Winter Sale

Today is the big day! The winter sale is here! Thanks to Second Grade Math Maniacs for setting up this amazingly fun blog hop.  Join in the fun below!

Merry almost Christmas!

It's time for a sale!!

I think the word "sale" has to be one of my top 10 favorite words or at least my family would say it is. So I couldn't pass up the opportunity to thank all of you for your love and support!

Teacher's Notebook is having a sale on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday! I think most stores are set at 32.5% off as it was recommended that prices be marked at 25% off. Still trying to figure out how this all works but anyways... everything is on sale!

In case you missed the weekend sales, Teachers Pay Teachers is offering an additional 10% off on all items purchased on Monday and Tuesday next week. I have set my prices to 20% off which makes a total of 28% off! Don't forget to promo code cuz even those stores who aren't throwing a sale still get the minimum 10% off!

My finals are all turned in but I have not had a lot of time to work on new things for all of you. I will try and get somethings up this weekend but not promises. If I do get them up and ready, I will not only add them to the sale, I will give away 3 copies of each item I complete.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!!

Count Down to the Election!

I have shared a lot of my favorite resources but I wanted to share a few more of my favorites as tomorrow is the big day. I am taking a poll in my classroom, we are voting to decide if we will have a new president or retain our current one. How would your students vote?

I love this site! A homeschool friend of mine sent it to me. Everything is free and the students will create a lapbook all about the election. I love this idea and could pair it with my interactive notebook pages easily!

I really like how this teacher remembered to include a voter registration card and taught her students how to register to vote! I need to remember this for the next presidential election!!

This is one of my favorite sites. In fact, I asked my students to use this site to help them find the answers to the INS pages in my Election Packet. This site has a lot of other great information as well.

Who does not love BrainPOP? I may have a BrainPOP addiction IF that is at all possible!

Fact Monster is also a favorite place for information! This one has great information on the candidates so you can compare and contrast and/or help your students make an informed decision about who they want to vote for!

And as always... Ben has some information to share with us as well.  Poor Ben he has always been an afterthought for me. For some reason, he just does not appeal to me.

What are your favorite sites for this year's election?

Novemeber... ALREADY???

Yes... November is indeed right around the corner. Tuesday is Halloween... the start of Holiday insanity here. It does not end for me until mid-January as we not only have holidays but birthdays galore to deal with.

That is why I am truly loving my new monthly series and I know many of you are as well!! It is now in stores and ready for your use.

I took a poll on FB and election information was not included in this package by request. My election unit and freebies are also in stock. Just a few more days until the move is over and I am hoping to complete a few more items I have been working on. =)

Instead - we are focusing on families, harvest, fall, and Thanksgiving. I hope you enjoy it. If you have any suggestions on additions you would like to see in future packages, leave me a comment. I am trying to add more to each one to make it truly one stop shopping.

I polled my children and this month they wanted to make 3 different sets of calendar numbers and letters. I also changed it by making the vowels a different color than the consonants.

One of my personal favorites of these packages are the monthly sight words. I included an easy way to track these with my Sight Word Magic set as I use the same method for both. We all know how important vocabulary is.  We have all seen and used the Fry's list for sight words but I wanted something more.

Each monthly kit includes 50 seasonal "sight words"! These are words that are specifically related to the season and the events that occur in this month. These are words your students will encounter while reading seasonal books. By creating a list of words for them to learn, I know that no matter what they check out of the library, they will know these words.

It is also a great way to challenge your "gifted and talented." =) 

As a bonus... my students know that these words MAY show up as challenge words on their vocabulary and/or spelling tests. I may require them to use these words in their writings this month. There is so much I can do with these lists!!

Just like last month... this kit includes calendars, journal prompts, newsletters, center labels, stationary, and interactive notebook pages. Some of the fun this month includes:

Creating a family tree! Writing about our families and traditions. Exploring our origins and learning more about the trip to a new land.

Math in action... recipes! There are 2 different versions. I am hoping to complete a freebie to go with this to take this one step further math wise. =)

Speaking of math... I have been working a lot on a math project lately! But I realize that many students are still struggling classifying numbers. So this month's packet focuses on identify odd, even, and prime numbers.

In addition I spent A LOT of time this month going through my personal library (well the boy's library anyways), polling teacher friends, and researching to find books for this months collection! I found some new favorites and hope you will as well.

Please leave me a comment with your book suggestions for fall, Thanksgiving, or the upcoming elections and I will be sure to add them.

As always... there is a lot more inside but this is just a sneak peak at what is in this month's  packet o'fun! You all enjoyed my freebie weeks this month and so I am going to try and schedule another freebie week and linky party too!

As always - leave a comment and I will have one of my boys pick a lucky winner! =) 

Election Graphic Organizers -- FREEBIE

Day 3... are you all having as much fun as I am? I truly love sharing resources and ideas with all of you. I can't wait for grad school to be over so that I will have more time for blog stalking! I miss my blog stalking time!

Today's freebie is similar to that of yesterdays. Extra resources to have on hand just in case you should need them. These would go great with my Election packet to aid in the writing prompts.

Two more days of election freebies... wonder what tomorrow shall bring??

Presidential Election Writing - FREEBIE

Yesterday, I discovered that I cannot list an item for free on Teacher's Notebook and later change the item to a paid one. Sooooooo.... I am gonna be listing the items for free ONLY on Teachers Pay Teachers. Sorry if this is a disappointment to anyone.

So today's freebie... is more stationary! I never seem to have enough or a wide enough variety. When I teach I often find myself giving students unplanned work depending upon the responses I receive in class. It's one of the reasons I like to have a lot of variety available. This way I am ALWAYS prepared.

This set includes 9 pages..  3 different design and 3 different graphics. This way you can use it for anything your heart desires this week!

OH WOW!!!

So I opened up the Teachers Notebook Member Newsletter this morning and saw...

Which of course resulted in me tearing up and hubby asking what is wrong! I can't believe my little old store was featured!! Oh... I think we are going to need to do something to celebrate. Any ideas??

In case you are all looking for an amazing giveaway this weekend... checkout this  Blogiversary Celebration! Not only will you have the chance to win any item from my store but there are 27 other products being given away and $20 gift card to TpT.

In other... non-school related news....

I got tired of my hair. So I went and had it cut... lost 7 inches and love it! Especially when I went out with my aunt the other day (note aunt is 3 years older than me) and was told by several people how nice it was for her to spend the day with her teenage daughter. bwahahahahaha!

So I totally do not look THAT young but I will take the compliment any way.

Easy Sight Word Data

On Friday night as I was finishing up the October fun pack, Melonheadz sent me a brand new set of graphics and said "do something with it." LOL! I was totally taken by surprise and had no clue where to start.

So... I pulled my testing crew (aka my sons) and said "Well... what do you think?" And so a new line was created as those boys did not come up with anything simple. I sent off a request for some exclusive graphics as I am gonna need them.

As I was trying to turn their ramblings into a product... I realized the first thing that I wanted to make! My mentor teacher said "sometimes you just want a whole years worth of lesson plans and be done with it." I took that idea to heart.

One of the things I did during Daily 5 was to meet with students 1-2 times a week to go over site word lists. These are kept in the students STAR binders and are to be practiced at home. We would use different color markers to write the date on the left and then underline the words the students know. You could also highlight the words but sometimes it is hard to see after awhile.

The problem we ran into is the set my mentor teacher used only had a set of 6 lists. When we were searching for a bigger package we found most only had 10 or less. My new package has 40 lists... enough for 1 a week for every week of the year. PLUS my monthly packages have 2 more sight words lists. Oh yea... never gonna run out again!

The other problem we had was keeping track of which list students were on. Either the numbers were huge or non-existent. This is an extreme closeup of the bottom right of my word lists... in 9 point font is the number.

So here it is! The finished product. This is part of a new series I am working on called Wordville Wizards. Totally love this idea and my boys are having so much fun coming up with ideas. I can't wait to share it with you.

This is called Sight Word Magic.  40 sight word lists - 25 per list - the top 1000 most frequently used words in the English language.

I included my method of data tracking for not only these but my monthly sight word lists as well. Simply add your student's name and the date it was completed. Super easy assessment tracking.... love it!!

I also included 2 pages if you prefer to make a workbook and bind it. As my mentor says do it once and get it done. I also included directions in how I organize my student data and lists using a crate and file folders. The best part, this is so simple that a volunteer can easily do it for you.

Here comes October!

I am so excited... October is almost here. A few more weeks of 100 degree temperatures and we will finally hit the 90s. By Halloween... we should be in the 80s and if we have any kinda luck by Thanksgiving we will be in the 70s. That's fall in Arizona peeps!

I remember a story several years back from my youngest son. He came home crying from Kindergarten because he thought his teacher lied to him. When I asked what she lied about he said she kept telling him about all these seasons where leaves change and snow falls but that only happens in the movies. After I stopped laughing, I had to explain where we live is different then planned a trip to a nicer climate to prove his teacher didn't lie afterall.

From that moment on, the child never really like his kindergarten teacher or trusted her despite getting proof that she told the truth. It is one of my favorite memories of fall....

Since I am always HOPING for fall to arrive, I always end up in full decorating mode. You should see the amount of decorations stored in my garage or maybe you shouldn't..... This has carried over to the classroom. I have files and files and files of Holiday STUFF!

But I admit, I forget the digital files exist. I need something all in one. Click... print... go! That theory is what prompted my new line of products. Each month, I will be introducing a new packet with lots and lots of resources.

So this guy here has everything that I need in it for the month of  October. I will probably add to it later but for now it is 39 pages and has everything I need as a teacher to prepare for the month ahead!

Calendar numbers (in both formats!) and letters for my classroom boggle board. Boggle is one of my early finishers options for the month. I have a wide variety of things they can do if they finish early but they are all grade-level common-core aligned activities.

Interactive notebook pages. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my interactive student notebooks... known as Brainy Matters in my classroom. It keeps both me and my students organized, it doubles as a portfolio and review tool. You will notice that a lot of my products are now including these pages as it is what I need and use.

There are also writing prompts that cover retelling, inferencing, and creative writing, 2 sight word lists with words that pertain to the month of October, and 2 word hunts.

Math review worksheets. Again, these are core-aligned and skills that all students need to know. My fourth grader was using this one tonight as he needs a refresher on basic math facts. I use these for my students who finish early during math. This way I know they are still getting those instruction math minutes!

There are also 2 roll and cover math game boards. I use this in multiple ways... matching numbers, creating a problem equal to that number (have students record in math journals), and use that number in a problem and have you buddy solve it (mental math). 

Now while all of the above stuff is awesome... Teachers need things too! So I created a 2 newsletter (1 Halloween & 1 Columbus), labels for this months centers, 2 letters home, and 4 pages of books to read (picture books and chapter books!) for the month.

There are also 3 October calendars which I use in my classroom. I have a plain calendar for behavior and a math calendar that we use with our circle time. None of the calendars are dated as I have my students do this to help reinforce counting skills. On the math one... the right the digital date as part of our calendar time on their math calendar.

The one pictured here is the reading log. Students record minutes on the calendar and books to the right. The rubric is on the bottom. No daily minimums are listed on this calendar so you can use it as you wish. This goes home in our file folders which stay inside out binders. The left side has the instructions and the right the calendar.

We worked on this bundle for 3 days solid and I wanted to get it to you before this weekend so you would have time to use it for the upcoming month. In future packets, I am planning on adding the Family Zebra Quest Challenge and our monthly book project. I just ran out of time and steam this month.

I would love to hear your thoughts on this project. This includes clip art from 5 of Melonheadz Illustrating sets as well as exclusive pieces made just for TWT. Each month's kit will be created in a similar fashion and cover two different topics. This kit covers Halloween and Columbus Day. I will do Fall next month when it kinda feels like it here.

Leave me a comment and I will randomly select a winner!

Calendar Time

I remember calendar time or circle time from when I was a kid being the time of day when we discussed the date and the weather. It was a quick 1 minute lesson.

I remember when my first son entered Kindergarten and I found calendar time to be more in depth and included colors, numbers, letters, and sounds of the week. A quick 5 minute lesson.

NOW... with all the things that students are expected to know this simple time now takes 20-30 minutes to do. This is the time we use to get in all of those things that students should know but aren't really taught anywhere in the curriculum.

Someday I will share with you our routine but for today... I wanted to share just our calendar.

What makes this calendar so unique? Look under the cute number squares... do you see it? Its the date in digital format!

Each day the student goes over the date saying the day and the year just as always but so often we see dates as a code of numbers and expect one to know what it means.

You can't tell me you are not silently reciting the months and counting to see what month 9 is are you? It is kinda like the alphabet song we all sing it in our head when alphabetizing. This helps students learn the months are equal to numbers and reinforces it every day of the month!

Genuis!

My mentor teacher shrunk down regular calendar numbers in order to leave room to write. I carry several versions of calendar numbers in my store. I LOVE calendar numbers. Yes... I know I am strange.

So what is my obsession with these things?

I love using these as an easy seasonal decoration. I have to take all the numbers off the calendar to change out the month anyways. It is not so difficult to switch from one design to another. I can also use it for patterning as I can use multiple sets to create the pattern of the month. This is a great way to get in another skill students need with minimal work.

I am all about easy!

I decided to offer two versions of my calendar numbers in all of my new sets but still keep the same price!

One is the traditional format and the other has space for you to write in the digital date. Simply print on card stalk and laminate as you would normally do. Then you can use a dry-erase marker to add in the date. They are still reusable year after year.

Added bonus - the size remains the same so these numbers will still fit on a calendar of your choosing. The size is perfect for both pocket chart and poster calendars.

All my new calendar sets are made with Melonheadz Graphics. If you need something specific, feel free to leave your request in the comments. As always, I will be giving away a free set of your choosing to one of my amazing followers!

Football Sunday!

Have you all seen this sign? I totally need one for my house!

My oldest son's first word was football. Not mama, not dada, not even baba... football. I should have known what life had in store for me from that moment on.

Many of you know that I homeschooled my children for awhile but I have never shared the story of how it began or the frustrations that came with it. When my oldest was 2 I found him reading a book. Not the pictures.... the actual words. What sounds he hadn't figured out he made up.

I thought it was so amazing! He could read!! Little did I know the heartache this would cause. (To catch you up he has a form of Autism known as Asperger's Syndrome. He is very high functioning. He excels academically across the board but struggles socially).

Because he was so intent on learning, I taught him. It was sooo hard to keep up with his need for knowledge. One day when he was 4 he suddenly stopped learning. I was so happy but also concerned. He only wanted to know about football. I needed resources but couldn't find any. So I made everything myself... a huge massive collection of all things football. He loved it!

I have learned that sometimes to get students to move ahead we have to meet them where they are. My bff went into teaching before I did and has often pulled my football resources to get her reluctant students to write, learn vocabulary, or to do math.

So... Melonheadz and I have decided to create a complete line of football products! I am finishing them up now so they will be appearing in my store in the next few days BUT you can get a set early by leaving a comment below!

These are the original materials that I used all those years ago with new graphics to jazz it up! This packet includes 20 sentence stems/journal pages, 7 compare & contract activities, 2 goal pages, 4 pages of math, 6 pages of vocabulary, 1 geography activity, 3 class books/bulletin board projects, 1 research project, and 1 creative writing project. Over 60 pages of football fun!

My kids still love this packet. This is my baby's worksheet from today's game... he is working on adding more than 2 numbers together. Since adding is too simple for him he then groups each picture together and multiplies those and then adds. So the 2 field goals would be 2x3... it gets harder as the game goes on. =)

This is 17 weeks of greater than/less than score fun! Students record the score and then using > or < determine the winner. My son never understood Allie Alligator but he understood he wanted to be on the winning team and that the arrow always pointed toward the loser as their score was smaller.

And of course I had to do matching calendar numbers and a boggle board! We are working on getting a set out for every NFL team so if you are looking for a set, please let me know as I will put you on the top of the list.

What could be even better for football fans?? I will be selling exclusive Melonheadz Graphics for each of the teams as well. Again... I am a big tease as they are a work in progress but I couldn't wait to share with you!


I also wanted to share with you a post from Kinderzoo. I cannot imagine the grief she is going through at suddenly losing her husband, her best friend. I know that I would be devastated. She would hate it if she knew we were doing this but several of us would like to show our love and support during this difficult time.

If you have a moment - please visit her store and make a purchase. She has some amazing products. My favorites are her emergency Kinder plans. I could have so used them for that first week in school!!