

Awww, Award!

I feel like the luckiest girl today!!  I was awarded the One Lovely Blog Award by two different bloggers! :)
A BIG thank you goes to Michelle @  http://nomonkeybusinessmichelle.blogspot.com/ AND Heidi @ http://mynotsoelementarylife.blogspot.com/! 


 There are a few simple rules to receiving this award:  

1) Follow the person that gave you the award.  

2) Link back to the person that gave you the award.  

3) Pass the award to on to 15 new bloggers. 

I don't know if these are "new" bloggers, but they are all new 

to me! :)  I enjoyed finding some new blogs to follow... I hope

 you will take a moment to check them out!

Nicole @ http://steeleinfirst.blogspot.com/

Angela @ http://abcprimary.blogspot.com/

Carla @ http://lifeinspecialeducation.blogspot.com/

Tanya @ http://firstgradeisfantabulous.blogspot.com/

Jessica @ http://mrsstanfordsclass.blogspot.com/

Stacy @ http://www.mrsjohnsonsfirstgrade.blogspot.com/

Trisha @ http://firstgradefrosting.blogspot.com/

Brittany @ http://secondgradesweets.blogspot.com/

Mrs. Prince @ http://spendadayinsecondgrade.blogspot.com/

Embellish @ http://tangledwithteaching.blogspot.com/

Winners!

Congratulations Winners!  Here are the 3 lucky duckies of my first ever give-a-way! :)

Amy @ Mrs. Lattin's Kindergarten is the winner of a product of her choice from my TpT store! http://mrslattinskindergarten.blogspot.com/

Jessica @ Mrs. Stanford's Class Blog is the winner of a product of her choice from my TpT store!

http://mrsstanfordsclass.blogspot.com/

Heather @ Swinging Through Second Grade is the winner of a $10 TpT gift card!

http://swingingthroughsecondgrade.blogspot.com/

Thank you SO much to all who participated! I am so excited to have gained new followers to my blog and store!  Welcome and a BIG thanks to you all!

50 follower Give-a-Way!

Hey everyone! So I'm going to attempt my first

give-a-away as I am SO thrilled to be at 50 followers! :)  There will be 3 winners!  Two will win one product from my TpT store (your choice).  One winner will get a $10 TpT gift certificate!  If you are like me, you may have products lingering on your wish list- now's your chance to buy a few before summer! :)

There are 3 ways to enter:

1. Follow this blog- leave a comment with your email

2. Follow my TpT Store - then leave a comment and your email here (let me know what you like)

3. Mention this give-a-way on your blog- leave a comment that you've done so and your email

EASY!  The give-a-way will end at 8:00p.m. Wednesday, May 16th.  Winners will be announced later that evening!

Good Luck!!

Pics, Product, Present

So I posted previously about a fun article activity that I did with the kids last week.  WOW was it F U N!  The kids enjoyed every minute of it and amazingly they worked very well together!  Here are some pics and some more info:

There are four sheets they needed to fill out after they read an article from the National Geographic Magazine.  They wrote a summary, illustrated a picture, looked up interesting or new words in the dictionary and they made connections to the text.

Some groups wanted to learn more so they read some info on the computer.  Other groups looked up and printed more pictures.

They used the amazing pics in the magazine to illustrate their own!

Its hard to tell, but they spent the first day reading and highlighting the most important information in their article.  They then used that information to write a summary.  We talked about how to write the summary using their own words.

This is my favorite part! They took all those sheets and designed a poster.  They could use pictures, text, or captions from the magazine and put it on their poster.  The groups got really creative!

I love how it's a mix of many mediums.

They finally presented to the class.  In total we spent 4 days doing this project.  It was great for the end of the year and to incorporate non-fiction!


Here's a link to the product: Article Activities

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Here's another AMAZING product I wanted to mention.  I've already downloaded, printed and used some of it :)



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Finally, I wanted to share a freebie...one that you may want to print and use for your parent volunteers or anyone who needs a "thank you" as you wrap up the end of the year.  I like to attach this poem to a notepad for my parent helpers. You can find it  free at my TpT store...



Click for Freebie!


Have a great Thursday!  Stay tuned... when I reach 50 followers I plan to have my first give-a-way with some good prizes! :)  Thanks for reading!

A Thank You and Awesome Stuff!

Wow, did you take advantage of the Jackpot day?  It felt like Christmas morning!  Every blog square I clicked on was like unwrapping a new present with me thinking, hmm.. I wonder what is inside this one?  By the 50th one I started to feel a little bit guilty.  It was a weird overwhelming feeling.  I know it was a "thank you" and it was to add promotion to the great blogs and TpT stores.  I hear it did very well and the blogs and stores got a lot of exposure.  I can't wait to join the next one- when I get my blog footing :)


So after the "blog hop" I hit my wish list on TpT and I ended up buying 9 things!!  I couldn't help myself! :)  There are so many talented teachers out there!  (DON'T FORGET to leave feedback to get your TpT credits!)  I wanted to share two of my favorite purchases:


What an AMAZING bundle for telling time... great activities that I never would have thought to do.  My kids are going to have a TON of fun with this :)

This is TOTAL cuteness!!  You can give out end of the year awards to your students like: 
Jeff Gordon Award
Mother Earth Award
Mad Scientist Award
Mathematician Award

SO clever and cute!  My students will love getting these!



I did want to say THANK YOU to all that did hit my TpT sale.  I appreciate every single sale big or small!  I hope you are all enjoying your week this week... you deserve it!  My students wrote me notes today.  My favorite one said..."thank you for teaching me stuff.  You say it in a way that helps me learn better."  My heart melted!!


Come on back for some pics, more product favs, and a freebie!

Thanks for reading! :)

Animoto

 
Have you tried ANIMOTO yet??  I was so thrilled to find out how easy it was to use.  You can sign up for an educator account (FREE!) and create up to 50 student accounts.  I created a video for my coworker who is retiring this year :(  and included some pics of her through the years... I showed it at the retirement dinner last night- it was a big hit!  I am impressed with how "professional" it turned out- yet I'm NOT a techie person!  Check out the vid below :)

My Animoto Video

My mind is racing with the endless possibilities of Animoto :) Have you used Animoto?  What projects have you done? I'd love to hear about it!

Have a GREAT weekend and don't forget about the AMAZING deals coming up this weekend.  Be sure to check for the Jackpot Sunday of free materials!  Also look at my last blog post about the TpT 3 day sale :)  Thanks for reading!

Teacher Appreciation!

Yay for teachers!  Starting this Sunday, May 6th - May 8th MANY teachers will be having a SALE on Teachers Pay Teachers!  Teachers are having sales up to 20% off and then TpT will tack on another 8% which is a GRAND TOTAL of 28% SAVING! Wahoo!  I don't know about you... but I LOVE a Bargain! :)  (be sure to use the Promo Code: TAD12)

You can go to teacher 2 teacher to get a complete list of all the sellers who will be having a sale- all in one place! :)  This is really an unbelievable deal! :)


You can see my products at my TpT store: Click for Store Here are some of my most popular items:                                (all will be ON SALE for 3 days only!!) 

Thanks to all you hard working teachers out there!  You deserve this sale and a thank you for all you do!