Product Swap with Hanging Around in Primary!

Hey ya'll! I have to share with you the most recent product swap I did! Just like last time, Melissa over at Jungle Learners hosted a fabulous opportunity for us bloggers to swap products and share with the world just how awesome they are! It was so fun last time, that I just had to jump on board again. And just like last time, I will be giving away a copy of the product I tried out and my partner in crime will be giving away a copy of MY product that she chose over at her blog!

To check out my last product swap with Sweet Sounds of Kindergarten, click HERE.

This time around, I was matched up with Christina over at Hanging Around in Primary!

Out of the products in my store, she chose to try out my 2D and 3D Shape Activities pack for grades K-2! Check out her blog post by clicking the image above or below. She will be giving one of my shape packs away on her blog so you don't want to miss the chance! In celebration of another awesome product swap I will also be putting the 2D and 3D Shape Activities pack on sale 20% off through the weekend! Yay!

Christina has a variety of Read and Write the Room products which are always a big hit with my class of kinders, so I was dying to try one of hers. I chose the Read and Write the Room Numbers to 30 pack. My kinders are working on numbers up to 20, but because of the 100th day the other day, we have been counting way beyond 20. I felt like going up to 30 would be a great way to practice those 2-digit numbers!

I printed out each 1/3 page card, cut, and laminated them. You don't necessarily have to laminate them, but you'll see why I did in a moment... After you print the cards, attach them to the wall around the room or in one area for students to locate and figure out which number should go in place of that tricky yellow question mark.

Also included is the recording sheet for students to find the matching cards and write in the missing number! I printed these in black and white to save on printing costs but they are provided in color. The pencil banner matches the cards on the wall so if you have more than one Write the Room activity going on there is no confusion on which cards students are to look for. Students look at the red letter at the top of the cards on the wall and write their answer in the corresponding box on the recording sheet. I really like how Christina made the labels with letters rather than numbers. It was much less confusing than labeling them with another number! And for some of my lower babies it was extra practice for letter matching. ;)

My classroom is a teeny tiny portable, but the bright side is I can staple to the wall! I don't have to worry about tape or sticky tack falling off the wall. Now you see why I laminated them... I put them near the water fountain. I decided that would be the best place because that is also where I have my 100s chart posted, so for those trickier high numbers that my students are still learning, they have the chart to refer to to help them! The image above does not show all the cards included. There are more to the right and the left scattered and mixed up. I have done Write the Room in the past where the cards are truly scattered around the entire room, but because of the location of the helpful 100s chart, I decided to have them a little closer together this time. 

I placed the recording sheet on a clipboard and the kids knew what to do right away! We do Write the Room activities quite a bit in my class so the activity was predictable, which is always a good thing when it comes to an independent center.

I really like this picture of these two kiddos sharing and helping each other. I usually do centers in pairs, but depending on your students and your classroom, you could do this with much larger groups. The feedback I always get from my students on Write the Room activities is that they LOVE to look around for the cards they need next.

Christina has a ton of other Read and Write the Room activities that look great as well and if your kiddos like this one, having these activities ready for them with varying skills will be great!

And now for the moment we have all been waiting for!! Enter the giveaway below for your chance to win a copy of Hanging Around in Primary's Read and Write the Room Numbers to 30 pack! She also has the pack on sale in her store through the weekend! And be sure to check out Hanging Around in Primary for a post on my 2D and 3D Shape Activities pack and enter that giveaway, too! And don't forget to check out the other bloggers who are swapping products this weekend. There are a TON of other giveaways going on on their blogs, too! I know I'll be entering them! Their links are below! Good luck!

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Click through the blog names below to check out more swaps and enter more giveaways!

Movie Clip Monday: How Do Plants Grow?

You know I love linkies, right? Of course you do! The Techie Turtle Teacher has an awesome one going on over at her blog all about video clips, which I use frequently in my classroom. Short videos are great to get kids' attention and in Kindergarten they totally think it is a treat to watch a "movie" at school (even if it is only 3 minutes long...).

Here's a current favorite right now: How Do Plants Grow? by Hoopla Kids (we are studying plants right now in science!)

The thing I love the most about this little clip is the science experiment at the end, which of course the kids begged me to do! And we did! We even used blue food coloring and the same kind of flowers as the video just to be sure it was the same experiment. ;)

I hope this little post has helped you stumble across a gem of a video clip! I know I'm finding lots of other awesome clips other teachers are using on The Techie Turtle Teacher's blog! Click the button below to go there now!

Sunday Scoop 1-25-15

Can you believe we are already 25 days into a new year?! I will have to say that this year I am doing a pretty good job remembering to write 2015 on things instead of 2014. I have impressed myself. ;)

Time for a Sunday Scoop! If you haven't checked out The Teaching Trio, you MUST! One of my favorite blogs to follow. :)

HAVE TO DO:

1. I know I'm not the only teacher that goes in on the weekends. My husband thinks I'm crazy, but I sometimes LOVE going in on a Sunday to get things ready and prepared for the little nuggets to come learn with me. And this week, I am changing the way I implement centers. This year, my day's schedule is so strange and my ELA block is split in half. I feel like I can't get nearly as much done, so I'm changing it all up and I cannot be more excited. I will write a blog post about it when I take some pictures of the kiddos getting used to the change and working hard.

2. I'm making one of our favorite recipes today (and by me, I also mean my hubby, who does most of the cooking around here...). It is a vegetarian spinach lasagna and it is AMAZING. Here's the link. You gotta try it! CLICK HERE.

3. It is kind of weird I guess that "wash my hair" is on my "have to do" list. Let me explain. I have weird hair for a white girl (lol). It isn't very thick but it looks really thick (don't shoot me...) and it is curly/wavy and pretty long these days. Well, I have the dryest hair ever. It dries out and breaks if I wash it too much and it doesn't get oily or greasy until like Day 6 of not washing it. So today makes Day 7 of not washing it... so it is on my list of things I HAVE to do... I guess if I do it over the weekend, I'll have a week of early mornings without having to! If you have long hair like me, you know it takes a little while to get it clean and styled. Comment below if you do the same things as me. I'm interested to hear if ya'll have dry hair like me!

HOPE TO DO:

1. I spent money on a center bundle that I'm stoked about. I don't normally buy big things on TpT because to save money I can usually make it myself, but it was on sale and I had a lot of TpT credits. More on this in a future post...

2. I FINALLY started Written in My Own Heart's Blood by Diana Gabaldon. She is my all-time favorite author and the Outlander series is my all-time favorite book series! And now, it is my all-time favorite TV series, too! WIMYHB came out last year and I was just so busy and stressed with my new job as a first year kindergarten teacher that I couldn't give it the attention it deserved. Now that I'm in the swing of things and I feel like I'm not planning every second of every day, I can finally sit down and read. Well, sometimes. Today, I simply HOPE I can... :)

HAPPY TO DO:

1. Ahhhhhhh, coffeeeeeeee.

Collaborative Art in Kindergarten!

Did any other Kindergarten teacher do something awesome for MLK day? I think segregation is always a hard concept to teach to the little nuggets, but I decided I wanted to do something this week for the littles to honor a great man. And with Black History Month next month, celebrating MLK has laid the foundations for more great lesson plans next month!

I LOVE anything collaborative in my classroom. It teaches children how to share and work together for a common goal and when they are this young, they get SO excited to see the final product (and I do, too!). My friend Jenny over at Art With Jenny K. has incredible art resources that can easily be done within the classroom to integrate art with your other subjects (and she has new President's Day ones that I have my eye on!). I decided I would give one of her collaborative posters a try with my kinders. I initially thought it would be too hard and I almost decided against it, but I thought, why not?! If it is a flop, then lesson learned, but if it is a success imagine how the kids will feel when they see the finished product!

The way these posters work is each student gets a sheet with a square in it that they have to color to match the smaller square. This is pretty abstract so I was sure that some of my kiddos would struggle, but I was super impressed with their ability to transform their blank square into a colorful MATCHING square. I am SO glad I tried this project.

There were some students who struggled, naturally, so I accommodated that by putting little x's in the spaces they needed to color (pictured above). Some of the squares were certainly more difficult than others, so I gave the most challenging squares (the two with MLK's eyes, for sure) to two students who have great motor skills and patience and they did a wonderful job. I was so proud of my lowest students who struggle with attention span (well, I mean, don't they all?), who were super engaged and extremely excited about this project.

The moral of this story is, do not underestimate your students and if you want it to look real good, whip out some new markers and put some quiet Mozart in the background (made all the difference, those new markers...).

And, VOILA!

Well, with the exception of the one kiddo who was having a bad day and decided a big blue X would be better than doing what he was supposed to do, how great is THIS? I mean, the D in DREAM could have been better, but these kids are 5 years old! I am such a proud teacher right now. <3

Thank you, Jenny! Here's a link to her store that you need to check out! Art with Jenny. K.

Wow! What are the chances?

I JUST posted today about my buddy Celeste's big 300 follower giveaway... how prophetic that I, too, would hit 300 followers TODAY!

Well, I have to celebrate somehow! But with all the giveaways going on, I thought, why not a FLASH FOLLOWER FREEBIE and a HUGE store-wide sale?!

If you follow my TpT store, you will be receiving a follower freebie in your inbox today! I can't wait for you to see it and use it in your classrooms!

And now for the big sale! EVERYTHING in my store will be buy one get one free through this week and it will end on Saturday the 24th.

Here's what to do:

EMAIL ADDRESS: DaisyDesignsTpT@gmail.com

If you aren't sure of the product combinations you want, take a look at the deals you could get!

So many possibilities!

If you do not currently follow my store, make sure you do, so you can get that follower freebie TONIGHT!

Thank you for everything, dear followers! It is because of you that I can share my creations and ideas and I truly appreciate all the support I have been given from each and every one of you.

The Education Highway Giveaway!!!

Hey everyone! My good friend Celeste over at The Education Highway has hit 300 followers and would like to celebrate! Woo-hoo! If you are not yet a follower of Celeste's sites, you MUST check them out! She's one of the amazing ladies I blog with in our collaborative blog The Teaching Two Step. :)

Congratulations, Celeste! Here's to 300 more!

The giveaway runs through the 21st, so hurry! Enter for the multiple prize packs below! My Snowman Addition pack is in prize pack #3!!!

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What's The Scoop? Jan. 11

Thanks again to The Teaching Trio for this fun linkup!

Who else still has their Christmas tree up?! Chime in in the comments below. I gotta know I'm not the only one...

Photo Doggies for Anthony (a Teacher Linkup)

I just stumbled across a recent post from one of my favorite bloggers over at Mrs. Dailey's Classroom about a sixteen year old boy who needs some help and love. And this help is so easy to give! All Anthony wants are pictures of our dogs. He is a dog lover (and I can relate to that!) I copied the information from her blog onto mine to tell the story, but please go to her original blog post and check out the awesome pictures she has. Click HERE to go there now.

Anthony is currently at Phoenix Children's Hospital undergoing chemotherapy for acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Currently, Anthony is an inpatient and receives doggie visits occasionally at the hospital.

Mrs. Dailey hopes we as teachers can rally together and just send little snapshots of our precious fur babies to shower Anthony with love that only a pet can give. 

Here's what I am sending their way:

I hope he gets the same smile I have when I look at my fur babies and I hope that Daisy and Pudgy can bring a little more happiness to him during a hard time. 

Here's a blank copy for you to add your own images to so you can link up with Mrs. Dailey's blog. Or there's a Facebook group created for him and this special cause. Click the link to go there and share a picture of your fur baby!

January Currently

Am I seriously doing a Currently post on the FIRST day of the month?! I guess that's what Winter Break does to teachers. I feel so on top of things right now!

LISTENING: My husband is a semi-popular YouTube and Twitch gamer (don't worry... I didn't know what any of that was until recently, either). He basically plays video games live and has his own "show" so-to-speak that people tune into live to get gaming advice, tips, or simply watch and learn the ropes as he plays video games. I know... living the dream, right? It is surreal. He lost his job in 2014 and while he was searching, he decided to do this... and now he does this full time! If you want to check it out, here's his channel (proud wifey moment): http://www.twitch.tv/brutallstatic

LOVING: I mean for real... I was more than ready for Winter Break and I still have a few more days to not have to set my alarm in the morning!

THINKING: I am so thrilled for 2015! 2014 was full of huge changes for us: I quit my job to finish my internship and we lived with my parents. Ryan lost his job. We got back on our feet and moved into a house. I got my first teaching job. Ryan starting building his own business surrounding online gaming. My brother moved across the country. And in the midst of it all, I gained like 30 pounds. Yay.

WANTING: I got a Michael's giftcard from my mother-in-law for Christmas and it is burning a hole in my pocketbook right now. But going would mean no more pajamas. This is seriously the dilemma of the day.

NEEDING: I'm printing stuff for some fun winter centers and my printer keeps saying "FEED ME." Stinkin' ink. I'm pretty sure my TpT store earnings have only gone towards ink and card stock.

I love Farley's addition to our 2015 currently! Something that YES WILL happen in 2015, something that MAYBE will happen in 2015, and something I WISH will happen in 2015.

YES: I just got finished saying that I gained 30 pounds in 2014. My husband also gained a lot of weight last year with his new job of sitting and playing video games all day. I am excited to get back on track and fit into my clothes again.

MAYBE: We have a lot of potential travel plans this year which is unusual for us as we have never been able to afford a lot of traveling. Tomorrow we are going to St. Augustine for the day and I'm going to an Of Montreal concert in two weeks with a friend (SO STOKED). But those are small trips. I'm talking big trips! I am planning on going to see my brothers in Nevada in March or April, we are planning on taking a road trip to Tennessee for a friend's wedding, a trip in November to California for a gaming convention for my husband, AND we have a cruise we are hoping to go on in the summer! Hopefully we can get this all planned and GO! I also want to go to New York, but we gotta leave something for 2016...

I WISH: Ryan and I have been talking about starting a family for a long time now, but we have always decided to put that off for a while and enjoy being married. We've been together for 6 years now and married for 1 and we have decided to wait till next year... especially with all the traveling we want to do and getting healthy we want to do before we begin that next chapter of our lives. It's not baby time yet, but I wish it was! Lol!

If you haven't ever checked out Oh Boy 4th Grade and Farley's currently link-ups, you are crazy and need to do it now! It is so much fun!

Thanks for stopping by!