Warm Up with a Sale {& a Freebie}

Tired of the snow? Warm up with a SALE! 

Teachers Pay Teachers is having a "Teachers Are Heroes" Sale! {Isn't it the truth?!}

It is time to stock up on the things that you have been "eye"-ing. (Is that really a word? My mother used to say that all of the time...so it must be a real word!)

Here are some things that I will be using in my classroom over the next couple of months. 

FREE!

FUN!

Super Fun!

More Fun Than You Would Think!

If you would like to check them out, then click HERE and HERE.

For the sale, everything in my store will be 20% off and you will be able to get an extra 10% off from TpT using the special code: HEROES. That will bring the total percentage off to 28%. What a deal!!

If you can't wait until Wednesday to shop, my store will be 20% off starting on Tuesday, February, 24th. 

I will be back tomorrow to update you on our very exciting Science observations. You will want to join in too!

Have a great day! 

Carrie

Back to School Bonanza!!, Blog Hop and Freebie

Today I am linking up with the Blog Hoppin bloggers for What I like to teach. Actually, it doesn't really matter which subject I am teaching as long as I have a song, rhyme and/or a craft.

Since I started out as a kindergarten teacher, I was introduced to Dr. Jean's songs and lots of her wonderful ideas. Because I changed schools at one point, I ended up in second grade and now I love that age! The ONLY thing that I was concerned about was that the kids wouldn't want to sing all of those songs with me. After all, I had invested in ALMOST every CD that Dr. Jean had put on the market. (Not to mention...that I cannot make it through the day without singing.) Newsflash...The students still love singing in second grade! 

So...I decided to add writing activities to respond to some of her songs. It worked like a charm! The kids love to have the "experience"of dancing and singing with the music and then completing the literacy activity. 

However, sometimes I need to make up my own songs and rhymes if I can't find one that fits my needs. My plan is to grab (and keep) the attention of my buddies. One of them is The Plural Noun Song, sung to the tune of Jingle Bells. Each year, my kids love to belt out that one!

Another thing that I like to do is connect my lessons to a craft. Here are my latest craftivities:

I FINALLY posted this bundle yesterday. Yay! 

The start of school is a smidgen hectic. Wouldn't you agree? Even though school started 3 weeks ago in my state, someone may be interested in these activities for friendship building or for Open House projects. However, there are some teachers who have not started school yet. Bless you all. 

Or...I can just be glad that it is ready to go for the "Back to School Season" next year! 

Or...I can just be glad that I have a creative outlet that also comes in handy in my classroom. 

Nevertheless, my students enjoyed all of these activities! They even have their name desk tents on their desks still! 

As a matter of fact, some of my students continue to add color to their desk tents here and there. They are actually looking better with time!  :-) 

More importantly, name tents have helped me learn the students' names more quickly, since I have put off the task of taping flat name plates to the students desks. 

Because... I INSIST on cutting clear contact paper so that there is one big strip holding down the name tags. Not that I am particular...

Here is the camera craftivity that we made. 

I love when the students gasp as I pull out an example of the next craft that we will complete as a class. It cheers me up! 

Then, lo and behold, the students don't seem to mind doing whatever writing activity goes with it. Win, win!!


One of my favs... Post a Selfie! 

Selfies are all the rage. My first clue, well not really my FIRST clue, was the Belk ad with a girl taking a selfie. I guess it IS a big thing! 

Maybe it is a new form of art as some suggest. All kinds of people take part including my daughter's band director. He took lots of selfies with the students when they went on a band trip to Washington, DC. His slide show as a result was quite entertaining!

Here are some examples of the Post a Selfie! craftivity as well as a preview of what is in the pack.

The fourth activity that is included in the bundle is  a"How To" writing activity about How to Make a Friend and How to Keep a Friend. The lesson includes singing and acting out the motions to "Hello Neighbor," a cute song by Dr. Jean. (Also....that song is a FREE download in Dr. Jean's store.) What could be better than that? Here is a link to that section in her store. She has some other awesome free things as well. 

And last, but not least, I have a FREEBIE for your new school year.

Desk Fairy Awards. My students are super motivated to earn those awards. Click HERE to download the awards. 

(Pretend like you can see a picture of that here.)

There you have it. "What" I like to teach boils down to anything that has a song connected with it or a craft. Of course, I love Scoot games for any subject, but I will save that for a different post. 

Hop over to the Blog Hoppin blog to see WHAT other teachers like to teach. 

I have already found out some neat things about bloggers and I can't wait to try some of their ideas in my own classroom! 

Have a great day!

Carrie

Follower Appreciation Sale Items, Two for Tuesday! #6, and a FREEBIE!

It's TWO for TUESDAY!

Hi!
Since I am linking up with The Teaching Tribune for their Two For Tuesday Linky - Week 6, I will have TWO Follower Appreciation items for 50% off today!

Here are the items that I have on sale:

The Eagle Cam:

Keeping an Eagle Eye on the Eagle Nest

{A Writing Activity}

Need a fun way to research and to write about the lifecycle of an eagle?  This may be the resource 
for you! The students will record observations and illustrations in these little booklets. What student does not like to write in booklets?

 

To read more about it, see {THIS POST} and {THIS POST}.
To check it out in my TpT store, please click {HERE}. 

If you are a PebbleGo fan, then you may like this organizer to help with your research. 

You can get a free copy {HERE}. I have also included an organizer with no lines if that is what you need instead. 

If you are not familiar with PebbleGo, then please stop by my blog on Saturday, July 12th. I will be blogging about that gem of a website in conjunction with the You Oughta Know Blog Hop.  Sounds like fun to me!! 

My other sale item:

      "Hello Neighbor!" How to Make a Friend {and Keep a Friend}

This pack has "How To" writing activities including a silly version that coincides with Dr. Jean's song, "Hello Neighbor."

Click {HERE} to see it in my store.

Great News...
Dr. Jean actually has that song as a free download in her store! 

Click {HERE} to check it out. I love how Dr. Jean incorporates songs into everything. That is right up my alley!

Both of these would be great resources for now, for Back-to-School, or for anytime during the year as needed.

If you would like to check them out, today is the day! 

Hop on over to The Teaching Tribune for their Two For Tuesday Linky and see what kind of exciting deals you can find from other bloggers!

Have an awesome day!
Carrie

Two for Tuesday! #5 and a FREEBIE!

It's TWO for TUESDAY!

Hi!
I am linking up with The Teaching Tribune for their Two For Tuesday Linky - Week 5

That means...

  2 items
from my store will be 50% off today!!!

Here are the items that I have on sale:

Write It! 3 Ways in 3 Days

Need a fun way to help your students practice writing different forms of number representation? This may be the resource for you!

To read more about it, see this post.
To check it out in my TpT store, please click {HERE}. 


My other sale item:

 "Hello Neighbor!" How to Make a Friend 

{and Keep a Friend}

This pack has "How To" writing activities including a silly version that coincides with Dr. Jean's song, "Hello Neighbor."

Click {HERE} to see it in my store.

Great News...
Dr. Jean actually has that song as a free download in her store! 

Click {HERE} to check it out. I love how Dr. Jean incorporates songs into everything. That is right up my alley!

Both of these would be great resources for now, for Back-to-School, or for anytime during the year as needed.

If you would like to check them out, today is the day! 

Hop on over to The Teaching Tribune for their Two For Tuesday Linky and see what kind of exciting deals you can find from other bloggers!

Have an awesome day!
Carrie

Here Comes Peter Cottontail...

Hi everyone! We just enjoyed a nice, quiet Spring Break. It has been lovely!

When it is quiet, I have the time to think about the crafts and activities that I want to do with the kids during the next month or so. I am normally guilty of having an idea, getting it down on paper, and then stacking it or filing it without ever carrying it out with the students. So, my goal over the last few weeks has been to get past the 90% completion mark so that I can have some fun activities for my students. 

So...since Peter Cottontail is hopping down the bunny trail...I need to get my Easter-y projects done!

One of those projects is Easter: How to Be an Egg-spert at an Egg Hunt Craftivity. 

The students will have fun being the "Egg-sperts" about Easter Egg Hunts. The idea is to have the students write a "How To" piece to inform a younger sibling, cousin, or neighbor about how to be strategic at an egg hunt. The flap books will help them organize their thoughts about the best ways to find the eggs. There are scaffolded rough draft pages as well as themed paper for the students to publish their final pieces. There are two different designs of each type of resource in the pack - one is frilly and the other is not frilly. 

I have included a photo of the crafts.

Two crafts. One is a name badge that can be worn with pride. :-)
The second is a name tent for the students' desks. The students LOVE those!
Both of these will give the students confidence as they write their egg-spertise on paper.  

Below is a preview of all of the pages in the resource as well as some of the individual pages. If you would like to see the pack in my store, then please click here. 

A flap book for idea organization

Non-frilly design option

Anchor chart

Non-frilly anchor chart

Rough draft page with scaffolding. My kids do a great job with this!

Another scaffolded page with a different design. 

Another one of those projects is the craftivity with opinion writing that was in my previous post. Below is a photo of that craftivity.

Along with those two resources is a "Small Moment" narrative writing activity. I am not quite finished that yet, but I will try to get the last 10% finished tonight so that I can post it tomorrow. :-) By the way, I will also bundle the three writing activities for teachers who might want to do all three writing genres with a similar theme. 

I will plan to compare and contrast the different genres. Maybe that will help the different genres "stick" for the students. 

Have a great day!

~ Carrie

Snow Days are Over... and St. Patrick's Day Freebie

Well, our snow days are over...we hope. It was fun to have snow days, but it is nice to get back into the swing of things at school.

Spring seems to be in the air because we have daffodils blooming in our back yard!

Since St. Patrick’s Day is right around the corner, you may be interested in this writing resource dealing with the ever-mischievous leprechaun.

Here is a preview of some of the pages.

I copied this poster onto bright green paper as a reference for the students.

The students will be glad to write the sequence of events with this flapbook. Then they can open up the flap to draw a corresponding illustration.

The scaffolding on this "next step" in the writing process really helps to provide differentiation for my students.

This is the page for publishing. It can be used with either set of organizers.

This poster includes the transitional word, "however," for the stories that have a twist or an interesting fact at the end. There are organizers included that match this poster as well.

This freebie includes:

(The first 3 pages use the words first, next, then, and finally}

* A Transitional Words poster {with a leprechaun}

* A Flapbook Writing Organizer

* A Writing Form with Scaffolding

(The next 3 pages use first, next, then, finally, and however}

* A Transitional Words poster {with a leprechaun}

* A Flapbook Writing Organizer

* A Writing Form with Scaffolding

{The last page can be used with either of the groups of transitional words.}

* A Writing Page for the Final Piece

Let me know if you download the resource. I would love to hear what you think about it.

Other items that may interest you:

Check out my store for some St. Patrick’s Day writing paper that is “UNPLUGGED!” That means that the paper has a certain theme, but it can be used with any craft that you may have already planned.

Also, I have writing activities with scaffolded organizers and forms that coincide with songs and chants. My kids really LOVE those! Check these out:

My BEST SELLER (within my store):

The Silly Bear Hunt ~ Map Skills with a Literacy Twist

"Hello Neighbor!"How to Make a Friend ~ {Writing Activity}

Literacy Activities to go with songs and chants:

The Plural Noun Song ~ Tune: Jingle Bells

This next pack includes Friendly Letter Writing (with a year-round form as well) that is taught with D. Jean’s song, “The Parts of a Friendly Letter.”

Crazy for Cake Pop Contractions

Have an awesome last week of February...if you can believe that!!!

Carrie