We Have a Winner!

Thank you soooo much to everyone who entered to WIN a huge variety of prizes from some of my fellow bloggers and TPTers! I'd like to congratulate Barbara Klinger... You're our big winner! Check your email for more info from me. :)

Be on the lookout for some further announcements coming this week about a way to snag some great products at a great price (hint hint!). I'm off to finish up (well, er... start) lesson plans for the week, and to work on my next product... A Mo Willems authors as mentors writing unit!

Have a great rest of your weekend!

HUGE TPT Milestone Giveaway

Hi everyone!

I've been gone for FOREVER, but guess what?

Recently, I hit a TPT milestone! It took roughly forever (I've been on TPT for years!), but it CAN be done. I am so excited to share the news with you, that some fellow bloggers and I decided to throw a GIVEAWAY!

Want to enter? There's TONS of great goodies to be had!

Just enter through the Rafflecopter below, and be sure to share with your friends!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

... And We Have a Winner!

Thank you to everyone who entered the 900 follower giveaway here on my blog! And the winner is...

Lindsay, we will be sending you your goodies very soon!

I can't wait to check in on Monday for the Monday Made It (my first one!). I'm trying to soak up as much time with my sweeties as I can before I go back to work. We're off to the splash pad today!

Have a great weekend!

900 Follower GIVEAWAY!

Hi everyone! I am so excited to announce that I've reached 900 followers (and then some!) on Teachers Pay Teachers! I remember starting on TPT a couple years ago and being excited that I had 14 followers! I know to some of you, 900 isn't so many, but to me, it's a big milestone - and so close to 1000!

To celebrate, some lovely bloggers and I have put together a giveaway of some fantastic prizes that will start your school year off right!

We have lots of great prizes for you to win! Just enter using the Rafflecopter below!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Get Yourself Organized!

One of the things I'm vowing to work on this summer is relabeling all my binders. During the course of the year, it's easy to just throw things into a binder and be done with it. I wanted to be able to have a more organized way to keep my things straight, so I created new binder covers and coordinating spines that go with my brights and black/chalkboard theme. (Okay, so it's not a theme... But I just LOVE those colors!)

To check them out in my TPT store, just click any of the images above!

I've put my binder covers (above) and my folder and notebook labels HALF OFF today and tomorrow only, so you can start getting organized for next year ASAP! 

(Click on the image to go to the product on my TPT page)

And because I want to give these away too, the first two people who comment with their email address will get BOTH the editable binder covers and the folder/notebook labels for FREE!

Have a great day! :)

Coming to You (FINALLY!) From Spring Break!

We are in the midst of our spring break, and let me tell you, it is a beautiful thing. I am loving every minute of this. We had fantastically warm weather here in Chicago on Saturday (almost 80... Whoop whoop!), but it's been colder since. Nevertheless, I've had date days with each of my kiddos, including a trip to the American Girl Store today (brings back memories of my own Kirsten and Felicity!), dinner with a friend from college and her new hubby... And just relaxing a bit.

Also, knowing that there are eight weeks left in the school year? Relaxing and frightening at the same time!

I've used this teeny tiny bit of downtime to finish a product I started long ago. Like I had to go back and change the dates at the bottom from 2013 to 2014.

Sigh.

Lo and behold, here it is:

(Click the picture above to see the listing on TPT.)

Each year, my firsties learn about matter, and let me tell you, it is my FAVORITE unit. I started college as a chem major, TAed chemistry my senior year of college, and taught 8th grade science my first year of teaching. Yes, you heard that... I {heart} science. Chemistry specifically. Not enough to make it my major (I ended up a psych major), but it holds a place near and dear to my heart.

I wanted to make the unit as teacher-friendly as possible, so I included the following:

Enduring understandings for the unit that really focus the unit on keep principles that are high-level, yet appropriate for young students.

A student-friendly reader about matter that is easy to assemble (copy, stack, staple, and cut) and easy to read. It's also interactive, allowing students to draw and label in the book.

A matter sort (an updated version of the one I have posted on TPT) that includes enlarged cards for a pocket chart or anchor chart, as well as smaller student sorts for authentic assessment.

Student-friendly vocabulary cards that include visuals and a quick definition of key terms.

Tree maps for supporting student thinking and understanding (small and large versions).

Seven experiments aligned to those key understandings, each including:

Teacher instructions...

... and student recording sheets.

Plus a blank book for your students to write their own All About Matter informational text (great for end-of-unit assessment).

Phew! 

As a bonus, the unit {click here} is ON SALE through tonight for just $3.00 (instead of $6.00)... Plus I'll give a copy to the first two posters who comment on this post with their email address.

Have a great day!

Dog Days of Summer Giveaway... And a Freebie!

Hey everyone!

I'm part of an awesome collaborative blog with some lovely teacher bloggers over at Teaching Blog Round Up, and we have an awesome giveaway for you all!

I've teamed up with these bloggers for an awesome Dog Days of Summer Giveaway!

The Dog Days of Summer Giveaway Grand Prize

Winners Choice from these TpT Stores

HoJo's Teaching Adventures, The Phonics Phenomenon, KFUNdamentals ($12 or less), JD's Rockin' Readers, Always and Adventure in Kindergarten, Little Miss Primary, Hopkins' Hoppin' Happenings ($12 or less), Primary Junction, The First Grade Scoop, Fun for First, Fun in K/1, Miss V's Busy Bees, You Might Be a First Grader...

and

Vocabulary Work for Literacy Centers from Primary Inspiration

Lemonade Stand Craftivity from Teaching in the Tongass

Backpack Bonanza from Fantastic First Grade Froggies 

All you need to do is enter by clicking the giveaway button above!

I also have a FREEBIE for you all!

 

I've created a cut coloring page for each grade kindergarten through fifth! I plan to have these at my students' desks for them to color as I deal with supplies, parent visitors, students moving into my class at the last minute... You know the drill! 

Here's a close-up of one of the pages:

 

This will be an easy activity for my firsties, and will also provide a little sample of their coloring for a portfolio or simply to take home that first day. You can get it by clicking the cover image above!

Stop on by Teaching Blog Round Up and TBA Freebie Friday for more FREE goodies!

100 (120+?) Follower Giveaway!

Wow! I can't believe I've reached the 100 follower mark (and then some... Over 120 at the time I'm writing this)! HOLLA!

In celebration, I've planned a GIVEAWAY!!!

I'm so excited!!!

Here is the list of AWESOME prizes you can win, contributed by some fantastic bloggers and visitors to this site!

"Let's Learn About Quotation Marks!" for the Primary Classroom from The Brown-Bag Teacher

 

Visit The Brown-Bag Teacher on TPT  

WINNER'S CHOICE from JD's Rockin' Readers

Visit JD's Rockin Readers on TPT

PK and K Classroom Management Posters and Punch Cards from This Little Piggy Reads

Visit This Little Piggy Reads on TPT

WINNER'S CHOICE from Smiles from Second Grade

Visit Smiles From Second Grade on TPT

$20 worth of products from Stampin' Up!

$10 gift certificate to TeachersPayTeachers (who couldn't use that?!)

And any three items from my TPT store!

Enter below to win!


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Free Rubrics for Guided Reading and Daily 5... And a Pending Giveaway?

First of all, I'm home today with the FLU. Yuck. Double yuck. All last week, I had no fewer than 4 kiddos gone each day. I Lysoled, I Cloroxed, I Purelled... But I, too, have been attacked by the flu bug.

I'm hoping a little R&R will let me be back in the classroom tomorrow!

I thought this would be a good chance for me to post a couple freebies that hopefully will help some of you all with assessments (particularly as we reach the end of second quarter - and grading/comments loom overhead)!

First, this freebie is a guided reading rubric to assess your students on a range of key skills and behaviors.

And here's a freebie rubric to assess your kiddos as they use the Daily 5.

You can click on either image to download from Google Drive, or hit up my Teachers Pay Teachers store by clicking {here}.

I am currently at 79 followers - just 21 more till the big 100! I plan to do a big giveaway here when I hit that mark, so if you or anyone you know might be interested in donating a product for the giveaway, please let me know by clicking {here}.

I'm linking up with Manic Monday at Classroom Freebies!


Happy Monday!