Cyber Sale 2016



The rush of the Thanksgiving holidays is over and we're all preparing to head into December. I just finished doing parent teacher conferences before our Thanksgiving break and now I need to prepare for our grades closing and get busy working on report cards. We all have so much on our to do lists and little time for lesson planning and keeping our students involved in high quality activities that will keep them engaged. The month of December can be challenging for students and teachers alike. It is so important that we stick to regular routines as much as possible and keep our students involved in meaningful learning. Save yourself hours and hours of preparation and check out the Teachers Pay Teachers Cyber Sale. You can save 28% off in many stores on Monday and Tuesday. Be sure to use the code CYBER2016 to receive maximum savings.

It`s been far too long since I last posted. I have been furiously creating some new products and have been extremely busy keeping up with my own classroom. I now have a new grade level partner to work with and help support as well as a new reading series to get accustomed to. This school year I've decided to improve my students overall writing skills as one of my professional goals for my students. I decided to create classroom collaborative books to display in our class for each month. Students love looking back at them and admiring their peer's work as well. I also put them at a mini table during Parent Teacher Conferences and while parents were waiting in the hallway for their conference, they were able to look at these books. Parents just loved them and I received a lot of positive feedback from them. You can easily measure the gains the students make each month with their writing skills. I also decided to create some Write the Room activities for students to do during literacy center time. Students just love feeling important as they walk around the classroom writing words that relate to a particular topic or theme.

You can check out my newest Collaborative Classroom books and Write the Room activities at my store. I plan on adding many more of these as the school year continues.


                  




                           Collaborative Classroom Books


 
   



                           Write The Room

OneDay TPT Bonus Sale

ONEDAY TpT Bonus Sale

Did you miss the Best Year Ever sale that TpT held a few weeks ago? Just not ready for back to school back then? Guess what? You've got one more chance to save on all your back to school teaching products from Teachers Pay Teachers. Be sure to use the code "OneDay" as you checkout to save up to 28% off.  My entire store will be on sale including all of my BUNDLES.
Happy Shopping! Have an amazing school year!

Teacher's Pay Teachers Gift Card Giveaway! Let's Kick off an Amazing School Year!


I hope you had a fantastic summer! I can't believe it's been so long since I blogged. I was soaking up summer and enjoying my vacation with family and friends. My summer is quickly winding down only a few days separate me from my first day back. I officially start on Aug.29th.  To kick off the new school year, I thought I would do a giveaway for a $10.00 Teacher's Pay Teachers gift card.

Before entering this giveaway in the Rafflecopter below, I first just want to highlight a few of my Interactive Notebook products that I am particularly proud of and can't wait to share them with you.

Interactive notebooks have been a HUGE success in my classroom  as I have been using them these past couple of years. This summer I have been adding several new pages to these products to make them even better.

Have you tried Interactive Notebooks in your classroom?  Interactive Notebooks are a fantastic, fun way for students to learn and interact with new information as well as a great way to practice and review skills introduced. By adding an interactive feature, learning becomes more meaningful and will spark interest. This type of learning involves so much more than just simply listening to the teacher and then filling out boring worksheets. Keeping interactive notebooks in the classroom helps kids to be more responsible and take an active part in their learning. Unlike worksheets that go home and often don't ever get looked at again, interactive notebooks stay in the classroom as students work in them to build upon and review skills. It is also great for all those paras and incoming teachers that come into the classroom because they will have a better sense as to what topics you are learning about and what needs to be reviewed and taught.
 Interactive Notebooks provide a way for students to think and plan and use their creative side while they write, draw, color, cut, and glue. You can use different interactive notebooks in so many ways in all subject areas at any grade level. You may think that all this cutting and and gluing might be a little scary especially for the little ones. However, if you plan things out right while thinking about where your students are developmentally and let the students work at their own pace, it can be done! 

When creating my interactive notebooks for kindergarten, I thought about being sure that my activities did not require a lot of complex cutting skills. I made sure that there was not any complex folding or the notebook did not contain too many flaps. I also thought about not having lots of loose pieces that can easily become lost. I've seen some really cool interactive notebooks with pockets to keep pieces in, however I think that this may cause a problem with little ones, as pieces will just fall out and get lost. If you teach kindergarten, then you know how upset students can get if they lose something. They can cry so easily.


So far, I've created five interactive notebooks.  Students used them in small groups during either literacy center time or RTI time. At first, you need to slowly show students where to cut and fold. My interactive notebooks are very simple and easy for students as they are asked to cut only on the dotted lines and fold on the solid lines. After they fold, there is a large enough area for students to paste down in order to make simple flaps. lt is so important to provide an example of what your expectations are before the kids get started. Once they get the hang of it, they can work more independently. Once they finish a page, they can work on the next one until literacy or RTI time is over. "NO MORE, I'M DONE, NOW WHAT DO I DO NEXT." I love interactive notebooks because it keeps students busy in a meaningful way while you are able to give your attention to other students who may be struggling. You also get a chance to run a small group for guided reading or RTI instruction. My groups are never more than four or five students to keep things manageable.


                                                               

                                                     




To make this extra special I've decided to bundle these Interactive Notebooks to save you even more.


Check it out by clicking on the link below. 




Now on to the giveaway! Good luck and happy shopping! Be sure to stop by Teachers Pay Teachers on Monday for their annual Back to School Sale and cash in on savings. You can save up to 28% off and use your gift card to choose whatever you please from so many amazing teacher authors.  

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Last Full Week of School~Make it Meaningful, Memorable and Fun!


My last full week of school is finally here! It is such a crazy, hectic time of year for all of us, however this year just seems especially challenging. My mind has been in a complete whirlwind. I have been SWAMPED with paperwork and my calendar is chuck full of commitments and responsibilities. These past couple of weeks I served on several committees, finished up all my testing and passed in the final report cards. I also spent hours and hours finishing up documentations for student portfolios and finalizing checkpoints on Teacher's Strategies Gold. I worked on unpacking the several boxes that were delivered and left piled up in my classroom. We just received a newer version of the Scott Foresman Reading Street Program and as you know anytime you get a new program there is so much to learn and do.  This year one of my grade level partners is on maternity leave and the other just retired in the middle of the year so therefore I have been helping out two substitutes these past couple of months.  I just served on a hiring committee to replace one of our teachers. I am also working on a committee as we are putting together a parent volunteer breakfast. I will also be passing out baggies with items to make S'mores and give them "We Need S'More Volunteers Like You" cards. 

 With all this going on I can't forget to mention how some of my students have already checked out and are already in summer mode.  I am sure you can all relate to this!  It has been a challenge keeping them engaged and in self control. Each day we still need to remind students about responsibilities and how important it is to follow through with classroom rules right up until the last day. Keeping students busy with fun-filled but meaningful activities is crucial even though marks have already closed. I learned from experience that if you give the students too much free choice time, they just can't handle it and things start spiraling out of control. Kids just need some sense of structure even though there are only just a few days left. I will do my best to stick to the same schedule that they are used to. They will still be doing literacy centers and math. My students will not be taking home their writing journals until the last full day of school. I also have lots of great end of the year summer themed worksheets  in a summer pack and summer writing prompts for them to work on. 

During the final few days it is a good idea to pull out all of your favorite high interest books that you still have not read to your students as of yet and put it into a box ready to go. Since students will definitely need lots of movement breaks to let out all that extra energy it is a good idea to check out Go Noodle and have a plan as to which movement breaks you will use. Make a list of fun classic indoor games/outdoor games and have students take a vote as to which ones they want to play as an incentive for good behavior. My kinders love playing Seven Up, Duck Duck Goose, Four Corners, What Time Is It Mr. Fox?, Bug In the Rug, and Doggie Who has the Bone. This week my students will be working on Memory Books and Father's Day Projects. I can't wait to show them the end of the year slide show that I put together using pictures that I have been taking of them doing a variety of activities throughout the year. Holiday activities, field trip and field day pictures are also included and are all put together nicely with background music. After viewing our slide show I will be passing out individual End of the Year Awards.  Here is my kitchen table this weekend as I prepare for the big day.


It should be a fun-filled memorable week! How will you be celebrating the end of the school year with your students? How do you make it meaningful, memorable and fun? Please share your thoughts by posting below.

Teacher Appreciation Giveaway!


Happy Teacher Appreciation Week! In honor of this special week and meeting our first milestone on Teachers Pay Teachers,  Jolene Ray and I are hosting an AMAZING GIVEAWAY! Check out these fabulous prizes from some of these talented teachers who have donated to this special event. Be sure to enter to win.  One lucky winner will receive terrific products that values well over $100.00. The products in this giveaway are perfect for the early primary grades PreK-3. This special giveaway begins May 2-May 5th. Good Luck!


We know how incredibly hard teachers work throughout the year.  Please take some time off and do something special for yourself. Take a moment to recognize all the accomplishments and growth your students have made this year.

Stop by some of these fabulous stores and check out all they have to offer. My store as well as many others will be having a 20% off sale during the annual Teacher Appreciation Sale.   If you like what you see, be sure to follow them and stock up on some fun and engaging end of the year products.   Here are the product links of the prizes that the lucky winner will receive.

123kteach
(winner's choice $25.00 credit to store)

Jolene Ray
(winner's choice $25.00 credit to store)







(winner's choice $10:00 credit to store)











(winner choice)









(winner's choice)








(winner's choice)




a Rafflecopter giveaway

Camping Day~ A Day of Reading and Fun!




     It was a full day of reading and fun. Our entire school had a day of reading with a Camping Theme just before Spring vacation. It was a great treat for the students and the staff, especially after all the testing we have been doing, as well as getting grades together for the report cards.  Each teacher was able to use this special theme and create an environment of reading and learning throughout the day. We did get the kids involved and they helped us set up for this special day. Students in the upper grades at our school really took this job seriously as they created unbelievable props to transform their classrooms. 
     My students were able to bring in their favorite book, a stuffed toy, a small blanket and a flashlight for this event. I wish you could of seen their faces light up as they walked in our classroom and saw the pretend tents and virtual fireplace up on our smart board with awesome sound effects of the crackling fire and crickets at night. 

Here are just a few pictures I took of  of my classroom on this special day.  



Here is one of my paper tents I created across part of my classroom. Students are listening to a read a loud as they cuddle up with their favorite stuffed toy.



          Here is another paper tent stretched across the cubbies. I also place a  pretend fire place made
          out of tissue paper and paper towel rolls for logs


My students are having fun reading their books using flashlight as they get cozy with their blankets. 

Students are sitting by the virtual fireplace looking at books. 


Here is the night time camp fire video I used from You Tube. It lasts two hours which was just perfect as I did not have to run back and fourth to reload it. 

c



My students were super excited about this day, especially after I told them that they did not have to do centers, math or RTI. They could just relax and read all day and they even had to do the same thing during specialist time. I did several read a loud throughout the day, we sang campfire songs and played games. At the tables I had several fun activities set up and they could go there if they chose to.  I did not make it mandatory, however I was pleased to see many students want to get involved with some of the activities that I put out for them.  Students had a chance to make book marks, write mini book reports, create their own mini booklet or write about how to make s'mores. Here are just a few of the activities they could choose from.

You can find lots of How to Writing prompts at my store.
       Check them out here

     

Here are some great reading response prompts to get your students thinking about books they read. 
You can find these prompts and more at my store. Click here. 




Have you ever done a Camping Day with your students? What types of activities did you do? Please share in the comment section. I'd love to hear about it. 










New Blog Design and Flash Freebie

I am SO excited to do my first official blog post under my new blog design! A special shout out to Jolene Ray over at Paisley n' Polkadots Blog Designs  for her phenomenal custom blog design. My previous blog needed a facelift and Jolene was able to do her magic as she was able to spice things up and add all the pizzazz that my blog so desperately needed. If you are looking into making changes to your blog or just want to enter the world of blogging, I suggest you check Jolene out. She is wonderful to work with and makes the whole process easy. Best of all, her pricing is the best deal around.

In celebration of my new blog design, I will be doing a FLASH FREEBIE for this week only. Get your students writing sentences and editing their own work with these posters to hang in your classroom as well as special writing paper. Students will learn to write sentences using an uppercase letter, use finger spaces between words, use correct ending marks and use their very best handwriting. You can display these "I can" posters throughout your classroom. Each "I can" statement also comes with a sentence strip to illustrate how to use upppercase letters, spacing between words, use ending marks and use your best handwriting. You will also receive writing paper with a check box list for students to self edit their work. This packet includes two different types of paper for differentiated instruction. The first paper is just one sided with a check box list for self editing. The second set of papers run off two sided for more advanced writers with the check box list on the back.




Be sure to follow this blog and be on the lookout as I will be celebrating my first Teachers Pay Teachers milestone. I am in the process of putting together an AMAZING giveaway with some spectacular prizes.  Don't miss out on this opportunity. 




                         

Peep Into Easter Savings



Peep into Easter Savings and join in our annual Easter Eggstravaganza Sale! I've teamed up with several other Teacher Pay Teacher authors to bring this amazing sale to you. You will receive 20% off savings off my entire store which includes bundles. You can search #eastersale to find terrific savings throughout Teachers Pay Teachers. I have some GREAT NEWS to share. After three years of very hard work and dedication,  I am overjoyed and bubbling over with excitement to let you know that I finally hit my first milestone on TPT. I could not have done this alone and I want to thank all the wonderful support that I received through mostly the forums and video clips of some amazing teacher authors.  As I just begin to celebrate, you can also make a good choice and grab my special FLASH FREEBIE for this week only. Enjoy this product as you get your students thinking about making good choices. Students will sort good choices and poor choices on a cut and pasted activity and color code activity. They will also have the opportunity to write about making good choices on a variety of worksheets.  I know from years of teaching experience that student's start to feel the "Spring Fever" during this time of year and start acting up. This is the perfect chance to assist students with reminding them about making good choices.  


https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Good-Choices-vs-Poor-ChoicesThumbs-Up-Thumbs-Down-1680217


 Be on the lookout as I make plans to celebrate this special milestone. It will be AMAZING! Tell all your friends to hop in and follow this blog so they can join in on the fun. Stay tuned! You will not want to miss out on this.

Happy Easter!  Happy Spring! Enjoy spending time with family and friends.  


Teacher Evaluation Portfolio / Evidence Based Binder

It is the first full day of spring and believe it or not it is a snow day. The weather here in New England can be so unpredictable. This morning I saw snow plows and later on in the afternoon most of the snow had already melted and I see daffodils popping out of the ground. Luckily, we got a lot less snow than what was predicted. I tried to take advantage of this day while being home from school and worked on my own teacher portfolio. As you already know this can be a huge undertaking and it can be quite overwhelming. I created these binders to help organize all the evidence collected which include pictures, data, meetings, conferences, grades, personal reflections and so much more. If you are you looking for a way to organize all of your evidence to put together in your Teacher Binder, you may want to check out this product. Since I am a teacher from Massachusetts, we use the Massachusetts Model System for Educator Evaluation. Today I worked extremely hard at organizing and putting together my binder for these past couple of years. Although I have been gathering evidence for quite awhile, I was blessed with this day to spend more time in organizing this.

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Teacher-Evaluation-Evidence-Portfolio-Binder-EDITABLE-1312076

 Please check out this preview by clicking on the link above before purchasing to ensure that your standards are the same or very close. We all work very hard at what we do. Show off your talents and prove to your administrators that you are Proficient or better yet, Exceeding the standards.

I made this editable binder to include pages to separate the four major standards along with your student and professional goals. You will also receive three pages of color coded indicator tabs and expectation elements for each of the indicators for the four standards.



Standard 1-Curriculum Planning and Assessment


Standard 2-Teaching All Students


Standard 3-Family and Community Engagement


Standard 4-Professional Culture



This product also includes a binder spine for a 2", 3" or 5" binder and back cover in a navy blue or coral chevron pattern. I chose the navy while developing this product so male or female teachers could easily use this to put together a professional looking binder. In fact, my husband who is also an educator used this system for his binder and he loved it. Simply insert the covers into a clear view binder and your ready to go. Here is what the coral chevron binder looks like.



https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Teacher-Evaluation-Evidence-Portfolio-Binder-EDITABLE-Pink-Chevron-1363990

This is a huge time saver and I think you will like the way you can put your accomplishments in an organized way. Since I work with kindergarten, my evidence may be quite different than other grade levels. Please keep in mind the following:


****This product does not give you suggestions as to what to put in the binder. It is just created to help you organize. ****



Now that it is spring and it is getting closer to the end of the year, this is the perfect time to get your binder finalized and ready to go. Best of luck with your teacher evaluations.

#superleap Sale! Amazing Savings!




Leap into Savings with the Super Leap Sale for February 29(Leap Day) and March 1st (Super Tuesday with 12 presidential primaries or caucuses) I am teaming up with many sellers who will be hosting special discounts on either selected products or their entire store. Be sure to search using #superleap to find some amazing savings.


Since Leap year only comes around every four years, I've decided to make this event extra special. I chose to include my four featured products at a whopping 29% savings. The rest of the products throughout my store will also be discounted at 20% off. My state of Massachusetts will be voting in this all important presidential race. Be sure to get out there and vote. It should be an exciting day and I can't wait to see all the results come in. My hope is that this country will strive forward in a peaceful, prosperous, safe direction.




Freebie Linkup!

Today I'm sharing a Freebie as I am linking up with LiteracyMath Ideas!



Before you shop for more FREEBIES, you can have your students also go Shopping for Syllables. Check out my Freebie here. Also be on the lookout for some FABULOUS things happening on my blog and store COMING SOON! I am glad you stopped by and I hope you will check out my previous post to enter an Amazing Giveaway! You will not want to miss out on this opportunity. 


Thanks for stopping by my blog! You can link your FRIDAY freebies at LiteracyMath Ideas!

I've teamed up with some  blogger friends and donated one of my products to one of the fantastic prize packages! You can enter to win a huge selection of creative and unique classroom Spring resources for Elementary teachers and or  enter to win the newest Thirty-One Utility Tote Bag Plus and an Amazon $30 gift card!
  Here is the product I donated to inspire your students to write what they know about spring. 



                                             Spring Writing Fun

You can check out this SuperLeap Blog giveaway by visiting the Tidy Teacher's blog. (Giveaways are open now through 11:00pm EST on Monday, February 29, 2016 (LEAP DAY!) Winners will be announced March 1, 2016. Good Luck!

100th Day, Valentine's Day and Last Day Before Winter Break~ OH BOY!


Tomorrow is sure to be an exciting, fun-filled yet exhausting day as our class will be celebrating the 100th day of school, Valentine's Day and getting ready for our week long winter break.  I know for certain the kids will be bubbling over with enthusiasm for this exciting day!  Since we had a couple of snow days recently, our 100th day just kept being pushed back and sure enough it will be taking place tomorrow. Before leaving for school I did my best to prepare myself for this big event. Here are just a few pictures of the centers they will be doing tomorrow.

Students will all receive a 100 dollar bill in which they can draw their own face in the middle and write about what they would do if they received $100.00.  It is always so fun to see the great ideas that they come up with.
Students will cut out the busses as they count by tens and paste in the correct order as the busses lead to the school house.




Students will write and draw to answer the following: I would  love to have 100...  and I would hate to have 100...

This year I decided to make 100th Day necklaces with this great looking badge to decorate rather than 100th day crowns.  With all the excitement happening this week, I just can't imagine going around and measuring heads with constructions paper and stapling 22 crowns on top of each student's  head. I just need to save some time and my sanity.

In the afternoon we will be sorting all of our 100th day collections that the students will be bringing in from home into ten groups of ten. 

I did not forget about Valentine's Day! We have been working on Valentine projects throughout the week.  Student valentine bags are hanging from our white board ledge. Students have been bringing in their cards throughout the week and sorting them on their own into their classmate's Valentine bag. Hopefully, this will safe some time and it will be less chaotic at the last minute. 

Here are just a few pictures of some of the centers students were busy at this week. 


My students just love playing any type of word bingo. Here is one of the Valentine Bingo games they played with a focus on short a, short i and short o.  I also have the students work on a recording sheet to match their bingo card. I just love this idea. Since the bingo cards are all different, students can't copy each other's work as they complete the sheet. You can check out my store for some word bingo games that students will enjoy. I also have one for St. Patrick's Day. 

At the art table students had fun creating animal creatures using hearts. I just put out a bunch of heart stencils in different sizes and cut up construction paper from a variety of colors and I let the students use their imaginations to create these fantastic animal creatures.  

Today for writing I had the students answer the following: I love my family because...
I did explain to the students how all families are different but they do love and care for each and every one of them. I had them think about all the special things their families do for them and explained how appreciative they should be. On Valentine's Day they can show their love and appreciation.  We also discussed how it is important to be loving, helpful and caring throughout the year and not just on holidays.

My students did an awesome with their writing and I think their families will love it!


                   

I am looking forward to the winter break for much needed rest and relaxation. They are predicting some really frigid cold temperatures. I will be so happy to be at home cuddling under my blankets and being able to stay in my soft cuddly pajamas.