I Appreciate You--- Lots of Stuff Giveaway!

Happy Teacher Week!
As a teacher myself, I KNOW how hard a teacher works.  I know that we can't just leave our work at work.  We are constantly trying to learn, create, discover, adapt, and change our way of teaching.

We cut in front of the T.V.

Grade at dinner

Plan at kids sporting events

and Blog/FB/Instagram/TpT more than we should...

But that is what makes us good teachers.

I appreciate all your hard work as you are molding the future!!

I wanted to do a little giveaway to show my appreciation for you teachers...PLUS..
all the great followers out there!
Love you guys! :)

So onto the GIVEAWAY!

There will be FOUR Winners!!

Winner 1 will get a $25 gift card to either Amazon or Target!!

Winner 2 will get to pick out $25 worth of stuff from my store!!

Winner 3 will win ALL of my math stuff 
(7 PRODUCTS- over $30 value!)

Winner 4 will win any two products of their choice from my TpT store!

LOTS of ways to enter!
LOTS of stuff to win!!

Good Luck!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Five for Friday through Instagram

Well there must be pigs flying somewhere because I can't believe I'm going to say this.... if you are not on Instagram... get on there fast!  I'm seriously in looove ;)

It is SO easy to post pics of things going on in my classroom, and I can catch up on my favorite bloggers too!  

So, my Five for Friday will be shown through my pics I took this week :)

1. Mystery Student

I shared last week that I was going to try this out... it's working like a charm!  If you look carefully you can see the envelope hanging from our maps in the bottom picture.  Yes, it's just hanging there...watching their every move... and all I have to do is point to the envelope and they are magically quiet again.  ahhhh :)

2. Mother's Day

The kids had a lot of fun making their Mother's Day projects.  We created the cards above with "gifts" for mom to "pick" (written on the stems of the flowers).  The kids loved decorating the flowers.

We also made note cards for mom too!

The kids drew a picture of their family and we printed it on card stock, folded, and included envelopes.  They turned out SO cute!!

3.  Field Trip

Don't you just love bus rides!  Yes I know a teacher's worst nightmare is a long bus ride on a field trip.  Luckily our ride was only about 10 minutes into our downtown.  We went on a guided walking tour of the downtown area and the kids learned about some of the history, architecture, and stories about our town.

We even toured our City Hall and stepped into the Mayor's office...

I just love how they are all hovering over his desk like they are going to uncover some kind of secret!  It was a fun trip!

4.  CAFE

I just love this!  I snapped this pic while I was at another school in my district.  They have the CAFE letters and the corresponding books below the letters.  The books are labeled with the letter and the matching color.  I love this and plan to make something similar during the summer!

5.  Teacher Appreciation Week!

How was your week?  We were showered with kindness all week.  

Monday- letters from the kids

Tuesday- catered luncheon

Wednesday- letters from the parents

Thursday- flowers from the kids

Friday- gift card to get lunch

I sure did feel the love!

"Thank you for being my teacher.  You made math fun a lot.  I wish you could be my teacher in third grade."

(makes my heart melt!)

I'd love for you to follow along with me during the week... I will most definitely be posting to Instagram more often than I get to blog.  You can find me here.

Have a nice weekend and I will be back VERY SOON with a giveaway!!

Double Digit Subtraction Giveaway and Sale!!

In case you hadn't heard by now ;)  the GIANT TpT sale is on it's way... just in time for Teacher Appreciation week!  I'm SOO excited!!  I have a TON of stuff on my wishlist that I can't wait to buy!  What are you excited to buy??

I wanted to do a quick share of a new product which led to a bundled product...both I am VERY excited about!!

The Subtraction Pack has two strategies (no, not that "borrowing" strategy!) that I worked on with my kiddos this year.  It went so well that I created a subtraction unit to go along with the addition version:

I love them both so much that I though that maybe there'd be someone out there that might want both together so I bundled them for HUGE savings...

Make sure you click the links to learn more about them!!  AND... I want to give one away (your choice!!)  This will be a pin to win giveaway!  Just pin one and leave the link in the comments.  You can pin each separately for THREE chances to win!!

Giveaway will end TUESDAY night!

ALSO!!!!  Make sure you are a FACEBOOK follower... I will be doing some Top Secret things there all week!!

Five for Friday

 

Here we go... another installment of Five for Friday! :)  Thanks to Doodle Bugs for the great linky!

 

1. Mother's Day!

 

Boy are the weeks just FLYING BY!!  We started our Mother's Day cards this past week with more to complete next week!  I actually got a "this is so fun" today... that is music to my ears!

 

 

We will be making the above cards and note cards for mom!

You can see the above card project HERE

 

 

2.  Do I have enough money?

 

I LOVE this activity!  We have been practicing counting combinations of coins.  I have a fun activity (here) where the kids get a bag of coins and they count how much is in the bag.  They write it on the recording sheet and then I put up an item to "buy"

 

They are dying to see if they have enough money...I usually get cheers and boos depending if they have enough or not.  It's super fun!!

 

 

 

 

3.  Flowers

 

My hubby surprised me with flowers!  cue...awww...

He left them in my car for me to bring to school.  I had to share because they were just so bright and colorful!!

 

 

 

 

4.  Resorting to "gimmicks"...

 

Yes, it is that time of year.  Gimmick time!

 

 

My class is falling apart at the seams as it gets closer to the end!  I have decided to start the "mystery student" on Monday.  I've already got my first student ready to go in the envelope.  Here's crossing my fingers my sweet chickadees fall into this trap love this new totally educational activity. ;)

 

 

 

5.  Instagram Addiction

 

I seriously have to laugh at this one.  I was JUST telling a friend that I just don't need anymore things to do.  With 3 emails to check, 3 Facebook accounts, this blog, all kinds of messaging etc... I'm up to my eyeballs in technology madness.

And then comes "Instagram."  Ugh.  I am so mad that I even decided to peek at it.  It is so  addicting that I just HAVE to check it almost as much as everything else!!  Yes, I'm posting to that darn thing more than Facebook!  Plus its fun to play with the look of your photos...

I'll be posting about this fun project SOON!!

 

 

You can follow me HERE  hehe.. I know you want yet another way to follow me! :)

 

 

How was your week?

How many weeks/days left for you?

Oh boy...Instagram

I have NO idea what I'm even getting myself into... but I'm jumping on the Instagram bandwagon for...

What the Teacher Wants

Apples and ABCs

Here is my homepage...

Yes, I have THREE followers... I have no idea why because I have two of the same pic! Ugh! I am very new to this whole thing but I will try to upload some new pictures in the next few days and try it out :)

Hopefully by next Tuesday I'll be in business! 

You can follow me HERE

OR search for toristeachertips

on your phone

I am constantly snapping pics and don't have time to blog about everything, so I hope this will be a way to share more with you! :)

Totem Poles to celebrate culture!

Hi Everyone!  Boy are the weeks flying by!  How many days are left for you? 

Don't ask me how many as I have no idea!  I actually don't start counting until I can count down with my fingers... this way I can maximize my learning time (hehe... how many of you just rolled your eyes ;)  Yeah, I'm one of those teachers!

 

I am SOOO excited to share with you a totally terrific totem pole project!  This is a project that my second graders are working on right now in correlation with our Social Studies unit (cultures and customs).

 

 

 

The children first had a homework assignment to discuss with mom/dad/family members what traditions, customs, uniqueness, and heritage they had as a part of their family. This created many interesting conversations at home!

 

They filled out this paper:

 

Click above to get a copy.

Then, the children took those ideas and transformed them into pictures to attach to their ToTeM PoLe! 

 

I had pictures of flags to represent their heritage and they created their own drawings.

 

 

 

We used the cardboard part of a paper towel roll as our base. They could trace a bird head and wings to glue onto the "totem." The pictures represented important things about themselves. Some people included: special meals with family, family trips, flags to represent where their ancestors are from, special collections, family traditions, etc.

 

 

I also had stickers and magazines our for the kids to use as their images too.

 

Once complete, they look so impressive!

 

 

Then the children chose the 4 most important items on their totem and wrote more information about those things on their "storyboard." The storyboard has a special place in the center where the totem pole is placed.

 

 

 

Click pic to get a copy!

 

Finally, the children were able to share their project with the class and we will be placing them on display in the hallway for all to see. It was a great way to culminate our culture unit in a UNIQUE way!

 

 

 

Also, during the unit I did THIS LESSON on cultures and languages.  It is a product I have in my TpT store.  It is a great way to have students experience what it would be like to travel to another country and they get to learn 9 new languages!

 

Make sure you head over to my FACEBOOK page and enter the quick giveaway that ends tonight! (Sunday night)

 

As always I LOVE your comments!!

Have a great week!



Earth Day project and Mother's Day!!

Happy Sunday Friends!  Tomorrow is Earth Day!  What are your plans for the day?

 

 

We have been been working a super cute and EASY project!

 

All you need are these materials:

 

Coffee filter- largest you can find

green and blue washable markers

spray bottle with water

area to spray

 

Have your students color the coffee filter with the blue and green markers filling in the whole thing.  The less white the better and the brighter the color the better.

 

Then spray the filter with water- just a little bit.  The water will absorb the colors together giving it an Earthy look.

 

We also wrote an Earth Day expository paragraph on how we will help our Earth.  We attached our "Earths" next to the writing and added glitter for the stars (now what kid doesn't love a little bit of glitter!  My class actually said- we get to use glitter?? hehe)

 

 

And they turned out like this:

(these are actually pics from last year- haven't snapped a pic of this years just yet :)

 

 

Super easy, fun, and a great keepsake!

 

*****************

 

The count down to Mother's Day is approaching fast!!  I have a fun project for you that is very easy and mom will just LOVE it!!

 

 

 

 

This is a close up of the front of the card the kids can make for mom.  Everything is included (except construction paper for the card and the stems).  There are many choices of poems and a letter the kids could add to the inside of the card.  There are even two other project ideas included!!

OH- and there is a special surprise for mom when she "picks" the flowers!!

 

 

 

 I have made used this for the past 6 years and the kids have a blast making it and the moms just LOVE it!

 

And I'd LOVE to give one away!!  Leave a comment with your email below and I will pick a winner on Tuesday night!

Oh and it is on SALE right now!!

See it here

20% off!!

Oh and head over to my Facebook page for another chance to win!!
 

 

Have a great week!