29 May 2012

Treat yourself!!!

6 kid days left... We think we can, we think we can...


After a fantastic long weekend, we are back and trying to finish up the year. Our little kiddos are assessing our hearts out, and are really trying to keep their heads in the game. We had a fantastic field trip to the zoo last week, and we have a little freebie to share. But first. Don't you think it's time we all give ourselves a little pat on the back? We've (almost) made it through another year. So we have a way for you to do just that. Have you heard of Silpada Jewelry? It's definitely a favorite of ours, and we wanted to make sure to share it with all of you!
Erin is hosting a catalog party right now, and we knew you'd want in on the action! So click on over {HERE} and shop away. The fantastic thing about this jewelry is that it's all sterling silver, and life time guaranteed, and it's all FABULOUS!  And don't forget to put it Erin's name  (Erin Scott) when you place an order. Then, send us an email and we will send you our amazing new First Grade Common Core Math Assessment for free! It's quickly turning into one of our best sellers, and we'd love to help you get it for free! Make sure to take a minute and treat yourself, but hurry up, the party is closing at the end of the week.

We also mentioned that we went to the zoo last week, and we have a quick activity to share with you if you're still looking for some last minute classroom ideas. We started with the book One Night in the Zoo

We read this sweet story, and then the kids did a piece of writing on their own. We had them imagine what they thought happens at the zoo at night. They had the cutest ideas, but dang it! We forgot to pull out the camera!  So go ahead and do this in your class, and see what great ideas your students have. 

 Click {HERE} for your copy.

Need more zoo activities? Make sure to check out our Zoo Map Pack and our It's a Zoo Day Game pack.
We have a few more freebies to share during this crazy busy week, so check back later. Happy Tuesday!

17 May 2012

And the countdown begins

Well we have about 12 more days left with our students and A LOT of things to get done! 
Along with assessments and all of the other end of the year items on our lists, we've got a field trip coming up, school wide jog-a thon, and field day.   Although there is a lot on our minds we're still trying to keep some normalcy and consistency in our classrooms as much as possible!
 We've been incorporating pieces of Treasures (our new reading program) into our Daily 5 and we're excited to fully implement Treasures with our first graders in the fall.  We've been creating new word work activities that relate to the weekly sound focus.  Last week we focused on the long i sound (igh, i, y, i-e) and this week our sound focus has been on the long e sound (y).  Below our a few word work items we created for our kiddos.  Just click below the picture and you can get your copies!


Click {HERE} 

Our latest focus in math has been shapes.  Along with a new reading program, our first grade team has been piloting a new math program, My Math, and WE LOVE IT! 
Here's a fun shape activity that we created to use while teaching our kiddos about two dimensional shapes.  Just click below the picture for your copy!


Click {HERE}

And speaking of math, we've just uploaded a First Grade Math Assessment based on the new Common Core State State Standards.  We've have been working on this assessment for quite some time and it's FINALLY done!  
Skills included, but are not limited to:
*Addition and Subtraction within 20
*Fact Families
*Addition/Subtraction Strategies
*Understanding the equal sign
*Number sense to 120
*Place Value
*Greater Than and Less Than
*Addition and Subtraction of 2 digit numbers
*Measurement
*Telling Time to Hour and Half-Hour
*Graphing
*2 and 3 Dimensional Shapes
*Halves and Fourths

Not interested in standards based on the common core standards.  Our First Grade Math Assessment is another great assessment tool and can also be found in our TpT store!


Click {here} to check it out!

08 May 2012

Still need an idea for Mother's Day?

Hope you are all having a fantastic start to the week!  We're having FANTASTIC weather here so we can't complain.  Great weather really helps make a great start to the work week!  
We thought we'd share a few Mother's Day ideas that we are doing in our classrooms.

Here's a cute fingerprint bookmark that could be a gift itself or added to a gift.  
The idea is all over Pinterest, but the link no longer works to the site.  If you search Mother's Day bookmark on Pinterest you should be able to see a picture of how these turn out.  We promise to get a picture up tomorrow of a few that our kiddos created.  
We laminated them and they turned out ADORABLE!
We loved the idea so much and recreated the bookmark.
You can get a 2016 updated copy {HERE}
You might not be able to see the outline of the stem and leaves, until you print.  It is very light in color.

One of our parent favorites is our pen holders that we do every year. Every kid brings in  a jar from home. We then use small tissue paper pieces and attach them with glue. We then have the kids paint over the tissue paper with glue again, before we spray them with a clear gloss. We then attach these sweet little flower tags with ribbons. They aren't quite finished yet, but will try to share pics when they are. They are turning out so sweet!




The last activity we do when we can get kids to bring in their recipes is a class cookbook. We've also done this as a fathers day present at the end of the year, which is quite possibly what it's looking like will happen this year. Friday is coming awfully quick...

We uploaded a template using a simple font, and only Office graphics so that you can change it to fit your needs. You can find it {HERE}. 



Here is a template for the poem if you'd like to use it. Grab it {HERE}.


Hopefully you have all found some things you can use at our TpT Store as well! If you haven't grabbed all of your goodies yet, better get on it! The sale ends at midnight...

Have a great rest of the week!

05 May 2012

Everybody loves a sale!!!


Happy Teacher Appreciation Week! 
In honor of all of you fantastic teachers we are having a 20% off sale at our entire Teachers Pay Teachers Store May 6-8, plus Teachers Pay Teachers is also offering and additional 10% off!!!!. Here are the details:

1. Visit our store and receive 20% off everything including our newest addition, our Zoo Map Pack.
2. Enter TAD12 at checkout for an additional 10% off.

Here are some of our newest additions:




And here are a few items that are great for spring and summer:






And don't forget to check out our Memory Books.  Happy shopping!

Our Mothers Day stuff will be up soon!






03 May 2012

What we've been up to... and LOTS OF FREEBIES!

We're back... for now anyway. So as we mentioned before, we are now just about done with week 3 of implementing Treasures. Since we've been so busy with that, on top of working on other units, and updating some of our current stuff, not to mention gearing up for the end of the year, we haven't had a ton of time to work on word work for Treasures. We have managed to come up with a few quick things, so you can take a look. We haven't managed to get in many pictures lately, but hopefully you'll get the idea. These activities help to reinforce the vowel sounds of the week. And just in case you're wondering, we started at unit 4 so we may seem off on our time line for the year. We know. :) Click on the links below to get your copies.












We've also been doing a whirlwind week of studying the earth, and it's different layers. We have some great freebies for these as well, so make sure to check them out too!




{CLICK HERE} for Earth Activities


We are also starting to plan out our last month {GASP} of school. One thing that we love to do every year is our End of the Year Memory Book. Love it? Don't worry, we have it up at out sweet little store! Make sure to check it out. The kids may love this more than anything else we do all year!


Teach Kindergarten or Second Grade? We've got versions for you too!

Check back this weekend for our Mothers Day Activities! Happy Friday!