End of Year Celebration Sale

Counting down the days until the new year and taking time to reflect upon my many blessings of 2012.  Creating a blog, opening up my very own Teachers Pay Teachers Store, and making many new Bloggy Friends are among the many blessings from 2012.  To Celebrate, I am having a big sale. 

Stop by my TPT store for 20% off everything.

And there are new products!!

I just completed three new Vocabulary Lesson Activities for the following books:

• Chicks and Salsa, by Aaron Reynolds

This is a funny book of farm animals who are tired of eating the same old things!  Aroma, satisfied, and cuisine are the vocabulary words explored in these activities.

• Thunder Cake, by Patricia Pollaco

Patricia Pollaco is one of my favorite authors.  In Thundercake, a grandmother consoles her granddaughter during a storm by gathering the ingredients for a Thundercake.   The words explored in these activities are sultry, scurry, bellowed, crept, and rumble.

• Fancy Nancy and the Posh Puppy, by Jane O'Connor

Fancy Nancy is one of the favorite book characters in my room.   Delicate, introduce, and responsible are the vocabulary words explored in this set of lessons.

Each set includes 6 or 7 pages of vocabulary activities to complete with your class.  The activities are fast paced and engaging.

Bloggy Christmas Exchange

Oh What Fun it is to surprise on this Bloggy Christmas Exchange!

This is the gift I sent to my sweet blog friend, Erin @ It's Owl Good in Kindergarten. She is obsessed with owls also.  

I went with the 5 senses theme. The tumbler is cute to look at while MY FAVORITE MR.Sketch Markers are delicious to smell while making anchor charts.  I LOVE the taste of Peppermint Bark this time of year and warm fuzzy socks feel great year round.  Last, but not, least Erin can listen to Christmas music.

Please stop by Erin's cute blog and become her newest follower.

Not too many days after shipping my gift I found a box on my front porch.  Perfect Timing Too!  It had not been a wonderful day! 

 Those close to me know that it was IMPOSSIBLE for me to put the gift under the tree and wait til Christmas to open like the rules stated.  So, I opened my gift in 3 seconds flat! 

 My precious gift came from Natalie @ Teachery Tidbits.  Little did Natalie know that she was already one of my favorite bloggers.   

In my box ..... I found not 2 Reese's Cups, but a whole bag scrumptious bag.  Notice the photo.  I devoured them (with a little help from my Zach) before remembering to take a photo of them.  Just 1 example of my chocolate obsession.

 And just look at the adorable owls!  

The smaller one is an ornament.

 I decided to decorate my classroom with owls this year and they have begun to take over my home and classroom in just a few short months.  I got some of the cutest owls from my kiddos for Christmas.  

 Please stop by to check out her blog.

Wishing you all a VERY MERRY CHRISTmas and a HAPPY NEW YEAR!

12 in 12 linky

• Favorite Movie:  The Vow

I am a sucker for a love story.  And the leading man wasn't half bad!

• Favorite TV Series - Criminal Minds

 

Love a good mystery and Derek Morgan is simply eye candy!

• Favorite Restaurant - Brixx Pizza - thin wood fired pizza

                   Must try the Margherita Pizza - roma tomatoes, fresh house-made mozzarella and basil

• Favorite Gift I've Gotten - recent gift

 

Meet Rascal - my new baby Schnauzer!

Better than Calgon at taking the stress away!

Nothing like puppy kisses.

•   Favorite Thing I have pinned:

 

I love the Boggle Word & Math Boards!  It has been a huge hit!  

• Favorite New Thing I've Tried -  I have loved using CAFE this year.  I really see it making changes in my students.   I often pull students close to the board before or after small groups to talk about strategies I will be looking for or saw them using.  It is always a good visual reminder of what we have covered and what I should hold them accountable for.    Once you go CAFE, you will never go back!

   

• Best Accomplishment of 2012 -  I think I am most proud of the fact that I am making a few extra dollars to pay for extras like college books by beginning to sell on TPT.  I don't make things for TPT.   Instead, I put things on TPT that I made for my classroom and that I found useful and worthwhile.  Kid Tested and Teacher Approved is so True!

• Favorite Blog Post - How do Penguins Stay Warm?

I guess my favorite post of 2012 has to be my first post.  It was my first of 2012 and my first ever!

Click on the pic to go directly to that post.

• Favorite Picture - of my two oldest.  Kait had returned home from college and this is when they first saw each other after the game. 

• Favorite Memory - Tanner's Baptism - God is good all the time!

• Goal for 2013 - To feel good about teaching and assessing Common Core.   Waiting on more guidelines from the State.

• One Little Word - Busy!

 

Place Value AND Producer/Consumer unit

Last week we began our place value unit.  This is an activity we completed after 3 days of hands-on work with cubes building numbers and exploring when to make a ten.  Later, we moved on to tens sticks and ones.  Here one student would build a number using the "pool noodle" tens and ones.  The rest of the class would write the number the students showed.

To add a little complexity once students got the hang of the activity, students then needed to write the number and then draw their own representation of the number.

           

As students became really good at the representations, they then began writing the equations.

     

Consumers and Producers:

Students became producers this month by creating Christmas Crafts.  They were paid for each craft they made.  Names were not placed on the crafts. 

After all crafts were made, students were able to become consumers and use the money they made on the job to purchase items they liked.

Currently....

Oh my! 

 I blinked and it was December already!!!

 The only good thing about that at the moment is that it is time for Farley's Currently! 

I don't mean to sound like a scrooge, but my list of things to do has got to be longer than Santa's naughty list!  Maybe when the tree is up & Christmas music is playing I will feel better.  Oh wait, that is on my To Do list!

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas!

When I Was in First....

I am joining Mrs. Daniel for her When I was in.... Linky Party.  Go check out her blog - Second Grade Sparkles and join in this fun linky.

I was one of the oldest in my class because of my Oct. 30th birthday (which I share with my mom).  The cut off date for starting kindergarten was Oct. 15th.  I missed it by 15 days.

  So, in first grade I actually turned 7.

When I was in first grade... 

• I loved school.  I think that love started the minute I walked in to kindergarten and continues today.
• Desks were in rows!  There was NO cooperative work.
• Handwriting was BIG and so was coloring!
• My teacher went on maternity leave and I had the best SUB ever who became my FAVORITE teacher of all time.  See previous post.
• I cried on the last day of school because I didn't want to have the summer off! - crazy I know!
• Teachers were looked up to and respected.  I was always on my best behavior wanting my teacher's approval.

This is me this summer on a very windy picture day on the beach!  Almost all of our pictures have our eyes squinting from the wind or sun and our hair going everywhere.  It was pretty much a flop.  But I am generally the cameraman and don't have a lot of photos of myself.

I teach in the same school district where I went to elementary, middle and high school - just miles up the road from my elementary school.

Cyber Monday + Tuesday = Huge TPT Sale

I am joining the many wonderful bloggers and TPT Sellers for the Cyber Monday & Tuesday TPT sale.   I am offering 20% off on the items in my store.  TPT is also taking a % off.  That means you save 28%!

I am joining Michelle's linky.  Click below to see who else is participating.

   

Here are just a few of the items I will have on sale.

In Everything Give Thanks

I have so many things to be thankful for.  I am blessed beyond measure!  I am linking up with Lyndsey @ A Year of Many Firsts for her Stuffed with Thankful Thoughts Linky Party.

1.  God is all around us if we will just acknowledge Him.  He  is my strength.

2.  Family is everything.  

This handsome man has loved me for 29 years and our love only gets stronger.
He makes me laugh and I feel at home in his arms.

               

Kait, Tanner, and Zach - My 3 beautiful children.  Each unique in their own ways.

My sister, dad, me, mom, and brother!
My mom and dad are my biggest supporters.

3.  The Baptism of my youngest child by my husband.    

September 23rd - our youngest was baptized.  

4.  My pets who give unconditional love.

This is our Rescue dog, Cooper.  He is such a mess, but so loveable.  He has chewed up 1000s of dollars of stuff around our house, including our back deck and the mudflaps on my car!

This is our baby, Lexi.  She is our lap dog and very protective.

5.  Friends 

This is my Bunco group which includes my best friend since 3rd grade!

6.  My job and fellow first grade teachers.  (Their husbands aren't too bad, either!)

7.  The moments my husband and I have spent together riding this year!  And for our safety while riding.

 

8.  The blogging community and Pinterest.  I have only been blogging a year, but it has totally changed my teaching for the better.